We had wanted them for so long that I sometimes woke just to check that they were breathing.
Motherhood was beautiful, loud, messy, and built around three-hour stretches of sleep.
I handled stress by making lists of feedings, diapers, and bottles. Daniel teased me about the notes beside the sink, but he followed them. He warmed bottles at two in the morning and knew exactly how to settle each boy.
He was a good father.
That’s why the first lie felt so small.
I stood in the kitchen with Kai crying against my shoulder while Theo kicked in his seat. The formula was nearly gone, so I checked the location app Daniel and I used for safety.
His location was unavailable.
Ten minutes later, the front door opened.
Daniel hurried in with grocery bags.
“Did you turn off your location?” I asked.
He placed the formula on the counter without looking at me.
“No. Why?”
“It disappeared after you left.”
“It probably glitched, Megan.”
I shifted Kai higher.
“It never glitches when you’re home.”
Daniel set down a second bag too hard.
“Are you checking up on me now?”
“We were almost out of formula. I wanted to know how far away you were.”
“Well, I got it.”
Theo began crying too. Daniel reached for a bottle.
“I’m stressed, Megan. Every time I walk through the door, there’s another problem.”
He carried the bottle toward Theo.
“Can we feed them without turning this into a crisis?”
I stared at his back.
Somehow, I was the unreasonable one.
Over the next few days, his location vanished so often that I could predict it.
Daniel’s dot worked perfectly at home and disappeared within minutes of him leaving. I checked every setting. Nothing changed.
One evening, I held out my phone as Daniel reached for his keys.
“Your location is working now. Drive around the block and see whether it stays on.”
His expression tightened.
“I’m not performing tests because you don’t trust me.”
“I’m asking you to help me understand.”
He picked up his wallet.
“You’re exhausted.”
“Don’t use that against me.”
“You might be overthinking this.”
He left.
His location disappeared before he reached the end of our street.
After that, Daniel carried his phone into the shower, placed it face down at dinner, and changed his passcode. Twice, I woke after midnight to find him gone.
The next time, I heard him in the nursery.
Kai and Theo were asleep.
Daniel stood between their cribs, looking at a photograph on his phone.
A dark-haired girl stood beside a woman I didn’t recognize.
