I nodded. I smiled. I let it go. But I didn't stop feeling uneasy about how much private time my husband was spending with our surrogate.
"I'm not implying anything. It just feels… strange."
***
The next day, I decided to do something crazy.
I slipped a small voice recorder into the inside pocket of Ethan's jacket right before he left to see Claire.
My hands were shaking.
I stood in the hallway holding his jacket and thought, Why am I even doing this?
I almost took it back out, but the feeling in my gut was louder than the guilt, so I left it.
That evening, Ethan came home from Claire's and hung up his jacket like usual. He kissed me goodnight and went to bed.
I decided to do something crazy.
I waited until the house was quiet. Then I took the recorder from his jacket pocket, walked to the bathroom, locked the door, and sat down on the cold tile floor.
I pressed play.