My Wife Was Seven Months Pregnant When She Stopped Leaving Bed—Then I Lifted the Blue Blanket and Realized My Mother Already Knew What Was Underneath

I defended Clara.

Then I would hang up and stand in the hallway looking at our closed bedroom door.

Why was she frightened when I approached?

Why did she pull the blanket tighter?

Why had she begun asking whether I believed her even when we were discussing ordinary things?

One night I woke at three in the morning.

Clara was not beside me.

I found her in the bathroom.