He remained polite.
Kind.
Almost unusually patient.
Around the same time, he began spending many weekends working on a property renovation.
He told me it was an investment.
Given how much his business had grown, I didn’t think twice about it.
Then, three months before our fifth wedding anniversary, we discovered I was pregnant.
I was overjoyed.
By the time our anniversary approached, I was four months along.
Our current house was comfortable and modern, but it stood near a busy road.
At night, traffic noise drifted through our bedroom windows.
Motorcycles.
Car horns.
The occasional siren.
One evening, I complained about the noise while looking through catalogs of baby furniture.
“Maybe we should find somewhere quieter,” I suggested.
Ethan glanced at me.
“What kind of place?”
“Something with trees. A yard where the baby can play.”
He smiled.
“You’ve always wanted a backyard.”
I reached for the old family photo album I kept in our bedroom.
