The Day I Miscarried, He Was Delivering Another Woman’s Baby Chapter 01

The Day I Miscarried, He Was Delivering Another Woman’s Baby Chapter 01

The day I hemorrhaged on the operating table from the miscarriage, my parents were speeding through a downpour to reach the hospital. They never made it.

I was still on the table. My phone kept ringing. A nurse from the ER needed verbal authorization from immediate family for my mother’s emergency surgery. I lay there, put the phone on speaker—my hand slick with blood—and said the words into the phone.

“I consent.”

The baby was gone. My father was gone. My mother never came out of surgery either.

The man I couldn’t reach through any of those calls posted a celebratory message on Instagram.

*Congrats to Tessa. After a whole night of labor, you’re finally a mommy.*

My fingers were shaking. I liked the post.

His iMessage came instantly.

Just one line.

“Delete it.”

I sent him the hospital’s location.

“Come to the hospital. I need to say something to your face.”

“I’m dealing with something urgent right now. I can’t. Your parents can take you to the prenatal appointment. It’s not like they had plans this weekend anyway.”

“This urgent thing you’re talking about—is it helping her dog give birth?”

“Alessa, what happened to you after you got pregnant? You’re seriously going to pick a fight over a dog?”

I had no strength left to argue.

If he wouldn’t come, he could talk to my lawyer.

***

The funeral and the paperwork took everything out of me. By the time I dragged myself home, it was the evening of the next day.

I opened the door and stopped cold.

The house I’d cleaned before leaving was wrecked beyond recognition.

Soren DeLuca was rifling through things, tossing whatever he touched onto the floor like he assumed someone would always pick up after him.

He didn’t even look up at the sound of the door.

“Where the hell have you been all weekend? I had to DoorDash lunch.”

I stared at him.

So he hadn’t come home last night either.

It had been like this for two years.

The lights in Tessa’s apartment would flicker, and he’d be out of bed at midnight to fix them.

But he’d forget to lock our front door and let a drifter walk in. I couldn’t sleep for a month.

Tessa’s dog would go into labor, and he’d refuse to come with me to see the OB.

He even took a full week off in advance to stay with her, even though that’s what the vet was for.

I didn’t answer. Soren finally looked up. Surprise crossed his face.

“Why is your face so pale? Is the baby making you sick again?”

He reached for my stomach. I stepped back.

“Yesterday I called you seventy-six times. Why didn’t you pick up once?”

His hand stopped midair. He frowned.

“Alessa, are you interrogating me now?”

“Tessa and I grew up together. That dog has been with her since she was a kid. It was giving birth and she was panicking. Of course I went to help. You think I had time to pick up that many calls?”

“It was just one prenatal visit. Plenty of pregnant women go alone. Besides, your parents were with you. What difference would one more person make?”

I looked at him. Something was lodged in my throat.

I wanted to ask—what about my parents?

That crash was catastrophic. My father showed no signs of life by the time he reached the hospital.

My mother made it into the OR, but her injuries were too severe. Her condition was complicated.

Soren’s colleague told me he was the only one who knew her full medical history inside and out. If he had done the surgery himself, there might have been a small chance.

But he said he was too busy to pick up the phone.

Yet the second I liked that Instagram post, he messaged me instantly. Just to tell me to delete it.

He wasn’t afraid I was hurt.

He was afraid Tessa would be upset.

“Are you two really just childhood friends?”

I looked at him.

“Soren. I saw you kiss her.”

It was at the same restaurant where he proposed to me. Even the same table.

I was walking down the street. My mind was blank. I didn’t see the motorcycle coming.

The driver was already braking hard, but the baby inside me—just three months along—was already gone.

Soren was always calm under pressure, but right then, he was visibly rattled.

“Tessa was really worried about the dog, so I took her out for a drink to help her relax. She had too much, and that’s why…”

His voice softened.

“Okay. Let’s drop it. Next time I will absolutely come with you to the OB.”

There it was again.

Throw out a pathetic excuse first. Then say a few soft words. Then act like everything’s settled.

But Soren, you won’t ever need to come with me to the OB again.

“No need. We’re getting a divorce.”