CHAPTER 2 — THE IMAGE THAT DESTROYED HIS CERTAINTY
No one spoke.
The only sound inside the examination room was the rapid, rhythmic heartbeat echoing from the ultrasound machine.
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
Daniel stared at the monitor.
At first he looked confused.
Then irritated.
Finally...
Afraid.
Dr. Anderson enlarged the image with practiced hands.
"Do you see this measurement?" she asked calmly.
Daniel frowned.
"I don't know what I'm looking at."
"You should."
She clicked another button.
A timeline appeared beside the fetus.
Estimated gestational age: 9 weeks, 4 days.
Lauren's heart skipped.
Daniel immediately folded his arms again.
"So?"
Dr. Anderson met his eyes.
"You told your wife you had a vasectomy two months ago."
"That's right."
"And according to your wife's records, conception occurred approximately nine weeks ago."
Daniel blinked.
"So?"
"The procedure happened after the baby had already been conceived."
Silence.
Vanessa looked from Daniel to the doctor.
"What does that mean?"
Dr. Anderson answered without emotion.
"It means the vasectomy has absolutely nothing to do with the baby's paternity."
Daniel's face slowly lost its color.
Lauren watched him carefully.
For the first time since she'd announced the pregnancy...
He had no accusation ready.
No sarcastic remark.
No insult.
Only silence.
But then Vanessa stepped forward.
"Doctors can be wrong."
Dr. Anderson nodded politely.
"Of course."
She opened Lauren's medical file.
"Which is why we compared today's measurements with her hormone levels, implantation estimates, and her first blood tests."
She gently closed the chart.
"They all point to exactly the same conception window."
Daniel swallowed.
The confidence he'd worn for weeks was cracking.
Then Dr. Anderson asked one quiet question.
"Mr. Mitchell... before accusing your wife of infidelity..."
She tilted her head.
"Did you ever attend your post-vasectomy sperm analysis?"
Daniel froze.
Lauren looked at him.
"What analysis?"
His lips parted.
Nothing came out.
The doctor answered instead.
"Every patient is instructed to return after the procedure."
She spoke slowly.
"The surgery is not considered successful until laboratory testing confirms there are no active sperm."
Lauren's eyes widened.
She looked directly at Daniel.
"You never told me that."
May you like
He couldn't.
Because he hadn't gone.
