He and Natalie had spent those weekends at a resort in Wisconsin less than three hours from our home.
I held up one receipt.
“You charged champagne to our account on the night you told me your flight had been canceled.”
Eric’s jaw tightened.
“I made mistakes.”
“A mistake is forgetting an anniversary.
Four months of hotel reservations require a calendar.”
A few guests looked down, hiding involuntary smiles.
Not because anything was funny, but because Eric had run out of language large enough to conceal what he had done.
Mark picked up another set of papers from the table.
“Those trips weren’t only charged to your personal account,” he said.
Eric froze.
Mark continued.
“Two hotel stays and three dinners were submitted to our company as client expenses.
There were no clients.”
“That has nothing to do with tonight,” Eric said quickly.
“It has everything to do with tonight.
You used company funds to conduct an affair with my child’s mother while telling me you were negotiating contracts.”
Natalie looked between them.
“Your child? You don’t get to call it that just because of one test.”
Mark’s expression changed.
The anger remained, but beneath it was something steadier.
“I took the test because you asked me to.
I offered to attend appointments.
You told me you needed time.
Three days later, Rachel’s investigator showed me photographs of you with Eric.
Then I learned you planned to name Eric as the father in front of this entire family.”
“I was protecting the baby.”
“You were choosing the story that gave you the life you wanted.”
Natalie’s hand returned to her stomach.
This time, the gesture did not look triumphant.
It looked defensive.
Our mother finally stood.
“Natalie, is the test real?”
Natalie did not answer.
“Is it real?” my mother repeated.
“I don’t know.”
Mark closed his eyes briefly.
“You watched the nurse seal the samples.
You signed the consent forms.”
My father stared at Natalie as though he no longer recognized her.
“You were going to let Eric believe the baby was his?”
“Eric loves me.”
“That was not the question.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but no one rushed to comfort her.
The tears arrived only after the power left her hands.
Eric paced away from the cake table, then returned.
“How long?” he asked Mark.
Mark understood.
“From September until November.”
Eric turned to Natalie.
“You told me you hadn’t been with anyone else in over a year.”
“You told me you were leaving Rachel.”
“I was going to.”
I looked at him.
“When?”
