'This Is Just Temporary,' My Husband Said About the Crib in the Guest Room, and Then I Found a Positive Test That Wasn't Mine – Story of the Day

When I saw my husband assembling a crib in our guest room, he told me it was “just temporary,” a way to keep our hope alive. But after I returned home from a weekend away, I found a positive pregnancy test in the trash, and I knew it couldn’t be mine.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub, staring at yet another negative pregnancy test. One pale line. Years of trying, endless doctor visits, expensive treatments, and still nothing.

My chest ached as I thought about how much we’d spent, how hard we’d fought, and how none of it mattered. Perhaps I was never meant to be a mother.

I tossed the test into the trash, splashed water on my face, and forced myself to breathe. I didn’t want Dan to see me like this again.

My reflection in the mirror looked tired, with shadows under my eyes that no concealer could hide.

I stopped at the guest room doorway. Dan stood there, tightening the last screw on a small wooden crib.

Its pale frame caught the light from the window, looking almost ready for a baby we didn’t have. My chest tightened.

“Why did you put that here?”

Dan looked up, smiling gently. “This is just temporary. I thought maybe it’d help us keep hope alive.”

“You think I need a daily reminder that I can’t do this?”

“That’s not what I meant. I thought it might help us picture what we’re working toward, not what’s missing. I’m sorry if it hurts.”

I sighed. Dan stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

“Why don’t you go spend the weekend at your Mom’s? When you come back, I’ll take it down.”

My Mom’s house was a place of warmth and no questions. So, by Friday afternoon, I was on my way.

***

The weekend soothed me in ways I didn’t expect.

Mom made my favorite soup and kept me company while we watched old movies.

We never spoke about fertility treatments, and I slept better than I had in months.

When I came home Sunday night, the guest room looked empty again. The crib was gone. Dan met me at the door, his smile warm and hopeful.

“See? Better?”

I gave him a small smile. “It is. I’ll take a shower before dinner.”

In the bathroom, I reached for a towel, then something in the trash caught my eye. I froze. A pregnancy test. Two bold pink lines. My heart jumped so hard it almost hurt.

Could it be mine? Did I read my last test too fast?

I opened a new box and took another test right away. I set it on the counter and waited.

One pale line appeared. Negative. My stomach dropped. That test wasn’t mine.

I walked into the hallway, holding it up. “What’s this?”

Dan’s face lit with sudden excitement.

“Are you pregnant?”

“No. I just tested again. Negative. Whose is this?”

“I don’t know… maybe it’s faulty?”

“Faulty doesn’t make two clear lines. Is it so hard with me that you got someone else pregnant?”

“Never,” he said at once. “I love you. I’d never do that.”

I looked at my husband and saw something I couldn’t read. My hands were still shaking. I wanted to push him, but I just turned away, ending it for the moment. But the weight of it stayed with me.

***

Days passed, but the test wouldn’t leave my mind. Then, one morning, Dan said he’d be home late.

I waited a few minutes after he left, then grabbed my keys and followed him. Traffic was light. I kept a careful distance as he drove downtown. Dan parked near his office, checked his phone, and waited.

A blonde woman approached with a tote bag swinging at her side.

Who the heck is she?!

Dan’s face softened, and he opened the passenger door for her. My grip on the steering wheel tightened until my knuckles ached.

They drove to a baby store. I followed them inside, keeping far enough away to stay unnoticed.

Every aisle seemed to mock me.

I watched them laugh over tiny clothes, hold up soft blankets, and load a cart with bottles and pacifiers.

At the register, Dan paid for everything while she leaned on the counter, smiling.

I slipped out to the parking lot and waited in my car. Minutes later, they came out. Dan carried most of the bags, scanning the lot like making sure no one saw them.

I followed them to a small house in a quiet neighborhood. Cameras blinked from the corners of the roof. Dan took the bags inside, then hugged her tight. When he drove away, I got out and marched to the door.

The blonde opened it after two knocks.

“Can I help you?”

“What are you doing with my husband? Are you pregnant with his child?”

The blonde woman scanned me coldly. "Please leave."

"I’m not leaving without answers."

“If you don’t leave in five minutes, I’m calling the police.”

Then she shut the door in my face.

That night, I told Dan he would sleep on the couch. I added that in the morning we were going somewhere.

“Where are we going?” A hint of unease was creeping into his voice.

I kept my eyes on him, but didn’t answer.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

I gave him a tight, controlled smile and said simply, “You’ll see.”

I walked to our bedroom and locked the door, leaning against it for a moment. My hands shook. I could almost feel his gaze piercing through the wall, wondering what I was planning.

So many questions, so many lies between us.

I knew what I was doing, but that didn’t make it any easier.

***

The following morning, we drove in silence. When we reached the street, the house looked abandoned. A ‘For Sale’ sign stood in the yard, and the windows were empty. Dan frowned.

“What am I supposed to be looking at? If you want a different place, we can find something better.”

“You were here yesterday with a blonde woman. You bought baby things together and carried them into this house!”

“I was at work until after five. This place has not been occupied for months, clearly. Maybe your mind is playing tricks because of everything we're going through.”

I heard the pity in his tone and flinched like he had slapped me.

“I know what I saw.”

Dan glanced at his watch.

“I’m late.”

Then he called a cab and left me there. Without thinking much, I pushed the door. It was unlocked. Inside, the floors echoed under my steps. Furniture sat in the corners, the way staging always looks, pretty but unlived.

I searched every room as if the truth might hide under a throw pillow. Nothing waited for me except silence and a tidy kitchen with blank counters.

In the entryway, a small notebook sat on a side table, the kind of agent left for visitors to write notes.

I flipped a page and paused when my fingers felt light grooves where a sheet had been torn.

I shaded the top paper with the side of a pencil until ghostly letters rose, faint but legible. An address formed like a secret map. In a minute, I was already in the car, typing the address into the navigator.

The second house stood on a quiet, dead-end street. A dozen surveillance cameras surrounded the house, just like the previous one.

Hmm... strange, why so many?

I rang the bell and waited, then tried the handle when no one answered. The door swung open with a whisper, and voices floated from the living room.

I followed the sound and saw Dan and the blonde woman in a close, worried conversation.

They jumped when they saw me, as if my anger had pushed a wind through the doorway.

“Are you going to tell me it's all in my head again?!”

“Please, let me explain,” Dan said quickly.

“I gave you that chance! You lied!” I screamed.

“It's not simple,” Dan said.

"Not simple? You know what’s not simple? Expecting every time and still seeing a negative result, then finding out your husband got another woman pregnant and made you look crazy. That’s what’s not simple!"

I turned to the woman, who had edged back toward a corner with her arms wrapped around herself.

“I am not going to touch you,” I told her. “You're pregnant, and I'm not here to hurt you.”

She wrapped her arms around herself.

“Some people don’t care about that,” she murmured.

"What are you talking about?"

Dan stepped forward. “Her name’s Lila. We grew up together. She’s leaving an abusive husband. I’m helping her get safe. The cameras are for her protection.”

“You didn’t tell me because…?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you more. We’ve been trying for so long, and I thought seeing me with a pregnant woman would break you. I should’ve told you anyway, sorry.”

“I know,” Dan said. “I’m sorry. I just...”

Before he could say anything else, a wave of nausea bent me forward so fast my hand shot to my mouth.

“Bathroom?” I gasped.

I made it just in time and knelt on clean tile while the world tilted again. When the room steadied, I sat back, breathing slowly, and wiped my face with a cool cloth from the counter.

Lila stepped in with a glass of water and something small in her palm.

“I'm sorry for the mess and for the confusion. I should have told you yesterday, but I didn't feel safe.”

"I want to help you, as a lawyer and as a woman," I said softly.

“I had nausea like that,” she said quietly and placed a pregnancy test on the counter.

“It may be nothing, but sometimes it's not.”

I laughed because the idea felt absurd and terrifying at the same time.

“I ate a bad sandwich,” I said, and the joke fell flat between us. “This can't be that. We've tried for so long.”

Lila didn't argue, only stepped back toward the door.

“Try anyway.”

I followed the steps like a prayer and set the test beside the sink. Minutes stretched with a slow throb, and I refused to look until the timer on my phone chimed.

When I finally glanced down, two bright lines glowed in the tiny window like a lit street at night. Tears blurred my vision. I walked into the living room and showed Dan.

“Look.”

Dan's eyes widened. He pulled me into his arms, laughing and crying.

“We’re going to be parents.”

I held his gaze. “No more lies. Ever.”

He nodded. “Ever.”

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