Chapter 8 - Molly
Meeting Molly was not part of my plan.
Daniel made it one.
Rebecca had no obligation to let us.
Mike had been inconsistent about Daniel in Molly’s life.
Rebecca said Molly knew:
“Daddy used to be married to a woman named Claire.”
She knew he had:
“A big kid named Daniel he helped raise.”
Big kid.
Daniel found that hilarious.
“So she knows me?”
“Sort of.”
“Can we meet?”
I told him:
“Not until Rebecca decides what’s appropriate.”
“Why does she decide?”
“Because she’s Molly’s mother.”
He considered.
“Okay.”
That answer made me proud.
Rebecca and I spoke several times first.
No friendship.
Practical.
Molly had spent every other Saturday with Mike for years.
Sometimes Sundays.
Occasional overnights.
He paid $1,850 per month voluntarily.
No formal child-support order until later.
He covered part of preschool.
Health insurance through a private plan? No.
Rebecca insured Molly through her employer.
Mike reimbursed half.
He attended:
Two birthdays.
One preschool graduation.
Some pediatric appointments.
Not a fully hidden second household in the cinematic sense.
He did not maintain another wife and suburban house.
But he was father enough that Molly called him Daddy.
He kept clothes at Rebecca’s home.
Had a key.
Spent Christmas Eve there twice.
The phrase:
other family
was Daniel’s.
Not legally exact.
Emotionally exact enough.
Mike had been living parallel roles.
My husband.
Daniel’s stepfather.
Rebecca’s intermittent partner.
Molly’s secret father.
Then Naya’s lover.
The most shocking part was how ordinary the logistics had been.
He did not need elaborate disguises.
He said:
Work dinner.
Site visit.
Client golf.
Traffic.
Gym.
I had believed most of it because married people cannot cross-examine every Tuesday.
May you like
Trust is efficient.
That is why betrayal can hide inside it.
