Author's note: He's crying? O.O Say it isn't so Roni! 

Noah

Shaking off the initial shock, Noah stared at this girl for a moment as her words sunk in. If it wasn't because Noah had always and still had blind faith in Roni, he'd be feeling more than just disgust. There was no way this was true, and it pissed him off that anyone would even suggest it. But understandably his heart had come to a near standstill just hearing the genuinely pained words.

"I'm sure they're together now, but there's no way to track my dad's phone since he turned it off."

"My wife's at home with my—"

He stopped when he remembered Roni's text. Instinct had him reaching for his phone, but he still didn't believe any of it for a second. Of course, Roni's phone went to voicemail, but she did text him and he clicked to read it anxiously.

Sorry I can't talk right now.

Noah closed his eyes, but they flew wide open as he was reminded of the auto-response she'd sent him last night when she'd so uncharacteristically worked late. Now his stupid ass couldn't even remember what her reason for working late had been in the first place.

No way.

There was no fucking way. There had to be a reasonable explanation for that and this—for everything. "Your mom ever see them together or is she just—"

"She confronted them two days ago."

Now he felt the air being sucked out of him, but his heart still refused to believe it. "Where?"

"At his office. Of course, they both denied it, but—"

"She was there for an appointment," Noah said trying to stay calm, but this made him livid. "My son's his patient. Was."

Chloe shook her head even as she continued to wipe away tears. "It's what he tried to tell her, but my mom saw the texts. Why would he be sending photos of himself to her? And she heard him on the phone with her the night before saying he could hardly wait to see her the next day."

Swallowing hard, Noah willed himself to stick with his guns. This had to be some kind of mistake. "What kind of pictures?"

She shook her head. "I don't know I didn't see them. My mom was hysterical when she was telling me most of it, but she said he sent her a picture of himself. Doctors just don't do that. And he snagged the phone away from her when she confronted him about it, so she didn't get to see all of it, but she did see it was to your wife . . . Roni."

Noah shook his head. Twilight Zone. It's what it felt like. Like this might all be some fucked-up dream brought on by the insecurity he hadn't felt in years. His head still didn't know what to make of all this, but he sure as hell wasn't jumping to the same conclusions these two had before he spoke to Roni.

"Look. It took my mom a long time to accept that what she thought she was imagining was true. But she has no choice now—"

"Long time? What are you talking about? My wife didn't even meet your dad until just a few weeks ago."

Now Chloe shook her head in what looked too damn much like sympathy—for Noah. The dejected husband in denial.

"My mom's suspected for months now." Chloe rolled her eyes. "From the stories I've heard over the years, my dad's been doing this kind of stuff for years. My mom admits now that she had some knowledge of his meaningless flings, but with four kids, she wasn't willing to end her marriage for something trivial. I'd also heard him and my uncles on many occasions quip about how it's cheaper to keep her." Chloe huffed in disgust, but her expression fell, and her eyes welled up all over again. "She's afraid he's in love this time because he's never been this blatant before. With us all grown now, she's terrified he's really going to leave her." She tilted her head, wiping tears away. "Has your wife ever—?"

"Never," Noah said with conviction, despite feeling like he might be sick. "And until I talk to her, I don't believe any of this."

She started to protest, but Noah cut her off. He'd heard enough of the hearsay. He needed to talk to Roni before he'd even consider this impossibility. "I'm not saying you or your mom are lying. I'm just saying I know my wife and I know she would never do something like this. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding." The more he thought about it and saying it out loud only made him madder. "So why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I want you to talk to your wife and ask her if she's in love with him."

"She's not."

And there was that infuriating pity again. Noah thought he might break a tooth from all the teeth grinding he'd begun to do.

"Just please remind her," she said softly, "because I'm sure she knows. That my mom has been in love with my dad for over twenty years now. Tell her—"

"If any of this turns out to be even remotely true, I'll have plenty to say to my wife." Noah took a deep breath. "But I hate to break it to you. If your dad is having an affair, I can guarantee you it's not with my wife. I gotta get going now."

Noah couldn't get her out there fast enough. The moment she was out of his office he tried Roni again and got the same generic text. He texted her back at first, telling her to answer her fucking phone but then deleted the expletive before sending it. Grabbing his keys, he walked out of his office, letting Ivette know he wouldn't be back until Monday. Though he wasn't sure about that now.

After trying again with the same results, Noah decided to just wait for her to call back. The whole way home he thought of everything Chloe had said. None of it was solid proof. It was all speculative, but there were still some things that didn't make sense, like Roni working late last night. He wished to hell he could remember what her reason was. He was certain he'd asked her, but for the life of him couldn't remember her answer.

There was also the fact that Chloe said her mother had confronted them. What did that mean? Did she actually get nasty with her? Or did she just show up to his clinic to confirm she was in fact one of his patient's mothers. He should've fucking asked, damn it. Banging the steering wheel in frustration, he suddenly remembered something.

Of course, they denied it.

If they denied it, that meant she actually accused them of having an affair. That's not something Roni would've kept from him unless . . .

My mom's suspected for months now.

Feeling sick again, Noah thought about that some more. It was months ago that Roni started with her concerns about Jack possibly being autistic. Could this idiot be the one who planted the seed? He shook his head. That didn't make sense. Why would she have to wait so long to get in to see him?

He was nearly home when Roni finally called back. His hopeful heart was anxious for the explanation he knew would clear this all up. He hit the answer button on his steering wheel.

"Where were you? Why weren't you answering?"

"I just ran to the store real quick," she said, but even her tone seemed odd. "My phone was on silent because I was lying in bed with Jack so he'd fall asleep."

"Why? Is he sick?"

"No, I just wanted him down when you got home."

"Why?"

The momentary quiet on the other end completely unnerved Noah now. "Because," she paused for a moment and Noah was sure of it now, her tone was a strange one. "I need to talk to you when you get home."

The instant ache in his heart silenced Noah, but it was fleeting. The rage that consumed him just as instantly was better welcomed.

"About Mateo?" He pulled into their driveway feeling like he might throw up. When she didn't answer immediately, he was done being calm. "Answer me, Roni. You wanna talk to me about the fucking doctor?"

"Yes, but Noah—"

"You in love with him, Roni?" Just saying it hurt like nothing he'd ever felt.

"What? No!"

Pulling into their garage, Noah shook his head willing the warmth flooding his eyes away when he saw her open the kitchen door. Hitting the phone disconnect button on his steering wheel, Noah muttered under his breath. "Man the fuck up."

He sat there staring at her anxious eyes for a moment while he braced himself for the conversation about Mateo she didn't want Jack awake for. How was it possible to feel so disgusted and ready to spit about this, while at the same time already tempted to beg.

Swallowing back the emotion he'd begun to feel, he got out of the car, terrified about what he was in store for. Once again, he was immersed with the unsettling sense of being in a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening.

But it was.

Assaulted by the visual of Chloe's pitying eyes and realization that he'd been so fucking naïve, the rage was back, and he welcomed it. He slammed the car door and glared at the beautiful but undeniably guilt ridden looking woman staring at him. His heart ached at the very thought that she might very soon be his ex-wife.

Author:s note: Overreacting much? Or is he spot on to be feeling disgusted with her?