I luv it when u ride me and I can play with ur

My husband has lost his mind. Or someone has stolen his phone and is sending me obscene text messages.

I vaguely hear Jules and Nat chattering around me, but I’m not paying attention to what they’re saying or even what they’re looking at. I’m just mindlessly following them through the store, winding through clothes racks and around a loud Santa and elves and kids yelling and crying.

It’s really, really loud in here.

nd cum in ur mouth.

What the hell? I stare down at my phone and frown.

“Oh, Stace, Sophie would be so cute in this!”

I tuck my phone in my pocket and look over at Jules holding up an adorable black romper. “Oh, that’s adorable! I’ll take it.”

My phone vibrates again, so I pull it out and check the text.

You make me so hard.

Isaac hasn’t talked to me like this in years. Years. Before I can shove my phone back in my pocket, it vibes again and another text from him pops on the screen.

I want u kneeling in front of me with ur pretty pink lips around my cock. I’m gonna pull your hair a

That’s it. The last of the text is cut off again. This isn’t my husband. We haven’t done the dirty talk thing since before Sophie was born. Hell, since before Sophie was conceived.

“Stacy?” I hear Nat calling my name, but before I can answer, one more text comes through.

This is what I’m gonna give you 2nite. Be ready. And… it’s a picture of his dick.

“Stacy?” Jules lays her hand on my arm to get my attention, and I meet her concerned blue gaze with my own.

“What the fuck is up with your brother?”

“What are you talking about?” Jules asks.

“He’s sending me obscene text messages, which I’m starting to think aren’t intended for me, given that he hasn’t talked dirty to me like this in years, and last night at Nat’s he took a private call that he won’t tell me about and was talking about some woman with Matt. Jules, if your brother is fucking around on me, so help me God…”

Jules laughs and shakes her head. “Stacy, you know he’s not fucking around.”

“As of right this minute, I’m not so sure.”

And the magnitude of that statement paralyzes me. I stare at my friends and replay last night and this morning in my head, his evasiveness, telling me to drop it, but kissing me to cover it up. I feel my eyes widen and my heart rate triples.

“Fuck.”

“Stacy, I’m sure there’s an explanation. Isaac is nuts about you.” Natalie rubs my back in large circles, trying to console me.

“He is, Stace.” Jules nods. “I know he loves you and Sophie more than anything.”

“That doesn’t mean that he’s not having an affair,” I whisper.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here. I think we’ve done enough damage to my credit card for one day.” Jules sets the few things we’d picked up on a rack and we walk through the store and out to the car.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” I whisper.

“Well, your first step is to talk to him. Ask him.” Natalie says from the back seat behind me. Jules is driving, where I don’t know, and I’m in the passenger seat.

“I did ask him. He told me to drop it. This morning he told me to have fun today and we’d talk tonight. Oh, God, he’s going to tell me he’s leaving me.” My stomach convulses and I start to pant.

“Stacy, don’t be dramatic.” Jules rolls her eyes and merges into traffic, heading toward my house.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to your place.”

“I don’t want to see Isaac yet. I need to calm down and think.”

“No, you need to confront my brother and find out what the hell he’s doing.”

I twist my fingers in my lap and bite my lip until it bleeds. “Maybe you can confront him and let me know how it goes.”

“Oh no, this is all you. But if you want us there with you, we’ll stay. Are you afraid of him?” She looks over to me with narrowed eyes.

“No! No, I’m not afraid of him, I just don’t know if I want the answer to my questions.”

“Stacy, I’m telling you,” Natalie says firmly. “Isaac is not fucking around.”

“I wouldn’t have ever expected him to.” My God, we’ve had ups and downs, but never, never would I have suspected that he could ever do this to me.

“So, to recap,” Jules starts as she pulls into my driveway, “He took a mysterious phone call at Nat’s last night that he doesn’t want to talk about, and today he sent you dirty texts.”

“Yes.”

“This does not make for an affair, Stace.”

“I know, but it’s so not him.”

“There are no photos of naked women, you haven’t caught him in bed with anyone…”

“No.”

Jesus, I’d die if I found him in bed with another woman. Correction: the other woman would die. A slow, painful death.

“I think this is a misunderstanding,” Natalie says gently. “But, where is this insecurity in your marriage coming from? This isn’t like you, honey. You are not this insecure.”

“I know.” I bite my lip again and fight tears. I haven’t felt like myself since the baby came. Our marriage hasn’t felt the same. “Since the baby was born, our sex life hasn’t been the greatest. We’re both really tired all the time.” I shrug and look down at my hands in embarrassment. “I know our marriage isn’t perfect, but I’ve never felt this disconnected from him. If I’m not satisfying him, someone else will. You’ve seen him.”

“Oh, for the love of Moses, Stacy, listen to yourself. I think you need some hot sex and a vacation, girl,” Jules comments, making me laugh.

“Yeah, that couldn’t hurt.”

Isaac’s truck is in the driveway of our pretty two-story home. It occurs to me that he put the Christmas lights up today, which just makes me more emotional. This is Sophie’s first Christmas. What if we don’t get to spend it as a family in our home?

Jules cuts the engine and pops the trunk.

“C’mon, let’s get your stuff inside.”

We carry my plethora of bags full of gifts for the whole family, and way more than Sophie will ever need or remember for her first Christmas, into the house. Isaac is packing a diaper bag and has the car seat by the door.