The records showed the vasectomy had been performed, but no documented clearance test had occurred before my estimated conception date. Michael had missed the first scheduled semen analysis. A later test, performed after our separation, showed no sperm in the submitted sample, but that result could not establish what had been true weeks earlier.
Michael sounded smaller than he had in the coffee shop. “I thought it worked right away,” he said.
“You told me the doctor guaranteed it,” I answered.
“I was upset.”
“You called me a liar. You left. You told everyone I cheated.”
His lawyer interrupted to redirect the conversation toward formal parentage testing after the babies were born. I agreed that reliable testing could resolve the question. I did not agree to treat Michael’s suspicion as evidence.
After the call I felt no triumph. He had finally encountered a fact he couldn’t insult into disappearing, and I still had to go home to an empty house.
