He didn’t smile anymore, not even at the little noises that used to make him laugh. At first, she told herself it was the stress. The sleepless nights, the crying, the newness of it all. But the way he looked at her sometimes, like she’d said something wrong without realizing it, began to chip away at her certainty.
One evening, after the baby had finally fallen asleep, Emily found him sitting in the living room in the dark. The television was off. The rain outside pressed softly against the windows. “James?” she said, her voice tentative. He didn’t look at her. “What?” “You’ve been so quiet lately,” she said gently. “If something’s wrong, you can talk to me.”