He probably had.
Emily continued.
"Tiana didn't expect anything. She was desperate."
"So you said yes."
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"I told her I couldn't make that decision without you."
"Good."
"But then she got worse."
Daniel already knew.
He hated that he knew.
"And you changed your mind."
Emily looked toward the house.
"Marcus was going to enter foster care."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"That wasn't your decision to make alone."
"I know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I know."
"You knew enough to hide it."
Emily flinched.
Daniel regretted the cruelty but did not take it back.
She deserved the question.
Maybe not the delivery.
But the question.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried."
"No, you didn't."
"I wrote emails I never sent."
"That is not trying."
"I called you twice."
"To tell me this?"
Emily looked away.
"No."
"Exactly."
Daniel stared at the house.
The front door was closed now.
Marcus was somewhere inside.
Probably wondering why the strange soldier had made his mother cry.
"Did you adopt him?"
Emily hesitated.
Daniel caught it.
"Emily."
"Yes."
The word was barely audible.
Something inside Daniel went completely still.
"You legally adopted him?"
"Yes."
"While married to me?"
"Yes."
"Without telling me?"
"The adoption was in my name."
"That's not what I asked."
Emily started crying.
"I didn't know if you would come home."
Daniel looked at her.
The sentence cut deeper than everything else.
"What?"
Her face collapsed.
"Do you know what it was like every time there was a news report? Every time the phone rang late? Every time someone knocked on the door?"
Daniel looked away.
"That comes with the job."
"I know."
"No, Emily. You knew when you married me."
"I did."
"Then don't use my deployment to justify this."
"I'm not."
"It sounds like you are."
She shook her head.
"I'm trying to explain why I kept making decisions without you. Not excuse them."
Daniel was silent.
Emily wiped her face.