It was the third year of my open marriage to Noah Evans. He had been fooling around recklessly with his sweet-faced mistress, and the two of them had gone too far, resulting in both of them being hospitalized.   I happened to be at the very same hospital for a prenatal check-up. Thinking to be kind, I decided to go and visit him. However, standing just outside the room with only a door separating us, I clearly heard sounds of mocking laughter and conversation drifting out.   "Noah, you really come up with every excuse imaginable just to mess around with other women! Open marriage? Really? Aren't you afraid this game of yours will eventually backfire? What if one day Ruby Finch actually decides to cheat on you and finds someone else?"   Noah lit a cigarette, ran his hand tenderly over the young woman’s face, and replied in a tone full of disdain.   "If she actually had the capability or the courage to do something like that, I might just start looking at her with a bit more respect. But the sad truth is, she simply can't manage without me...   "...she’s already gone so far as to have a baby just to tie my heart to her and keep me close. Tell me... do you honestly think a woman like that is ever capable of leaving me?"   The group inside burst into an uproar of laughter, each of them praising Noah for his clever methods and skill in managing his wife so perfectly.   Outside the door, I simply smiled a faint, cool smile, and gently ran my hand over my perfectly flat stomach.   It was true. There was indeed a child.   But... had I ever actually said that he was the father?