AFTER 31 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, MY HUSBAND STARTED SLIPPING OUT OF BED AT 2 A.M. — THEN I HEARD HIM WHISPER “DADDY LOVES YOU TOO,” THOUGH OUR CHILDREN HAD MOVED OUT YEARS AGO.

For thirty-one years, Greg and I had slept beside each other.

My name is Laura, and our marriage wasn’t perfect.

We’d survived layoffs, two teenagers, and the year Greg worked nights so we wouldn’t lose the house.

But even after our worst arguments, he never chose another room.

So when I woke at 2:17 a.m. and found his side of the bed empty, I wasn’t suspicious.

The next morning, Greg rubbed his lower back.

“The guest-room mattress is firmer. I finally got some sleep down there.”

He was fifty-six. I believed him.

Then it happened again.

I’d wake as Greg quietly got up, took his pillow, and disappeared downstairs.