Vital statistic

Joe doesn't ask me to pay any bills on a regular basis. In fact, we got on a family cell phone plan and I've eliminated that bill for myself. The only shared bill I fork out bucks for is food... groceries and dining out. So every once in a while, if only for my conscience's sake, I take a peek at the stack of bills while Joe is sleeping and pay a few of them here and there.

While snooping through the pile tonight I found an envelope with the return address of "Vital Statistics." It was Jacob's birth certificate, with his Social Security card tucked inside. I gave Joe the SS card when it came and made a big deal out of it... the kid has a number! But I never knew about the birth certificate. Joe stashed it away, as if the kid's mom had no interest in seeing it.

I find it kind of odd.

And I'm a little perturbed.

Actually, I'm quite pissed.

Why would he keep something like that from me? I mean, it's not like he has hidden it in a safe or anything, and he knows I go through that pile of bills from time to time, so maybe he wasn't intentionally hiding it. But I'm here every evening, in his presence, when he opens the mail, and one would think he might mention that the boy's birth certificate had arrived instead of running it upstairs and inserting it into a to-do pile.

I've never said this to Joe, but I somewhat regret giving Jacob his last name. There's a form on the back of the birth certificate to make changes. And it doesn't appear I need both parents' signatures. Could he be worried about that?

God, I love Joe, but it feels like I have to always be on my fucking toes with him.