When I rushed home after my wife lied about her due date, I expected to meet my newborn. Instead, I found her walking out of the hospital with another man holding my baby — and the secret she whispered before the truth unraveled nearly broke me. All my life, I wanted to be a dad.
At 40 years old, I’d watched all my friends guide their kids through wobbly first steps, and try not to cry on the first day of school. Man, I wanted that so badly. Sometimes, sitting alone in my quiet apartment, the desire was so intense that it felt like a genuine physical ache in my chest.
I’d almost given up hope on that dream, but then I met Anna. She was everything I thought I’d never find. I didn’t just fall for her; I dove in headfirst and never looked back.
A year later, on a chilly night in October, I proposed. She cried and said yes. It was the second-happiest day of my life.
The happiest came six months after that. We were curled up on the couch when she said the words that changed my life. “Sean, I’m pregnant.”
I wept with joy.
The waiting was finally over! The whole nine months felt like a blur of sheer anticipation. I was a maniacal dad-to-be.
When she agreed to let me be in the delivery room, I thought my heart would burst right then and there. But life had other plans for my perfect picture. Two weeks before her due date, I had a mandatory business trip scheduled.
It was for a massive client — a trip I’d set up months before we even knew she was pregnant. It was only three days, leaving her at that point made me nervous. “I can cancel,” I said.
“I want to cancel. No client is more important than this.”
Her reaction completely threw me. She laughed.
“Babe, don’t be dramatic. You’ll be back in plenty of time. The doctor said two more weeks.” She took my face in her hands, her thumbs tracing my jawline.
“Go. Really. Go.”
I still hesitated, but then she gave me the killer line.
She squeezed my face affectionately and said, “I promise. You won’t miss anything.”
So, I went. On the second day of my trip, I was trapped in a meeting when my phone started buzzing.
It was Anna’s mom. My stomach did a flip-flop. Mothers-in-law never call unless it’s important, right?
I ducked out quickly, heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird. “Sean? Are you there?” Her voice was tight and rushed.
“Yes, I’m here. What is it, Carol? Is Anna okay?” I whispered into the phone.
“She’s in labor,” Carol said, but her tone was strangely flat, almost accusatory. “She lied to you about the due date. I thought you should know, but please… don’t tell her I told you.”
I blinked, trying to process the words.
“What are you talking about, Carol? Why would she lie?”
“I… I can’t tell you anything more. Just get back here as fast as possible, Sean.”
She hung up.
My heart didn’t just drop; it plummeted. Lied. The word echoed in the back of my skull. It wasn’t just that she was in labor; it was the deliberate deception.
Why? What was she hiding?
I walked straight out of the building, found a cab, and booked the next flight out. A red-eye that turned into a nightmare blur of anxiety and adrenaline.
I rushed straight to the hospital after the plane landed. I imagined walking into the maternity ward, flowers in hand. I’d kiss her forehead, tell her how much I loved her, and then, finally, triumphantly, I would meet my child.
We’d talk about why she lied about the due date later, I reasoned. There had to be a reason for it, something rational and simply explained. But that perfect scene never materialized.
As I approached the main entrance, I spotted Anna leaving the hospital, and she wasn’t alone. A younger man hovered nearby, maybe mid-twenties. He held my baby in one arm, and held Anna too close with the other.
It was the intimate, comfortable embrace of someone who belonged there. They looked like a family. She froze when she saw me, and all the color drained from her face.
The shock in her eyes quickly morphed into wide-eyed terror as I marched toward them. “Anna. What… what is this?
What’s going on? Who is he?”
She blinked rapidly, like she was trying to find the right lie. Then, she whispered something that didn’t just stop my heart; it made my knees literally buckle.
“Please don’t hate me for this, Sean. I…” she trailed off, glancing quickly at the young man. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”
That whisper sounded exactly like the prelude to a confession of infidelity.
“Tell me what that means,” I demanded, my voice raw and unsteady. “Right now.”
Anna opened her mouth again, but the young man stepped forward, still holding my child close to his chest. He looked at Anna, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion and maybe a little irritation.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page to discover the rest 🔎👇
