Nancy gazed over the final traces of her husband’s funeral service. She couldn’t believe Patrick was gone. He had died in an automobile accident. She felt him near her after a week. How could he die?
She walked toward the cemetery’s exit with a heavy heart, telling herself to start planning her life.
Suddenly, an elderly woman with a baby blocked her path.
While holding her crying infant, the mom said, “Are you Nancy?”
She was unfamiliar to Nancy. Who was she?
“I am. Who are you? Nancy said.
Amanda’s announcement that the infant in her arms was Patrick’s was too much for Nancy.
“Only you can look after this child now,” she informed Nancy. “Her mother can’t support her.”
Nancy shivered. She retreated after staring at the infant.
“No way! Patrick was a caring spouse. He would never hurt me!”
Nancy turned and left. She never doubted Patrick.
Watch out!
Nancy met Patrick’s old friend Mike. She was too preoccupied to notice her direction.
Mike chatted with her, giving sympathy. Nancy wanted to avoid people but had to be polite. She ended the conversation quickly and went to her car.
She remembered the baby’s thoughts but ignored them. When Nancy opened her car door, she was shocked. The sobbing infant was in her rear seat.
Nancy looked around. Amanda was absent. “How did this baby even get here?” she said.
Nancy took off her jacket and wrapped it around the baby since it was cold.
She froze when she saw the baby’s neck birthmark. “It can’t be,” she whispered.
The birthmark matched Patrick’s. Nancy didn’t want her late husband’s adultery suspected. But now she needed the truth. She needed to know if Patrick was cheating.
Nancy drove home with the baby, took Patrick’s hairbrush, and went to the hospital.
“Hello, I’d like a paternity test,” she told the counter receptionist.
OK, ma’am. A few days are typical for findings, the woman stated.
“Can it be done faster?” Nancy asks. “I’ll pay more.”
We offer expedited service. See what I can accomplish. But it costs more.”
“I’ll take it,” Nancy said. She sent Patrick’s samples and paid for testing.
As she waited for the results in the hallway, the baby started crying. Nancy smelled baby clothing. No diaper change was needed.
Nancy assumed she was starving. Before the results came in, she headed to a supermarket and bought baby formula, bottles, and diapers in case she needed them.
She sat in the hallway giving the baby formula. After what felt like an age, a nurse presented the results.
A woman gave her an envelope and left.
“This is the truth, and I’ll have to accept it whether I like it or not,” Nancy thought as she opened the results.
Her mind spun when she read, “Paternity rate – 99%.”
Nancy swallowed her emotions as she held the sleeping infant. Patrick had cheated and lied to her.
Nancy did not want to live with his adultery forever. She would find and return the baby to its mother.
Nancy drove home and went through Patrick’s things after calming down. She found nothing to identify his lover. Next, she searched his office drawers, files, and cabinets. But nothing.
Nancy sighed. The infant slept in the living room. She took the baby monitor to Patrick’s car. She looked under the seats, in the glove box, and everywhere else in the car. But she found nothing important.
When she saw the GPS, Nancy slumped into the driver’s seat. And suddenly it hit her. Patrick was bad at directions and always utilized the navigator. She would find her address at his mistress’ place if he had visited.
Nancy navigated directly to recent destinations. The list was short and included common sites like restaurants, hardware stores, and Patrick’s office. But one address caught her eye—it showed more often than others—and she didn’t recognize it.
“This is it,” she thought. She drove to the address with the baby.
***
Nancy saw a small house when she arrived. She carried the infant to the front door and knocked.
“Hello? Anyone home?” She asked.
Nancy assumed the house was empty after the tenth knock and no answer. She approached the neighbors after looking around. Start with the next-door residence and ring the bell.
Amanda walked out as the door creaked, widening Nancy’s gaze.
“You?” Nancy asks.
“How did you find me?” Stuttering Amanda.
“I was searching for my husband.” Nancy paused. His other woman. I wanted her child back.”
Amanda seemed strangely sad. “The neighbor woman passed away recently. She had a heart attack after hearing about your husband’s accident. Miss Emma has gone.”
Wait…did you say Emma? Surprised, Nancy asked.
“Yes,” Amanda nodded. Did you know her?
“Was…Was her surname Warren?
Nancy felt ashamed when Amanda nodded. “Can-Can I come inside?” she said. I have something to tell you. Could use some talk.”
Nancy entered through Amanda’s wider door. They stayed in the living room. “Emma was my classmate,” Nancy recalled. “She was my friend. But I mistreated her and Patrick.
20 years ago…
Nancy and Patrick were in the school corridor. She was at her locker when Patrick approached.
He said, “Hey, Nancy,” quietly, and she looked at him.
“I need to tell you something,” Patrick hurriedly said.
Hey, she smiled. “Yes?”
“I’m in love with someone else, Nancy,” he revealed. Yes, you’ve been wonderful, but I’m sorry.”
Shocked, Nancy. “Tell me it’s a joke, Patrick,” she sobbed. “You’re kidding!”
But Patrick meant it. Emma and Patrick were madly in love.
Nancy cried when she got home that day.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” Her mother recognized a school incident quickly.
Nancy cried as she told her Patrick broke up with her.
“I want to break them up!” she shouted. “I won’t let them be together!”
“Nancy, you won’t be able to create your own happiness by destroying someone else’s,” her mother said. “Revenge is never possible. Ignore him.”
Nancy sought to break up Patrick and Emma for days by spreading stories, planning coincidental encounters to show off her newfound confidence, and even mailing anonymous messages to incite envy.
But nothing worked. Emma was delighted with Patrick, but Nancy’s plans crumbled.
Nancy didn’t quit. One night, she got the ideal idea to divide Emma and Patrick.
Hello, Nancy—how are you? When Nancy visited Patrick, this mother answered the door.
“I’m fine, Mrs. White. Is Patrick home?
“Yes, dear. Get him.”
Her presence on his doorstep confused Patrick. “Nancy? What’s up?”
“I understand your surprise, Patrick, but…“I’m pregnant!” she said.
Shaken and afraid, Patrick. “What…but…Are you sure?
Patrick let her in when she nodded. She said she was afraid to tell her parents. Nancy said her father would oppose it and compel her to abort. She begged Patrick not to tell anyone and saw how readily he fell for her deception.
Responsibility characterized Patrick. Nancy knew. He clasped her hands and said, “I’m the father, so I’ll take care of our baby. Don’t worry—this will stay between us.”
Present-day…
“I used him. Lied to him. I wasn’t pregnant,” Nancy told Amanda. I was hurt and couldn’t bear losing him to Emma. I lied to him and changed everything. He was eager to leave Emma and become a father.
“Lies ruin everything, dear,” Amanda shrugged. “What then? Did he never learn?
“He didn’t,” Nancy said. I maintained the act, morning sickness, and everything. After a few months, I…I couldn’t continue. I told him the test was erroneous and the doctor was wrong. By then, Emma had moved. Heartbroken, she left town with her parents. I stayed with Patrick. He never returned or sought her. Just moved on. Or pretended to… Nancy spoke while holding her sleeping baby. She knew Patrick was with Emma again.
“And I guess it’s time to correct what I couldn’t back then,” Nancy remarked, standing.
She was leaving Amanda’s house with the infant when the older woman stopped her.
What will you do with the baby? Amanda asks.
Nancy turned and smiled at Amanda. “I will raise her as my own. Maybe that may help me ask Patrick and Emma for forgiveness.”
Nancy kept her promise. She lovingly raised Catherine. Nancy told Catherine everything about her history at 16. She anticipated Catherine’s hatred. And she was ready.
But Catherine smiled and replied, “Nothing changes how I feel about you, Mom. You reared me. You saw every skinned knee, illness, and grief. Everything counts, you’re my mom.”
Nancy quietly cried and cuddled her daughter. Catherine’s remarks comforted her and convinced her Emma and Patrick had forgiven her.
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