‘Why are you holding your stomach if you have a headache?’
Rebecca’s cold and suspicious tone made Vanessa freeze. ‘Girl, who do you think you’re trying to fool?’
‘I said I feel sick,’ Vanessa stammered and ran to the bathroom to throw up. Rebecca’s worst fears were confirmed when she saw her teenage stepdaughter emptying her stomach into the toilet.
‘Vanessa, tell me the truth,’ Rebecca looked grimly into the girl’s eyes, ’have you had intimacy with someone? Are you pregnant?’
Vanessa burst into tears. She realised there was no way out and confessed her secret to her stepmother. Rebecca’s initial shock was quickly replaced by outrage when she learned that Vanessa’s pregnancy was the result of a one-night stand and not a reckless moment with her boyfriend.
‘God… You slept with a stranger?’ Rebecca shook Vanessa by the shoulder. ‘Your father will be so ashamed…and how long can you hide it? This child will not grow up without a father…do you hear me?’
‘I’ll take your father to the restaurant tomorrow night. In the meantime, you’re going to tell Dylan you want to get back together. You’ll bring Dylan home and…’ Rebecca paused, as she didn’t usually advise her daughter to ‘…spend the night with him. It’s the only way to avoid a scandal. An abortion is out of the question.’
Vanessa nodded. She regretted sneaking out that night and meeting Richard at the bar. Every moment that had seemed magical then now haunted her.
Tricking Dylan was wrong, but she couldn’t admit to her father what she’d done. Vanessa spent a long, sleepless night pondering what to do. She finally made a difficult decision and approached Dylan in the park the next day. He agreed to have dinner with her.
When Dylan arrived, Vanessa sat down on the couch with him and put her plan into action.
‘Please forgive me, darling,’ Vanessa leaned over to Dylan and put her hand in his lap. ‘I made a huge mistake…being alone, I realised that you were the one…that I was wrong to break up with you. I’m sorry. I love you…like forever!’
Dylan wrapped his arms around Vanessa’s face and looked into her eyes. He was over the moon when she said that.
They embraced, and the evening ended as planned: Dylan carried Vanessa to her upstairs bedroom, and they made love.
Two weeks later, Dylan came over to Vanessa’s family’s house for dinner. Afterwards, he and Vanessa dropped a bombshell on her father, informing him that she was pregnant.
Alan was furious at his daughter, but the thought of becoming a grandfather calmed him down. And Dylan seemed like a nice guy from a rich family who would do the right thing by her. So at the end of a serious conversation, Alan put on a happy face.
Months passed, and at 18, Vanessa was rushed to the labour ward when she went into labour. Hours later, Dylan cried tears of joy as he held his son in his arms and introduced him to the parents and immediate family gathered in the labour ward.
Two days later, the couple was preparing to go home with their son when a doctor burst into the room and insisted on speaking to Dylan in his office.
Dylan was puzzled, but followed the doctor into his office. Soon after, he stormed back into Vanessa’s room where all his relatives and Vanessa’s parents had gathered to take her and the baby home.
‘YOU LIE!’ Dylan stormed into the room and confronted Vanessa. ‘THAT’S NOT MY BABY!’
Everyone gasped as Dylan recounted what the doctor had just said. A strange feeling crept into Vanessa’s gut as she realised she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
‘Shame on you for doing this to me,’ Dylan grumbled. ‘How could you think I would father someone else’s child? Was this your plan…or were your parents in on this scheme too? This is so not good! Mum… dad… let’s go. I don’t want anything more to do with her or the baby.’
Vanessa begged and cried. But Dylan ran out of the room and out of her life that same day. Back home, she begged her father to forgive her, but Alan was angry and bitterly embarrassed.
‘You are a disgrace to my family,’ Alan shouted.
‘You disgust me. I don’t even want to see you. How can I stand up in front of everyone in town…and in church? What will I tell them if they ask me who the father of this child is?’
Those words hurt Vanessa like daggers. She realised that she would never regain her father’s trust, nor would she be able to lead a normal life in this town, because people were already gossiping about her.
‘…So I made a heartbreaking decision. I kissed my beautiful baby one last time before giving him up for adoption and leaving town,’ Vanessa finished her story with tears in her eyes.
‘Six months later I happened to meet you at an art show in the new town I moved to, Richard. You know everything that happened after that!’
‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth?’ asked Richard, feeling shocked. ‘We could have taken Simon to our house and raised him. Our son was out there…and you kept it a secret all these years? How could you, Vanessa? Is that why you never wanted children?’
‘I wanted to confess everything when we resumed our relationship. I went to the shelter…’ replied Vanessa disappointedly. ‘But it was too late. One family had already adopted him and taken him abroad. I couldn’t bring myself to have another child.’
Richard was stunned at the way events were unfolding. ‘And how did you find us, Simon?’
‘My father told me I was adopted before he died,’ Simon replied. ‘He gave me information about my birth mother. I later checked the records at the orphanage. I have been searching for my mum for over six months. Two days ago, I met her for the first time!’
‘Well… never thought that at 75 years old I would teach my 53-year-old son his first lesson!’ said Richard. ‘I hope you know now that it’s better to be truthful…and give people a second chance! That goes for your mother as well as me!’