Nancy’s life is turned upside down at her husband’s funeral when she encounters an elderly woman holding an infant. The woman claims that the baby she is holding is the child of Nancy’s late husband. Is she lying? Or are even more shocking revelations awaiting Nancy?
Nancy stared at the last traces of her husband’s funeral ceremony. She couldn’t believe Patrick was gone. He had died in a car accident. It had been a week, but she still felt his presence. How could he be dead?
With a heavy heart, she headed for the cemetery exit, telling herself that she needed to start sorting out her life.
Suddenly her path was blocked by an elderly woman with an infant in her arms.
‘Are you Nancy?’ – The woman asked as the baby in her arms cried.
Nancy didn’t recognise her. Who was she?
‘Yes, I am. Who are you?’ – Nancy replied.
Nancy’s heart was not ready when the woman, named Amanda, informed her that the infant in her arms was Patrick’s baby.
‘Only you can take care of this child now,’ she told Nancy. ‘Her mother can’t provide for her.’
A chill ran down Nancy’s back. She looked at the infant and stepped back.
‘No, that’s impossible! Patrick was a loving husband. He would never do that to me!’
Nancy turned and walked away. She had never doubted Patrick.
‘Watch out!’
Nancy ran into one of Patrick’s old friends, Mike. She was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice where she was going.
Mike struck up a conversation with her, expressing his condolences. Nancy didn’t want to socialise with anyone, but she had to be polite. She ended the conversation as quickly as she could and headed to her car.
Thoughts of the infant came back to her, but she pushed them away. However, when Nancy opened the car door, she was shocked. The same infant was lying in the back seat crying.
Nancy looked around. Amanda was nowhere to be seen. ‘How did that baby end up here?’ – she thought.
It was cold, and Nancy took off her jacket to wrap it around the baby.
But she froze when she noticed a mole on the baby’s neck. ‘It can’t be,’ she muttered to herself.
The mole was exactly like Patrick’s. Nancy didn’t want to suspect her late husband of cheating. But now she needed the truth. She needed to know if Patrick had cheated on her.
Nancy went home with the baby, took Patrick’s hair from his comb and went to the hospital.
‘Hello, I’d like to do a paternity test,’ she told the receptionist.
‘Very well, madam. Usually the results are ready in a few days,’ the woman replied.
‘Can it be done sooner?’ – Nancy asked. ‘I’ll pay more.’
‘We have an expedited service. Let me see what I can do. But it will cost more.’
‘I’ll take it,’ Nancy replied. She turned in Patrick’s samples and paid for the test.
Sitting in the corridor waiting for the results, the infant began to cry. Nancy sniffed the baby’s clothes. The nappy didn’t need changing.
Nancy surmised that she must be hungry. There wasn’t much time before the results were ready, so she went to the supermarket and bought baby food, bottles and some nappies – just in case.
She went back to the corridor and sat there feeding the baby. After an eternity had passed, the nurse came up to her with the results.
The woman handed her an envelope and left.
‘It’s the truth and I’m going to have to accept it whether I like it or not,’ Nancy thought as she opened the results.
Her head spun as she read the words, ‘99% probability of paternity.’
Nancy looked at the sleeping baby in her arms and held back tears. Patrick was cheating on her and keeping her in the dark.
Nancy decided that she would not live with the evidence of his cheating. She would find the baby’s mother and get her baby back.
After recovering, Nancy drove home and began going through Patrick’s things. But she found nothing that could point to his mistress. She then went to his office, checking drawers, files and cupboards. But nothing.
Nancy sighed. The baby was asleep in the living room. She picked up the baby monitor and headed for Patrick’s car. She checked the places under the seat, in the glove compartment, and every nook and cranny of the car. But found nothing significant.
Nancy lowered herself into the driver’s seat when her gaze fell on the GPS. And then it hit her. Patrick was terrible with landmarks and always used a sat nav. If he ever visited his mistress’s house, her address would be there.
Nancy turned to the list of her latest destinations. The list wasn’t long, mostly familiar places: local restaurants, a building materials shop, and Patrick’s office. But then one place caught her eye – it appeared more often than the others, and she didn’t recognise it.
‘This is it,’ she thought. She took the baby with her and drove to that address.
Arriving at the place, Nancy found herself in front of a modest house. She took the baby in her arms, went to the door and knocked.
‘Hello? Is anyone home?’ – she asked.
After the tenth knock, when no one answered the door, Nancy concluded that the house was empty. She looked around and decided to approach the neighbours. She started at the house next door and rang the bell.
The door opened with a creak and Nancy’s eyes widened when Amanda stepped out from behind it.
‘You?’ – Nancy asked.
‘How…how…how did you find me?’ – Amanda stammered.
‘I was trying to find…my husband…’ – Nancy fell silent. ‘His other woman. I wanted to give her back her baby.’
A strange sadness flashed across Amanda’s face. ‘The woman who lived next door…died a few days ago. She had a heart attack when she found out about your accident. Emma is no longer alive.’
‘Wait…did you say Emma?’ – Nancy asked, shocked.
‘Yes,’ Amanda nodded. ‘Did you know her?’
‘Her last name was Warren?’
When Amanda nodded, Nancy lowered her head in embarrassment. ‘May…may I come in?’ – She asked. ‘There’s something I want to tell you about. I feel like I need to talk.’
Amanda opened the door wider, and Nancy entered. They settled into the living room. ‘Emma was a classmate of mine,’ Nancy began to reminisce about the past. ‘She was my friend. But I hurt her, and… Patrick…’
20 years ago…
Nancy and Patrick were standing in the corridor of the school. She was standing next to her locker when Patrick walked up to her.
‘Hi Nancy,’ he said quietly and she looked up at him.
‘I…I have something to tell you,’ Patrick added worriedly.
‘Yeah?’ – she smiled.
‘I…I’m in love with someone else, Nancy,’ he admitted. ‘I know you’ve been very kind and all, but I’m sorry.’
Nancy was stunned. ‘Tell me it’s a joke, Patrick,’ she shouted. ‘You can’t be serious!’
But Patrick was serious. He was madly in love with Emma, and Emma loved him too.
Nancy was so saddened that she came home in tears.
‘Honey, what’s wrong?’ – her mother knew right away that something had happened at school.
Nancy sobbed and told her how Patrick had broken up with her.
‘I want to break them up!’ – she screamed. ‘I won’t let them be together!’
‘Nancy, you can’t create your own happiness by destroying someone else’s,’ her mother advised. ‘Revenge is not an option. Forget him.’
But Nancy was filled with a desire for revenge.
Over the next few days, Nancy tried everything to keep Patrick and Emma apart – she started silly rumours, arranged random meetings where she showed off her newfound confidence, and even went so far as to send anonymous notes to try to arouse jealousy.
Nothing was helping, however. Emma seemed happy, completely absorbed in her world with Patrick, while Nancy remained aloof, her plans crumbling in vain.
But Nancy wasn’t the type to give up. One night she had a great idea to sow discord between Emma and Patrick.
‘Hi Nancy, how are you?’ – Nancy walked over to Patrick and the door was opened by his mum.
‘I’m fine, Mrs White. Is Patrick home?’
‘Yes, dear. I’ll get him right away.’
Patrick was stunned to see her on the doorstep. ‘Nancy? What’s wrong?’
‘I know this will come as a shock to you, Patrick, but…I…I’m…I’m pregnant!’ – she announced.
Patrick was dumbfounded and horrified. ‘What…but…are you sure?’
When she nodded, Patrick invited her into the house. She told him that she hadn’t told her parents yet because she was afraid. Nancy said her father would definitely object and force her to have an abortion. So she begged Patrick not to tell anyone about it and noticed how easily he succumbed to her lies.
Patrick was a responsible man. Nancy knew that. He took her hands in his and said: ‘I am the baby’s father, and I will take responsibility for our baby. And yes, don’t worry, this will stay between us.’
Present tense…
‘I used him. I lied to him. I wasn’t pregnant,’ Nancy told Amandra. ‘I was hurt and I couldn’t accept that I had lost him to Emma. So I told him a lie that changed everything. He was ready to drop everything, leave Emma and become…a father.’
‘Lies ruin everything, dear,’ Amanda shook her head. ‘And then what? He never found out the truth?’
‘He didn’t find out,’ Nancy admitted. ‘I kept playing the part, the morning sickness, the whole story. But after a couple of months, I…couldn’t go on. So I told him that the test was wrong, and that the doctor was wrong. And by then Emma had…left. She was broken and left town with her parents. Patrick and I stayed together. He never tried to get back to her again, never looked for her. We just got on with our lives. Or pretended to…’ – Nancy added, looking at the sleeping baby in her arms. She knew now that Patrick had gone back to Emma.
‘And I think it’s time to make up for what I couldn’t then,’ Nancy said and stood up.
She was about to leave Amanda’s house with the baby when the older woman stopped her.
‘What are you going to do with the baby?’ – Amanda asked.
Nancy turned and smiled at Amanda. ‘I’m going to raise her as my baby. Maybe that will help me get forgiveness from Patrick and Emma.’
Nancy kept her word. She raised little Katherine with love. When Katherine turned sixteen, Nancy told her her whole story. She expected Katherine to hate her. And she was prepared for that.
But Katherine smiled and said: ‘Nothing changes the way I feel about you, Mum. You raised me. You’ve been there for every bruise, every fever, every heartbreak. You’re my mum in every meaningful way.’
Nancy cried silently and hugged her daughter. Catherine’s words not only eased her heart, but made her believe that Emma and Patrick had forgiven her.
