I blinked, my head spinning. ‘So you took the test? Behind my back?’
Peter stood up, his hands shaking. ‘It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you! I never doubted you,’ he said quickly. ‘But my family couldn’t accept it. They were sure something was wrong. They kept pressuring me. I didn’t know how to stop it.’
‘So what did the test show, Peter?’ I asked, raising my voice. ‘What did he say?’
He swallowed hard, his eyes filling with regret. ‘He said… he said I’m not the father.’
The room seemed to close in around me. ‘What?’ I whispered, struggling to breathe. ‘I never cheated on you! How could this be…’
Peter moved closer, desperately trying to explain. ‘I don’t understand either. I know the child is mine in every sense. But the test… it came back negative. My family didn’t believe me when I said it was positive. I had to confess.’
I pulled away from him, my whole body shaking. ‘And you believed it too? For years? And you didn’t tell me? That can’t be right!’ I cried, feeling the ground slip away from under my feet. ‘We have to take another test! We have to…’
Peter’s face crumpled as he reached for my hands, but I pulled them away. ‘Why can’t you see this?’ he said, looking me in the eyes. ‘Time… We started dating so soon after you broke up with your ex. You must have gotten pregnant without even realising it. The test didn’t change my feelings for you or our son. I didn’t care if he was mine. I wanted to be with you, so I willingly accepted him.’
I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. ‘You should have trusted me,’ I said, my voice trembling. “I had no idea he wasn’t yours. Why would I? We raised him together. You were his father. We could have dealt with this together, Peter, but instead you lied to me. You kept this secret while I lived in ignorance.”
‘I know,’ Peter whispered, his eyes filled with regret. “I was scared. But more than anything, I wanted to have a family with you. My parents wouldn’t allow it, but I didn’t want you to think I doubted you. I never doubted you.”
I took a step back, feeling like I couldn’t breathe. ‘I need some air.’
Peter reached out his hand, but I turned away, stepping out of the kitchen into the cool night. The air hit my face, but it didn’t calm the storm inside me. How could he do this? I thought about our son, about how Peter held him in his arms when he was born, how much he loved him. None of this fit with what he had just told me. I felt betrayed, lost.
I stood there for a few minutes, looking at the stars, trying to piece it all together. As much as I wanted to scream and cry, I knew Peter wasn’t a bad person. He was scared. His family had pushed him into it, and he had made a terrible mistake by hiding it from me. But he had still stayed with me, with our son, all these years. He had lied, but not out of cruelty.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. I had to go back to the house. We couldn’t leave things as they were. Not with our family.
When I returned to the kitchen, Peter was sitting at the table with his face buried in his hands. He looked up when he heard me, his eyes red and swollen.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m so sorry.’
I took a deep breath and nodded. It would take time to heal completely, but I knew we couldn’t throw away everything we had built. We had a family, and despite everything, I still loved him.
‘We’ll get through this,’ I whispered. ‘Together.’