And Daniel? He was smiling. The girl’s hand rested lightly on his as he listened to her.
My legs felt like lead as I walked towards them. Every step was like walking on quicksand, and my chest tightened with every breath.
‘So this is your “work meeting”?’ I hissed.
Daniel looked up, his eyes widening. ‘Caroline!’ he said, standing halfway up. ‘What… what are you doing here? How did you… ? WELL, I’M SO GLAD YOU CAME!’
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‘And you?’ I asked, folding my arms.
‘Please,’ he said quickly, pulling out an empty chair. ‘Sit down. I can explain everything.’
I glanced at the two women. The younger girl looked confused, but the older one? She looked annoyed, as if I had just broken something important.
‘Who is she?’ demanded the older woman, narrowing her eyes at Daniel. ‘You didn’t say anyone else was coming.’
‘This is my wife, Caroline. I didn’t know she was coming,’ Daniel admitted, his voice tense. ‘Caroline, please sit down.’
I sat down, keeping my eyes on Daniel. ‘Start explaining.’
Daniel took a deep breath. ‘It’s… complicated. Caroline, this is my daughter, Sophie. And this is her mother, Lisa.’
His words made no sense. ‘Your daughter?’ I repeated.
My head literally began to spin. I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself as Daniel nodded, tears slowly welling up in his eyes.
‘Daughter?’ I whispered. ‘All these years… all these years we’ve been together, and you never once mentioned…’
‘Because I didn’t know!’ Daniel’s voice broke. ‘Caroline, look at me. I swear on our boys’ lives, I didn’t know about this until a few weeks ago.’
‘A few weeks?’
‘Yes,’ he said, leaning forward. ‘She’s eighteen. I didn’t know about her until a few weeks ago. Lisa and I dated in high school. We broke up, and… I had no idea she was pregnant when we broke up. She raised our child… alone.’
I turned to Lisa, who sat motionless in her chair. ‘You knew about this for 18 years, but you never thought to tell him?’
Lisa’s expression hardened. ‘We didn’t part on the best of terms. And, to be honest, I didn’t think he’d care.’
‘You didn’t think he’d care?’ I snapped. ‘Then why now? Why did you decide to contact him?’
Sophie spoke for the first time, her voice thin. ‘Mum always said he abandoned us…’
‘That’s not true,’ Daniel said firmly, his eyes shining. ‘Sophie, I would never have abandoned you. Never.’
Lisa’s face reddened. ‘Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? We’re here because Sophie is pregnant.’
I blinked in shock. ‘She’s pregnant?’
Lisa nodded. ‘And I don’t want her to make the same mistakes I did. The man has to take responsibility, and as Sophie’s father, Daniel has to help us… financially.’
My jaw clenched as I turned to Daniel. ‘Financially? Didn’t you think to discuss this with me first?’
‘Caroline,’ Daniel began, ‘I was going to tell you…’
‘When?’ I interrupted him. ‘Before or after you handed them the cheque?’
Sophie burst into tears. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘I didn’t want any of this. Mum insisted…’
Lisa crossed her arms and looked at me. ‘This is none of your business. It’s between my daughter and her father.’
‘None of my business?’ I laughed bitterly. ‘It’s absolutely my business. If Daniel is going to support you financially, it will be from OUR budget. The budget that feeds our children, pays for their schooling and their future.’
‘Your children?’ Lisa sneered. ‘Sophie is his flesh and blood too!’
‘Stop it!’ Sophie shouted. ‘Just stop it! I can’t take this anymore!’ She pushed away from the table, her chair scraping loudly across the floor.
‘Sophie, wait…’ Daniel reached out to her, but she pulled away.
‘I never wanted the money,’ she said, tears streaming down her face. ‘I just… I just wanted to know my father. To know if he would have wanted me if he had known.’
Daniel’s face contorted. ‘Of course I would have wanted you. Sophie, please…’
I watched the scene unfold, but something bothered me. Sophie’s outbursts seemed… rehearsed. Like a performance designed to tug at our heartstrings.
Years of teaching drama to fifth graders had taught me to distinguish between genuine emotion and acting. And something about this didn’t feel right.
I turned to Daniel, my voice low and steady. ‘If you’re going to help them, fine. But we need proof. A DNA test to confirm she’s your daughter, and a medical certificate confirming the pregnancy. Until then, we’re not agreeing to anything.’
Lisa’s face flushed. ‘How dare you doubt us?’
‘Because this concerns my family too,’ I said firmly. ‘If you’re telling the truth, you shouldn’t have any problem providing proof.’
The meeting ended awkwardly. Lisa left, dragging Sophie with her, while Daniel remained seated, his head in his hands.
‘Caroline,’ he said softly, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hide this from you. I just… I didn’t know how to handle it when Lisa and Sophie wrote to me. Lisa said she got my number from one of my college friends.”