I didn’t expect to find a positive pregnancy test in a package intended for my father. And I definitely didn’t expect the romantic note signed with a mocking “love.” Was my father cheating on my mother? Was he going to have a child behind our backs?
I’d always believed my parents had the perfect marriage. They laughed at the same silly jokes, danced in the kitchen when they thought no one was looking, and never missed a chance to remind me how much they loved each other.
But what about now? Now I didn’t know what to believe.
A united couple | Source: Midjourney
I moved out of my parents’ house when I was eighteen, eager to pursue my independence in the city.
My apartment was tiny. It had just enough space for me, a sunken couch, and a kitchen that barely fit two people. But it was mine, and I was proud of it.
Between work and school, I barely had time to breathe, let alone visit my parents in the suburbs. We kept in touch, of course. But I hadn’t seen them for months.
So when my phone rang that afternoon and I saw my father’s name, I smiled and answered immediately.
A woman using her phone | Source: Pexels
“Hello, stranger,” I joked.
“Hi, kiddo,” he said affectionately. “Guess what? I’m going into town for work tomorrow.”
“What? I don’t believe it!” I jumped up from the couch. “That’s incredible! Where are you staying?”
“In a hotel downtown. Just for a couple of nights.”
“Well, I’ll definitely come see you. No arguments.”
He chuckled. “Don’t even think about it.”
I hung up, buzzing with excitement.
My father and I had always been very close. He was the one who taught me how to drive, the one who never missed a single one of my school plays, and the one who made the best pancakes on Saturday mornings.
I couldn’t wait to see it.
A young woman standing in her room | Source: Midjourney
The next afternoon, I arrived at his hotel, practically skipping across the lobby. When he opened the door, I hugged him.
“Dad!” I squealed.
“Hey, kiddo,” he laughed, squeezing me tightly. “Wow, you look great.”
“You too,” I said, taking a step back to look at him. He looked the same, but his hair was grayer and longer than the last time I saw him.
And her smile? It hadn’t changed.
We sat in his hotel room and caught up as if no time had passed.
A man sitting in a hotel room | Source: Midjourney
He asked me about my studies, my work, and if I was eating enough.
Meanwhile, I asked him about Mom, the house, and our dog, Buster. Everything about our meeting seemed normal. I felt safe and super happy.
That was until there was a knock at the door.
Dad was in the bathroom when I heard it.
“Can you take it for me?” he called out. “It must be the messenger.”
I stood up and opened the door to a delivery man holding a small brown package. I signed it and read the label.
A brown package | Source: Midjourney
“Do you want me to open it?” I asked.
“Sure, it’s probably something from work.”
I peeled off the tape, hoping for documents or maybe a replacement part for something.
Instead, I found something I never would have imagined.
A positive pregnancy test.
With it was a printed note that read: “Congratulations, darling! See you at the Café *** at 7 p.m.
My head was spinning as I looked at the note and then the pregnancy test.
This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
A young woman reading a note | Source: Midjourney
I looked at the note again, trying to make sense of it all.
Was my father having an affair? Was my devoted and loving father cheating on my mother? With a pregnant mistress?
Bile rose in my throat. I felt sick.
My hands were shaking as I put everything back in the box and sealed it.
At that moment, I could only think of one person. My mother. My beloved mother.
A woman in a black dress | Source: Midjourney
I thought she deserved to know what was going on here. But it wasn’t my place to have that conversation.
Suddenly, my father came out of the bathroom, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“What was it?” he asked, wiping his hands on a towel.
I swallowed, forcing my face to remain neutral. “Uh… just one package. I haven’t opened it.”
He nodded and took it from me without a second thought.
But I wasn’t going to let it go.
I needed to find out what was going on. I needed to see who my dad was dating.
A woman looking out the window | Source: Midjourney
That same afternoon, I put on a jacket and headed to the place mentioned in the note. My heart pounded in my chest as I sat down in a quiet corner.
I looked around the restaurant, trying to see if the woman who had sent the note to my father was already there.
Is that her? I thought as I looked at a blonde woman sitting alone. She looked to be about forty.
A woman sitting in a cafe | Source: Pexels
But then my suspicions disappeared when a man came and sat next to her.
When I looked away, my gaze fell on a familiar face coming through the door. It was my father.
He had arrived exactly at seven o’clock at night.
He didn’t sneak in, or look over his shoulder like a guilty man. No. He walked in as if he had nothing to hide, standing tall and scanning the room.
And then, I saw it.
A bouquet of roses in hand.
A bouquet of roses | Source: Pexels
I clenched my fists under the table, my pulse pounding in my ears. Roses? Really? Was he about to give them to his pregnant lover?
My heart pounded against my ribs as I clutched my coffee cup. I’d prepared for the worst, but seeing it happen in real time was something else entirely.
I ducked my head and lifted my hood slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. I needed to see who he was meeting.
Minutes passed. Tension settled in my chest.
Then the door rang and someone came in.
A person holding a doorknob | Source: Pexels
I held my breath as I watched a woman walk in.
I knew her.
And he was the last person I expected to see.
It was my mother.
I blinked hard, sure I was imagining things. But no. It was her. She was standing in the doorway, her eyes scanning the room until she saw him.
He exclaimed, putting his hands to his mouth.
What was going on?
A woman standing in a restaurant | Source: Midjourney
My father stood up, his face lighting up like a child’s on Christmas morning. In three long strides, he crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.
They laughed. They kissed. They whispered to each other in hushed, dazed voices, completely oblivious to the stunned woman (read: me) staring at them from across the cafeteria.
Then, when she pulled away, my father leaned down slightly and placed a reverent kiss on her stomach.
My jaw almost hit the table.
That’s when I saw it.
The slight swelling under my mother’s dress.
I was pregnant.
Close-up of a woman’s eyes | Source: Midjourney
I grabbed my phone with trembling fingers, instinct taking over. I hit record and began capturing the beautiful moment.
It was hilarious how I’d spent the entire day convinced my father was a cheating liar. And now I found out he was nothing more than a besotted, madly in love husband.
Later that night, I sat in my apartment and watched the video over and over again. I felt so relieved.
A woman looking at her phone | Source: Pexels
My parents had been together for twenty years, yet they still looked at each other as if they were falling in love for the first time. I’d spent hours agonizing over the worst-case scenario, only to realize I was so, so wrong.
And now they were going to have another baby.
A baby.
I shook my head and let out a breathless laugh. “Amazing.”
For so long, it had just been the three of us. Me, his only daughter, the center of his world.
And now, at forty-two, my mother was starting over? I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.
A pregnant woman | Source: Pexels
I played the video again, watching my dad press a kiss to my mom’s stomach, their whispered laughter, the look of pure love between them.
It was too good not to share.
***
Six months later, at my mom’s baby shower, I stood in front of a room full of family and friends and picked up the phone.
“I have a story to tell,” I announced, my eyes shining, as I looked at my parents, who were sitting side by side, my father’s hand resting on my mother’s now very round belly.
Baby shower cupcakes | Source: Pexels
They looked at me confused.
I hit the play button.
On the screen, the short video clip came to life. It showed my father leaning down, pressing a kiss to my mother’s belly, her delighted laughter, and the soft whispers that only they could hear.
The room filled with sentimental sighs and warm smiles.
So when the video ended, I took a deep breath and told everyone the full story of how I had found the package, thought the worst, and then practically stalked my own father.
A young woman looking ahead | Source: Midjourney
By the time I finished, my father was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. My mother playfully slapped me on the arm, shaking her head.
“Amelia!” she scolded, even though she was smiling. “Did you really think your father was cheating on me?”
“I panicked!” I defended myself. “It’s not every day you find a pregnancy test in a package addressed to your father!”
The room erupted in laughter as my father wiped his eyes, still laughing.
“Well, that’s one way to get your heart rate up,” he said.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
I looked around at the faces of the people who had shaped my life: my parents, my soon-to-be-born little brother, and a room filled with love and laughter.
That’s when I knew this was a story we would be telling for years to come.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to real events is purely coincidental and not the author’s intention.
The author and publisher do not guarantee the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters, and are not responsible for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and the opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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