After five years of trying for a baby, I finally saw two pink lines. But after so many heartbreaks, I didn’t tell Ronald—I needed confirmation first. At my ultrasound, the doctor pointed to the tiny heartbeat. It was real. I was pregnant.
But as I walked out, my joy turned to ice.
Down the hall, I saw him. Ronald. Hugging a pregnant woman, his hands resting on her belly. It wasn’t just a casual hug—they looked…intimate.
I ducked behind a vending machine, my pulse pounding. Who was she? What the hell was he doing here? I had to know.
So, gripping my purse and swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I did something I never thought I’d do.
I called to order an Uber as I followed them down the hall. I was determined to find out where they were going.
In the parking lot, Ronald helped the woman into his car with such gentleness. My Uber arrived, I slipped into the backseat.
“Follow that blue sedan,” I told the driver. “Please.”
The driver nodded, and we set off.
Ronald pulled into the driveway of a small, unfamiliar house.
“Stop here,” I told the driver. “I can walk from this point.”
I watched Ronald help the woman out of the car. The gesture was so intimate, so familiar, it made my chest ache.
Taking a deep breath, I marched up the driveway.
The door swung open, and there stood Ronald, his face draining of color.
“Carol?” His voice cracked. “What are you doing here?”
“I think that’s my line,” I said, pushing past him into the house.
The pregnant woman stood in the living room. She was young, maybe early twenties, with clear skin and bright eyes that widened when she saw me.
“I just came from my ultrasound appointment,” I announced. “You know, because I’m pregnant, too.”
Ronald’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. The young woman did something completely unexpected.
She laughed. “You’re Carol!?”
She crossed the room and pulled me into a hug. I stood there, stiff, my mind unable to compute this reaction.
“What on earth are you doing?” I demanded.
Ronald rubbed a hand over his face, “Carol, please. Let me explain.”
“You’re pregnant?” the young woman asked.
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I nodded, still completely lost in this bizarre situation.
“That’s amazing!” she exclaimed. “That means our kids will grow up together like real siblings!”
My breath caught in my throat. “What?”
“Not siblings, but still family.” Ronald’s voice was thick with emotion when he spoke. “She’s my daughter, Carol.”
I looked at the young woman again.
“I’m Anna,” she said softly, reaching for my hand.
“I never told you because I didn’t know until recently,” Ronald explained, moving closer to us.
His shoulders were tense, but his eyes held a mixture of relief and fear. “Anna’s mother and I dated before I met you. She never told me she was pregnant.”
Anna’s voice was gentle when she added, “Mom passed away a few months ago. Breast cancer.” She swallowed hard. “I found Dad’s name on my birth certificate while going through her things. I didn’t have anyone else.”
“So all those times you said you were working late…” I started, remembering the missed dinners and the distracted phone calls.
“I was trying to build a relationship with my daughter,” Ronald finished. “And now I’m about to become a grandfather. And a father.” He laughed, but it sounded more like a sob.
I sank onto the nearest chair, my legs suddenly weak. “I thought… I was so sure…”
“That he was having an affair?” Anna asked. Her presence was oddly comforting now. “God, no. He talks about you constantly. Carol this, Carol that. It’s actually kind of annoying, considering that I’ve been nagging him about meeting you for ages.”
A laugh bubbled up from my chest, surprising even me. Tears were rolling down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Ronald said later, as we sat around Anna’s kitchen table drinking chamomile tea. She’d insisted it was better for both our babies than coffee. “I was trying to figure out how to introduce you two. I wanted to do it right.”
“Following you in an Uber probably wasn’t the right way either,” I admitted, warming my hands on the mug.
“Are you kidding?” Anna grinned. “This is the best story ever. Wait until I tell my baby about how his grandmother thought his grandfather was cheating, but actually just found out she was going to be a grandmother herself.”
“Grandmother?” I repeated, the word feeling foreign on my tongue. “I hadn’t even thought about that part yet.” The idea made me feel simultaneously ancient and oddly excited.
“Better get used to it,” Ronald said, reaching for my hand across the table.
His wedding ring caught the light from Anna’s kitchen window. “In two months, you’ll be a stepmother and a grandmother. And in seven months, you’ll be a mother too.”
“So,” Anna said, breaking into my thoughts, “do you want to go shopping for baby stuff together? We must get at least one set of matching onesies for the babies! I found this amazing little boutique downtown that has the cutest things.”
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