After an elderly woman witnessed her son kick his pregnant daughter out, she revealed her biggest secret ― something she had kept from her son for decades. “Why didn’t you tell this to me before, Ma?” the man asked his mother as feelings of regret crept into his heart.
“What am I going to do now?” Stephanie thought to herself as tears trickled down her cheeks and her heart pounded. She was sitting on her bed with a positive pregnancy test strip hanging between her thumb and index finger.
While all sorts of thoughts ran through her mind, Stephanie cried silently, trying her best not to attract her father or grandmother’s attention. Suddenly, her bedroom door opened, and her father, Frank, emerged.
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“Come on, Stephanie,” Frank said. “Ma and I are waiting for you at the dinner table.” Instead of looking at her father, Stephanie turned around and slid the pregnancy test beneath her pillow. Then, she quickly dried her tears with her fingers before facing Frank.
“I’ll be down in a minute, Dad.” Stephanie smiled at her father, who wasn’t pleased with her attempts to hide the truth. “Is something bothering you, Stephanie?” Frank asked.
“Oh, no. I can’t tell him anything,” Stephanie thought to herself as she forced a smile. “Nothing, Dad. What makes you think so?” she lied.
“I can clearly see you were crying right before I entered your room,” Frank replied as he walked towards Stephanie’s bed. He looked into her eyes which had turned a shade of pink because of crying. “Come on. You know you can trust me, right?” Frank patted her back.
“Well, if that’s what you think, then you aren’t living under my roof!” Frank shouted. “Pack your bags and get out!”
Stephanie took a deep breath before she opened her mouth to tell another lie. “I can, Dad. But there’s really nothing to say. I was just thinking about Mom and missing her.” Just then, Frank’s eyes locked onto Stephanie’s pillow, and he reached to pick it up.
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“No, Dad!” Stephanie said in a fading voice right before Frank lifted the pillow. His forehead creased as he picked up the pregnancy test. “You’re pregnant?” he asked.
“Yes, Dad, but―” Stephanie tried explaining, but Frank refused to listen.
“What were you thinking? Are you out of your mind?” Frank threw the pregnancy test on the floor and rubbed his forehead.
Stephanie began crying uncontrollably before Frank advised her to get rid of the baby. “Listen, Stephanie. We don’t know who the father is, so just let’s abort this baby. You’re too young to raise a child, my love,” Frank said calmly.
“What?” Stephanie said while wiping her tears with her sleeve. “No, Dad. I can’t do that to my baby.”
“Then what? Are you thinking about raising a child?”
“Yes. It’s my baby. I’ll love him and provide him with everything he needs.”
“Well, if that’s what you think, then you aren’t living under my roof!” Frank shouted. “Pack your bags and get out!”
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As Frank stomped out of Stephanie’s room, she couldn’t help but cry. Since she didn’t have any friends or family in town, she didn’t know where she would live after leaving her father’s place.
However, Frank had left her with no option except to leave. After a few seconds of blankness, Stephanie got up and dumped her clothes in a bag. She kept everything she needed and walked down the stairs quietly so she didn’t have to face her grandmother, Margaret.
As Stephanie quickly walked out of the front door with her bag, Margaret sensed something was not right. She was sitting at the dinner table with Frank.
“Where is Stephanie going at this hour?” Margaret asked her son. “I thought you had invited her to have dinner with us.”
“She won’t return, Ma,” Frank replied.
“What do you mean she won’t return?”
“I kicked her out.”
“But why?”
After learning what had happened, Margaret began thinking about her similar past. There was something about her past that she had kept hidden from Frank, but she believed it was finally the right time to reveal her secret.
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“Son, I need to tell you something,” Margaret said sternly after finishing her meal.
“Sure, Ma. Go ahead,” Frank replied.
What Frank heard next was something he had never expected. “Did you know that the man you called your Dad wasn’t your biological father?” Margaret asked.
“What are you saying, Ma?” Frank looked into his mother’s eyes as his eyebrows came together.
“That’s right, Frank. You were born before we got married,” she revealed while fiddling with her fork. Then, Margaret narrated her secret to Frank.
She revealed that she had gotten pregnant in her early twenties, but her boyfriend had refused to take responsibility and had abandoned her on the streets when her due date neared.
After spending a few days as a homeless woman, she had gone into labor on the street as passersby watched her scream in pain. Soon, a kind man had called 911, and the paramedics had arrived.
“They helped me give birth and took me to a shelter where I could care for you,” Margaret recalled.
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While Margaret was in the shelter home, one of the paramedics continued to visit her frequently to see how she and her baby were doing. At that time, she had no idea that she would marry him a few months later.
“That paramedic was the man you know as your father, Frank,” Margaret said. “After we married, we decided to hide the truth from you.”
Frank couldn’t believe what his mother had just told him. “Ma, you should have told me this before,” he said, getting up from his seat.
“I never felt the need to tell you about it, son, until I saw Stephanie leave today,” Margaret said. “You shouldn’t have asked her to abort the baby. If I had done the same, you wouldn’t be here.”
“You’re right, Ma,” Frank said, reflecting with heavy regret before putting on his jacket. “I’ll go get her back.”
Frank left the house and began searching for his daughter on the streets. Soon, he reached the neighborhood park and thought to look for her inside.
