Kate embraced her husband, whom she hadn't seen in over six months. Finally, he was back from the long-haul construction stint where he'd been earning the money for the very apartment they now lived in.
This large, spacious two-bedroom place had been their dream. At first, they had rented it, but then the landlords offered to sell the home they had grown to love, and Mark agreed. They worked out a payment schedule, and Mark headed north, sending money back to Kate while she managed the budget.
For nearly five years, Kate and Mark had seen each other only rarely, but this last stretch had been the longest. Now he was back, promising he would never leave his wife again.
Kate watched with delight as her husband devoured everything she had cooked, listening as she caught him up on all the news from home.
"Mark, you've lost so much weight!"
"Yeah, well, eating wasn't exactly a priority. This last project was the toughest one yet, and the weather was just miserable. I saw a crane get twisted like a toothpick in a gale and tossed aside, can you imagine?"
"Oh my god! What about the operator?"
"He wasn't in it. He'd been delayed by half an hour. Otherwise, that would've been it—lights out. The foreman says he must have a guardian angel."
Mark pushed away his empty plate, then took his wife's hand and pulled her toward him.
"I missed you so much, honey..."
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Mark grimaced with annoyance.
"Who the hell is that? Did you tell someone I was coming home today?"
"Of course! How could I keep news like that to myself?"
Mark gave her a playful swat. "Well, go on then, answer it. Though I was hoping for something else..."
She giggled and headed for the door. "There's plenty of time for that..."
Mark stood up and poured himself some tea, listening for voices in the hallway, but there was only silence. Kate didn't come back either. Puzzled, Mark peeked out of the kitchen and saw his wife standing as if frozen, staring down at the floor. He walked over and looked down too: sitting before them was a baby carrier, and inside, a masked infant was fast asleep.
"Wha—what is th-this?" Mark stammered.
"It's not a 'what,' it's a 'who'!" Kate said, turning to him.
She picked up the carrier, brought it into the living room, and carefully set it on the sofa. Mark stepped closer and pulled out a slip of paper that read:
This is your son, Jack. Raise him.
"Don't you have something you want to explain to me?" Kate turned on him. "Who is his mother? And how did she know where we live? Did you bring her here?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "So, you talked me out of having kids, but on the side—you just do whatever you want, right?"
"Are you out of your mind? This can't be my kid! I haven't even been here in forever!"
"You were here, Mark. You were. The timing adds up perfectly. Or maybe you brought him back with you from up there!"
"Kate, you're talking nonsense! There hasn't been anyone but you!"
"Oh, sure! I totally believe you!"
Woken by the raised voices, the baby opened his eyes and suddenly burst into tears. Kate clutched her head and ran out of the room. The baby cried and cried—five, ten, fifteen minutes. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and came back out. Mark was changing his clothes.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm taking him to the police station. Let them deal with it."
"No! You want to throw away your son just so you can suffer for the rest of your life? This baby didn't do anything wrong! Give him here!"
She took the carrier from his hands, lifted the infant into her arms, and pressed him to her chest. Then she handed Mark a notepad and a pen.
"Write this down: size one diapers, formula—get a few different brands—two bottles..." Kate rattled off a whole list. Once Mark left, she broke down, sobbing in frustration and despair.
What was she supposed to do now? Kate called her friend and told her everything. Sarah listened and then practically shouted:
"Are you crazy? Mark was right to give him up! Why are you putting this noose around your neck? So what if your husband slipped up? It happens to the best of them. We aren't living among saints. What if he didn't have just one woman, but five? Is every one of them going to drop a 'gift' on your doorstep? I mean, do what you want... but if I were you, I'd have my own kid with him. Let the birth mother raise this one!"
"Sarah, don't you see? Mark would be a traitor if he abandoned his own son."
"Oh, please, spare me the cheap drama! What if the kid is sick? Did you think about that? Do you want to be tied down forever?"
"No, he looks healthy..."
"Oh, really? Do you have X-ray vision? God, why is he screaming like that?"
"He's hungry..."
"Kate, think! You're nearly thirty, not some brainless teenager! Why do you want someone else's child?"
"Sarah, what if I can't have my own? Why haven't I ever been able to get pregnant? I never actually took the pills—I lied to Mark, let him think I was on birth control. And it still never happened..." Kate heard the sound of the lock clicking. "That's it, Sarah, Mark's home..."
"Kate... Kate... wait—" Sarah hurried to say, but the line had already gone dead.
***
All evening, Kate didn't leave the baby's side. She fed him, bathed him, and tucked him in, while Mark sat in front of the TV, staring blankly at the screen.
No, he hadn't had an affair. Not even up there, at the site. Not with Olivia...
Olivia worked in the camp mess hall. She was five years younger than Mark, but she had already tasted the bitterness of life. Olivia had grown up in the foster system after being taken from her alcoholic parents at age five.
A bruised, malnourished little girl, she had been afraid of people for a long time and couldn't stand to be touched. When she grew up, she fell in love with a guy from the drilling rig and married him, but they hadn't been married six months when his truck went through the ice.
He didn't make it out. Olivia was three months pregnant when she heard the news. It took several men to pull her away from the hole in the ice where her husband had drowned.
She couldn't survive the grief and lost the baby. Since then, the quiet, statuesque beauty had caught the eye of many men, but no one dared to harass or disrespect her. Olivia was respected for her modesty and her kind nature. The hardened workers treated her like a sister and kept the rowdy newcomers in line.
Mark didn't even know why she had chosen him. Just before he left, she had come up to him, looked into his eyes, and said:
"I know you have a wife. And I'm not asking for anything. I only have one request—I want a child, and I want it to be yours. You look so much like my husband."
Mark had hugged her, looked into her eyes, and told her he couldn't do that. Then he said goodbye and left, thinking it was forever. Olivia hadn't tried to hold him back, hadn't begged him to stay, and hadn't made any demands. Yet he had still walked away with a heavy heart and the feeling that he had failed her. And now, this child...
Kate interrupted Mark's thoughts, coming over to sit beside him. They sat in silence for a moment.
"Mark," Kate began, "I have to confess something..."
Kate wanted to tell him that she had never taken the birth control, that she simply hadn't been able to get pregnant despite wanting it so badly, and that she wasn't angry at him about this baby and would raise him as her own. But Mark took it the wrong way and jumped up as if he'd been stung.
"Yours? This kid is yours? You had him while I was gone, didn't you? And now you put on this whole performance? You... you..."
"Mark! Mark! No, that's not what I meant!" Kate protested in despair, but Mark grabbed his bag—the one he hadn't even unpacked—and slammed the door as he walked out of the apartment.
Jack, woken by the noise, started crying again. A stunned Kate instinctively picked him up to soothe him. Then she sobbed for a long time, unable to understand what she had done wrong.
***
Time passed slowly. Kate tried to call her husband many times, but he had changed his number. After six months of trying, she stopped calling. Jack grew quickly and brought Kate immense joy; he was a strong, healthy boy and had already started babbling, trying to say his first words. Kate laughed and kissed her adopted son, having accepted her lot in life.
One evening, there was a ring at the door. Kate opened it to find a tall man in his mid-thirties standing on the porch.
"Hello," he said. "My name is Michael. Could we talk? May I ask your name?"
"Yes, come in. I'm Kate."
"Kate," he began, looking embarrassed, "you've been raising my son for almost a year now..."
Kate's mouth dropped open, and she felt a lump in her throat, but he continued:
"You see, I met a woman named Lauren at a club; she's a dancer. Everything happened so fast... She's very flighty. Anyway, I found out she was pregnant and I proposed, but she'd disappear every night... I'd look for her, bring her back, but it was no use. Then one day I caught her with someone else. We had a huge fight, and she told me she'd had an abortion. This morning, I ran into her by chance, and she started blackmailing me for money. I didn't know what she was talking about, but Lauren mentioned a baby she'd left for me. She threatened to take him away. I asked her to show me where she'd left him, and Lauren brought me to your door—she'd gone to the wrong building. I rang your bell earlier, but no one answered, so I asked the neighbors. They told me you live alone with a one-year-old son, Jack."
Kate stood up.
"Jack is sleeping. Come this way..." She believed Michael instantly, her hands trembling as she wrung her fingers.
A stupid mistake had destroyed her marriage, and now this man was going to take the little boy she had grown to love with all her heart. Michael looked at his son, and Kate could see the resemblance; they were two peas in a pod.
"Are you going to take him?"
"Well, no, not right away. You see, I didn't even know he existed, and now I have no idea what to do. Could I come by for a few days, so he can get used to me, and I can... get used to him?"
"Of course... come on, let's have some tea."
***
A month later, Michael picked up Jack, said goodbye to Kate, and left. She was left alone in a deafeningly empty apartment.
She thought about it for several days, then finally bought a ticket to find Mark—to find him, tell him everything, and explain.
Eventually, she tracked down her husband's address and headed there. Suddenly, she saw him and stopped dead: Mark was walking with a woman who was in the final months of pregnancy. They were laughing and were clearly happy.
Kate watched them for a long time, then took a few steps to catch up, but stopped. Twenty minutes later, she was in a taxi heading for the airport. The boarding call had already been made when someone grabbed Kate's hand: it was Mark.
"You..." she said, brushing away a stray tear. "I saw you near my house. Why did you come, Kate?"
"To tell you the truth. Jack was left at our door by mistake. His parents were found."
"Kate... I'm sorry... I can't come back. You see, I've fallen in love with someone else... Olivia is a good person, and we're having a son soon... I'm sorry."
"I didn't come to get you back, Mark. I just wanted you to know the truth. That's all. I hope you're happy."
They parted ways, never to see each other again. A new life awaited each of them. On the very first evening after her return, Kate heard the doorbell. Michael was standing on the doorstep, holding Jack.
"Mama!" the toddler reached out his arms, and she swept him up, covering his rosy cheeks with kisses.
"Kate, Jack can't live without you," Michael said, adding softly, "And I can't live without you either."
***
A month passed. Kate was setting the table for dinner for her favorite men when she suddenly felt dizzy and weak. Michael caught her just in time, but she pulled away and, covering her mouth, rushed to the bathroom.
Michael was worried, but Kate emerged, her face freshly washed, unable to hold back tears of joy: she was pregnant. The doubts she'd had for the last few days had now turned into certainty.
"Michael, I think we're going to have another baby," she whispered.
"I love you so much, honey," Michael said, pulling her into an embrace. "I love you more than anything."
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