I had just said goodbye to my lunch, into a settling post-lunch lull, when the phone rang. I smiled and picked it up only to have a voice on the other end scramble every ounce of calm that I had just exuded.
“Heather, is everything all right at home?” said my daughter’s teacher Mrs. Thompson.
The impact of her words was a big one. “What’s going on?”
“Well, today we asked the children to draw their families,” she said gently. “Lily drew you, herself, and her big brother, Liam, but when I asked her about her father she did not answer and just went silent.”
I looked across the room and Lily was on the carpet playing with her dolls. She looked so innocent and unaware of the burden she had put on my heart with her sketch.
“Her dad hasn’t been around much lately. Things have been… let’s call them difficult,” I said, trying to maintain my shaky façade.
“I understand,” said Mrs. Thompson quietly. “But Lily seemed very guarded about it. I just felt that you should be aware.”
“Thank you,” I said appreciatively, “I will talk to her.”
Once we had hung up, I sat next to Lily and tried to play it cool. “Lily, sweetheart, why didn’t you draw Daddy today? Did something happen?”
She looked up at me quickly, with wide eyes. “I can’t tell you, Mommy.”
“You can tell me anything,” I said kneeling beside her.
She paused, chewed her bottom lip, and then took my hand. “Okay. I’ll show you!”
Lily led me to the garage, cleared a few ancient crates, and pulled out a dusty scrapbook. “It was behind those boxes,” she said quietly.
Slowly, I opened it, my shaking hands betraying me. The scrapbook was brimming with drawings and old photographs. But one photo made my stomach drop—a man who looked like my husband, David, was standing beside a woman I didn’t recognize, and two children.
“Where did you find this, Lily?” I asked, stunned.
“On that shelf,” she pointed. “I was looking for toys.”
My heart was racing. Did it mean David had a wife and kids?
That same night, my husband came to bed. The scrapbook was open between us. I was not going to sleep until he said something about it. “Explain this,” I said, my voice shaking.
David turned pale. He sat dramatically on the edge of the bed with his hands shaking. “I’m sorry,” he said in a tiny voice. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You have a family?” I dramatically asked, my voice rising in disbelief. “How could you keep this from us?”
“It’s not how you think,” he said shaking his head. “I was married before I met you. There was a terrible accident, my wife and one of the children died. My son—Ethan—lives with his grandmother. I didn’t know how to bring it up.”
I was speechless. “Why didn’t you tell me in the very beginning?”
“I wanted fresh start. I was afraid my past would ruin what we had.”
While sitting there in silence trying to understand the weight of what he just shared, I felt betrayed, but I looked at his eyes knowing he was also in pain.
“You should have trusted me.” I said finally. **“We could have done this together.”**
“I know, I know…” he sobbed. “I’m so sorry….”
In the days after, it was an emotional whirlwind. I couldn’t stop thinking about the scrapbook – or what else there may be hidden. One night, I went back into the attic and started rifling through old boxes.
That’s when I found it: a letter from a law firm, giving a summary of David’s inheritance – a large sum of money, after his first wife’s death – an inheritance that he had never mentioned.
I sat on the floor shaking. Why did you not tell me?
That evening, I put the letter in front of him at the kitchen table, “You hid this from me too?”
David looked down. “I didn’t want it to come in between us. And I thought if I told you it would change everything.”
“Keeping it from me did,” I said quietly. “We can’t build a life based on lies David. Not for us. Not for Lily.”
“I understand,” David said, his voice breaking. “No more lies. I promise.”
Carol called at that moment.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi Heather. This is Eleanor, David’s first wife’s mother. I would like to meet with Lily and Liam. After all, they are Ethan’s siblings,” said a soft far too familiar voice.
I blinked. “Eleanor… why now?”
“I have wanted to reach out for a long time, because the kids deserve to know each other.”
I looked over at David, who said nothing, but nodded. “Yes,” I said. “Let’s set something up.”
That weekend we drove over to Eleanor’s home. A fully enveloping warmth, filled with photos of David from years before. When I got to the door, Eleanor pulled me into an embrace. “I am so glad you came.”
Ethan was standing quietly by the fireplace inside. Lily and Liam were beside me, curious yet apprehensive.
“Hi, Lily. Hi, Liam,” Ethan said quietly.
With almost no hesitation, Lily stepped forwards. “Do you like dinosaurs?”
A smile appeared on his face. “I love dinosaurs! Want to see my dinosaur collection?”
Lily nodded enthusiastically, and those three were off into his room. And for the moment, a flicker and a feeling of hope.
While in the living room, the adults shared tearful bouts of apologies and stories long hidden from one another, Eleanor laid her hand over mine.
“We will need one another now,” she said softly. “This family can heal.”
And I believed her, because while the truth has shattered us, it too has brought us together. With time, and with patience, we would slowly begin to rebuild.
Author’s Note: This story is based on real events; however, it is a dramatization of the actual accounts of events that occurred. Names have been changed and some details altered to protect the privacy of individuals.
