On Mother’s Day, I had imagined my husband, Daniel, walking through the door with a bouquet of flowers, maybe even a cake. It wasn’t the first time he’d surprised me with something sweet, but this time—this time, he walked in carrying a baby. A real, living, breathing baby. A baby that wasn’t ours.
I stood frozen in the kitchen, my mind struggling to process the scene unfolding in front of me.
“I know it’s a shock,” Daniel said, his voice calm and steady as always. “But this is your dream, right? To be a mom?”
I blinked, trying to make sense of his words. “Daniel, whose baby is this?”
His eyes met mine, unwavering. “She needs a mother. And we can be that for her.”
My heart began to race. “She?” I whispered.
“Her name is Evie. Isn’t she perfect?”
She was. A tiny little thing, swaddled in a yellow blanket, her tiny fists clenched, a soft halo of dark hair peeking out from under a knit cap. Without even thinking, my arms reached out to take her from him. I was overwhelmed. My heart thudded in my chest as I held her close. She was warm and smelled like fresh skin, and for a moment, I forgot everything else. This… this was my baby.
But where had she come from? Why did Daniel bring her into our home without telling me anything about her? My mind screamed with questions, but I didn’t have the answers. I just knew that Evie, this baby, felt like she belonged with me, even though nothing about this situation made sense.
Later that evening, after Daniel had taken care of Evie’s bath, I called my sister, Karen, hoping she could make sense of it all.
“You’re telling me he just… brought home a baby?” Karen’s voice crackled on the other end of the line, incredulous. “That’s not how this works, Amy.”
“I know,” I whispered, pacing the kitchen floor, keeping one eye on Evie, who was now peacefully sleeping in the bassinet Daniel had somehow acquired in just one day. “But she’s here now, and she’s perfect.”
“Perfect or not, there are legal steps. You can’t just… hand someone a baby,” Karen argued. “Where’s her birth certificate? Adoption papers? Did he even tell you where she came from?”
A cold knot tightened in my stomach. “He told me not to ask questions. He said he’d handle everything.”
“Amy, listen to yourself! This isn’t like bringing home a stray puppy.”
After I hung up, I tried again to get answers from Daniel as we lay in bed. Evie was asleep beside us, her soft breath a gentle rhythm in the silence.
“Please, just tell me where she came from,” I begged, my voice trembling.
Daniel’s face hardened, and his jaw clenched. “I’ll handle it. Don’t ruin this.”
“Ruin what?” I felt a sharp sting in my chest. “Our chance at kidnapping charges?”
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he turned over, facing the opposite wall, leaving me alone in my confusion. I lay there for what felt like hours, my mind spinning. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Evie’s face. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, but my heart… my heart was already hers.
Three days passed, each one blurring together with bottles, diapers, and sleepless nights. Daniel had taken the week off work, but he spent most of his time on phone calls behind closed doors, whispering in a way that made my skin crawl.
Then, on Thursday morning, my phone rang while I was feeding Evie. The caller ID displayed an unknown number.
“Hello?” I answered, trying to steady my breathing as I adjusted Evie in my arms.
“Hi,” a young woman’s voice said on the other end. It was soft and hesitant. “Is this… Amy?”
“Yes, who’s this?” I asked, my pulse quickening.
There was a long pause. Then, the woman spoke again, her voice trembling. “I… I’m Evie’s birth mother.”
The words hit me like a ton of bricks.
“I’m sorry, what?” I gasped, clutching the phone tighter.
“I just… I wanted to know she’s okay,” the woman continued, her voice small. “Daniel said you couldn’t have kids. He said you’d be the best mom. He said if I gave her to him, he’d give me a place to live. The apartment. The one his wife doesn’t know about.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “What apartment?” I whispered.
She gave me an address. And it was all too familiar. It was my grandmother’s apartment—the one I’d inherited two years ago. The one I had always planned to turn into a children’s library.
“How old are you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Twenty,” she replied. “I just… wasn’t ready to be a mom. But Daniel made it sound like a dream. He said you wanted her. That you’d love her.”
“I do,” I said, tears rising in my throat. “I already do.”
And just like that, my world shattered.
Daniel hadn’t just brought home a baby—he had cheated on me with a girl nearly half his age. He had manipulated her, used my inheritance as leverage to take her child, and brought Evie into our home without any legal rights to her.
When Daniel came home that evening, I didn’t scream at him. I didn’t throw things or demand answers. I just sat there in the living room, rocking Evie gently in my arms.
Daniel smiled at me as he took off his shoes. “You look tired,” he said, bending down to kiss my forehead. “Let me take her for a bit.”
“I’m fine,” I replied, my voice calm, much calmer than I felt inside.
He grinned, apparently not seeing the storm raging beneath my quiet exterior. “I know I blindsided you with all this, but hasn’t it been… wonderful?”
“You…” I looked up at him, the weight of everything crashing down. “You cheated on me.”
His smile faltered. His hand froze on Evie’s tiny foot.
“I know everything,” I said, my voice steady despite the trembling in my heart. “She called. I know everything.”
And, shockingly, he didn’t deny it.
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said, his eyes wide with regret. “I just wanted to give you what you wanted. And when she got pregnant… I saw an opportunity. You’d be an amazing mom. She didn’t want the baby. Everyone wins.”
“Except me,” I snapped, tears welling in my eyes. “Except your wife.”
He knelt in front of me, reaching for my hand. “But you have her now. Evie. Isn’t that what matters?”
“What matters?” I could barely breathe. “You slept with another woman. You lied to me for months. You used my grandmother’s apartment to bribe her. You brought home a baby with no legal paperwork. And you think I should thank you?”
“I did it for us,” he insisted, his voice pleading.
“No,” I said, my voice breaking. “You did it for yourself.”
I don’t remember the rest of what was said that night.
The next morning, I consulted a lawyer. It turns out Daniel had never legally adopted Evie. He had no right to give her to me, no right to promise her birth mother anything. His actions were morally horrifying and possibly illegal.
But still… I couldn’t imagine my life without Evie.
I called Lacey, Evie’s birth mother. She cried when I asked if she would consider a legal adoption agreement with me—just me, not Daniel.
And she agreed.
I filed for divorce the same day. I kept the apartment, and my lawyer made sure Daniel paid for everything, including every legal fee and every cost related to the adoption.
Daniel still texts me sometimes. He says he “gave me everything I ever wanted.” He tells me I should forgive him. He says we could still raise Evie together.
But he didn’t give me Evie.
She chose me. And I chose her.
And that… that’s what makes me a mother.
