Synopsis: Paul and Nora have been happily married for fifteen years. They have a nice home, good jobs and three sons. But one day, more than seventeen years after his first marriage ended, Paul discovers that his first wife and him have a daughter. She is a girl on the verge of high school graduation and womanhood. Paul and Nora must come to terms with this new addition to the family.
"You know I was married for a short time before I met
you," Paul said. It wasn't a
question because he knew that she knew the answer.
"Yes," Nora said.
She was surprised. Paul almost
never spoke about his first wife. Nora
tried to remain calm, but she could feel her breathing getting quicker. A panic was starting to rise in her. He his first wife contacted him? Was e leaving her? Maybe she should have worked harder on those
last 20 pounds.
"We got married, went on our honeymoon and on my first
day back at work after the honeymoon, she left.
I came home expecting to be greeted by my wife and instead I came home
to a letter saying she had decided she didn't want to be married after all. A couple of weeks later, I got the annulment
papers to sign. No explanation, no phone
call, nothing. We never spoke
again. I tried, but Jessie had moved and
changed all of her contact information."
"Yes, you've told me all of this. It still makes me sad to think she hurt you
like that," Nora said. It was
true. She was glad, for her sake, that
his first wife had left him, leaving him free to meet and marry her, but she
didn't like to think that someone had broken his heart like that. Nora sighed an internal sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't leaving her after all.
"It did hurt, but it turned out for the best,"
Paul smiled and looked at Nora's face.
"I met you." He learned
over and kissed her.
"I've always appreciated your honesty to me about your
first marriage," Nora said. She was
starting to relax, but she wondered where Paul was going with all of this.
"Well, it seems that Jessie wasn't very honest with me
about several things." Paul took another deep breath and let out a big
sigh. "Nora, I have a
daughter."
"What?" Nora felt like she just got the wind
knocked out of her. "You have a
daughter?"
"Honeymoon baby," Paul lightly chuckled.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know until today." Paul was hurt. He never would have held information of this
caliber from his dear Nora.
"So what's changed?" Nora asked. "Why now, after all these years, is
Jessie finally telling you this?"
"Jessie didn't contact me. Alexa did," Paul replied.
The name his Nora like another punch in the stomach. "Alexa is your daughter's name?"
Paul nodded.
"How old is she?" Nora asked.
"Seventeen. From
Alexa's email, I've learned that Jessie died a month ago."
Nora inhaled sharply, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear
that."
"Why?" Paul asked. "You didn't know her at
all. Why are you sorry?"
"I'm sorry for Alexa," Nora explained. "It can't be easy for a young girl to
lose her mother."
"I suppose so," Paul thought for a moment. "Anyway, it seems that Jessie never told
Alexa who her father was. Alexa's
grandparents had a folder of important papers, should Jessie ever die. It contained her will and Alex's birth
certificate. It was the first time Alexa
had seen her birth certificate and the name of her father that is listed on
it. She found my email and contacted me
today." Paul pulled out a piece of
paper from his pocket and unfolded it.
He handed it to Nora.
It was a copy of the email from Alexa. Nora read the letter out loud. "Dear Mr.
Wright. My name is Alexa Henry. My mother is Jessie Henry, who, as I
understand, was married to you for a short time seventeen years ago. I wanted to let you know that my mother
passed away a month ago. My
grandparents, who are my only family, have invited me to live with them. We were going through some of Mom's important
papers and I found my birth certificate.
There is no easy way to say this, so I guess just coming right out and
saying it is the best way. You are
listed on my birth certificate as my father.
Mom would never tell me who my father was, even though I had asked her
on several occasions during my childhood.
I asked my grandparents if they knew you. They told me what they knew about your
marriage to Mom. Because of Mom's death,
I've have moved in with my grandparents.
I understand they live in the same city as you. I would like to meet you. I know that this is awkward and I do not
expect anything from you, but I would like to meet you. I hope to hear from you soon."
Nora looked into Paul's face. She couldn't quite tell what he was
thinking. "Poor girl," Nora
finally said. "This has got to be
tough on her."
Paul nodded his head.
"Have you replied?" she asked him.
"Not yet, but I need to soon." Paul took the letter back and read over it
again. He couldn't believe this was
happening. Seventeen years and he never
knew. He had seen his ex-in-laws over
the years. It was a problem with living
in the same city as them. For a long
time after the divorce, he had tried to get information from them about Jessie,
but they would never answer him. The finally
told him that Jessie had asked them not to tell Paul anything. Paul gave up hope at that point to ever find
out what had happened to Jessie. By that
time, however, he had bet and fallen in love with Nora and it didn't matter
anymore. Still, he couldn't believe they
didn't tell him about Jessie being pregnant.
Obviously Jessie hadn't wanted Paul involved, but to no even tell him he
had a daughter was just wrong.
"So, what do you want to do?" Nora asked.
Paul looked concerned.
He was watching Nora for her reaction.
He couldn't quite tell what she was thinking or if she was upset.
Nora noticed how Paul was studying her. She smiled at him "Whatever you choose
to do, I'll support you."
Paul relaxed. "I
want to meet her. She is my daughter and
she is still a minor. I probably have a
legal responsibility to her."
"Well, if that's what you want to do, then that's
fine. I'll be as involved as you want me
to be. If you want me with you, then I
will and if you want to go at this alone, then I will understand."
Nora wrapped her arms around Paul and held him close. Paul hugged her back. He was lucky and he knew it. Nora was an amazing woman. She could have been angry with him. He had a daughter with another woman, but
Nora's arms were wrapped around him, and he knew that she loved him.PART 3
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