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.
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.
"Paul," Nora said. "Alexa says it is your name on the birth certificate, so she has probably begun forming an emotional bond of some sort with you even before meeting you. And I know that you were legally married to Jessie for a short time, so there is really not much reason to doubt, but how sure can we be that Alexa is actually your daughter? I mean, we really don't know what Jessie might have done after the divorce. Is it possible that Alexa isn't your daughter?"
Paul looked hurt for a moment, but then his face softened. "I
suppose you could be right. However, in
the email, Alexa attached a photo of
herself with Jessie." Paul pulled
out another folded paper from his pocket.
He handed it to Nora.
She unfolded it and looked at the picture of the two
women. One was older, with red hair and
wearing a business suit. The other woman was a young, obviously a
teenager. She was wearing a school
uniform and was laughing about something.
Nora looked closely at the teenage girl.
Alexa. Her husband's
daughter. She gasped lightly. "She has your eyes, Paul, and your curly
hair." Alexa's eyes were the same
shade of bright blue as Paul's. And her
hair looked just like Paul's, but longer.
It was dark brown and full of curls.
"She looks so much like you," Nora said.
Paul took the picture back from Nora. He looked at it and chuckled. "Jessie must have dyed her hair. She wasn't a red head." He folded the paper and stuck it back into
his pocket. He stood there, in the
middle of the room. His eyes were
unfocused as he thought about all the memories and feelings that were flooding
back to him. He thought of Jessie. She had been so sweet and was such a
beautiful bride. They had been so happy
and often talked about their future together.
Their honeymoon had been perfect and when Paul went back to work that
first morning, he had no reason to believe that she would not be there waiting
for him when he got home. They had
snuggled together the night before and chatted over breakfast. Passionate kisses had been exchanged and they
lamented being apart from each other for the entire day while Paul would be at
work. When he got to work, he was
greeted by a stack of papers that needed to be taken care of. He had been very busy all day long, but
during his lunch hour, he had tried to call her. She hadn't answered and Paul had figured that
she must have gone to the store to stock their bare pantry.
He had no idea that she had left. She had given him no warning. They had been as happy as could be, or so he
had thought. But she had left and now,
he realized, that she was pregnant when she left. She couldn't have known. Paul wondered if it would have made a
difference to her if she had known before leaving him. Probably not, Paul decided. But, he would have like to have known and
had the chance to be a part of his daughter's life. He had been angry with Jessie when she left
him, but he had forgiven her and moved on.
It had taken time to reach complete peace and forgiveness. Several
years, if he was honest with himself.
But now, with the revelation of a teen daughter, all the hurt came
back. He was angry with Jessie all over
again. It wasn't about him and Jessie
this time. It now involved Alexa, Nora
and his three sons with Nora.
"Nora, our sons," he turned around and looked into
her eyes. "How do we tell them
about this?"
Nora slid her arms around his waist and squeezed him. "Well, we tell them the truth. They are old enough to know and
understand. They deserve the truth. They have a sister now."
"A sister."
The revelation of a daughter was coming at him like a storm. He felt lost and helpless. It was so much to take on. He pulled out of the hug that Nora had on
him. He looked at her and smiled,
"That means you are a step-mom now."
Nora frowned and playfully shoved him. "I never thought I'd be one of
those. I shall do my best to be very
evil."
Paul hugged her.
"I'd better go email Alexa," he said. "What's our schedule like?" Nora took the calendar off the wall and
handed it to him. He looked at it for a
moment. "Where do I suggest we
meet?"
Nora thought for a moment.
"Well, she could come here for dinner, although it might be
difficult to talk openly with her on that first meeting with the other kids
around. We could meet at her
grandparent's home. It would be more
comfortable for her and you could talk to your ex-in-laws. Or we could meet at a restaurant. It would be a neutral place."
Paul nodded at her suggestion, then he turned and left for
the office.
Nora sat down on the sofa again. A daughter had suddenly joined the
family. How would it changed the family
dynamics? Nora tried to think of the
young lady who had just lost her mother, moved to a new city to live with her
grandparents and then discovered the truth about her father. As shocked as Nora and Paul were over this,
no doubt Alexa was going through an even more difficult time.
Nora checked the clock.
She still had just under an hour before the kids got home from
schoo. Nora peeked into the office. Paul
was typing at an email. Nora went back
to her comfy chair. The tea was
cold. She sat down and picked up her
book. She found her spot in the book and
where she had been and started to read again.
Ten minutes later, Nora realized she was still on the same
paragraph. She wasn't really
reading. Her mind kept wandering and she
had read the same few lines over and over.
There was no way she could read right now. Not when so many thoughts were going through
her mind. She closed the book and put it
down. For a while she just sat there,
thinking. Finally she got up and went
back to the office. Paul was sitting
back in his chair, looking at the picture of Jessie and Alexa.
Nora walked quietly to Paul and placed a hand on his
shoulder. "Do you miss her?"
she asked.
"Jessie?
No. I don't miss her, but having
this picture of her, seeing her for the first time in seventeen years, it is
very strange. Her face is a familiar
stranger. I know her and that she was
once my wife, but at the same time, she never really was. It was all a lifetime ago."
Nora squeezed Paul's shoulder. He reached up and took her hand, pulling her
around from behind him. He pulled her
down and sat her on his lap. Nora put
her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He held her around her waist. He
kissed her back. His kisses wandered
around her face and then onto her neck for a few moments until she giggled and
squirmed away from the tickling.
"How much longer until the kids get home?" he
asked.
Nora glanced at the clock on the screen of Paul's
laptop. "Half an hour," she
breathed as he kissed her neck again.
"Perfect," Paul said. He stood up, which forced Nora to stand up
too. He took her by the hand, led her
out of the office and into their bedroom.
He shut the door and locked it.
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