The Surprise Was All Mine

I was so excited to be meeting my best girlfriend whom I hadn’t seen for a few years, at the airport. I knew we had a lot to catch up on but I was shocked when I saw her carrying a small girl in her arms. There would be time for questions when we got back to my home so I didn’t ask the circumstances of her child. And I have to admit that I was a little bit jealous because my husband, Theo, and I had been trying to have a baby for a very long time. Theo was on a business trip so this was the perfect time to enjoy visiting with my friend.

After I had shown her to her room and she had freshened up, she joined me on the back porch for a glass of lemonade and milk and cookies for little Teddie Ann. We started with small talk but I was dying to ask about her child.

Finally, I asked, “Who is Teddie Ann’s father? Did you get married or divorced? I’m not making judgment calls, you understand. I’m just glad you have such a beautiful little girl.”

And the child was gorgeous with long black curls and blue eyes with dark lashes. I really wished she were mine. I quietly wiped away a tear.

“Will you get me a Kleenex out of my purse,” my friend, Jan, asked her little girl in order to get her out of the room. “This child is a love child but it didn’t work out and he decided not to leave his wife,” she said sorrowfully.

That night, something began eating away at the back of my mind. “Why did Teddie Ann look so familiar? Did I know her father?” All of a sudden, I glanced at a picture of my husband. He was so handsome in his navy suit with his black hair and brilliant blue eyes. All of a sudden, it dawned on me that Teddie Ann was his. No wonder Jan had left so quickly several years ago.

The next day, I went down to the basement where Jan was washing her clothes. I picked up a short piece of clothesline and tightened it around her neck until she wasn’t breathing. I grabbed a shovel and began digging a hole in the floor where I buried her. Next, I called a tradesman to put in a new basement floor. I would tell Theo that I had adopted this child when he came home from his trip, knowing he would be thrilled to be a father.

Next, I went up to Jan’s bedroom and began taking her belongings out of her suitcase to get rid of them. There in the bottom was an envelope with ‘birth certificate’ written on it. Imagine my horror, when I saw the name of the father. It wasn’t my husband!