She silently handed him the test. His face went from scared, to disbelieving, to… She had never seen him so happy.
“Is this… is this real?”
“Yes.”
“We’re… we’re going to be parents?”
“Yes.”
He swept her up in his arms and spun her around the room.
“Careful!” she laughed. “I’m fragile now.”
“Sorry, sorry.” He gently set her down. “Oh my God, Ellie, this is the best day of my life.”
“Really?”
“One of the best. After our wedding day.”
She hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest.
“I’m so happy, Mike. So happy.”
“Me too.” He stroked her hair. “You know what I’m thinking about right now?”
“What?”
“That our child will never know what we went through. For them, it will just be a story. A scary fairy tale with a happy ending.”
“And their grandmother?”
Mike was silent for a moment.
“She will just be… absent. I don’t want our child growing up with her shadow hanging over them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” His voice was firm. “My mother made her choice. Now I’m making mine. Our family is you, me, and our baby. That’s enough.”
The pregnancy was easy. Ellie continued to work; Mr. Henderson insisted she not overdo it, but she just waved him off. Work didn’t tire her; on the contrary, it gave her strength.
Kate came by almost every week—with gifts for the baby, with advice, with stories from her own experience. She had recently had a daughter herself and now considered herself an expert on all things motherhood.
“The most important thing is not to listen to anyone,” she said. “Everyone will give you advice. Mothers-in-law, mothers, random women on the street. Just nod and do your own thing.”
“I don’t have a mother-in-law,” Ellie reminded her.
“Well, yeah, but you have me.”
They laughed, easily, carefree. Ellie had forgotten the last time she had laughed like that.
Mike turned into the model father-to-be. He read books on pregnancy, went with her to all her appointments, and massaged her feet in the evenings.
“You’re spoiling me,” she said.
“That’s my job. Your job is at the office. My main job is to make you happy.”
And he did. Every day. Every minute.
Labor started in the middle of the night. Ellie woke up to a dull ache in her lower back. At first, she thought she was imagining it. Then the pain returned. Stronger.
“Mike!”
He shot up instantly.
“What, is it time?”
“I think so.”
The next few hours blurred into a kaleidoscope. The drive to the hospital, the admissions desk, the delivery room. Pain that came in waves. Mike’s hand in hers—the only anchor.
The midwife was a kind, older woman with tired eyes and a gentle voice.
“Breathe, honey, breathe. You’re doing great. Everything is going well.”
Ellie clung to those words like a life raft. The pain was unbearable. She couldn’t have imagined it could hurt so much. But deep inside, a thought flickered: soon. Soon she would see her baby.
“Come on, honey,” Mike said, “you can do this. You’re the strongest woman in the world.”
And she did it.
“Congratulations,” the midwife said. “You have a baby girl.”
Ellie heard a cry. A thin, demanding cry—the most beautiful sound in the world. And then a warm bundle was placed on her chest. She looked at the tiny face, red, wrinkled, perfect, and cried. From happiness, from relief, from love.
“Hello, little one,” she whispered, “welcome to the world.”
Mike stood beside her. Tears were streaming down his cheeks too.
“She’s beautiful,” he said. “Just like you. What should we name her?”
They had discussed names for months but never agreed on one. Now, looking at her daughter, Ellie suddenly knew.
“Hope. Let’s name her Hope.”
Mike smiled.
“Hope. Our little Hope.”
The first few months with the baby were simultaneously the hardest and happiest of Ellie’s life. Sleepless nights, endless feedings, diapers, colic—it was all exhausting. But all it took was for Hope to smile her toothless grin, to look at her with her huge eyes, and the fatigue would melt away.
Mike helped as much as he could. He got up with the baby at night, changed diapers, rocked her when she cried. He was a natural father—patient, gentle, loving.
“You know,” he said one day, holding Hope in his arms, “I thought I knew what love was. For you, for my mom, before. But this… this is something else entirely.”
“I know,” Ellie smiled. “I would die for her without a second thought.”
“Me too.”
They looked at their sleeping daughter, and in that moment, the world seemed absolutely perfect.
When Hope turned one, they threw a big party. Friends, colleagues, Kate and her family came. Mr. Henderson brought a giant teddy bear, bigger than the birthday girl herself. “To guard her at night,” he explained seriously. Hope sat in her high chair, covered in cake up to her ears, and squealed with delight. All around them, people were laughing, talking, celebrating.
Ellie looked at the scene and couldn’t believe her happiness. Two years ago, she had been sitting on her porch, crying. Alone, hunted, not knowing what to do. And now—a successful career, a loving husband, a healthy daughter, friends all around.
“What are you thinking about?” Mike came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“About how much has changed.”
“For the better?”
“Definitely for the better.”
He kissed her on the temple.
“I’m happy, Ellie. Truly happy.”
“Me too.”
Hope reached out to them, and Mike scooped her up, cake and all.
“Well, princess, are you enjoying your birthday?”
Hope responded with a joyful squeal and slapped his face with her little hand.
“That means yes,” Ellie translated.
They laughed. All three of them. Together.
And then, unexpectedly, a letter arrived. Ellie found it in the mailbox one ordinary evening, among the bills and junk mail. An envelope with no return address, just their names. Written in a familiar hand. She froze when she recognized it. She had seen that handwriting hundreds of times. On documents in the accounting department, on notes her mother-in-law left on her desk. Neat, with a characteristic rightward slant.
Her heart beat faster. Her first impulse was to throw it away, to burn it without reading. But she knew that decision wasn’t hers to make. The letter was on the kitchen table when Mike got home from work. Hope was already asleep, and the house was quiet. Mike came home an hour later. Ellie was sitting on the couch, the unopened envelope in front of her.
“What’s this?”
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