Henry has had enough of mediating disputes between his wife’s divorcing parents. He finally asserts himself after fifteen years and demands to know the real cause of their breakup. But everything changes when he learns the truth.
I am aware of the intricate interactions inside families. I am aware that problems come to the surface, smolder, and turn into something unsightly. My wife, Candace, disowned her family, and I was left with no choice but to stand by her side.
Except that fifteen years have passed and she has remained silent toward them. She refuses to explain why, too.
Lucas, our son, told me, “Mom said that I can’t go to Grandma’s house.” “Grandpa is helping me with an assignment.”
I had grown accustomed to Candace’s constant refusals, and Lucas’s desire to spend time with his adoring grandparents.
I told him, “I’ll take care of it.”
After dropping Lucas off with his grandparents, I came home to find Candace preparing waffles.
Her words, “I didn’t want you to take him,”
“Your parents love Lucas. I don’t see why he shouldn’t spend time with them. You have a problem with them, but that doesn’t mean he should.”
Candace blinked slowly as she cast a glance at me through her large blue eyes.
She remarked, “They mean nothing to me.”
I was baffled as to what had gone wrong. Candace’s parents used to visit our home frequently when she was expecting Lucas. Her father fulfilled all of her requests, while her mother prepared everything she could possibly want.
They had moved in with us for the week before Lucas’s due date since they were so inseparable. However, after Candace gave birth, everything was different.
“Candace,” I said, watching her dig into her waffles. “Tell me what happened.”
She kept chewing without making eye contact.
“Tell me, or I’m going to file for divorce. I can’t live a life based on lies.”
Marching out of the kitchen, she dropped her fork on the counter.
She asked, “You want the truth, Henry?” as she moved. “Here’s the truth.”
Entering our study, she took out a large file that was wedged between old encyclopedias, the collection her father had purchased at her request.
She gave me the file and turned to leave.
I was stooped over my desk, leafing through medical records, paperwork, and a handwritten message.
After reading it, I had the impression that the world had tilted.
To cut a long tale short:
The parents of Candace were determined to have a grandson. They required a boy to be born into our family in order to transfer their fortune and enterprises to him, something they had refused to do for Candace.
Given the influence of Candace’s parents, it was not shocking to learn that their plans had come to pass. It turns out that Candace had given birth to a girl, but her parents staged a switch to give us Lucas, who is our biological son but is still our son in every other way.
When I got to the kitchen, Candace was standing at the sink with glassy eyes.
“They got the nurse fired,” she said. “All that’s left of her is that handwritten note telling me the truth. And then she disappeared.”
I filled a drink for myself. I had no idea how to start making sense of what I had recently learned.
“So, it’s not just a feud, Henry. It’s pain. It’s survival,” she said.
After that, as we were sitting in the living room, Candace told me how much she wanted to tell me, but she was afraid that I wouldn’t embrace Lucas as our son.
“We have a biological daughter out there,” she remarked, regretfully.
“Is this why your mother persuaded you not to find out the sex of the baby?” I enquired. My sister had suggested organizing a lavish gender reveal party for us, but Candace’s mother had objected.
After several months of testing, DNA results have shown that Lucas is not our biological son. In addition, we threatened to sue the hospital for failing to disclose our daughter’s identity.
Our daughter and the other family have met with Candace, Lucas, and myself. Darcy is a gorgeous girl who has my sandy brown hair and Candace’s eye color.
And what about Candace’s parents? They’ve transformed into ghosts of a past we really wish never happened. Legal fights continue; I informed Candace that I wanted to fight them to the death.
That said, the two families are concentrating on getting well and starting again. Since Candace thought that only the truth would be helpful if we dug deeper, that is why we have informed the children the truth.
The news is going nicely for the children. And we’ve had a couple encounters with the family. Instead of keeping the problem a secret from him, Lucas appears appreciative that we let him see how things really are. He gets along great with Darcy, too.
Right now, I’m seeing the world through Candace’s eyes and wondering how she has managed to endure this suffering for so long. However, she is adamant that Lucas, and what a bright light he was, is the only reason she has survived this long.
What would you have done if you had been in our position?
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