A long-lost father reappears after ten years: should they risk everything built over the years?
*”When they got married, Emily could barely walk—she was in her final month of pregnancy,”* recalls Margaret, the girl’s mother, her voice trembling. *”There was no proper wedding—just a quick registry office signing, then back to mine for a quiet meal. A week later, little Thomas was born.”*
When asked why her daughter waited so long to marry, Margaret sighs. *”If anything, it all happened too fast. Emily only realized she was pregnant at three months. She’d been living with the father, making plans—but he panicked. Vanished overnight, packed his things, blocked her everywhere, and disappeared without a trace.”*
Emily was shattered. Pregnant, abandoned, terrified of the future. Then Andrew came along in her darkest hour. She told him everything—no secrets. He listened, thought it over… and stayed. He cared for her, took her to appointments, cooked, comforted her. Soon after, he proposed. *”A child deserves a real family,”* he said.
*”I didn’t trust him at first,”* admits Margaret. *”I even snooped around, thinking his kindness was an act. But I was wrong. Andrew became not just a devoted husband but an incredible father to Thomas.”*
Ten years passed. Thomas grew into a bright, well-mannered boy. He studies with Andrew, goes to the cinema, swims, and rollerblades with him. Their bond is genuine—Thomas calls him *Dad*, because that’s what he is. Even Andrew’s mother adores her grandson, spoiling him with weekends, gifts, and his favourite biscuits.
Everything was peaceful—until Emily showed Margaret a message: *”Hi. I’ve seen photos of our son. I want to meet him. He has the right to know his real father.”* It was *him*—the biological father, who’d fled a decade earlier.
*”Can you believe it?”* Margaret snaps. *”He saw a social media post and suddenly ‘woke up’! Started messaging Emily, demanding visits, claiming ‘parental rights.’ Then he posted Thomas’s photo with: ‘My son.’ What kind of father vanishes for ten years and then swoops in?!”*
Emily had always shared photos of Thomas—holidays, beach trips, outings. She never imagined it would invite a ghost from the past to disrupt their lives.
*”I told her—don’t reply! He’s no father,”* Margaret says. *”But Emily hesitates. ‘He *is* his biological father. Doesn’t Thomas deserve to know?’”*
Andrew was furious. He’d raised Thomas from birth. He was the father who stayed through the hard times. Now he was expected to step aside for a stranger?
When Andrew’s mother heard, she rang Margaret in tears. *”This could ruin everything—their family, Thomas’s trust, his happiness. He believes Andrew’s his dad. Why shatter that?”*
Margaret pleaded with Emily too. *”Blood doesn’t make a parent. A *father* is the man who stays, who teaches, who loves. Everyone—Andrew, his mum, even me—we’re all against it.”*
But Emily stood firm. *”I’m his mother. He deserves the truth. I won’t let this man disrupt our lives, but Thomas should have the choice.”*
Margaret sighs. *”Is she right? Secrets can fester. What if Thomas *wants* to know? Or worse—if this man breaks his heart again?”*
Now, everything hangs by a thread. Margaret prays it won’t snap—that Andrew remains Thomas’s true father, and that when the boy learns the truth, he’ll choose wisely… *with his heart.*
*Family isn’t just blood—it’s the love that stays.*
