At first, his eyes were wild and confused, but then, he hung his head, admitting to a brief affair with someone in a support group for grieving parents he had joined after Ava’s death and their separation.
“It was a terrible mistake,” he confessed with eyes that seemed far.
“You mean to say that you might be Charlotte’s father then if this woman gave her up for adoption?” Eleanor asked, her mouth wide with horror.
“I left the group soon after she told me she was pregnant. But she might have given the child up for adoption,” Joseph nodded, squinting his eyes.
Eleanor, overwhelmed, simply nodded, putting her hands on her waist. When asked about a paternity test, Joseph agreed without hesitation, “I will. I’ll own up to this all the way.”
They took the test as soon as possible, but it would take days to get the results. Eleanor debated telling Charlotte but decided against it until they discovered the truth and resolved the legalities.
She also spoke to Samantha constantly. “In most jurisdictions, once an adoption is complete, it is generally irreversible,” her now-friend explained softly.
The results arrived by email a few days later, which were the most nerve-wracking and anxious days of Eleanor’s life since Ava’s passing. She and Joseph had talked about all their possibilities during therapy and what this would mean for them.
But nothing could be decided until they found out the truth. Samantha had been visiting them when the email appeared in Eleanor’s inbox. She read it slowly, “Joseph is…not Charlotte’s father! Thank God!”
A few days later, Samantha was able to confirm that the biological mother had decided not to pursue things further since Joseph wasn’t Charlotte’s bio dad.
With this news, Eleanor saw Charlotte’s resemblance to Ava as a miraculous coincidence and a second chance for her family. Her late daughter would always be a part of them, especially because they now knew how important every moment was.
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