That evening, after dinner, James went outside to the garden. While he was out, Oliver approached me, looking up with his big, expressive eyes. He held his palm out, and when I looked closely, I saw the words written there: “DADDY LIES!” “What do you mean, sweetie?” I asked gently, hoping to understand what he was trying to tell me. He pointed at James’s briefcase, which was sitting on the kitchen table. My heart sank. I took a deep breath and opened the briefcase, expecting to find evidence of James’s affair with Tessa. But it turned out to be even worse.
Family matters are not always easy. The obstacles two people face, their ability to work together on issues that suddenly arise, and resolving the challenges that test their love and trust for one another is what makes a relationship work.
Sometimes, however, when two people don’t communicate openly, doubts regarding their affection and fidelity start to emerge, and those doubts can affect a relationship beyond repair.
A woman’s husband, whom she shared a non-verbal child with, started coming home from work earlier.
At first, the woman was glad this was happening because she could spend more time with her and their son, Oliver, but as those early returns became more and more frequent, the woman started having doubts.
The husband, James, seemed to be getting home while the family’s nanny was still in the house. This “coincidence” raised suspicions. The woman started wondering if those early arrivals had anything to do with the nanny, Tessa, and not James’ wish to be spending more time around his son.
The more she thought about this, the more her heart raced. She started noticing other signs too. James would often get out of the house, speaking on his phone with someone until late in the night.
The woman’s heart crashed. “What is going on,” she kept asking herself. Was it possible that James had an affair with the nanny, she wondered. But just the thought of him being unfaithful broke her world into a thousand pieces.
One evening, just as dinner was over, Oliver came closer to the woman and showed her his palm. The words, “Dad Lies,” were written on it.
As Oliver couldn’t speak duet to a rare condition, he was able to communicate in non-verbal ways. And now it turned out that Oliver, who was a highly observant child, noticed something she was obviously missing.
The woman decided not to confront her husband right away. She decided to wait and figure her husband’s secret.
One day, she returned home from work earlier and was stunned to see James there. He and Tessa was chatting in the kitchen, and the woman’s presence seemed to make them feel uneasy.
Days gone by and the woman decided to talk to her son about his dad’s secret. When she asked him about it, he just pointed to his briefcase, from which James never separated.
Hesitant about her next step, she decided to open the briefcase, but she was not ready for what that briefcase hid.
A bunch of papers from a hospital and the doctor’s office were neatly placed inside. As she went through them, the woman saw the words, “Stage 3,” “Aggressive treatment required,” and “Survival rate.”
“Rachel?” James’s voice came from behind her. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
Turning to him, tears already streaming down her face she uttered, “When were you planning to tell me you’re dying?”
James said he wanted to fight the disease without involving her and Oliver because he wanted to protect them.
“And what about Tessa?” the woman asked.
“Tessa figured my secret out and promised not to share it with you. She’s been helping and covering for me ever since.”
But now that the truth was out, the woman could stand by her husband’s side and help him battle the disease.
The following weeks were all bout doctors’ appointments and Tessa was there with the family every step of their way, offering her help and support.
Oliver started drawing more than ever, it was obvious he could feel the tension between his mom and dad was now gone.
“I thought we’d never see him express himself,” James said. “But now he’s teaching us how to communicate better.”
As they were watching their child draw, he pointed his tiny palms towards them. The words “family” and “forever” were written on them, and the woman trusted her son’s words more than ever.
This experience only helped them bond even more.
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