A married woman comes to her neighbor’s rescue and helps her home-deliver her baby, only to discover that the father of the child is her own husband.
Sarah Harper had known Erica Vernon for over six years. The Vernons had moved in next door the same week as Sarah and her husband Kieran — both couples were newlyweds and they’d fallen into an easy friendship.
But within a year or two, Sarah realized the Vernons were in trouble. Lester Vernon seemed to be jealous and suspicious and made his poor wife’s life a living hell. Sarah pitied Erica, who was as faithful to her husband as she was to Kieran — or so Sarah thought.
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Things became more and more unpleasant as time went on. The screaming fights from next door became more and more raucous, and the two couples stopped going out together.
Sarah would often see Erica looking weepy and unhappy, and even though Lester was always pleasant and polite to Sarah, he never gave her a chance to speak up for her friend.
One day Sarah ran into Lester at the supermarket and decided to take the bull by the horns. “Lester,” she said carefully, “I know it’s none of my business but I hate to see you two so unhappy. Have you thought about couple’s counseling? Erica loves you so much…”
Lester looked at her for a long moment, then he said, “Listen, Sarah, if I were you I wouldn’t defend Erica. You think she’s your friend, but she isn’t.” And with that, Lester turned his back and walked away.
Just three weeks later, Lester walked out on Erica, and Sarah was horrified to discover that her friend was three months pregnant. “But Erica, did you tell him?” Sarah asked.
The truth always comes out in the most unexpected ways.
Erica couldn’t stop crying. “I did, Sarah, but he said it wasn’t his, that I’d been cheating! I can’t have this baby on my own, I can’t!”
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Sarah raised her chin resolutely. “You won’t be! I promise you, Kieran, and I will be with you every step of the way!” Erica threw her arms around Sarah, sobbing with gratitude.
That evening, Sarah told Kieran what was happening next door. “I told poor Erica that we’d be with her, help her through her pregnancy.”
Kieran didn’t look the least bit thrilled. “Honestly Sarah, I wish you wouldn’t be so impulsive! It’s a huge responsibility, and I don’t even know that woman that well!”
“We’ve been living next door to her for six years, Kieran!” Sarah exclaimed. “She’s my best friend and I thought you liked her!”
“Not really,” Kieran said. “She’s OK, I guess, but she’s always been more your friend than mine.”
“Oh honey,” Sarah said tenderly, wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck and kissing him. “Please be nice to the poor girl, she has no one!” Cunningly, Sarah nibbled at the side of her husband’s neck, at a sensitive area he called his ‘lucky bump.’
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“You minx,” Kieran growled. “You always know how to convince me!”
Sarah giggled and gave the ‘lucky bump’ a lick. “Your mom told me it’s the Harper men’s only weakness and I’d better take full advantage!” The rest of the evening ended in love-making, and Kieran agreed to help Erica as much as they could.
So it was Sarah who accompanied Erica to all her doctor’s appointments and her scans, to the nutritionist and to the Lamaze classes, and even to the natural childbirth course that promised to have mom and helpers ready to usher the baby into the world without medical help.
“Not that I intend to have this baby anywhere but a hospital with lots of painkillers!” Erica said. “But it’s good to be prepared!”
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And it was a good thing too because one afternoon Erica phoned Sarah gasping. “Sarah, I think it’s time!” she cried. Sarah rushed over immediately and was shocked to find her friend in a pool of liquid.
“Your water has broken!” Sarah cried. “I’m calling the hospital.”
The hospital advised her that it would be at least half an hour if not more before the ambulance could be with them, so Sarah made Erica as comfortable as possible.
She noticed that Erica’s contractions were closer and closer together… She peeked and saw to her horror that the baby’s head was crowning! “Erica,” she cried, “the baby’s coming!”
“He can’t!” Erica screamed, clutching at her belly. “It’s supposed to take hours!”
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“Well,” Sarah said. “Ready or not, he’s on his way!” And she ran to get hot water, a warm blanket, scissors, and some cord. Kneeling by Erica’s spread knees, Sarah encouraged her to push.
Sarah watched breathlessly as the baby emerged from Erica’s straining body. She tenderly caught it and laid it on the soft blanket while she tied off and cut the umbilical cord — just like they had taught her at the natural childbirth class.
Then Sarah picked up the baby. “It’s a boy!” she cried to the exhausted Erica. “A beautiful, perfect baby boy!” Sarah started wiping the baby down gently, and she discovered that the baby wasn’t quite perfect.
On the side of his neck was a small hard bump, a familiar bump. A ‘lucky bump.’ Looking down at the tiny innocent creature in her hands Sarah suddenly understood it all.
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“Lester…” she whispered. “Lester was right, wasn’t he, Erica? You were having an affair and it was with my husband.”
Erica gasped and tried to sit up. “Oh no, Sarah, never…”
“Don’t lie to me, I have the proof right here!” Sarah said raising the baby in her hands.
“Don’t hurt him!” screamed Erica. “Yes, he’s Kieran’s. We’ve been lovers for six years, I’ll tell you anything you want, but don’t hurt my baby!”
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“I would never hurt your baby, Erica,” Sarah said scornfully. “I’m not like you. I don’t destroy other people’s happiness.” Sarah put the baby in Erica’s arms and left her to wait for the ambulance on her own.
That night, when Kieran arrived home, he found the house empty and silent. Sarah left him without a word and filed for divorce. It took her a long time to learn to trust again, but a few years later Sarah met a wonderful man and remarried.
She is a happy woman, and she and her husband are now expecting their second baby.
What can we learn from this story?
- Sometimes the people we trust the most are the ones who betray us. Sarah never imagined that her best friend and her husband were betraying her.
- The truth always comes out in the most unexpected ways. Kieran and Erica never imagined the baby would have an inherited defect that would betray their cheating.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
Son puts mother in nursing home, returns home and finds his suitcases on the doorstep
Joe believed he did the best thing for his ailing mother when he placed her in a nursing home. His fiancée, Emily, was the one who convinced him it was for the best for everyone if the elderly lady was out of her home. “You did the right thing,” she said with a grin on her face. “Your mom will have a better life in the nursing home…and we can turn her old crafts room into a lovely nursery for our baby.”
However, upon returning from the nursing home, Joe and Emily were shocked to see some people moving the furniture from their house. They rushed to inspect what was going on, still shocked from the sight.
“What the heck is going on over here?” Joe yelled as he exited the car and ran towards the porch. “Hey, who are you…and what are you doing in my house?”
“You must be Joe!” the man replied. “I knew you would come. By the way, this isn’t your house anymore! Your mom sold it to us. Here are the papers…and there’s your stuff.”
Joe was looking in confusion, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and was unable to move. But Emily acted. She grabbed the paper from the man’s hand and started analyzing the agreement. Her facial expression said it was true. Joe’s mom really sold the house.
“You fool!” she yelled. “Your mother tricked you right under your nose…and you had no clue? Everything is ruined now.”
“Emily…don’t say that. I don’t understand why Mom did this. But we still have each other. We can…”
“There’s no more WE, you loser! Forget about me,” she said as she pulled the ring and threw it on the ground.
Joe ran after her, pleading, “Wait…what about our baby?”
But Emily laughed at his face as she replied, “You’re so stupid! There’s no baby. Now get out of my way.”
“Wha—what do you mean? Emily…Emily? Stop….” Joe called out, but she left the place and left his life.
Heartbroken, Joe stood on the porch and that’s when he noticed a letter under one of the boxes.
It was from his mother.
“Dear Joe,
I’m sorry this happened. I wish I never had to take such drastic steps. But you left me with no other choice. It all started the day you first brought Emily home… the letter started.
Some weeks ago…
The decision to sell the house was made weeks ago, while Joe’s mom, Nora, was resting in her armchair.
Joe entered the place, and there was a woman with him, Emily. “…Joe is so funny…and charming,” Emily chuckled as she sat next to Joe on the couch. “I couldn’t say no when he first asked me on a date to the funfair.”
“It’s been just three weeks…but it feels like we’ve known each other for ages. That’s why I insisted Emily move in with me,” Joe said with visible delight in his eyes.
Her son’s words stunned Nora. She needed time to compose herself as she placed her oxygen mask on her face.
“I’m sorry if this has come as a shock, Mom,” Joe rubbed Nora’s shoulder. “Things might seem sudden…but trust me…Emily is the one for me. We’re soulmates!”
Nora turned to Emily, took her hand, and said, “Emily, darling, if you don’t mind, can you please make me some tea, dear? The warmth soothes my throat. The kitchen is that way…”
As Emily left the room to make some tea, Joe looked at his mother and whispered, “Isn’t she the best, Mom?”
“She seems like a lovely girl. But don’t you think you’re taking things a bit fast, Joey?”
“Mom, I understand your concerns. I didn’t want to tell you everything because of your health. But you deserve to know…I’m planning to propose to Emily this weekend.”
As expected, Nora believed that was way too soon since Joe knew Emily only for a few weeks.
“Mom, relax. You’re the one who taught me to fight for love. That’s what you and Dad did when you eloped, right?”
“But, Joey, that and this are entirely different.”
“Mom, I love Emily. I can’t live without her. Please trust me… she will be a great wife and a wonderful daughter-in-law.”
This sudden rushing didn’t give Nora peace.
However, when Emily moved in the following day, things seemed to have fallen into place as she and Nora got along well. The two knitted together, watched documentaries, and chatted.
Nora started to like her soon to be daughter-in-law until one night, when she woke up at midnight to take her pills, she heard Nora talking to someone over the phone and saying, “That old crone and her oxygen machine… she is such a thorn in my way… but Joe is madly hooked on me. So I should be able to get rid of her soon.”
Nora froze. At that moment she wondered what could Emily possibly do to get rid of her, but then Emily continued, “Just a lil sweet talk, and he should agree to stick his mother in a nursing home. Then, I’ll kick him out, and this house will be mine!”
Nora’s initial plan was to tell her son what she had heard, but she knew he was too smitten with his girlfriend to trust her.
Over the course of the next couple of days, Emily acted as though she enjoyed Nora’s company.
One day, however, Joe approached Nora and told her they needed to talk.
“It’s about Emily…” Joe said.
“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry things didn’t work out between you two…”
But Joe frowned. “What? Things are great between Emily and me, Mom. I’ve never been happier.
“Actually, Mom…” Joe swallowed hard. “…Emily’s been running her own business while working through the temp agency. She needs help with buying more machinery. But she can’t afford it right now. So I’d like to help her…but there’s only one way to get the money I need.”
“What is it, Joe?” Nora asked dreadfully.
“Mom, you know…your health isn’t improving. I think you need a better place where you’re cared for well…I think it’s time you moved into a nursing home.”
“Mom, it’ll be comfortable there,” said as he squeezed his mom’s hand. “…and if you agree to sell your house, I can put that money in Emily’s business. I promise to repurchase this property as soon as we see a return on the investment.”
Feeling betrayed, Nora said with sadness in her voice, “I don’t want to leave…my home.”
“Mom, I’m just trying to look out for you. Please…” Joe pleaded.
Knowing there was not much that she could do at that moment, Nora nodded her head.
“I’ll think about it, Joey. Just give me some time,” she said.
Nora needed time in order to be able to put her plan of revealing Emily’s true face into action.
The following day, Nora’s knitting was interrupted by the front door creak. As she looked towards the window, Nora saw Emily exiting the house.
Although she hadn’t driven in a long time, Nora decided to follow Emily.
After some time, Emily parked her car and entered a coffee place where she met with a man. A few minutes later, they started kissing passionately. Nora took her phone to film them, but at that moment, they stopped kissing and could only be seen holding hands.
“Joey, I’m sorry for bothering you at work…but this is important. Can you meet me outside the café on the corner of 3rd Street?” Nora called her son.
Joe arrived after around 10 minutes and Nora told him what she had witnessed.
“Look there, Joey,” Nora pointed toward the café window. “Emily is cheating on you.”
Raged, Joe stormed inside the place.
“What the heck is going on here??” he slammed the table, startling Emily and her lover. “How long have you been seeing this chump behind my back?”
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