Marriage mistakes

The weeks before the birth

2 weeks until my due date and I'm finally on Maternity leave and spending more time over at Stephan's getting prepared for our newest arrival. The weekend before we had visited Stephan's family for a final BBQ before the baby arrives and everything was going brilliantly, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and I felt like I was walking on clouds.

From the moment me and Stephan got together we decided to keep the truth about the baby's real father a secret from the rest of his family. Technically the baby could have been his if we pretended to have got the dates mixed up or the baby came early but everyone was so excited we didn't want to crush their dreams when the baby would be Stephans in name and love.

Half an hour into the BBQ I was stood at the buffet table with Stephans sister Grace folding the plastic cutlery into the napkins for use later on with dinner when she uttered the few words that I had dreaded the most and had hope no one would discover
"The baby's not Stephan's is it?"
I stare at her in disbelief, did she really just ask that out loud and how do I answer? I stood there spluttering like an idiot unable to process what was happening and how to reply when she continued
"It's not is it because it could only be his if you got either the dates mixed, got pregnant with my brother straight away or its someone else's. So my guess is you were pregnant before and your stringing my brother along"
Her eyes narrowed into slits glaring at me and after about an hour my whole past was revealed to someone that was so recently a stranger but I now felt strongly connected too.
"Does he have IED?"
I stare at her with a blank look etched across my face having never heard of such a condition
"You know Intermittent Explosive Disorder? Where the sufferer has sudden explosions of anger that get blown out of proportion or for no reason whatsoever. If you see him again maybe mention it and get him checked our for that and Bipolar Personalities as they tend to co-exists and can be easily contained with medication and relaxation therapy."

After a slightly longer discussion i thanked her for her help and advice and made my way over to Stephan who was playing with some of his Nieces on the play frame. In between games I proceeded to tell him what his sister had told me about Mark and asked what he suggests I do. He just looked lovingly into my eyes and told me to do whatever I felt was best, he would support me every step of the way.

Once the gathering was over we made our way back to Stephan's house where I proceeded to write a letter to Mark explaining the new information I had learnt and suggested he get it looked into. I then proceeded to write how I missed him but believed this was for the best and we just weren't meant to be together. To conclude the letter I did the traditional hope everything's ok for you and goodbye before sealing the letter in a clear envelope writing my old address onto it to post next time I could hoping he hadn't moved since I had left.

I left the letter on top of my handbag so it wouldn't be forgotten before making my way upstairs taking a quick glance at the baby's room before joining Stephan in bed for the night.