When my ex-husband suddenly said that he wanted to reconnect with our daughter, I thought that maybe he was finally ready to be the father she deserved. I never imagined the real reason for his sudden interest. The truth made my blood boil.
Being a single mother of a five-year-old girl is not as easy as it seems. I’ve been doing it alone since the day my ex-husband, Leo, decided he wanted to live with the woman he had had an affair with.
Leo left me almost three years ago, when Lily was only two years old and I needed a partner who could be by my side while I took care of our little one.
But no, the man I trusted the most decided to abandon me and go live with another woman just a few blocks away.
Honestly, I didn’t stop him or begged him not to leave me. My pride didn’t allow me. But when Lily grew up, she started asking questions that broke my heart.
Questions like “Why doesn’t dad come to see me?” And “Dad doesn’t love me anymore?” Every time I asked, I felt like they were tearing out a piece of my heart.
I did everything I could to give Lily everything she needed. I worked double shifts at the hospital where I am a nurse, to make sure I had nice clothes and could go to a good daycare.
But seeing other children at school talking about their parents made her feel excluded. He got home and told me that he would like Dad to be present at the school works or to read him stories before going to sleep.
That’s when I swallowed my pride and decided to call him.
I told him about his feelings, how he cried sometimes at night, asking about his dad. I begged him to be present for our girl and to at least try to be the father she deserved.
“Leo, he misses you,” I told him during that call. “Ask for you every day. Can’t you visit it from time to time?”
“I’m busy, Stacey,” he replied coldly. “Now I’m building a new life. You’ll manage.”
He did not appear on their birthdays or at special events. Not even when he was given his first bicycle or when he lost his first tooth. I guess he was too busy with the new woman in his life, planning their perfect future together.
That’s how everything was until last week.
It was any Friday morning when I saw his name blink on my phone screen. I almost didn’t answer.
But something made me answer the call.
“Stacey, I’ve been thinking a lot,” he told me. “I’m ashamed of myself. I want to reconnect with our daughter.”
My heart turned upside down. After three years of silence, would you like to come back?
“Can I take it to you on the weekend? Just us,” he continued. “I want to show you how much it means to me. I want to show him that he still has his father. I… made a mistake and I want to fix it.”
b
Lily had been very quiet lately.
He had stopped asking about his father, which in a way seemed worse to me than when he used to cry for him. I thought maybe this could be good for her.
“Are you going to take this seriously, Leo?” I asked him. “Because if you hurt him again, I swear…”
“I’m serious,” he interrupted me. “I promise you. It’s about her, not us.”
I said yes. Because as much as he hated what he had done to me, I would never get in the way of his relationship with his father.
All children deserve to know that their father loves them.
So I made her unicorn backpack with pajamas, snacks, her favorite teddy bear and a pink dress that she loved.
I gave her the strongest hug and told her that Dad was going to spend the whole weekend with her, just as he had promised.
“Really, little one,” I said, kissing her forehead.
We agreed that he would bring her back on Sunday at five o’clock in the afternoon.
As I watched them walk away, I hoped I had made the right decision. I hoped I didn’t have to regret having sent her with him.
On Saturday he sent photos of Lily in the park, laughing on a carousel and applauding in a children’s theater. He smiled in each and every one of the photos, and it seemed that everything he had said he would do was really happening.
I was happy. I thought that maybe he had finally realized what he had lost when he walked away from us.
I was waiting at home, cleaning and getting ready for Lily’s return, when my sister called me.
“Stacey, how could you allow this?” he asked me. “Did you see what your ex did to Lily?”
“Allow what?” I asked, confused. “He promised her father-daughter time at an amusement park, ice cream, all those things. Lily misses him a lot and I thought…”
“My God, he lied to you,” he said, his voice softened by the shock. “Oh God. I thought you knew. I just saw it on Instagram.”
My heart began to beat hard. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m sending you a photo right now,” he told me.
My phone buzzed. It was a screenshot of an Instagram account that I didn’t recognize. But I immediately recognized the people who appeared in it.
There they were. Leo and his lover turned bride, Rachel, fully dressed as a bride and groom for a wedding.
And right between them, with a small bouquet in her hand and a white dress with ruffles that I had never seen before, was my daughter.
My innocent Lily, who seemed completely lost and confused.
That’s why Leo wanted to take Lily with him on the weekend. He was going to marry Rachel and they wanted Lily to be their florist. How could they do it without telling me?
The captions were all hashtags and false sweetness. “#OurDay #CompleteFamily #MyPrincess #FlowerGirl #BlessingFamily”.
Boiling with rage, I immediately called Leo, but the voicemail jumped directly.
I called again, but he didn’t answer.
I looked at the photos again and recognized the place in the background.
It was a local farm with a huge glass gazebo that I had passed by car hundreds of times. They were probably still there, celebrating their perfect day with my daughter as an involuntary prop.
So I took the keys and drove straight there.
My heart was racing at a thousand per hour while a million questions crowded into my mind.
How could he do this to him? How could he lie to both of us like that?
The twenty-minute journey seemed like hours to me.
Lily’s confused face kept coming to my mind. My little girl had no idea they were using her. I just thought that Dad wanted to spend time with her.
When I arrived at the place, I found them on the edge of the reception area. The bride laughed with her friends, showed her ring and posed for more photos.
Meanwhile, Leo sipped champagne as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t finished betraying his daughter.
I made my way through the crowd of guests, leaving behind the faces of amazement and the conversations in a low voice. I didn’t mind setting up a scene.
I only cared about finding Lily.
She was sitting on a bench in the corner, still in her flower girl dress, hugging her teddy bear and looking like she wanted to disappear. When he saw me, his whole face lit up with relief.
“Mommy, can we go home now?” he whispered, extending his arms towards me.
I immediately lifted her in my arms and held her against my chest. “Yes, honey. We’re going home right now.”
That’s when Rachel ran over, still with her fake smile.
“Wait!” he said. “We haven’t taken the family photo yet!”
Family photo, I thought. Yes, of course.
I looked her straight in the eyes.
“They used my daughter as a prop for her Instagram wedding,” I said, with a trembling voice with rage. “She’s not your flower girl. She’s my girl. And she had no idea why she was here.”
“Well, she looks pretty,” he said. “I needed a little girl as a florist for the photos. And it’s not that we have our own… yet.”
It was about to explode. I wanted to say things that I would regret later, but that moment never came.
One of Rachel’s bridesmaids, Sarah, stepped forward. I didn’t know that woman, but she seemed very upset by what she had just heard.
“She planned all this,” Sarah announced. “Rachel told us that she needed a flower girl for the photos, and that she would ask Leo to ‘lend her daughter’ and make it happen. He literally said, ‘Your mother will believe it. Tell him it’s a father-daughter weekend.”
That’s when all eyes turned to Rachel.
“Oh, Sarah is just jealous,” he said with a fake laugh. “He just wants to ruin my day.”
But it was already too late. People were already looking at Rachel and Leo with judgment in their eyes.
One of the godparents, Leo’s cousin, turned to me and said, “I’m very sorry, Stacey. I had no idea they were lying to you.”
I nodded, too exhausted to speak. What was left for me to say?
I had seen enough. Those people didn’t deserve a second more of my time, and of course my daughter didn’t deserve to be in the middle of that.
Without saying a word, I held Lily in my arms and left that place. I didn’t look back.
On Monday morning, half of the bride’s guests had stopped following her on social media. He had even removed the wedding photos from Instagram.
Honestly, I wasn’t surprised. This is what happens when you use someone else’s child as props for your wedding photos.
Looking back, I’m grateful that my sister called me that day. If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have known the truth until it was too late.
Thanks to her, I was able to bring Lily home safe and sound.
And Leo? She won’t have the opportunity to be near my daughter in the near future. Not until I learn what it means to be a father.
This work is inspired by real facts and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters and details have been changed to protect intimacy and improve narration. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or to real facts is pure coincidence and is not the author’s intention.
The author and the editor do not guarantee the accuracy of the events or the representation of the characters, and are not responsible for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is”, and the opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or the editor.