John and Alice wanted to have children but couldn’t get pregnant normally, so they adopted Arnold. Soon after, Alice began arriving home late, and he discovered something incredible. As they walked around the orphanage director’s office, John and Alice held hands. The room was simple, with a small desk, filing cabinets, and the scent of fresh lavender in the air!

They could hear the cars on New Jersey’s main street in the background, but it wasn’t too loud. What they were going to undertake overwhelmed them. They had been accepted to foster a kid after multiple interviews, home visits, paperwork, and much anticipation. After years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive, they were about to become parents.

John took his wife’s hand in his, attempting to calm her down. He was, nevertheless, nervous. “Everything will be fine,” he answered gently. The door opened before Alice could respond with her own encouraging remarks. Mr. Perkins entered with a social worker, Mrs. Geller, who was holding a beautiful baby in her arms.

Alice’s eyes sparkled with delight, and she couldn’t believe what was going on. She was in love from that moment on. John was a little more cautious, as he had a few questions for them before they wrapped up this whole thing. Mrs. Geller placed the baby in Alice’s arms, and her expression was filled with love. John smiled at his wife’s happiness, not wanting to add any negative into the situation, but he was still concerned about something.

“What about the baby’s family, Mr. Perkins? Is there a chance they’ll return?” John inquired, his brow furrowed. “I understand your fears, Mr. Allen, and we can’t anticipate the future. But when I visited with the biological father, he was deeply troubled. He couldn’t possibly handle a baby and said that Arnold deserved a better life with a stable family.”

the director responded, looking at Alice staring at the baby. John breathed deeply and took the man’s words to heart. He finally stood up and approached his wife and new child. He also smiled at the baby, who was so beautiful he forgot about everything else. But John didn’t know that while his wife was listening to his conversation with Mr. Perkins, she was thinking hard about what she heard.

The next few weeks were absolutely incredible, although equally tiring. Most parents don’t know how hard it is to have a child at home until they have one. That’s entirely true. But Arnold was not too much trouble, except that he had trouble sleeping through the night. He was a few months old, and Alice wondered what happened that his father had to leave him behind. “It must have been so tough,” she said sympathetically.

John shook his head. “We can’t think about that. There are a million reasons, but Mr. Perkins said that he wanted the best for his baby. That’s us. I think we’re doing a pretty good job, honey. I mean… Momma,” he said, laughing at the last part.Alice smiled, but she was worried. They were planning to prepare Arnold for everything in the world.

If they finally got to adopt him legally, they would tell him the truth at some point and let him know that he was still their son no matter what. Honesty would be their main priority. But she wished she knew more about his past to tell him everything openly. Alas, that might never happen.
Months after they first took Arnold home, John noticed that his wife started leaving the house at random times and getting home later than usual.

Her job was pretty stable, and they had allowed her to reduce some hours to accommodate the new baby. He had done the same, although he was back to full-time now that they were settled. When he asked about it, Alice said, “Oh, am I away too long? I didn’t notice. I guess I just needed some ‘me time.'” John shrugged things off and focused on caring for Arnold as best he could, and Alice was a great mother.

However, her absences started becoming more frequent and more conspicuous. One day, she left the house, and he decided to follow her slowly in his car with Arnold safely strapped in the back seat. He saw Alice walk through a park and sit on a bench, so he parked and exited for a second. He was getting Arnold onto his stroller to go with him when he noticed a man smiling as he came up to Alice and sat down beside her.

Alice grabbed her phone and started showing the man something. They laughed together, and John couldn’t believe his eyes. Is she cheating on me? What’s going on? We’re finally happy and have a complete family. How could she? he thought in total shock. However, he didn’t want to make a scene in a public place, especially not with his baby in tow, so he got back into his car and drove home. He tended to Arnold the entire day and waited for Alice to get back.

The baby had been sleeping for a few minutes when Alice finally walked through the door, and John felt anger at the tiny grin on his wife’s face. His chest filled with heat, and he could feel his face getting red. “Who is that man?!” he snapped, trying to contain himself to avoid waking Arnold. Alice’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“The man at the park, Alice. Don’t act stupid. I saw you!””You followed me?” she demanded, taking her coat off and placing it in the closet near the door. She licked her lips and she looked annoyed. “YES! Tell me the truth now! ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?” he finally screamed, not caring about waking Arnold at that point. He was just pure anger.

“He’s Arnold’s father!” she responded, shouting back. But she covered her mouth, remembering Arnold, and they both looked towards the baby’s room. When no sound came out, she continued. “His name is Patrick, and Mr. Perkins helped me get in contact with him.” “I don’t understand. You’re meeting Arnold’s biological dad? Why?” John asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“Yes! I’ve been wondering about the future. What if Arnold asks about his bio-family? What if we can’t answer his questions? We need to be informed and ready for anything,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. “Alright, I guess I can understand that. But what have you been talking about with him? You’ve been meeting him for several days or weeks, I assume,” John prodded, his eyebrows down, trying to imagine her thought process.

“I wanted to know why he gave the baby away. He went bankrupt because his business partner tricked him out of everything. His wife left him and left the baby with him. He lost everything, honey! It’s so sad and so unfair. He had no other family and made the horrible choice of giving his baby away. He didn’t want to, but he knew it was the right move for Arnold,” Alice revealed, tears shining in her eyes.

“Oh, my darling, beautiful wife,” he started, opening his arms wide so she could run into them. “You have the biggest heart in the world. Come here.”Alice hugged her husband tightly, knowing he would understand. The following day, she introduced him to Patrick, and they decided to let Patrick have some contact with Arnold. They sent him pictures and invited them to dinners, school functions, and birthdays.

Years later, Patrick was there when John and Alice legally adopted Arnold. He knew they had become the best parents to his son, and although he had gotten back on his feet financially, he was not Arnold’s father anymore. Arnold knew him as more of an uncle, although Alice was still planning to tell her kid everything when he was older.