When my ex-husband suddenly said he wanted to reconnect with our daughter, I thought maybe he was finally ready to be the father she deserved. I could never have imagined the real reason behind his sudden interest. The truth made my blood boil.
Being a single mom to a five-year-old isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I’ve been doing this alone since the day my ex-husband, Leo, decided he wanted to live with the woman he’d been having an affair with.
Leo left me almost three years ago, when Lily was just two years old and I needed a partner who could stand with me while I cared for our little girl.
But no, the man I trusted the most decided to leave me and go live with another woman just a few blocks away.
Honestly, I didn’t stop him or beg him not to leave me. My pride wouldn’t let me. But as Lily grew up, she started asking questions that broke my heart.
Questions like “Why doesn’t Daddy come see me?” and “Does Daddy not love me anymore?” Every time she asked, I felt like a piece of my heart was being ripped out.
I tried my best to give Lily everything she needed.
I worked double shifts at the hospital where I’m a nurse, just to make sure she had nice clothes and could go to a good daycare.
But seeing other kids at school talking about their fathers made her feel left out. She’d come home and tell me how she wished Daddy would be there for her school plays or to read her bedtime stories.
That’s when I swallowed my pride and decided to call him.
I told him about her feelings, about how she sometimes cried at night, asking for her daddy. I begged him to be present for our little girl and to at least try to be the father she deserved.
“Leo, she misses you,” I said during that phone call.
“She asks about you every day. Can’t you just visit her sometimes?”
“I’m busy, Stacey,” he replied coldly. “I’m building a new life now.
You’ll figure it out.”
He didn’t show up at her birthdays or special events. Not even when she got her first bicycle or when she lost her first tooth. I guess he was too busy with the new woman in his life, planning their perfect future together.
This was how everything was until last week.
It was a regular Friday morning when I saw his name flash on my phone screen.
I almost didn’t answer it.
But something made me pick up.
“Stacey, I’ve been thinking a lot,” he said. “I’ve been ashamed of myself. I want to reconnect with our daughter.”
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