The sun streamed through my curtains as I admired my wedding dress. After finally perfecting my eyeliner, the doorbell rang at 7:00 a.m. I opened the door expecting Tessa, but instead found a car seat with a baby and a note: “The baby is Nate’s now. Ask him yourself.”
Confused and heartbroken, I brought the baby inside. Tessa arrived soon after, and I showed her the note. We both went to the chapel where Nate’s smile vanished when he saw the baby. He confessed the baby was his estranged sister’s child, and he hadn’t told me out of fear I’d cancel the wedding.
I turned to the guests, announcing, “Our family just got bigger today.”
At the reception, Rose, the baby, became the center of attention. Nate’s mother, holding Rose, apologized for pushing away her daughter years ago.
Nate admitted he should have told me everything. “I should have,” I said, but realized our messy, real family was perfect in its own way.
