Author: Katalin Faragó

After five years of failed attempts, Eszter finally gets pregnant — but she keeps it a secret until she’s sure. But after an ultrasound, her happiness turns into a nightmare when she sees her husband, Gábor, lovingly embracing another pregnant woman. Who is he? Eszter follows them… and discovers a truth she never imagined in her wildest dreams.

My hands were shaking as I placed the pregnancy test on the bathroom sink. The past five years had been an endless rollercoaster — hope, disappointment, tears. But this morning felt different.

I watched with bated breath as two pink lines slowly began to appear on the test.

My heart was pounding. I was pregnant!

I wanted to tell Gábor right away. He had been my support over the past few years. He hugged me after every failure, motivated me when I got a negative test result every month.

But this time I wanted to be sure. I didn’t want another disappointment.

So I secretly went for an ultrasound. I told Gábor I was going to the dentist – the lie burned my tongue like acid, but I wanted to wait for the final results.

In the office, the technician moved the ultrasound machine over my belly.

“There it is!” – he pointed to the screen. “See that little trembling?”

I looked at the display and then I saw it. A tiny, fast-moving dot.

A heartbeat.

“Oh my God!” I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes.

I was finally going to be a mother.

My happiness was boundless, and my fears were gone. I was already planning how I was going to tell Gábor. Maybe I would wrap the ultrasound in a little gift box…

But my thoughts were shattered as soon as I stepped out into the hallway.

Gabor was standing there.

My husband.

But he wasn’t alone.

He stood next to a young, heavily pregnant woman and embraced her tenderly. His hands were pressed protectively against her belly, and his face…

That expression!

That was exactly how he looked at me when I was scared. When he encouraged me.

It wasn’t a friendly hug.

I felt a knot in my stomach. I started to feel dizzy. I quickly hid behind the machine before it could see me.

Who is this woman?

Why was Gábor in the hospital when he said he was going to work?

The woman said something I couldn’t hear, and Gábor laughed sincerely, from the bottom of his heart. It wasn’t the awkward smile he showed his customers, but his genuine laughter.

My world collapsed.

I saw them heading towards the exit.

I had to know the truth.

Continued
With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and called an Uber.

“Please follow that blue car.” I told the driver as if I was in a spy movie.

The man just nodded and followed them.

A few minutes later, Gábor stopped the car in front of a small house. He helped the woman out, gently holding her waist.

My stomach hurt.

“Stop here,” I told the Uber driver and got out.

This can’t be true.

I saw Gábor and the woman enter the house. I couldn’t wait any longer.

I went to the entrance and knocked on the door.

A moment later Gábor opened the door. His face immediately paled.

“Ester? What are you doing here?” his voice broke.

Suddenly anger drove all fear out of me. I opened the door and went in.

The young woman stood in the living room and stroked her belly with one hand. He looked at me – and smiled.

“Are you Esther?”

The air escaped my lungs.

“Who are you?” I replied in a trembling voice.

The woman laughed to herself.

“Of course you’re Esther!” Dad keeps talking about you!

The world around me stopped.

“Dad?! ” I repeated in a whisper.

Gábor rubbed his face and took a deep breath.

“Esther, let me explain.

“What the hell?” I shouted.

The woman came closer.

“Eszter, I’m Anna… Gábor’s daughter.”

I felt a knot in my stomach.

Now I looked at him more closely. His eyes were exactly the same as Gabor’s. Her smile, that little dimple on her face…

How could I not have noticed it before?!

“Daughter?!”

Gabor nodded.

“Before I met you, Anna, her mother and I were together for a short time. I had no idea my child was born. His mother never told him.”

Anna continued, moved:

“My mother died of cancer a few months ago.” Then I found my father’s name on my birth certificate.

My legs were shaking.

“So… every time you came home late…?”

Gabor nodded sadly.

“I was trying to fit into Anna’s life.” I was trying to find the right moment to tell you.

My world fell apart… and then it came back together.

She wasn’t another woman.

He had a daughter.

And now we’re going to have a child together.

A few months later we were expecting two children who weren’t siblings, but who were a family nonetheless.

And I knew my worst assumption had become my greatest gift.