“I’m pregnant, Hans. We’re going to be parents. Isn’t it wonderful?” I revealed this to my boyfriend, Hans. He was my T.A. at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He was handsome and treated me like a princess.

I already pictured us getting married, so, I wasn’t upset when I discovered my pregnancy. In fact, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to tell him.

“What? Are you crazy? No! That baby can’t be mine! You have to abort it!” he screamed at me.

“Hans, darling! We can’t do that. It’s our baby. We made him or her out of love!” I wailed.

“No! I’m not going to be in his life. This is your problem. Goodbye!” Hans said and left. He quit the university and never answered my calls. When I told my parents, they disowned me.

But I couldn’t get rid of my baby. I loved it already. A few months later, I gave birth to Simon. I lived with a kind roommate, Sara, who didn’t mind having a baby around. But still, it was hard managing school and work while caring for a child.

But I did it. I graduated, got a better job, and Simon would be starting school soon. Everything was going as well as I could hope as a single mother. Well…except my love life. Every single man I dated since Hans recoiled when I told them about my child.

One man named Terrence told me it was alright until I introduced him to Simon and wanted to get more serious. He ghosted me afterward. That’s when I decided not to tell anyone about being a mother until I knew the relationship was solid.

Then I met Glenn. He was a dream. We could talk for hours and had a million things in common. But finding babysitters became harder and keeping Simon a secret was so complicated. Luckily, my parents suddenly showed up at my doorstep one day.

“Lana, I don’t know if you can forgive us, but I really want to make up for all our lost time. I want to meet my grandson and have a relationship with you again,” my mother, Gigi, begged.

“I’m sorry, my baby girl. We thought that having a baby would ruin your life, and you were so adamant about not having an abortion. Now I know that it was the right choice for you. But would you let us be in Simon’s life?” my father, Dylan, pled too.

I thought it was a sign from heaven. I introduced them to Simon, who was excited to meet any family. I had raised him for four years completely alone, but he loved his grandparents immediately. Now I could focus on my relationship with Glenn.

We had been dating for months and started to get serious when I asked him about children. “I definitely want children, Lana, don’t get me wrong. But I think we’re still too young for that. We have to get married and maybe travel the world for a few years,” he expressed.

I understood his point and decided to hold off on telling him about Simon once again. A few more months went by, and he popped the question unexpectedly. I agreed immediately but grew worried about Simon. Then my wedding day came and I still hadn’t told Glenn about Simon.

“You’re not going to tell him about your child?” my mother questioned me when I begged her to babysit him on that day.

“I’m sorry, Mom. You don’t know what it has been like for me all these years. Every man runs away when they find out I have a son already. I can’t tell Glenn the truth until we’re married,” I explained.

“Darling, he’s not going to like that either. A relationship needs trust and honesty,” my mother reasoned.

“Please! I’m begging you!” I pleaded. Finally, she agreed.

The plan was that Dad would walk me down the aisle, and then he would leave to take care of Simon so that Mom could join me for the rest of the party. That way, they could both attend the wedding.

I intended to tell Glenn about my son after we returned from our honeymoon. But I didn’t know that my mother was never on board with my plan.

During the ceremony, my Dad had walked me down the aisle, and the priest was starting his speech when my mother arrived secretly with Simon and sat down. I didn’t notice them until Glenn and I kissed.

My son came running to me. “Mom! Mom! Congratulations! You got married! I have a new father finally!” he exclaimed.

Glenn froze for a few seconds while Simon looked at him excitedly. “Mom? Is he your son, Lana? What is going on?” he mumbled through clenched teeth to avoid causing a scene in front of the guests.

“Let’s go out, and I’ll explain privately,” I uttered. We walked out of the church, took pictures, our friends threw rice at us, and all that jazz. But when we got in the car, Glenn began questioning me.

“Tell me the truth now,” Glenn demanded. So I explained everything about my past and how hard it had been to date anyone as a single mother.

“I know you might not understand me now, but I love you, Glenn. I couldn’t risk losing you. I was going to tell you after we returned from our honeymoon. My mom was supposed to watch him, but she brought him instead,” I revealed.

“I can’t believe this, Lana. You hid your five-year-old son from me for almost an entire year. How can we trust each other after that?” Glenn growled.

“Please. Please don’t be angry with me. Try to put yourself in my shoes. I was so worried,” I cried.

“I understand why you did it and why you were afraid. I’m angry because children are a gift, and I can’t believe you didn’t trust me enough to tell me about him,” Glenn explained.

I didn’t know what else to say, but we arrived at the reception, and Glenn went directly to Simon. He talked to him and told him he was his new dad. I was in tears by then. When the party was over, my parents took Simon to their house and we went to our hotel.

“I’m still angry, Lana. But Simon is fantastic, and we took vows to love each other through everything. I’m in this for the long haul. But you can’t EVER lie to me again,” Glenn stressed.

I cried once again and ran to his arms. “Thank you! Thank you! I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you and Simon. I love you so much!” I bawled in his arms. Glenn laughed, and our small fight ended immediately.

We had a lovely honeymoon and returned home. Glenn and Simon bonded almost immediately. I discovered I was pregnant only a few months later, and we had a girl named Julianne. Then Glenn adopted Simon officially and was the best father in the world.

I had finally chosen the perfect man.

What can we learn from this story?

• The right person is out there. After many failed attempts, Lana finally found a great man. Don’t despair if you haven’t found your match yet.
• Don’t keep secrets from your partner. Lana’s lie could’ve ruined their relationship, but Glenn loved her enough to forgive her. That’s pretty rare.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who divorced her husband when she saw a video of him singing.