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When his plane landed, Kyle collected his luggage and walked out with the other passengers, scanning the crowd for Lisa\u2019s beloved face, but she wasn\u2019t there to pick him up.
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Probably, Kyle thought, she\u2019d been held up at work with some emergency. He sent her a quick text telling her he was on his way home but got no reply. He hopped into an Uber and in an hour he was walking up to his front door.\n\n\n\n
The lights were on in the lounge, but Lisa wasn\u2019t there. He made his way to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, stunned. Resting on top of the kitchen table was a bassinet, and Kyle could see a small arm waving aimlessly.
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He took a step closer. There was a bassinet with a baby on his kitchen table! The child was looking back at Kyle with that astonished look babies have, and Kyle stared back just as astonished.\n\n\n\n
Then he saw a folded paper on the table next to the bassinet. He picked it up and unfolded it. Inside was another sheet of paper with a message in a handwriting he didn\u2019t recognize: \u201cYou had your fun, now take responsibility for your child.\u201d
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Meanwhile, the note addressed to him in Lisa\u2019s elegant script read:\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n \u201cKyle, yesterday I found this child on our doorstep with that note attached. I always suspected you cheated on me during your business trips, but I didn\u2019t hold a grudge on you for that \u2014 after all, I had plenty of flings while you were away \u2014 but saddling me with someone else\u2019s byblow is too much. I\u2019ve filed for a divorce, and I earnestly hope I will never see you again. \u201cP.S. And about the baby, don\u2019t worry, I only left when I saw you walk up the drive. Enjoy your life, Kyle, I certainly intend to enjoy mine.\u201d\n\n\n\n Kyle sat down and dropped his head in his hands. He couldn\u2019t believe this was happening to him. This child wasn\u2019t his, he\u2019d never cheated on Lisa, ever! A soft cooing sound made him raise his head.\n\n\n\n The baby was waving its little hand in the air, so Kyle brought his own hand closer and to his surprise, the child grabbed onto his index finger with incredible strength.\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, baby,\u201d Kyle said. \u201cI guess it\u2019s just us two, and I don\u2019t know what to do with you!\u201d\n\n\n\n The baby cooed again and gurgled, then screwed up his face in an alarming way and turned bright red. \u201cOh my God!\u201d cried Kyle. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d A certain smell quickly elucidated him.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n Yep, it was diaper time. But was there even a diaper? On the floor next to the table was a large backpack with several snap pockets that he\u2019d never seen before. Kyle found a bewildering array of items inside and the diapers.\n\n\n\n He quickly googled diaper change and watched carefully as a woman on YouTube demonstrated on a life-like doll how to change a diaper.\n\n\n\n Kyle started following her instructions but things didn\u2019t run that smoothly. The woman\u2019s life-like doll didn\u2019t move its legs, or sink its kicking heels in the stinking and unmentionable contents of the dirty diaper! After wiping the baby clean, Kyle realized it was a girl, and he didn\u2019t know anything about girls!\n\n\n\n \u201cI won\u2019t be giving you dating advice,\u201d he told the baby solemnly. \u201cBut I can teach you how to ride a bike.\u201d\n\n\n\n Kyle realized in that moment that he intended to keep this baby.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n He picked up the freshly diapered baby and said, \u201cYou need me, and I guess I need you too. So how about it, kid?\u201d\n\n\n\n Kyle once again consulted the YouTube baby-guru to prepare the formula and settled the baby in the crook of his arm for her feed.\n\n\n\n \u201cYou need a name, you know that? How about\u2026 Celeste? Do you like that? Or Lily\u2026\u201d\n\n\n\n If anyone had told Kyle that he would settle into fatherhood so easily and so smoothly he would never have believed it. Lily had her moments and her tantrums, but somehow things worked out.\n\n\n\n Kyle registered Lily as his child and enrolled her in daycare. For him, her birthday was on the day he\u2019d found her. But it was on Lily\u2019s second birthday that Kyle\u2019s world fell apart.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n A woman knocked on her door. \u201cI\u2019ve come for my baby,\u201d she said. Kyle just looked at her. She was tall, blonde, and thin, with huge breasts that were obviously a product of a plastic surgeon\u2019s art.\n\n\n\n \u201cYour what?\u201d Kyle asked.\n\n\n\n \u201cMy baby,\u201d she snapped. \u201cI left her here two years ago? Sorry about that, but I was a bit stoned and my boyfriend lives on the next block over and I got confused. You know how it is!\u201d\n\n\n\n \u201cSorry, I don\u2019t know how that is because I\u2019ve never abandoned a child on anyone\u2019s doorstep,\u201d Kyle said coldly. \u201cI\u2019d get a move on if I were you, or I\u2019ll call the police.\u201d\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n \u201cNow look here,\u201d the woman said sharply. \u201cI figured I made a mistake about a week later when Burt didn\u2019t take my calls, but now I need that baby!\u201d\n\n\n\n \u201cYou need her?\u201d asked Kyle angrily. \u201cWhat do you need her for?\u201d\n\n\n\n \u201cBurt just got himself a Major League contract,\u201d the woman said. \u201cAnd that baby\u2019s gone make sure some of those millions land in my bank account!\u201d\n\n\n\n Kyle ran the woman off, but he had a feeling he hadn\u2019t seen the last of her. He was right. A week later he was summoned to family court. A Miss Cherish Vegas was contesting his adoption of baby Lily.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n Suddenly, Kyle was showered with injunctions, was visited by Social Services at odd hours of the day or night, and his friends and co-workers were being questioned. Cherish really meant to get her hands on those millions!\n\n\n\n Finally, the day of the hearing arrived. Kyle nervously handed over Lily to the social worker for the duration of the hearing and walked in. Cherish was there, of course, and a tall man with Lily\u2019s blue eyes was on her side of the court. This could only be the famous Burt!\n\n\n\n Cherish cried and sniveled and told the judge how much she loved and missed her baby, and how her wild college days (now long past and deeply regretted) had led her to place her in Kyle\u2019s care.\n\n\n\n The judge looked down at the papers in front of her. \u201cBy in his care, you mean on his porch, isn\u2019t that right, Miss Vegas?\u201d asked the judge.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels\n\n\n\n Cherish flushed red. \u201cWell, I\u2019m still her mama! No one can deny that!\u201d she screamed.\n\n\n\n The judge looked at Burt. \u201cYou sir, you are the father?\u201d\n\n\n\n Burt lumbered to his feet and said, \u201cI guess I must be\u2026\u201d\n\n\n\n The judge fixed him with a flinty eye. \u201cAre you prepared and able to take on the parental responsibilities for this child?\u201d\n\n\n\n Cherish screamed, \u201cYou bet he is, judge, he just signed a three million dollar contract to play ball\u2026\u201d\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u201d cried the judge. \u201cFinally, the truth is out! Tell me, Miss Vegas, what name did you give your daughter?\u201d\n\n\n\n \u201cName?\u201d asked Cherish, confused. \u201cWhy, she\u2019ll have her daddy\u2019s name., since he\u2019ll be paying child support!\u201d\n\n\n\n Kyle stood up. \u201cYour honor,\u201d he said. \u201cMay I address the court?\u201d\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, Mr. Greenbecker,\u201d said the judge. \u201cPlease do.\u201d\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n\n\n\n \u201cMa\u2019am, my daughter\u2019s name is Lily, and she does have her father\u2019s name \u2014 mine. Since the moment that child came into my life I\u2019ve loved her, and she loves me.\u201d\n\n\n\n At that moment, Lily, who had been playing with the social worker\u2019s necklace noticed that Kyle was standing up. \u201cDaddy!\u201d she cried and stretched out her arms.\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, ladies and gentlemen, it seems to me that the case has been decided by the principal party,\u201d the judge said. \u201cI hereby overturn all claims of custody of the child Lily Grennbecker and confirm Kyle Greenbecker\u2019s custody and adoption.\n\n\n\n That night, Kyle celebrated his victory in court and he and Lily spent the evening catching lightning bugs in the garden. \u201cStars!\u201d cried Lily. But for Kyle, the brightest star of all was his little girl.\n\n\n\n For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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A real parent is the one who loves and cherishes the child.\n\n\n\n\n
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