Robert, 32, a husband and father, has been comfortably balancing work and family life with his wife, Candice, and their five-year-old son, Samuel, affectionately known as \u201cSam.\u201d\n
Robert and Candice have been married for eight happy years. Initially, both worked, but for the past five years, Robert has been the sole provider for their family while Candice has been a stay-at-home mom.\n
So, while Robert worked until 7 p.m. five days a week, Candice took excellent care of the home and of their son.\n
However, things took a puzzling turn when Robert noticed a change in Sam\u2019s behavior towards Candice. Whenever she tried to kiss him or hug him, he would do his best to avoid her presence. Robert was aware there was something wrong going on. He couldn\u2019t undestand why his son felt so distant when it came to his mother.\n
A few days passed by and Robert decided to talk to Sam.\n
\u201cSam, why have you been avoiding your mom recently?\u201d Robert asked one day while Candice was out of the house, running errands.\n
\u201cMom has changed. She has a secret and doesn\u2019t want to share it with me,\u201d Sam answered, his face reflecting confusion and sadness.\n
\u201cWhat do you mean? What secret?\u201d Robert asked, afraid of his son\u2019s answer.\n
\u201cWhen you are at work, she often cries in her room. When I walked in there and asked her why she was crying, she screamed at me and told me to go. She was holding a photo, but as soon as I walked in, she put it into the green box and hid it under the mattress,\u201d Sam tried to explain.\n
Robert was shocked. He couldn\u2019t help but wonder what could make his wife so sad, and what was in that green box Sam talked about.\n
\u201cHow often have you heard your mom crying?\u201d Robert was eager to learn.\n
\u201cThis week she\u2019s been crying almost daily. She thinks I don\u2019t pay attention, but I still hear her and see her swollen eyes. But now she locks the door to her room and when I come to the door and ask her what\u2019s the matter, she acts as if nothing has happened. I don\u2019t like it, Daddy. You need to do something about it,\u201d concerned.\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, son. Your mom probably has a reason for it. I\u2019ll talk to her,\u201d Robert reassured Sam. But deep down he was worried because he had no idea what was going on with his wife.\n
Two talked for a short while when Sam went to his room to play with his toys.\n
Although he was aware his action wasn\u2019t appropriate, Robert couldn\u2019t help but check under the mattress and look for the green box that made his wife sad.\n
Inside, there was some jewelry and a photograph.\n
The photo featured a happy family, but what caught Robert\u2019s attention was the resemblance between the man on the photo and Candice. At that point, Robert\u2019s mind went to the darkest places. Could Candice be cheating on him? Why did she have that photo of that family Robert has never seen or heard about before.\n
With the photo in his hand, Robert decided to confront Candice.\n
\u201cCandice, do you have a secret lover?\u201d he asked directly, with a trembling voice.\n
\u201cWhat? Rob, what are you talking about?\u201d Candice answered defensively.\n
Looking for answers, Robert persisted, showing Candice the photo he held in his hand. \u201cWho is this?\u201d\n
Candice\u2019s response was immediate and revealing. \u201cOh no\u2026 I never wanted this to come out,\u201d she confessed, the burden of her secret finally emerging.\n
Robert\u2019s thoughts raced as he sought to understand. \u201cSo, are you admitting to cheating on me?\u201d\n
\u201cNo! No, I didn\u2019t cheat. Okay, I will tell you the full story, but please do not tell anybody about it,\u201d she begged.\n
After taking a deep breath, she started telling her story.\n
\u201cBefore my grandma died, she gave me this picture,\u201d Candice revealed, emotions overtaking her. \u201cMy grandma said I should decide what to do with it on my own.\n
\u201cShe revealed that my mother cheated on my dad with her lover. When she gave birth, there were twins: me and my brother. Her lover wanted to be a father, but she loved my dad and wanted to stay with him.\n
\u201cBecause of this, my mom and her lover secretly agreed to each take one child and raise them in different families. My mom told my dad that I was his, and he had no reason to doubt her.\u201d\n
Before he passed away Candice\u2019s real father went to her grandma and told her the truth, giving her the photograph of her grandson.\n
\u201cYou see, my mom and dad have been together for over 35 years. It would devastate him if he found out about my mom\u2019s betrayal.\u201d The pain of keeping that secret was evident.\n
\u201cBut at the same time, I have a brother and I want to know him.\u201d Her desire was palpable, yet so was her fear. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do, because if I reach out to him, it would eventually hurt my mom and dad.\u201d\n
Robert was shocked by this revelation.\n
\u201cSo, is it your twin brother in the picture?\u201d Robert asked. \u201cYes,\u201d Candice answered. And yes, the resemblance between her and the man on the photo was uncanny.\n
Hugging her, Robert said, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry for doubting your fidelity. But why did you often cry in your room?\u201d\n
\u201cI\u2019m crying because I never had the chance to know my biological father. Also, I can\u2019t be in my brother\u2019s life without hurting my mom and my dad,\u201d she confessed, her voice cracking with the weight of her words.\n
Candice remained uncertain of her next move. She\u2019s still very doubtful of whether she should reach to her brother and welcome him into her life or remain silent for the sake of her parents\u2019 happiness.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My 5-year-old son started avoiding his mom \u2013 His reason greatly worried me, so I confronted my wife Robert, 32, a husband and father, has been comfortably balancing work and family life with his wife, Candice, and their five-year-old son, Samuel, affectionately known as \u201cSam.\u201d Robert and Candice have been married for eight happy years.\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":76357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-76344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}