When I got sick, I finally saw a side to my husband that I didn’t like. He abandoned me and our newborn baby because he didn’t want to step up and be a good father and husband, so I played along. But I came out on top!
I’m 30, married to a man named Drew who’s 33, and we have a six-month-old baby girl named Sadie. She’s the light of my life—a smile like sunshine, chubby cheeks, and the sweetest little giggle. But apparently, all of that was just a minor inconvenience to my husband when I got sick.
A sickly woman | Source: Midjourney
Let me tell you what happened. Strap in, because it still feels like a fever dream, and not just because I had a fever when it all started. This all occurred about a month ago. I’d caught some brutal virus. Not COVID-19, not RSV, but something gnarly.
I mean, this thing came with body aches, chills, and a cough that made my ribs feel like they were being punched from the inside! The worst part? Sadie had just gotten over a cold herself, so I was already drained.
A cute baby | Source: Midjourney
At this point, I was sleep-deprived, sick, and trying to take care of a baby who was still clingy from her own recovery. Strangely, Drew had been acting weird for weeks, even before I got sick. He was distant.
Always on his phone, chuckling at things he wouldn’t share. When I’d ask what was so funny, he’d just shrug and say, “It’s work stuff.” His fuse was short, too. He snapped over stupid things—the dishes in the sink and my forgetting to defrost the chicken.
An upset man | Source: Midjourney
My husband also kept commenting on how tired I looked. “You always seem exhausted,” he said one night while I rocked Sadie in my arms and tried to suppress a cough.
“Well, yeah, duh. I’m raising a human,” I replied with a tinge of annoyance.
I thought maybe, just maybe, this illness would snap him out of it. I hoped he’d see me struggling and finally step up. Pick up the slack. Be the man I married.
Boy, was I wrong!
A sickly woman struggling with a baby | Source: Midjourney
The night my fever hit 102.4, I could barely sit up! My hair was stuck to my forehead, my skin burned, and my whole body ached like I’d been hit by a truck! I looked at him and, with all the strength I could muster, I whispered, “Can you please take Sadie? I just need to lie down for 20 minutes.”
He didn’t even blink. “I can’t. Your cough is keeping me up. I NEED SLEEP. I think I’m gonna stay at my mom’s for a few nights.”
I actually laughed—not because it was funny, but because it was so absurd I thought he had to be joking!
He wasn’t.
A sickly woman laughing while holding her baby | Source: Midjourney
He actually got up, packed a duffel bag, kissed Sadie on the head—not me—and walked out. All the while, I kept asking him, “Are you serious right now? You’re really leaving?” And he just nodded his head and said nothing.
He didn’t even bother asking how Sadie would be taken care of while I could barely stand! After he left, I sat on the couch holding her while she cried from being overtired and hungry. I stared at the door. My phone buzzed a few minutes later after I texted him.
A woman holding a baby and texting | Source: Midjourney
“You’re seriously leaving me here sick and alone with the baby?” I had texted, still in disbelief.
“You’re the mom. You know how to handle this stuff better than me. I’d just get in the way. Plus, I’m exhausted and your cough is unbearable.”
I read that text five times and stared at it in shock! My hands were shaking, whether from the fever or the rage, I’ll never know! I couldn’t believe that this man, who was supposed to be my life partner, thought my cough was too much of a hindrance than staying and helping with OUR child while I was clearly sick!?
FINE!
An upset woman | Source: Midjourney
I somehow made it through the weekend. I barely ate. I cried in the shower when Sadie finally napped. I kept her alive on nothing but Tylenol, willpower, and instinct. And during that time, Drew didn’t check in, not once!
I couldn’t rely on family because they were hours away, and although my friends popped in and called now and then, they were too busy, out of town, or had some other reason. The whole time I was burning up in bed, one idea kept playing in my mind: I need to show this man what it feels like to be completely abandoned.
So I did.
A serious and determined woman | Source: Midjourney
I started devising my plan. I figured if he thought being sick and then abandoned wasn’t a big deal, I was going to give him an idea of what it felt like. By the time I felt somewhat human again, with no fever, still coughing but functional, I knew exactly what I was going to do.
So a week later, I texted him.
“Hey babe. I’m feeling much better now. You can come home.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Thank God! I’ve barely slept here. Mom’s dog snores and she keeps asking me to help with yard work.”
Yard work. Poor baby. Imagine that.
A happy man texting | Source: Midjourney
Ahead of his return, I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, prepped Sadie’s bottles and food, and even made Drew’s favorite dinner, spaghetti carbonara with garlic bread from scratch. I showered, put on makeup for the first time in two weeks, and wore jeans that didn’t scream “I’ve been up every two hours with a baby.”
When he walked in, he looked around like everything was back to normal. He was smiling, looking relaxed, ate like a king, burped, and then collapsed onto the couch with his phone! He barely said a word to me about the week I had endured!
A happy man using his phone | Source: Midjourney
A few minutes into his relaxation time, I finally struck!
“Hey,” I said sweetly, “Can you hold Sadie for a sec? I need to grab something upstairs.”
“Sure,” he muttered after sighing and rolling his eyes. He kept scrolling TikTok with one hand and held her with the other.
I came down five minutes later with my small suitcase and my car keys. Sadie was smiling and babbling in his lap.
Noticing the movement, he blinked. “What’s that?”
“I booked a weekend spa retreat,” I said, calm as can be. “Massage, facial, room service. I just need some rest.”
He sat up, confused. “Wait, you’re going now?!”
A shocked man holding a baby | Source: Midjourney
“Yep. Just two nights. I left instructions. Bottles are labeled and her toys are there. Diapers and wipes are stocked. Emergency numbers are on the fridge. I got lots of groceries. Everything’s good. Unlike you, I actually planned ahead for you. Besides, you’re the dad. You know how to handle this stuff.”
“Claire, I don’t know what to—” he started.
I raised a hand. “No, no. Your words last week, remember? ‘You’re the mom. You know how to handle this stuff better than me.’ Now it’s your turn.”
A woman leaving with luggage | Source: Midjourney
He seemed gobsmacked for a few seconds before he said, “Wait—Claire, c’mon. You can’t just—”
“I can. I am. You abandoned me when I needed you most. So now you’ll see what it’s like to carry everything alone. Don’t call unless it’s a real emergency. And no pawning her off on your mom. You’re the dad. Figure it out.”
He just stared at me with his eyes wide. I don’t think he was processing what was happening.
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
“You wanted sleep? Good luck getting any. Bye-bye, dear. I’ll be back Sunday night!”
And then I walked out. I didn’t slam the door. I didn’t cry in the car. I drove 45 minutes to a beautiful, tranquil, and quiet little inn with a spa and free chocolate chip cookies in the lobby.
That day, I vowed not to answer any calls or texts. I figured if there was a real issue, Drew could get in touch with his mother or take Sadie to the hospital. I even ignored the first wave of panicked voicemails and FaceTime attempts.
A woman relaxing at a spa | Source: Midjourney
Instead, I had a 90-minute massage, took naps, read by the fireplace, got a pedicure, and watched trashy reality shows in a fluffy robe. Bliss!
Saturday? Slept in until 9 a.m., got a facial, and ate a warm croissant while reading a book by the fire.
He did call twice. Left two voicemails. One was mild panic. The other was an attempt to guilt-trip me.
“Claire, Sadie won’t nap. I don’t know how you do this. She spit up on me twice. Please call back.”
I didn’t.
A woman using her phone | Source: Midjourney
But I did FaceTime that evening because, despite everything, I missed my daughter, and unlike him, I still really loved him.
When the screen lit up, Drew looked like he’d aged 10 years. Sadie was in his arms, hair a mess, chewing on his hoodie string. Her diaper looked… full.
“Hey, Sadie-bug,” I said, my voice softening. “Mommy misses you.”
She smiled. Reached for the screen. Drew looked like he wanted to melt.
“Claire,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t realize how hard this is!”
No kidding!
I nodded. “I know.”
A woman on her phone | Source: Midjourney
Sunday evening, I came home to a war zone! Toys everywhere. Dirty bottles in the sink. Drew was still in the same shirt from the day before, his eyes sunken, hair sticking up like a cartoon scientist!
Sadie squealed and giggled when she saw me! I scooped her up and kissed her all over! She smelled like baby wipes and panic, but was fine, maybe a little clingy.
A happy woman carrying her child | Source: Midjourney
Drew just looked at me like he was seeing a goddess with infinite powers—exhausted and ashamed.
“I get it now,” he whispered. “I really do.”
“Do you?” I asked.
He nodded. “I messed up.”
I pulled out a folded paper from my purse and placed it on the table. Don’t get excited, it wasn’t divorce papers, at least, not yet. He looked down like a deer caught in headlights, probably thinking the papers were the end of our marriage.
A shocked man looking at a list | Source: Midjourney
But it was a list. A schedule. Morning duties, nighttime feedings, grocery runs, laundry, baths. His name was next to half of them.
“You don’t get to tap out anymore,” I told him. “I need a partner. Not a third child.”
He nodded, slowly. “Okay. I’m in.”
To his credit, he has been trying. He wakes up when Sadie cries at night. He makes her bottles and finally managed to change her diaper without gagging! He even learned to swaddle her without watching a tutorial!
A happy man holding his swaddled child | Source: Midjourney
But I’m not stupid. I’m not rushing to forgive him. I’m still watching. Still deciding.
But at least now, he knows: love doesn’t mean allowing someone to walk all over you, and I’m not the type of woman you leave behind when things get tough.
I’m the woman who makes sure you never, ever forget it.
A determined woman | Source: Midjourney
In the following story, a woman was thrilled when her boyfriend proposed but, his mother quickly shut down any idea of them actually getting married. To cut a long story short, the jilted woman didn’t take the slight lying down and got revenge in the best way possible!
Woman Spots Bracelet She Made for Missing Son on Waiter’s Hand After Two Years & Confronts Him Before Paying the Bill
For two years, Elena replayed the last words her son said before he mysteriously vanished. She clung to hope for a sign he was still out there. Then one day, she found it — a bracelet she’d made for him, now on a stranger’s wrist. That discovery brought her closer to the answers she longed for.
The faint scent of lavender clung to Elena’s coat, a reminder of the fabric spray she’d spritzed on before leaving her hotel room. She sat by the café window, staring at the misty drizzle streaking the glass. This new city wasn’t home; it never had been. She was here on yet another last-minute business trip. Normally, she could distract herself with work, but today her thoughts wouldn’t settle.
They were stuck on Aaron. It had been two years since her son vanished. No goodbye, no explanation… just gone.
An emotional senior woman lost in deep thought | Source: Midjourney
He was 20 when he left, an age when he should have been figuring out life, not running from it.
The only thing he left behind was haunting silence.
And Elena? She was left with sleepless nights and memories that cut sharper with every passing day. She’d looked for him everywhere, even on social media. But in vain.
Grayscale shot of a young man walking on the road | Source: Pexels
Her phone buzzed with another message from her sister Wendy. “Any news?” she asked, like clockwork. Every morning, same question, same hope.
“Nothing,” Elena typed back, her fingers trembling slightly. “Just another day of wondering if he’s even alive.”
“He is,” Wendy replied instantly. “You’d know if he wasn’t. A mother always knows.”
A teary-eyed woman holding her phone | Source: Midjourney
Elena closed her eyes, remembering the last conversation they’d had before he disappeared. “I’m going out,” Aaron had said, casual as ever. “Don’t wait up.”
“Text me when you get home,” she’d called after him.
“I will, Mom. I will.”
But he never did. That text never came.
On her nightstand back home, there was a picture of him at ten, his face beaming with pride as he showed off the bracelet she’d made for him. Blue and green leather braided tightly, with a small silver charm etched with his initial.
A blue and green braided leather bracelet bearing an initial in a heart-shaped ornament | Source: Midjourney
She remembered tying it around his little wrist, telling him, “It’s one in a million. Just like you.”
“Really, Mom?” he’d asked, eyes sparkling. “You mean that?”
“With all my heart, sweetie. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
And now? Two years without him, and all she had left were those words echoing in her head.
A soft clink of plates pulled Elena out of her thoughts. The waiter set her order down — a plate of eggs and toast she’d barely looked at on the menu. The warm smell of coffee and pastries filled the air, but her appetite was nowhere to be found.
A plate of egg and toast on a table | Source: Pexels
She picked at the crust of the toast, her mind wandering. Where is he? Is he safe? Does he even know how much I love him?
The sound of footsteps brought her back again. The waiter, a young man with a friendly smile, returned with the bill. She handed him her card without looking up. But as he reached for it, something caught her eye.
A bracelet.
Braided blue and green leather with a small silver charm.
Her breath hitched. “It’s… Oh my God, it’s the SAME BRACELET — AARON’S.”
A man wearing a leather bracelet | Source: Midjourney
She stared, her hand trembling. “Where… where did you get that?” Her voice barely made it past the lump in her throat.
The waiter paused, looking at his wrist. “Oh, this?” He laughed nervously. “It was a gift.”
Her heart raced. “From who?”
His smile faded, replaced with confusion. “My fiancé.”
The room felt like it had tilted. Elena clutched the edge of the table, her voice trembling. “Who is he? What’s his name?”
“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice. “You’re shaking.”
An anxious man | Source: Midjourney
“That bracelet,” she whispered, reaching out to touch it but stopping herself. “I remember every knot and every thread. I spent hours making it perfect because… because he deserved perfect.”
The man’s brows knitted together defensively. “I don’t see why that’s any of your business.”
She pointed at the bracelet, her voice cracking. “Because I made that. FOR MY SON.”
A silence fell between them, heavy and uncertain.
The waiter — Chris, his name tag read — studied her, his face shifting from confusion to realization. “Wait,” he said slowly, “you’re Adam’s mom?”
Elena stared at him, hardly able to breathe. “Adam? No, my son’s name is Aaron. You know my son?”
A woman shaken to her core | Source: Midjourney
The waiter shook his head. “No. But he told me he left everything behind, including his name. I… I never knew why. And he doesn’t go by Aaron anymore. He’s Adam now.”
The name hit her like a slap. Adam. Why would he change his name? Why would he leave his life behind?
“Why?” Elena whispered. “Why would he do that?”
“Please,” she begged, “I need to understand. Every night for two years, I’ve imagined the worst. Car accidents, kidnapping, murder. Do you know what it’s like to wake up every morning wondering if your child is dead?”
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
Chris glanced around, lowering his voice. “Look, I don’t know everything. He’s never talked much about his past. But he said… he said he didn’t think you’d accept him.”
“Accept him? For what?”
Chris shifted uncomfortably, then glanced at his wrist. “For me. For us.”
“Us?” she repeated, the word heavy on her tongue. “You mean…”
“We’re engaged,” Chris said softly, touching the bracelet. “He gave me this the night I proposed. Said it was the most precious thing he owned.”
A man flaunting his engagement ring | Source: Pexels
The words landed like bricks, crushing and unrelenting. All the tiny moments she’d overlooked over the years came rushing back: Aaron hesitating before telling her about certain friends, dodging questions about who he spent time with. Her heart twisted. He’d been scared. Scared of her.
“All those times,” she whispered, more to herself than Chris. “All those times he started to tell me something important, then changed the subject. Was he trying to…?”
Chris nodded gently. “He told me that he’d tried to tell you many times. But the words wouldn’t come. He was afraid.”
Tears blurred Elena’s vision. “I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I never knew he thought that.”
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
Chris’s eyes softened. “He doesn’t talk about it much, but it’s clear he’s still carrying that fear. Look, I’m not trying to make you feel bad… he loves you, in his own way. He kept this bracelet with him all the time before he gave it to me. It means something to him.”
“Did he ever…” she swallowed hard. “Did he ever talk about me?”
“All the time. He keeps your photo in his wallet — the one of you holding him on his first birthday. Sometimes I catch him looking at it when he thinks I’m not watching.”
Grayscale shot of a mother holding her child | Source: Pexels
The room felt like it was closing in on Elena. “Please,” she said, clutching Chris’s arm. “Tell me where he is. I just want to see him. I need to tell him…” Her voice faltered. “I need him to know I love him. No matter what.”
Chris hesitated. “He might not be ready for that.”
“Please. Two years, Chris. Two years of empty holidays, of setting a place at the table just in case, of jumping every time the phone rings. I can’t do it anymore.”
A hesitant man | Source: Midjourney
After a long pause, he sighed and pulled out a receipt, scribbling an address. “He’s scared, but… maybe this will help him, too.”
Elena clutched the address in her hand, standing outside a modest brick apartment building. The soft hum of the city filled the air, but it was drowned out by the sound of her heartbeat.
She stared at the buzzer. Her hand hovered over the button for Apartment 3B. What if he didn’t want to see her? What if he told her to leave?
A woman standing outside an apartment | Source: Midjourney
Her phone buzzed again. “Did something happen?” Wendy asked. “You’ve been quiet all day.”
“I found him,” Elena typed back, hands shaking. “Wendy, I found him.”
“Oh my God,” she replied instantly. “Where are you? Do you need me there?”
“No,” Elena wrote. “This is something I need to do alone.”
Before she could talk herself out of it, the door creaked open.
He stood there, looking at her like he was seeing a ghost. His hair was longer, his face thinner. He wasn’t a boy anymore. Before her stood a man, carrying an exhaustion and wisdom far beyond his age. But his eyes — those brown eyes that used to light up with mischief — were still the same.
“MOM?”
A stunned man standing at the doorway | Source: Midjourney
“You kept the photo,” she blurted out, remembering what Chris had said. “The one from your first birthday.”
Aaron’s hand instinctively went to his back pocket, where his wallet sat. “How did you…?”
“Chris,” Elena said softly. “He told me everything.”
Tears streamed down her face. “Aaron,” she said, choking on the name. “Or Adam. Whatever you want to call yourself. I don’t care. I just… I need you to know I love you. I always have.”
A heartbroken senior woman | Source: Midjourney
He blinked, his face crumpling. “You don’t… you don’t care?”
“Care?” She stepped closer, her voice breaking. “The only thing I care about is that you’re alive, that you’re safe. Do you know how many times I called hospitals? Morgues? How many times I walked past homeless people, wondering if one of them was you?”
She reached for his face, touching it gently, making sure he was real. “I don’t care who you love. I don’t care where you’ve been. I just want my son back.”
“But I’m different now,” he whispered. “I’m not who you wanted me to be.”
A sad man with his eyes downcast | Source: Midjourney
“You’re exactly who you’re supposed to be. And I’m so sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell me that.”
For a moment, he stood frozen. Then he threw his arms around her, burying his face in her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” he sobbed. “I was so scared. I thought if you knew…”
“No, baby,” she whispered, holding him tight. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you carried that fear alone.”
The next morning, Elena sat at their kitchen table, a mug of coffee warming her hands. Aaron sat across from her, his hand clasped in Chris’s. They looked happy, comfortable, and so clearly in love.
Two men holding hands | Source: Pexels
“So, wait,” Chris said, laughing. “You painted the cat?”
Aaron groaned. “I was six! It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“In his defense,” Elena added, smiling, “the cat did look rather festive in purple.”
“Mom!” Aaron protested, but he was grinning. “I thought we agreed never to tell anyone about that!”
“Oh, sweetie,” she laughed, “I have years of embarrassing stories to catch up on. Chris needs to know what he’s getting into.”
A delighted woman | Source: Midjourney
Chris squeezed Aaron’s hand. “I think I already know exactly what I’m getting into.” He glanced at Elena. “And who I’m getting as a mother-in-law.”
She smiled, her chest lighter than it had been in years. The bracelet was back on Aaron’s wrist, glinting in the morning sunlight.
“You’re still one in a million, you know,” she said softly.
He reached across the table, his eyes full of emotion. “So are you, Mom.”
A man smiling | Source: Midjourney
“We have so much to catch up on,” she said, wiping away a tear. “So many moments to make up for.”
“We have time,” he said softly. “All the time in the world.”
And for the first time in two years, Elena believed it.
A woman looking up at someone and smiling | Source: Midjourney
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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