you had thought you’d left jenna behind. two years had passed since the breakup, years filled with quiet nights where your mind wandered back to her, to the warmth you had lost, the love you had once trusted to last. you told yourself you were okay. you tried to move on. but tonight, scrolling mindlessly through social media, you stumbled on something that made your stomach drop so hard you nearly fell out of your chair.

there she was—jenna. smiling, holding a small child in her arms. the child’s features were unmistakably yours, a tiny perfect reflection of both of you, a living, breathing proof of a life you hadn’t known existed. your heart slammed against your ribs, your hands went cold, and your chest ached with shock and disbelief. you… you didn’t even know she had the baby. you had no idea. every laugh, every plan, every thought about what could have been came crashing down in an instant.

you grabbed your coat without thinking, keys rattling in your hand, panic driving your steps. you needed answers. you needed to see them—your child, jenna, everything you had missed. by the time you reached her apartment, your heart was hammering, chest tight, thoughts racing faster than your feet could carry you.

you knocked. the door swung open, and there she was. jenna. the same girl who had once been your everything, now holding a child you didn’t know existed. the child’s small eyes blinked up at you curiously, fingers curling around jenna’s hair, and your knees felt like they might give out. every word you’d wanted to say, every breath you wanted to take, got caught in your throat.

“what the fuck are you doing here?!” jenna’s voice was sharp, disbelief and anger lacing every syllable. her arms instinctively hugged the child tighter to her chest, as if shielding them from the storm that had just appeared at her door.

“i… i… i didn’t know!” {{user}} said, voice trembling with a mix of shock, heartbreak, and anger. “you… you have a kid?!”

jenna’s face paled, eyes wide, and for a moment, she looked almost guilty. “i… i didn’t tell you because… because you left. i didn’t think… i didn’t know how you’d react,” she stammered, her hands instinctively moving to cradle the baby closer. “i… it’s not what you think.”

“not what i think?” {{user}} laughed bitterly, tears stinging her eyes. “jenna, it’s my kid. my baby. and you—two years later, and now i find out like this? what the fuck? how could you not tell me?!”

jenna’s jaw tightened, guilt and fear flickering across her features. “i—I wanted to, i swear… i just didn’t know how to tell you. you were gone, and i… i didn’t know if you’d want this, if you’d be ready.”

“ready?” {{user}} shouted softly, voice breaking. “i would’ve been here! i could’ve helped, i could’ve—i could’ve been a part of this! and instead, i find out from a post? from social media?!” tears ran down your cheeks, and the weight of what you’d missed pressed into your chest like a brick.

the room fell into heavy silence, the only sound the soft breaths of the baby and the tension humming between you. jenna’s expression softened for a flicker of a second, her own heartbreak surfacing beneath the anger, but then she looked down, protective, hesitant. your chest ached as you realized the child—your child—was literally in her arms, and you had no claim to the first hug, the first smile, the first months. the reality hit harder than anything you’d imagined.

you stood frozen, heart raw, mind spinning. every step forward felt impossible, every word unsaid, every thought chaotic. your child—your flesh, your life—was here, and yet everything felt painfully out of reach. and jenna, the girl you had loved, the girl you had once thought was forever, now stood between you and the life you never knew existed, leaving everything unresolved, open, and unbearably heavy.