After years of trying, Elena and I were finally going to be parents. I couldn’t wait to hold our baby, but when that moment came, I was shocked.
“Honey,” Elena said, “I think I want to be alone in the delivery room.”
I didn’t expect to hear that. I wondered why she didn’t want me there. She said she needed to do it by herself, so I agreed.
A couple of days later, we went to the hospital. I kissed Elena at the entrance, and all I could do was wait.
When the doctor came out, his face said something was wrong. As I rushed to Elena’s room, my heart sank.
She was fine, but her usual happy self was missing. She held our baby girl in her arms, but something was off. The baby had pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. My heart dropped. “YOU CHEATED!” I shouted.
“Marcus, I can explain,” Elena said, trying to hold my hand.
Both Elena and I are Black, and our baby was white. I couldn’t understand. She tried to convince me that the baby was ours, but I didn’t believe it.
The nurses tried to calm me down, but I felt like my world was falling apart.
“Marcus, look at this,” Elena said, pointing to a birthmark on our daughter’s foot. It was exactly like the one my brother and I have.
Then Elena told me something I didn’t know. She had a rare recessive gene that could cause a child to have light features, even if both parents are Black. She hadn’t told me before because she didn’t think it would happen.
I looked at our baby, and everything started to make sense. My anger faded, replaced with love and trust.
When we took our baby home, my family wasn’t supportive. My mother and brother didn’t believe the story about the gene and laughed it off.
One night, I caught my mom trying to scrub off the birthmark. That’s when I had enough.
“Mom, you either accept our baby or leave,” I said.
Elena suggested a DNA test, which I agreed to. The results showed our baby was mine.
When we showed the results to my family, they apologized. Some were sincere, and some were awkward.
In the end, I felt at peace. My family was different, but it was mine, and it was perfect.
