In the hallway, I was folding laundry when my daughter’s faint voice from her room caught my ear. Her words, so soft, grabbed my attention immediately.
“Don’t worry, Teddy… Mommy won’t be mad. Daddy said she’ll never find out.”I stopped in my tracks. My heart began to thump. Tiptoeing carefully, I glanced in through the barely open door. She was there, cradling her teddy, eyebrows knotted in a way no six-year-old’s should be.
I opened the door quietly. “Sweetheart,” I spoke softly, “what is it that Mommy isn’t supposed to know?”Her eyes widened, arms tightening around her bear. “I… I can’t say. Daddy told me not to.”
Something inside me clenched, a mix of dread and anger. “Not to say what? It’s okay to talk to me.”She hesitated, torn between Teddy and me, then answered with a tremble:
“Daddy said if you knew, you’d leave us. I don’t want that!”My breath caught. Kneeling, I tried to sound steady, even though my heart felt like it was breaking. “Leave you? Never. Why would Daddy say that? What is it, sweetheart?”
She leaned in, little hands shaking.“I didn’t go to school last week,” she whispered.
The air thickened around me. “What do you mean, you didn’t go to school? Where were you, sweetie?”Her lip trembled. “Daddy said we were having adventures. We went to the hotel with the big pool. And there was a lady with shiny hair… she kept calling Daddy by a different name.”
The laundry slipped from my hands and landed on the floor.“Sweetheart… how many times?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Three,” she said, holding up her fingers. “Daddy said it’s our secret. But… Mommy…” her eyes filled with tears, “I don’t like secrets.”My hands shook as I hugged her close, my mind spinning. The pieces were fitting together—late nights, vague excuses, the hotel charges that didn’t make sense.
My little girl had no idea what she’d just revealed, but I did.My hands shook as I hugged her close, my mind spinning. The pieces were fitting together—late nights, vague excuses, the hotel charges that didn’t make sense.
My little girl had no idea what she’d just revealed, but I did.