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As I said before, in the other note, this is historical fiction. I actually went through something much like this, although some details are different, more from a hope of making a good story than trying to hide anything. This has been really tough for me to write, many emotions are still raw after almost forty years. If you enjoyed it, or had similar experiences, I’d really like to hear from you. Please email me at adamgunnstories@verizon.net I suppose I owe you an epilogue, just to let you know how it all wound up. Of course I knew the child wasn’t mine, and in the first few days ‘Steph’ and I talked a lot about it. We actually had an appointment set for an abortion at the Oakland Naval Hospital, and then Steph told me the decision was mine. I remember taking a long walk around Oakland, wondering if I could love a child that wasn’t mine and was conceived in the basest of fornication. I decided that day I could, and I’ve always been happy with the decision. The baby was born in the final months of 1973, I was released from the Navy the next year, and picked up a job in a Silicon Valley company. About a year after that, Steph told me she wanted to go back to our Midwestern town to live. When I asked her if I had any say in the matter, she said no, if I didn’t want to go she’d divorce me. Although I really loved the Bay Area, I decided to go back with my wife and child, and got a pretty good job back east. Sometime later, Steph told me she was having an affair with a doctor, one that had treated her. A couple of months later we found out we were pregnant again. Steph assured me that the doctor had had a vasectomy, there was no doubt the baby was mine, but . . . Before the new baby was a year old, Steph decided to divorce me. I should have stayed in the Bay Area. I gave my children all the support they needed. I was there for them as a father, paid all of my court-ordered support on time, plus a lot more. As a result, we have a love for each other. I got married again a few years later, and Steph, after a number of affairs, also got married to a creep who ripped her off for a few-thousand dollars then abandoned her. At this point, late in her life, she’s still single. I don’t blame Steph, it was a strange time, a strange place, and she wasn’t a bad person, just unprincipled. On the infrequent times I see her, at weddings or birthday parties, she seems content, even happy, living by herself near our children. She cares for our grandchildren during the days, sometimes. I wish her nothing but peace. |
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