It was April Fool's Day.
I handed my boyfriend a diagnostic report confirming his infertility.
I told him that no matter how treatment went, I'd be right there beside him through all of it.
He stormed out.
Then, out of nowhere, he came back carrying a baby, claiming it was his illegitimate child with his first love.
"Raise this kid nice and healthy, and I'll come back to marry you!"
With that, he took off on a trip around the world with his first love.
I had no choice but to bring the baby to the police station and help track down the child's real family.
Along the way, I found something genuine—a real relationship—and forgot about my ex entirely.
Until three years later.
I was browsing for gifts in a toy store when I ran into the two of them again.
Alex Delgado stared at the educational toy in my hand with a strange look in his eyes.
"You didn't actually take that joke seriously, did you?"
Layla Simmons rubbed her pregnant belly with a sly little smile.
"Since Felicia seems to like children so much, once my baby with Alex is born, I wouldn't mind letting the little one call you 'Second Mommy.'"
I blinked, then pointed straight at my ex-boyfriend's lower half.
"Wait—your infertility got cured?"
……
Silence.
As my voice rang out, every pair of eyes in the store swiveled toward Alex.
And the crowd, never ones to pass up good drama, dove right into the discussion.
"Kids these days, I swear. So young and already shooting blanks."
"This is exactly why they push for premarital health screenings—to catch con artists before they trick someone into marriage."
Being stared at and whispered about in the middle of a crowded store—Alex's face turned ashen. He whipped toward me and shouted.
"Felicia Pruitt! What the hell are you talking about?"
"Layla's father is sick. He wanted to see a grandchild before—I was just helping her out!"
"You're jealous over that? You don't have an ounce of empathy. Are you even human?"
At those words, Layla seemed to let out a breath of relief.
The panic on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by open contempt aimed squarely at me.
"Felicia, honestly. Even if today is April Fool's Day, not every joke is appropriate."
"You're lucky Alex is generous enough not to hold it against you."
"Any other man would've buried you ten times over by now."
I let out a cold laugh.
I'd never been one for jokes.
Three years ago, Alex had collapsed at home without warning.
The doctor said it was just exhaustion from pulling too many late nights, but I'd been worried there might be something else going on.
So I asked the doctor to run a full workup. Just for peace of mind.
When the results came back, everything finally made sense.
A full year together. No protection. Not once. And I'd never gotten pregnant.
It wasn't what Alex had always told me—that our "time with a child just hadn't come yet."
The truth was that he would never be able to have a biological child. Not in this lifetime.
The thought crossed my mind, and I let my gaze drift deliberately to Layla's belly.
Alex, however, took my silence as proof he'd hit a nerve.
He draped his arm around Layla's shoulders, chin tilted up with the smugness of a man who believed he held all the cards, the corner of his mouth curving into a lazy smirk.
"Three years gone by, and your little jokes are just like you—haven't improved one bit."
"Same tired trick, over and over. Even if you're not sick of it, I sure am."
"But I'll give you credit for loyalty."
"Even after Layla's baby has my name on the birth certificate, you'll still be my one and only girlfriend."
I frowned and cut him off before he could make me any more nauseous.
"The day you left three years ago—did you not get my text?"
Alex went rigid.
"What text? My phone got stolen at the airport."
So that explained the unshakable confidence. He'd spent three years convinced I'd be waiting here like a good girl, ready to play the other woman when he waltzed back.
