Man raises baby of different race that’s not his own after fiancée repeatedly cheats

Mary Duncan

*This is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by a friend who experienced them firsthand; used with permission.*

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I haven’t written about it a lot, yet anyway, but I am the product of a scandalous affair between my mother and my grandfather’s best friend. My biological father was married with a family of his own at the time he met my mother, which she didn’t know, of course. He only told her that he was married after she told him she was pregnant with me, and then he promptly left.

So, I know what it’s like to be abandoned by a biological parent. I am also lucky enough to know how it feels to be embraced by a parent who is not blood-related. When my mom got married when I was ten, her husband, my new stepdad, promptly adopted me, making him officially my father.

Not all children are so lucky, but I know of another one who has it pretty good despite the rather awful circumstances surrounding her birth.

My old friend Angela was a chronic cheater. She was engaged four times (married once) and cheated on every one of them. She also cheated on boyfriends she had in between them if she were with them long enough to get bored, which was basically a few months.

Her third engagement came after her one marriage (so far) had ended.

Angela met Cody on an online dating site and found they had a lot in common. On top of that, Cody was a real giver and caretaker. He wanted to take care of Angela and have an active role in the lives of the two children she shared with her ex-husband.

Angela wasted no time taking advantage of Cody’s kindness and generosity. She often left her kids, kids that were not his, home alone with him while she went out with friends at night. Then, she got a second shift job that required him to stay home with her kids and feed them, and put them to bed while she worked five days a week. It got to the point where it seemed like Cody was spending more time with her kids than she or their biological father.

Then, Angela got pregnant again. Cody was ecstatic and couldn’t wait for the baby to be born. He would finally be the father to his child, not that he would love it any more than he already loved Angela’s kids as his own.

The baby was born in an inflatable pool in their living room with the assistance of a doula, and when Angela pulled the baby to her chest, everyone in the room was speechless, in shock.

Angela and Cody were white. The baby was definitely not. The baby girl’s dark skin and black hair stood out in stark contrast to Angela and Cody’s pale complexions, and yet, Cody didn’t skip a beat before accepting that baby as his own.

He didn’t get angry at the obvious fact that Angela had cheated on him during their relationship and passed the baby off as his throughout her pregnancy. He didn’t immediately reject the child that was clearly not his. Instead, he embraced her. He insisted his name be put on the baby girl’s birth certificate as her father.

That’s how Cody got left with primary custody of the girl after Angela cheated again and left Cody for another man.

The girl is seven years old now, and Angela only sees her on the weekends. Cody is a proud, happy, dedicated father to the child that is not biologically his, just like my father is to me.

In a situation as strange as this, though, what would you have done if you were Cody?

Hi, I hope you enjoyed this story! I am a freelance writing single mom trying to create a better life for me and my daughter through words. If you enjoyed this, please consider leaving a small donation: https://ko-fi.com/maryduncan

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I write about the weird complexities of relationships to make a better life for me and my daughter through words. https://ko-fi.com/maryduncan

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