When she finally did, just as I was preparing to leave, she came back holding a cake and a bunch of balloons, beaming with the kind of joy that completely flipped the moment on its head. “You’re gonna be a granddad!” she blurted, the words hitting me like a bolt of lightning. I stood there stunned, heart pounding, trying to make sense of it. The cake had “Congrats, Grandpa!” written in icing, and her nervous energy from earlier now made sense—she’d been planning a surprise.
She explained how she’d coordinated with the staff to pull it off, not ditching me, but trying to create something unforgettable. I could feel the walls between us starting to crack. Her words were shaky but sincere—she wanted me to be a part of this next chapter, to be in her life and the baby’s. And for the first time in a long time, I felt something shift between us. A beginning, not an ending.