**Diary Entry 4th October**
I wont drag this out. Im your husbands mistress. All these years, weve been seeing each other. Yes! Dont gawk or faintjust listen.
Emma was making dinner. Her husband, Jonathan, would be home in an hour. Their ten-year-old daughter, Sophie, was at ballet practice. Shed be back in half an hour, drop her bag, and sit at the table, chattering about her friends, her progress, her dance teacher Emma smiled. Sophies stories always brightened her evenings.
Then the doorbell rang. Too early for Jonathanhe had his keys. Sophie mustve forgotten hers again. Emma opened the door, but instead of her daughter, a young woman stood there.
“Ill be blunt,” the woman said. “Im Jonathans mistress. Weve been together for years. Dont look so shockedIm not here to apologise.”
“Years?” Emmas voice was steady. “How many?”
“Three. It suited me just fineliving alone, having a man who comes and goes. No financial burden, no chores. I never cooked, cleaned, or washed his clothes. And I wont start now.”
She paused, then dropped the bombshell. “I wouldnt have come, but Im pregnant. An accident, but its too late to change that.”
Emmas stomach twisted. She remembered how hard it had been to conceive. Thered been nothing wrong with herit was Jonathan whod struggled. Theyd turned to IVF. The first round failed. The second gave them Sophie. And now this.
“You expect to change nothing?” Emma scoffed. “Youll have a husband who drops by, and now a father who does the same?”
The woman smirked. “No. Ill have a husband *and* a child who visit. Thats all.”
Emmas laugh was bitter. “And how does that work? Jonathan raises the baby, then pops round so it can see its mother?”
“Exactly. I never wanted a childthis was an accident.”
“Jonathan told me he couldnt father children.”
“Well, apparently he can!” The woman shrugged. “I just wanted to see where my child might end up. Seems fair.”
“Your child? Jonathan helps raise *my* daughter, even if hes not her father. Now youll have his baby, and *Im* meant to raise it?”
“MissI dont even know your nameyour husband doesnt live here anymore. Take his things. The rest isnt my problem.”
Emma moved to shut the door but froze. Sophie stood there, back from ballet, her eyes wide.
“Mum, whats going on? What baby? And why isnt Dad my father?”
“You heard?” Emma sighed. “Then its time you knew.”
“Im not a child, Mum. Im nearly eleven. I can handle it.”
So Emma told her everything.
“Youre my daughter,” she finished. “But Jonathan loves you. Hes your legal father. We *chose* you.”
Sophies voice was small. “And now hes having another baby but you wont be its mum. I wont be its sister. Right?”
Emma hesitated. “Yes. And Sophie, I dont want to live with him anymore.”
“Ill help you, Mum. Im grown up now. Let him go.” Sophie hugged her tightly. “I love you. But that woman let him have her.”
Jonathan arrived right on time.
“Whats happened? No hugs today?”
Usually, Sophie would run to him. Tonight, silence. She stayed in her room.
“Emma, wheres Sophie? Late at ballet?”
“Your mistress came. Shes pregnant. *Yours.* Care to explain?”
Jonathan paled. “Emma, its my child. I cant abandon it.”
“Do you even know what she wants?”
“Yes. She didnt plan this, but We have Sophie. Now therell be another. Its *my* child. Itll live with me.”
Emmas voice turned icy. “Sure its yours? Remember your diagnosis?”
“Exceptions happen!”
“Lovely. Go to your *exception* then. Leave. Now.”
“No, Emma! You cant do this! They dont want me therenot like this.”
“They dont want you here either. Go.”
“What about Sophie? Im her fathernot by blood, but I raised her. Whats wrong with my real child living with us? Its only fair.”
“Fair?” Emma laughed coldly. “Your mistress already lectured me on fairness. Get a paternity test first. Then well talk. Goodbye.”
The divorce was swift. Jonathan had to leavethe flat was in Emmas parents name. Theyd built a house years ago but never transferred the deed. Not that it mattered legally.
Now Jonathan had nowhere to go. His mistress preferred the “part-time” arrangement. She had no interest in changing her lifeor raising a child.
When the baby came, she sued for child supportand lost. No one knows how she manages now. Jonathans diagnosis hadnt changed. The baby wasnt his.
Legally, Sophies his only child. But she wont speak to him. He pays maintenance, begs for reconciliation. Emma wont have him back.
Turns out, you cant sit on two chairs with one backside.
**Lesson learned:** Some choices leave you with neither.
