After a Year-Long Trip, Husband Returns Home and Sees Newborn Baby on Table with Two Notes Beside

Ethan Calloway was finally heading home after working on a remote construction project in the Canadian Rockies for almost a year. He had been eagerly awaiting his return to his wife, Rachel, who was the passion of his life and his high school sweetheart.

Ethan has always saw himself as a straightforward individual with traditional morals. He had only ever loved or dated Rachel, and he believed that would never change.

Ethan therefore thought it was merely a schedule conflict when his plane landed and Rachel wasn’t at the gate. Most likely stranded at work. “Just landed,” he texted her. I’m eager to see you. No answer.

An hour later, Ethan was standing with his duffel bag on the porch of their comfortable suburban house. Even though the inside lights were on, the space seemed to be still. Too still.

He froze as soon as he entered the kitchen.

A infant, wrapped in a flowered blanket, was sitting in a bassinet in the center of the table, blinking up at him as if he had just landed. Ethan was astonished as he stood there, but then he noticed two pieces of paper next to the youngster.

Bold, unfamiliar handwriting was used to write the first note:

“You enjoyed yourselves. Now assume accountability for your child.

He felt his stomach drop even more when he heard the second note. Rachel sent it.

Hey Ethan,

With that note, this baby arrived at our door yesterday. Since I wasn’t exactly faithful myself, I never brought up the suspicion that you were having an affair on those travels. But abandoning me with the child of another person? I draw the line at that point.

A divorce has been filed by me. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me.

P.S. I didn’t leave until I saw your Uber arrive. The baby is not alone, so don’t worry. Have fun with your life. I’m going to have fun with mine.

Feeling overwhelmed and with his heart racing, Ethan sank into a chair. “What on earth just took place?”

He was drawn to a quiet, hiccuping coo. The infant extended a plump arm in his direction. Ethan instinctively extended his hand, and the small hand gripped his finger.

He gazed at her. “I guess it’s just the two of us now, huh?”

The room suddenly smelled bad.

“Oh no.”

He found a diaper bag on the floor after a desperate search. There was an untidy pile of bottles, onesies, and, happily, diapers inside. He looked up how to change one on Google and saw a happy woman on YouTube doing it on a dead doll.

It was much messier in reality. This infant kicked, wriggled, and somehow got excrement on both his shirt and her own foot. Ethan managed, though.

He grinned at her when he was finished. He eventually took it all in and said, “You’re a girl.” “Well, kiddo, I can teach you how to change a tire, even though I don’t know much about raising a daughter.”

He stared at her for a while. “You require a companion. I suppose I also do.

Something changed inside Ethan as she gazed up at him with eyes that were impossible to look at. “All well, then. I am now your father.

Ethan registered for custody and gave her the official name Mira in the weeks that followed. Calloway was the final name he gave her. Calloway, Mira.

He assumed that the day he found her—the day his life was transformed—would fall on her birthday.

Ethan took care of everything for Mira for the following two years, including picking her up from daycare, doctor’s appointments, and midnight feedings. His entire existence revolved around her.

However, everything seemed to be falling apart on Mira’s second birthday.

His doorbell was rang by a woman. Her features were plastic-perfect, her lips were overdrawn, and she was tall and bleach-blond.

She entered his front yard as if she owned it and declared, “I’ve come for my baby.”

Ethan’s gaze narrowed. “Pardon me?”

“My daughter,” she murmured, irritated. Two years ago, I left her here. I intended to leave her with my boyfriend, but it was an accident. I was kind of… not sober, but he lived on the next block.

“You left her behind,” Ethan yelled. “And you believe you can simply reclaim her now?”

“All right,” she shrugged. “That boyfriend, Bobby, recently signed a contract with a major league hockey team. Yes, I do kind of need her right now.

Do you need her? For what purpose?

The woman grinned. He will make child support payments. I’ll have some. Easy math.

The door was slammed in her face by Ethan.

However, the summons arrived a week later. In family court, Cherie Vaughn was contesting Ethan’s adoption of Mira.

All of a sudden, Ethan was being watched—visited by caseworkers, interrogated by lawyers. They called his friends. They called his employer.

Cherie had a fancy legal team on board. A lanky man with ice-blue eyes that resembled Mira’s sat next to her in court—Bobby, no doubt.

During her testimony, Cherie broke down in tears, saying she had left Mira with Ethan at a “confused time” in her life. Bobby merely grumbled and acknowledged that he “probably was the dad” without saying anything else.

Bobby shrugged when the court asked him if he was prepared to raise a child. “After all, she will spend the majority of her time with her mother.”

“And you will cover all expenses?” the judge explained.

“Exactly!” Cherie jumped in. He recently inked a multi-million dollar deal. Mira is deserving of that sum of money!

The magistrate bent forward. “Miss Vaughn, what is the child’s full name?”

Cherie blinked. “Well, of course, she will have Bobby’s name.”

Ethan got up.

“If I may, Your Honor… Mira Calloway is her name. My name has been with her for two years. Since the day she entered my life, I have been raising her. I made the decision, but I didn’t plan it. In every important way, she is my daughter.

Mira saw Ethan standing and wriggling in the social worker’s arms from the rear of the courtroom.

She shrieked and reached for her father.

There was silence in the courtroom.

The judge gave a small smile. “Well, I’m satisfied with that.”

Her gavel pounded. “I hereby dismiss all claims by Miss Vaughn and Mr. Reed and grant full and permanent custody to Mr. Ethan Calloway.”

Under a June sky, Ethan and Mira celebrated that evening in their backyard. Her tiny legs were stumbling across the grass as she chased fireflies.

She laughed and caught one in her hand, saying, “Stars!”

Ethan chuckled. “Near enough.”

He recognized her as his brightest star, though, as he gazed at the little girl who had unexpectedly entered his life and transformed it.

He would also never let her leave.