My sister had a baby and dumped it on me
My younger sister got pregnant out of wedlock and vanished after giving birth to a boy in a back-alley clinic.
The doctor used the address she left behind to find my family, leaving the baby with me.
My parents got on their knees and begged me to adopt him. Just like that, I, a single woman, began the arduous task of raising a child alone.
Years later, just as I'd finally raised him, my sister returned. On her arm was a rich businessman, a thick gold chain gleaming around his neck.
She clutched my son and sobbed, telling him I was a jealous monster who had stolen him at birth, tearing their family apart.
My son, my pride and joy, renounced me on the spot and ran into her arms. My parents threw me out of the house.
The neighbors' gossip and condemnation became my personal hell. In utter despair, I threw myself from the roof of my apartment building.
When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day my sister gave birth.
*****
The pounding on my door started with the dawn, jolting me awake in a cold sweat.
This was it. In my last life, this was the exact moment the clinic doctor had hammered on our door, waking the entire neighborhood. He'd handed me the baby in front of everyone, scolding me for being an irresponsible mother.
Only later did I learn the baby was my sister's. My parents had pleaded with me to keep him. Since I had no plans to marry anyway, I agreed. A choice I came to regret with every fiber of my being.
Hearing that sound again, a jolt of electricity shot through me. I scrambled out of bed and yanked the door open to see that same, familiar face.
"Cathy," the doctor began, his voice dripping with condescension. "You can't just have a baby and abandon it. You know that's illegal."
The neighbors were already awake, their heads craning out of their doorways to watch the drama unfold.
I stared at him for a single, silent second. Then I ripped off my slipper and brought it down on his face with all my strength.
"You goddamn vulture!" I screamed, hitting him again and again. "How dare you show up at my door with this scam! I don't even have a boyfriend, let alone a baby! Have you ever seen a woman who just gave birth hit this hard?!"
I gestured wildly at my own body. "Do I look like I just had a baby?!"
My furious assault left the doctor stunned and speechless. Mrs. Richards from across the hall was the first to find her voice.
"She's right, you know. Cathy goes to work every single day. I've never once seen her with a baby bump."
"Yeah, you must have the wrong person."
"Wait, I recognize him. Isn't that the doctor from that sketchy clinic down the street?"
I planted my hands on my hips, my slipper still raised. "You sleazy old quack! You run a back-alley clinic and now you're trying to pin a baby on me? That's it, I'm calling the cops!"
The word "cops" made him panic. "I—I won't press charges for the assault!"
I grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back. "Oh, you won't press charges? Too bad, because I'm not letting you run away!"
I pulled out my phone and dialed. "Hello, 911? I'd like to report a case of infant trafficking!"
"Don't you dare say that!" he shrieked.
"You'd better have a good story for the police," I snarled, "or I swear to God, I will burn your little clinic to the ground."
Fate had given me a second chance, and I was unleashing every ounce of frustration and injustice from my past life.
When the police arrived, they found a bizarre scene: a doctor with a swaddled newborn, his face bruised and swollen, and me in my pajamas, wielding a slipper like a weapon.
The neighbors had all gathered, buzzing with speculation. The officers looked from the baby—so fresh its umbilical cord was still clamped—to the doctor.
"Alright, what's going on here? Start talking."
"She's the one! The patient left this address and name!" he sputtered, pulling a medical file from his pocket.
An officer took it. The address was indeed mine, and the name on the file was Cathy Scott.
I crossed my arms. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Someone obviously used my name to have a baby and is now trying to make me pay for it."
Just as I finished speaking, my parents, who had been hiding inside, finally emerged.
"Cathy," my mother began, her voice wheedling, "since you're not planning on getting married anyway, why don't you just adopt him?"
"Are you serious, Mom? I'm not just going to randomly adopt a child who appeared out of nowhere! We have no idea who his parents are. What if they're drug addicts? That stuff is genetic, you know. I'm not raising some ungrateful little monster!"
My parents were stunned into silence. The doctor's face was a mask of fury. He shoved the baby into my arms. "This is your family's problem! I'm done! You can tell Judy she can raise her own damn kid! If I'd known you people were this unreasonable, I never would have come!"
A collective gasp went through the crowd. The secret was out. The baby belonged to my sister, Judy.
?
"You're a liar!" I shouted, shoving the baby right back at him. "First you say he's mine, now you say he belongs to Judy? Where's your proof? You have none! You just want to dump this baby on us. Officer, I'm telling you, this man is trafficking infants!"
I crossed my arms again, making it clear I was washing my hands of the situation.
"Cathy!" my mother gasped, horrified.
"Mom, Dad, don't be so naive! The world is full of scammers!"
Mrs. Richards chimed in from her doorway. "She's right, you two. This doctor shows up claiming the baby is Cathy's, then changes his story to Judy. He's obviously lying through his teeth."
"Yeah, who knows where he got that baby!" another neighbor added.
The doctor practically jumped up and down. "My name is Zero Theresa, and I don't lie! I've been running my clinic for years. Do I look like a con artist?"
He pointed a shaking finger at me. "It was last night! Your sister, Judy, came begging me to deliver her baby!" He rummaged in his medical bag. "I even have her phone as collateral!"
He produced a smartphone. One glance and I knew it was Judy's. My parents froze. The proof was undeniable. The baby was Judy's.
The neighborhood gossip erupted. "Judy? She's just a kid! Who's the father?"
"Who knows! You never see her around much, and she always wears such baggy clothes. I can't believe she was pregnant!"
"God knows what kind of trouble she got into out there."
"You shut your mouths! My daughter is a good girl!" my mother shrieked, finally finding her voice. "Say one more word and I'll tear your tongue out!"
Dr. Theresa sneered. "Please. Judy told me to bring the baby here as soon as it was born. She said her older sister would raise it. Officers, I even have a letter she wrote herself!"
He pulled a sealed envelope from his bag.
There was no letter in my last life. In fact, when Judy had returned to destroy me, Dr. Theresa had stood by her side, helping her spin her lies and pushing me closer to the edge. The man was a snake.
"I never should have gotten involved," Dr. Theresa muttered. "What a damn headache."
The police officer sighed, seeing the situation for what it was. "This is a domestic dispute. You all need to handle it yourselves."
I grabbed the officer's arm. "This isn't just a domestic dispute! He's expecting us to believe my sister had a baby and ran off based on nothing but a phone and a letter? For all we know, she could be dead in his clinic!"
The officer's expression sharpened. He saw the logic in my words. He immediately grabbed Dr. Theresa. "Let's go. You're taking us to your clinic. Now."
My parents trailed after them. I didn't waste a second. While they were gone, I threw my life into a suitcase.
I was not staying in this house.
As I was leaving, a neighbor saw me. "Cathy, where are you going?"
"I'm moving out," I said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "If I stay, that baby will end up in my parents' hands, and we all know who they'll expect to raise it. Judy's the one who had a kid she couldn't handle, not me. Why should I be responsible? I'm not even married! What would my future husband's family think if they saw me with a baby?"
They nodded in agreement. "You're right, Cathy. You have to think about yourself. Go on, get out of here."
"That poor girl. Judy has some nerve, just having a baby and running away."
"Who knows, maybe that doctor did something to her…"
"No way!"
I didn't care what they whispered about. I just needed to run.
By the time my parents got home, I was already settled into my company's dormitory. It wasn't long before my mother's call came.
The moment I answered, her frantic voice filled my ear. "Cathy, where did you go?!"
I could hear a baby crying in the background. "I moved out," I said calmly.
"How could you move out? What are we supposed to do with this baby?!"
?
So, they had been to the clinic. They had confirmed the baby was Judy's, and that Dr. Theresa had, in fact, delivered him. What I couldn't understand was why they were still so fixated on me.
"Mom, what does that baby have to do with me? I didn't give birth to him."
"Right now, the most important thing is to find the baby's father. Anyway, I have to work. Bye."
I hung up and went about my day. At the office, my colleague Sara slid up to my desk. "Cathy, you seeing anyone? I've got someone I'd like you to meet."
My first instinct was to refuse, but I stopped myself.
"Oh yeah? Who is it, Sara?"
"My nephew! He's three years older than you, a veteran. Owns his own little restaurant now." She grinned. "How about lunch today?"
I agreed immediately. Sara was thrilled and rushed off to call him.
In my last life, Sara had seen how exhausted I was raising the baby and had thrown a lot of freelance work my way. She'd also tried to set me up, but I was always too afraid that a new man in my life would mistreat my "son." Looking back, I was unbelievably foolish.
I met her nephew, Ryan, for lunch. The connection was instant. We exchanged numbers, agreeing to see where things went.
When I got back, Sara was waiting. "Well?"
I nodded. "He's great. I'd like to see him again."
She was ecstatic. "I'm telling you, if this works out, he'll treat you right. I've watched that boy grow up. He's a hard worker, a good man."
I felt a blush creep up my neck, which only made Sara more excited.
And so, Ryan and I started dating. For two solid weeks, my parents didn't contact me, and I didn't go home.
But I should have known it wouldn't last. My mother found me at work.
I was in the middle of a sales call when the security guard at the front desk rang my extension. "Cathy, you need to get down here, now. Your mom just dumped your son with us! You need to come get him, he's screaming his head off."
My mind went blank for a second. "What son?" I said, deliberately raising my voice so the entire office could hear. "I'm not married, where would I get a son from? Don't spread rumors!"
The guard sighed. "I don't know, man. Just get down here."
When I hung up, every eye in the office was on me.
"What's going on, Cathy?"
"I have no idea. The guard said a woman claiming to be my mom just dropped off my son."
Sara gasped. "You've got to be kidding me! That's a new one. Come on, let's all go see what this is about."
"Yeah, is this some kind of scam?"
"Cathy has a son? I never saw her pregnant."
"Maybe it was a few years ago. You know how young people are these days, their lives are a mess."
Hearing that, even Sara shot me a suspicious look. I put on my most bewildered expression, and she couldn't read me.
When we got to the front desk, everyone stared at the tiny, wailing infant.
Sara let out a breath of relief. "There's no way that's Cathy's baby. He can't be more than a month old!"
"Exactly! Who would be so cruel? If it was a toddler, Cathy would never be able to clear her name!"
"This is character assassination!"
I was laughing on the inside. The guard just shrugged helplessly. "The woman said she was Cathy's mother. What was I supposed to do?"
An idea sparked. "Pull the security footage," I demanded. "Let's see this woman."
When the footage played, I didn't recognize the woman who had dropped off the baby.
I knew exactly what to do. "Call the police. That's not my mother, and I have no idea who she is."
The others hesitated. I threw my hands up. "This is child abandonment. I'm in sales; I hand out hundreds of business cards. Who knows who got their hands on one and decided to pretend to be my mother. I am not raising someone else's kid!"
Everyone agreed that made sense. The police were called, and they took the baby away.
I made a point of asking, "Where will he go?"
"Where do you think? If we can't find his parents, he'll go to a group home. He's in the system now."
Hearing those words, a wave of relief washed over me.
This time, I would not be raising that ungrateful viper.
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