Man Swears He's Sterile, Wife Finds His Triplets Living in Their Basement — Story of the Day

While Roseanne is saddened by the news that she and her husband can't have children, he enters a mid-life crisis. Roseanne regrets putting up with his odd whims when she enters the basement and finds three children.

Roseanne sank into the couch with a sigh. She'd assumed that she and Robert's difficulty getting pregnant stemmed from her being forty-three years old, but now she knew the truth.

"I'm sorry, Rosie." Robert sat beside her. A deep frown furrowed his brow.

"It's not your fault you're sterile." Roseanne took Robert's hand. "I just...I always dreamed of being a mom. Maybe we should adopt?"

Robert shook his head. "No. I grew up in the foster system, and I'm sure it's the reason I became an alcoholic."

"All the more reason to provide a child with a loving home! Besides, there's often a genetic factor for alcoholism. You know that."

"But I might never have turned to alcohol to soothe my troubles if I'd had an upbringing like yours." Robert stood. "I'm sorry, Rosie, but the answer is no."

Roseanne watched her husband walk away with tears in her eyes. How could he be so blind to the flaws in his logic? Maybe if she gave him more time, he'd see reason.

A few days later, Roseanne realized Robert wasn't taking the news of his sterility well. She'd anticipated that it would be difficult for him, but his behavior was becoming a little erratic.

"You want to use the money we saved for a new car to fix the basement?"

Roseanne set down her fork and stared at Robert across the dinner table.

Robert nodded. "We never got round to fixing it up after it flooded a few years ago, and it'll be a nice workspace for me to make screens."

Currently, Robert was using the garage to make the folding privacy screens he sold to upmarket beauty salons. It seemed to Roseanne that the garage was easier to work in—there was no need to cart supplies up and down stairs for one thing—but she wasn't the one making them.

"And the car, Rob? You know I hate driving your pick-up, and I still want my own car."

"We can do both, Rosie." Robert smiled. "I can do most of the repairs myself. I need cash for supplies and materials, but there'll still be plenty left over to get you a car."

"So long as I get my car." She watched her husband finish his meatloaf. Maybe the repair work would help him clear his mind. Perhaps, in a few weeks, she could bring up her desire to adopt a child once more.

Roseanne looked in disbelief at the supplies Robert bought for the basement renovations. "Why on earth have you got soundproofing?"

"I want to start playing guitar again. Mike is starting a worship band, and I want to be part of it."

"Uh-huh." Roseanne watched her husband carry the first load of supplies into the house. She'd thought he was being impulsive to renovate the basement so suddenly, but now she wondered if this was the start of a mid-life crisis.

Roseanne turned and saw three identical little boys sitting on a carpet near the center of the room. They stared at her with wide eyes.

At least he was joining a worship band. Roseanne knew alcoholism was only a portion of Robert's troubled past. He'd turned to God soon after they met, in their early twenties, and found salvation.

Robert grinned at her when he returned for the next load of supplies. Roseanne hoped this mid-life crisis, or whatever it was, wouldn't escalate. She couldn't bear it if Robert lost himself to the dark feelings she glimpsed in his eyes sometimes or reverted to the troubled young man she'd met so many years ago.

"It will be okay," she muttered as Robert left the room. "No matter what comes next, it will be God's will."

Robert soon completed the renovations and repairs in the basement. Shortly afterward, Roseanne started having nightmares. She dreamed she was in a room full of cribs, and a baby was crying. Every time she looked in one of the cribs to help the baby, it was empty.

Her search for the child grew increasingly desperate until she woke in a sweat. It seemed so real. She sat in the dark one night after waking from the recurring nightmare again. As Roseanne reached for the glass of water at her bedside, she heard a cry that sent shivers down her spine.

A baby was crying. She scanned the darkness and stepped out of bed. Was she still dreaming? Roseanne padded toward the bedroom door.

The baby's cries were muffled, but they sounded like it was coming from inside the house. When she wrapped her fingers around the cold door handle, the cries stopped.

She must've been imagining it. Roseanne returned to bed, but when morning came, she felt haunted by the baby's cries, so much so that she asked Robert if he heard them too.

"A crying baby?" Robert arched his eyebrows. "No, honey. It sounds like you were still half-dreaming and imagined it."

"That's what I thought too," Roseanne replied, but she couldn't shake the feeling she was wrong.

A few days later, Roseanne woke from the same nightmare. She turned to cuddle Robert for comfort, but he wasn't there.

"Rob?" Roseanne flipped back the bedcovers and rose. "Rob?"

She padded out into the hall and glanced at the restroom door. There was no light shining from the crack at the bottom, so Robert couldn't be in there. She ventured downstairs next. As she entered the kitchen, a drawn-out squeak stopped her in her tracks.

A shadow crossed the kitchen. Roseanne watched in horror as it moved towards her.

"Rosie? What are you doing down here?"

Roseanne flicked the light on. There was no creepy shadow in the kitchen now, just Robert.

"I had another nightmare, and when I woke, you were gone!" Roseanne scanned her husband and then glanced at the basement door. "What were you doing?"

"I had an idea for a song." Robert shrugged. "I came down to record it before I forgot the melody."

Roseanne tried to continue with her normal routine of housework, volunteering, and working with her church groups, but the sleepless nights made her worries weigh heavier on her mind. One day, she decided to come home early and get some rest.

"Rob?" Roseanne entered the house and hung her car keys on the hook near the door. "Honey, I came home early."

There was no reply. Roseanne entered the kitchen, assuming that Rob was working in the basement. As she approached the door, she stepped on something and slipped.

"What the..." Roseanne lifted the pacifier off the floor. Why was there a pacifier in her house?

Roseanne turned the handle on the basement door, but it was locked. Frowning, she fetched the key and unlocked it. She started down the stairs but froze before she made it halfway. She could've sworn she had just heard a child.

Something very strange was going on here. She rushed down the last few stairs. A ball rolled in front of the stairs just as she reached the bottom. Roseanne turned and saw three identical little boys sitting on a carpet near the center of the room. They stared at her with wide eyes.

"Mine."

One of the children waddled toward her with outstretched arms. "Mine binky."

Roseanne was too shocked to respond when the child snatched the pacifier from her hands and stuck it in his mouth. Immediately, one of the other boys burst into tears and tried to grab the pacifier.

"Okay, boys, quiet down." Robert's voice carried down the stairs behind her. "Daddy's back, and I got you more diapers..."

Robert trailed off when he saw Roseanne in the basement. The packet of diapers in his hands fell to the floor.

"Daddy?" The word felt like a knife in Roseanne's chest. "What is going on here, Robert? You're sterile, so whose kids are these?"

"You need to search your heart and ask yourself if the love you have for Robert is powerful enough to overcome this."

"They're mine." Robert hung his head. "I can explain everything. Remember when Jonas landed the business in trouble three years ago, and I had to declare bankruptcy? I was in L. A when I got the news." He glanced at the triplets. "I made a terrible mistake."

"But...you can't be." Roseanne also looked at the children. Nothing made sense here, and she didn't understand how the world had become so peculiar so suddenly. "And you wouldn't cheat on me."

Robert rubbed his hands down his face. "I fell off the wagon. I was so angry. I got drunk...there was this waitress."

Roseanne felt like she was in another nightmare as Robert told her how the woman tracked him down to ask for money to terminate the pregnancy. Robert had convinced her to keep the children and had sent her money to support them every month.

"She died in a car accident recently. Their grandmama was with her, and she's still in the hospital. Nobody else can care for the kids. I couldn't let them go into foster care like I did, so I brought them here."

"To live in our basement." A bitter, near-hysterical laugh burst from Roseanne.

"You mooncalf! All this time, all the lies you told me. This is why you wanted soundproofing. Did you think you were going to raise these babies in our basement, and I'd never notice?"

"I...I just didn't want to hurt you. I didn't know what to do with them, but I couldn't risk losing you by telling you what happened. You're the light that led me out of a dark life. Please, don't abandon me now."

"How dare you!" Roseanne turned to leave. "All this time, I longed for children, and you...you've been a father for three years and never said anything. You've broken everything I thought I knew about us, and I want a divorce."

A little hand gripped Roseanne's fingers. She looked down and felt a surge of emotion as she saw Robert's eyes staring back at her from the child's sweet little face.

"Please!" Robert continued. "I'm a jerk, and I don't deserve you, but please give the kids and me one last chance."

Roseanne agreed to let the children stay until the hospital released their grandmother. She knew they were blameless in this situation and worried about them having nowhere else to go.

But she couldn't get over the fact that Robert had cheated on her and the lies he'd told her. Her heart was in pieces, and she spent most of her days crying. Eventually, she sought out her pastor to ask for guidance.

"Forgiveness is difficult, Roseanne," Pastor Andrew said. "You need to search your heart and ask yourself if the love you have for Robert is powerful enough to overcome this." The pastor placed his hands over Roseanne's. "I've known both of you for a long time, and I think you can make it through this.

"Robert was a troubled young man when you met him, but you showed him the path to the light," he continued. "Robert has become a good man, but even the best men can make mistakes."

Roseanne prayed for guidance and strength. Over the next few days, she found enough love still remained in her heart to help Robert care for the triplets. Looking after three toddlers was a handful, but she was determined to ensure they returned home happy and healthy.

However, Roseanne found it more and more difficult to maintain her resolve as the days passed.

One day, Roseanne held one of the boys while rocking him to sleep. Her heart ached with tender feelings for the beautiful child in her arms. It seemed impossible that something so perfect could result from infidelity and betrayal.

Roseanne thought back to the days when she still believed Robert's shenanigans were rooted in a mid-life crisis. She remembered how certain she'd felt that everything would be okay because it was all part of God's plan for her.

She kissed the child's forehead.

"I won't lose my faith over this. I may not understand God's will and reasoning for the suffering I've endured, but I will trust in His plan for me."

Robert entered the room at that moment. He cowed down when he saw her, but Roseanne put the child in his crib and went to Robert.

"I'm ready to give us another chance," she said, "on one condition. I want to adopt the boys."

What can we learn from this story?

• No secret can stay hidden forever. Robert wanted to hide his mistake to spare Roseanne's feelings, but instead, he hurt her more.
• Nobody is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes sometimes, but what truly matters is the work we do to make up for them.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who's forced to confront his past mistakes when he encounters a crying child in the park.

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