I Didn’t Know Why My Teen Daughter Was Acting Strange until I Saw a Message on Her Computer – Story of the Day
Karen is shocked to find out her only daughter is pregnant. Karen is religious, so there is no other way than to raise the child, but her beliefs are put to the test as she discovers details of her daughter's personal life.
Karen looked at her daughter's closed bedroom door and sighed. Nowadays, Lisa kept to herself, barely speaking at breakfast and avoiding eye contact.
"What's wrong, honey? Are you okay?" Karen would ask.
"I'm fine, Mom," Lisa would answer quietly, not looking up.
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Karen knew something wasn't right. She saw Lisa only smiling when talking to her stepdad, Sam. With her, Lisa stayed silent.
"I don't get it," Karen told her friend Joyce on the phone. "She used to share everything with me."
"Teenagers change, Karen," Joyce said. "It might just be a phase."
But Karen felt it was more serious. She decided to go through Lisa's laptop, even though she knew it was wrong. Karen was invading Lisa's privacy. But she didn't have a choice. She found photos and social media posts that seemed normal, but then she saw an email from Lisa to one of her teachers named Nathon.
The email said Lisa was pregnant. She'd written she was scared and asked Nathon for advice. Karen was shocked and sad.
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"Why didn't she come to me?" she wondered, feeling lost and praying for strength to help her daughter. But her heart wouldn't stop racing. She just wanted Lisa to be home from school as soon as possible. Suddenly, she heard the sound of car tires outside their house and saw Lisa was back with Sam.
As they entered, Karen saw they looked upset. Lisa seemed very nervous.
Karen couldn't wait any longer and confronted her daughter with the email. "Is this true? Are you… pregnant?"
Lisa's face crumpled, and her eyes welled up. "Mom… I… I am, but Nathon… he left me."
Karen was shocked. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
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"I-I was scared," Lisa replied. Then she said, "I think I want to have an abortion."
Karen felt a jolt of shock at her daughter's words. "Lisa, do you understand what you're saying?"
"I've thought about it a lot, Mom. I'm not ready to be a mother. And with Nathon out of the picture, I... I don't know what else to do."
As a mother, Karen was torn between her desire to guide Lisa according to her beliefs and the need to stand by her daughter's side, regardless of her choice.
"Lisa, even if... if we consider this, you know it requires money and my permission since you're not eighteen yet," Karen's voice faltered as she spoke.
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"It's… It's two thousand dollars, Mom. I checked," Lisa said, her head hung low.
Karen couldn't believe this was happening.
"No," she said adamantly. "No, Lisa. We can't do this. It's against our beliefs," she insisted.
"But Mom, I'm not ready to be a mother. Please!"
"Karen, maybe we need to consider what's best for Lisa right now," Sam chimed in. "She's just a kid and this situation with Nathon... It's complicated."
Karen's jaw set stubbornly. "The father of the child will take responsibility. That's the right thing to do. We'll confront Nathon. He needs to marry Lisa and take care of his child."
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Lisa looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Marry Nathon? Mom, you can't be serious. He doesn't want me or the baby."
"Lisa, sometimes people must be pushed to do the right thing. Nathon made a choice, and now he has to face the consequences."
"But forcing a marriage? Karen, that doesn't sound like a solution. It sounds like a recipe for more problems," Sam said.
Karen felt they must do what was right by their faith and decided to confront Nathon herself. She grabbed her car keys and drove to Lisa's school. Arriving there, she bypassed the front desk and walked down the corridor, searching for Nathon's office. Once she found it, she went straight in to talk to him.
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Nathon, sitting at his desk, looked up in surprise as Karen barged in. The front desk receptionist had followed her, and she asked her to leave, but Nathon said it was okay and he would handle the woman.
At that point, Nathon had no clue who Karen was. But he was aware some parents were hyper and barged into his office to discuss their children's performance.
"How can I help you?" he asked calmly.
Karen's eyes bore into him. "It's about Lisa. She's pregnant, Nathon. And you're the father."
Nathon's eyes widened, his mouth opening slightly in shock. For a moment, he just stared at her as if trying to process the weight of her words. "Pregnant? I... I didn't know."
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Karen felt a surge of frustration. "You didn't know? Well, okay. But that doesn't change the fact that you're responsible. As a Christian, it's your duty to marry her and take care of the child."
"Karen, these are serious allegations. If what you're saying is true, I will take responsibility, but marriage... that's a big step."
"A big step? You think this isn't a big step for Lisa? She's just a teenager, Nathon. Your student. You took advantage of her!"
Nathon sighed. "Karen, I... I understand your concern as a mother. But I am not the father! Lisa... she… I wasn't the only man in her life. It's not my responsibility to bear the consequences of her actions."
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"What?" she hissed. "If you don't take responsibility, Nathon, then I will find another way," she threatened him. "What do you think the school will say about a teacher in a relationship with his student?"
Karen watched as fear took hold of Nathon. "Karen, please… this could ruin me."
Karen glared at him. "This is about my daughter, Nathon. She's the one suffering. You need to face the consequences."
Nathon knew he couldn't argue. He was scared, and Karen saw it. "I want a paternity test," he said, gathering some courage. "If I'm the dad, I'll marry Lisa and support her and the baby.
"And if I'm not, you'll have to leave me alone. But if you keep accusing me without proof, Lisa might get in trouble with the school," Nathon threatened. "I'll get her expelled."
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Karen was angry but knew she had to be careful. "We'll do the test. But you must keep your promise if you're the dad," she said and left his office.
Back home, she told Lisa and Sam everything that had happened. Lisa was scared. "Mom, I can't be a mom or marry him," she said, almost crying. "Why don't you understand that?"
"We don't believe in abortion, Lisa," she said gently. "Marriage is the right thing to do."
"But I don't love him. How can I marry him?"
Karen held her daughter's hands. "It's about doing what's right, even if it's hard."
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Sam, who had been listening to the entire conversation, disagreed with Karen. "Listen to Lisa," he suggested. "We can't force her into a marriage she doesn't want. It's not right."
But Karen didn't want to listen to anyone. She thought what she was doing was right. They went ahead with the paternity test. At the hospital, Karen, Lisa, and Sam waited nervously for the test results. The air was tense, especially when Nathon arrived and sat across from them.
When the results came, everyone was shocked. Karen couldn't believe it. Nathon was not the father. Lisa started crying, and Sam tried to comfort her.
Nathon stood up quickly. "I'm sorry, but I cannot marry Lisa. I hope you find the real father," he said and left.
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Karen was stunned, trying to understand what had just happened. They had all believed Nathon was the father, but now they were back to square one with more questions than answers.
Outside the hospital, Karen just lost her cool. "How could you not know who the father is?" she asked Lisa angrily.
"Mom, please, I'm sorry. I didn't… I don't know—"
"Sorry doesn't fix this, Lisa! We need to figure this out!"
Lisa begged, "Can we consider an abortion?"
"That's against our beliefs!" Karen yelled at her.
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Sam tried to calm things down. "Let's talk at home," he suggested. "Okay?"
Karen was also frustrated with Sam. "You should be caring more for her in this situation!" she told him. "That's what a family does!"
At home, the tension grew. Karen pressed Lisa, "Who is the father? Tell us."
Lisa was scared and couldn't answer. Sam defended her.
"Stop this, Karen! Can't you see what you're doing to her? She needs our support."
"But we need to know, Sam! We can't just leave this unresolved!"
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"No, Karen. What Lisa needs right now is our support, not accusations and pressure." He turned to Lisa. "Come on, Lisa. Let's get out of here for a bit."
Karen tried to stop them, but they left. She paced back and forth in the living room, her hands trembling as she replayed the day's events in her head. Lisa and Sam had just driven off, leaving her in a state of utter despair and helplessness. She had no idea where they had gone.
In a state of near hysteria, Karen grabbed the phone and dialed the police. "Hello, I need to report two missing persons—my husband and daughter," she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
The dispatcher's calm voice on the other end of the line did little to soothe her nerves. After giving all the necessary details, Karen hung up the phone, her hands still shaking.
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If Nathon wasn't the father, then who was?
Karen went to Lisa's room and began searching. She wanted to find something that could point to the mystery man in her daughter's life. There, Karen's eyes fell upon an envelope tucked away in a drawer.
It was a check for two thousand dollars from Sam. Her mind raced back to the conversations they had, to the moments when Sam had subtly suggested abortion as an option. It all made a horrifying sense now — Sam...was he...the father of Lisa's child?
Before she could gather her thoughts, her phone rang, snapping her out of her reverie. It was Sam. "Karen, you need to come to the hospital right away. It's Lisa." He sounded panicked as he gave her the address of a hospital on the outskirts.
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"What happened?"
"I can't explain over the phone, but you need to come quickly," Sam urged.
Karen grabbed her car keys and drove to the hospital. Her heart raced as she navigated her way to the emergency room, where she found Sam standing outside, his face etched with worry and guilt.
Upon seeing him, Karen's emotions, already on edge, overflowed. "Sam! Is it true? Are you... are you the father?" she demanded, her voice trembling with anger and despair.
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Sam's eyes, filled with remorse, met hers. He nodded, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes, Karen, I am. I didn't know how to tell you. Lisa and I... We were both so lost. She decided to see an underground doctor for an abortion. I just wanted to support her decision."
Karen felt as if the ground beneath her had crumbled. "You've destroyed everything!" she yelled. "I want you out of our lives," she told Sam. "GET THE HELL OUT!"
She turned away from him, her heart aching with a pain she had never known. She couldn't bear to look at him any longer. Sam, his shoulders slumped in defeat and regret, slowly walked away, leaving the hospital and their lives.
As Karen tried to process the whirlwind of revelations, a doctor approached her. "Mrs. Thompson?" he began, his voice gentle.
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"Ye-yes?"
"I'm sorry, but Lisa didn't make it. There were complications during the abortion procedure."
Karen couldn't believe it. Her knees buckled, and she would have fallen if the wall hadn't been there to support her. Tears streamed down her face as profound grief enveloped her. Her daughter, her precious Lisa, was gone. Forever.
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