When The Stars Faded

The stars twinkled brightly as I stepped out of my door. The weather was warm, and there were no clouds in the sky. Tonight, I smiled as I breathed in the fresh air that nighttime brought with it.

I reflected on the events of the day as I stared at the beautiful velvet-blue sky.

I felt like my life had changed for the better in one day.

I had been struggling to get a boyfriend for years, but there was Timmy my next-door neighbour who I had been in love with forever.

I had known Timmy for over ten years, and we were connected at the heart and soul.

He was the heart of my motivation to achieve my dreams and continue my successes.

He was the soul who danced with my spirit in life and kept the sparkle inside me from fading.

Timmy was my best friend in everything I did, and he wasn't scared to agree or disagree with me.

When I felt life was getting too much, he was there motivating me.

He wasn't a quitter, even when I wanted to.

He was the reason that I kept the fire burning inside of me, and he was the reason that I had become one independent lady.

He was my company in sickness, in health, and my strength whenever I needed it.

I held the letter in my hands, gripping it with all my strength.

I looked up to the skies above me. A shooting star flew by at amazing speed.

I smiled as I felt excitement and butterflies build in my stomach.

I didn't have the faintest idea what this letter was about, but it had to be good.

Everything about Timmy was good.

I stopped for a second and panicked.

"Is this goodbye? Was last night just a final one-night stand?"

The stars above me seemed to answer. They twinkled brighter than ever. There was one star that stood out to me more than the others. It faded, then twinkled brighter than the rest. Every time I looked at that star, I felt an urge to read the letter.

A reassuring urge that told me everything was good, and that my future was about to become more exciting.

I thought back to the last few months.

I and Timmy had been going out together more and more. Each time we went out, we became more intimately involved with each other.

We had slept with each other a few times.

My smile faded slightly when I realized that I had news to tell Timmy, but I wanted to wait a while.

This wasn't news to be taken lightly.

Our last night in bed together was only a few nights ago, though we had slept with each other a few times before that.

I woke up a few weeks ago feeling sick and tired. I put it down to a stomach bug, but something wasn't right.

My period hadn't arrived.

I had put off going to the doctor for too long.

"It could be a stomach bug."

It could be the flu."

I told myself.

But there was another thing.

I had a craving for milk, and I never drank milk until now. Last night, I had drank over 4 pints within the space of an hour, and I barely noticed it.

I had no reason to be pregnant.

I was on the pill.

Pregnancy hadn't even crossed my mind when I slept with Timmy.

My hands were shaking as I nervously held the letter. As they shook, the stars seemed to fade even more.

"What could this be about?"

I asked myself quietly.

I decided to put my fears to rest.

I didn't think I could handle it if this letter turned out to be a longed-for love letter right now.

I took a deep breath and then pulled the pregnancy test out of the drawer where it had been sitting for a while.

I did not want to do this.

I opened and closed the bathroom door a few times, and shook my head in tears.

"What if Timmy doesn't want to be a dad?"

"What if he doesn't believe that the baby is his?"

I knew for certain that the baby was his. I hadn't slept with anyone else but Timmy in a few years, so it wasn't possible the baby could be anyone else's.

I finally unwrapped the test and sat on the toilet to find out my fate.

I wasn't going to read Timmy's letter until I'd done the test, though, at the same time, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it afterward either.

I waited the whole three minutes as instructed in the instructions of the test. When I heard the 'beep,' I read the results.

"Pregnant."

I read the words aloud, but still, it wouldn't sink in.

I had thoughts of hiding the results from Timmy and never telling him. However, common sense prevailed as I realized that he had a right to know, and the baby had a right to know who his father was.

Then another thought entered my head,

"What if Timmy didn't want to know?"

I had heard stories of men who got women pregnant and then walked away.

Timmy had always said that he did not want to be a dad, and

how was I going to explain that I was on the pill?

At this stage, panic hit me like lightning.

The last time I had slept with Timmy, I was drunk; and, I had forgotten to take my pill.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" I cried whilst trying to process what had happened.

I thought back to the last night we spent together. We had been dancing and drinking in the lounge, and then Timmy had kissed me. When I woke in the morning, Timmy had left for work, and I had found myself naked in bed.

The baby was Timmy's.

I needed a diversion from my thinking, so I placed the test out of sight and headed back to the door.

I breathed in the fresh, night air which cleared my head, and calmed me down slightly, then I took the letter out of my pocket and read it,

"Will you marry me?"

The letter asked.

I shook my head with tears streaming down my face.

I had no idea what to do.

I knew Timmy would change his mind if he knew I was pregnant, but Timmy was a reasonable man so maybe I should think about giving him a chance.

I decided to see him in person, so I headed to his house next door.

I stood there for five minutes, looking around the driveway for signs of his car, but there wasn't one there.

I decided to wait for another five minutes. He couldn't be far away. Timmy didn't usually go out so late,

I looked up to the sky. The sky was dark now, and there wasn't one star shining in it.

Then my head turned as I heard a car pull up on the drive.

Timmy got out of the car first.

"Hello love, whats up?" he asked.

A young, dark-haired female followed.

"Hi, I'm Timmy's wife."

If my face had never felt the thunder before, it did then.

Without saying a word I placed the test in Timmy's hand and gave the note to his wife before walking away without saying a word to either of them.

Timmy knocked on my door within five minutes of me getting inside.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"About what?" I asked.

"About us, and the note?" he replied.

I felt disgusted, not with the baby or myself, but with him.

The man who I had trusted for so long, had just broken my trust within a minute.

"So, you don't want to tell your wife that I'm pregnant with your child?" I shouted at him, followed by,

"And what about the note?"

Timmy stood there in silence.

I felt the sky darken all around me. It felt like glass had ripped my entire heart to shreds, and I had no idea how I was going to put it back together.

"She isn't my wife. She is my sister," he told me sheepishly.

"Yeah, because your sister is going to tell me that she is your wife in front of me. Do I look stupid?" I shouted, unable to control my anger.

Timmy walked away, in silence.

I stared after him with tears in my eyes.

"How could he do this to me?"

I shouted after him,

"I'm pregnant!"

"It's not mine," he said.

That was the night when all the stars faded, and my dreams had been shattered.

I learned never to trust anyone with my heart ever again.

On January 25th, 2025, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

"She looks just like you. What are you calling her?" the midwife asked.

"Tania," I replied.

I felt such an overwhelming love for this beauty in my arms, that the urge to protect her was very strong.

That same night, the image of Timmy faded from my mind, and I focused all my love on bringing my beautiful baby girl up.

When Tania reached 12 years old; Timmy turned up on my doorstep.

"Is your mum in?" he asked Tania.

Tania answered with, "You're not my dad," and closed the door.

She had waited many years, but during those years, she had been given a world of love from me and another man whom I had married. Tania came to know that new man as "dad," and she wasn't going to change that because of her estranged father who abandoned her from the moment she was created.

Tania had waited so long for her real dad to turn up, just so she could tell him exactly what she thought, and now she had.

Tania sat on the doorstep at nighttime hugging me and her new dad and when she did, those stars that faded twinkled and danced brighter than they had ever done before.

I will never forget the night when the stars faded, but thanks to tonight, I will never forget when they shone brightly either.