Off The Record
At His Wife’s Grave, A Dad Struggling To Raise Triplets: Learns They Aren’t Actually His
After his wife passed away, a guy battles to raise his triplets because he feels they are his own. But when he encounters a stranger in the graveyard and finds out the infants he had been raising for so long were not really his, things quickly reach their lowest point.
As Jordan Fox carried his infant stroller through the elaborate doorway of the Manhattan cemetery, there was a crunch of dried and rotting brown leaves underneath his boots. There were half-burned candles and dried flowers all over the yard. As he made his way to the tomb of his late wife Kyra, a blast of wind howled over the line of Eastern red cedar, shattering the solemn calm. It was the anniversary of her first death.
One of his triplets rested his large diapered bottom on his left hip as he spoke to baby Alan, “We’re going to see mama.” Stan and Eric, the other two, were lying in the stroller, staring up at the sky and chatting on about how they saw dragonflies.
When Jordan arrived, he noticed a stranger, who appeared to be in his late 50s, standing next to Kyra’s grave, which made his heart race. The man leaned to dust the epitaph, which said, “A twinkle in our eyes & hearts is now on the skies,” and straightened his Irish cap. In Honor of Kyra Fox, with love.
Jordan went up to the tall, stout man and asked, “Who is he, and what’s he doing near my wife’s tomb?” after failing to recognize him despite his best efforts to remember.
With a lopsided sneer, the man completed making the sign of the cross and turned to grimly greet Jordan. “Amen!” he exclaimed. He lifted his hand for a handshake, eagerness shining in his eyes as he grinned, but he quickly withdrew it when his eyes fell to the infants.
Jordan furrowed his eyebrows in astonishment. He was curious about the identity of the man and his purpose for visiting Kyra’s tomb. Jordan did not remember ever seeing this man anywhere before, not even at Kyra’s burial, as far as he could remember. Jordan was perplexed and asked, “So, who is he then? And what’s he doing here?”
“I’m offering you $100,000! I’m ready to give you more if you want. Take the money and give me the babies.”
The man said, “You must be Jordan Fox… It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fox.” “I knew you would come here today, and I was waiting for you. I’m Denis, from Chicago. Kyra’s ‘old’ pal.”
Jordan was a little taken aback because Kyra had never mentioned to him that she had an elderly acquaintance named Denis from Chicago.
“Nice to meet you, Denis. I’m not sure I know you…Have we met before? I haven’t been to Chicago before.”
Denis halted, gulping, seeing the babies again. “Not really! I just arrived in Manhattan. I found out that…” “Can I see your babies if you don’t mind?”
Jordan wasn’t ready to trust a stranger with his tots, so he paused and feigned to dismiss the man’s request. Though he continued to move forward and lean over the stroller to observe the other two babies, Denis interpreted it as a no.
“They are angels! Sweet little cinnamon rolls! They have my nose, eyes, and chestnut hair. “And those big lashes… I had them when I was little!” said Denis. Then, raising his head, he said, “The unthinkable Jordan was not ready to hear.”
“Mr. Fox, I know this might not make any sense to you, but… I know you’ll be wondering who I am and why I’m here. I’m the boys’ REAL FATHER, and I’ve come here to take them.”
Jordan scowled and wanted to strike the man in the face for even uttering the words, “EXCUSE ME?” Thinking him insane, he tried to sneak past him and spared him for his age.
“Mr. Fox, please believe me. I’m the father of the kids. A mistake I made in the past is still haunting me. I want to correct it before it’s too late. Please send the kids with me. I even have an amazing offer for you.”
Jordan grabbed the stroller and baby Alan more tightly and brushed the man aside, saying, “Are you crazy, old man? Get out of my way before I call the cops.”
Jordan was shocked to learn that Denis was unwilling to back down and was sharing detailed information on the deceased Kyra.
“Kyra, your wife… She loved disco and bikes. She was a brunette with a taste for art and French cuisine. Soupe à l’oignon and crème brûlée were her favorites. She was allergic to peanuts and had a small burn scar on her right thigh, and she had this… “
Jordan cried, “ENOUGH. STOP!” “I don’t want to hear more about my wife. Who the hell are you, and how do you know all this? What do you want?”
“I told you I’m the father of her kids. Mr. Fox, I know it’s weird, and I cannot get custody of my children. I know that, okay? But I’m sure you wouldn’t want to waste your youth on them and will appreciate my company in raising them. You are young and charming and still have an entire life ahead of you. But look at me. I am old and have nobody other than these babies. I want them back. Please hand them over to me and move on.”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And it’s none of your business what I need to do in life, okay? Are you out of your mind, old man? You sound crazy…Go get a life. I don’t know you and think you’ve mistaken me for someone… Back off. And stay away from my children.”
“Mr. Fox, the kids are mine, and that’s the truth… and I’m ready to do anything to take them with me. But I don’t want to mess things up for you since you raised them for so long. So let’s get this straight—I’m offering you $100,000! I’m ready to give you more if you want. Take the money and give me the babies.”
“I know more about your wife Kyra than you know about her. Take your time and get back to me, alright? Here’s my card.”
Jordan started to cry, both shock and despair. It was astounding to him how much Denis knew about Kyra. He wanted for a split second to believe it was a lie and that some random older man was pulling a practical joke on him. Unfortunately, Denis still infuriated Jordan by bringing up the burn scar on Kyra’s right leg.
“It’s not a bribe, Mr. Fox. See, I want to thank you for raising my babies, okay? And you needn’t worry about anything. I’m fifty-seven and have enough experience raising kids. You must be glad to put them in good, trustworthy hands. I know what you must be feeling. But don’t worry. Take your time to think about it and do get back. Call me on this number, alright? I’ll be waiting. Denis Roberts hates a no for an answer, so…”
Jordan was left feeling more than just shocked and heartbroken as Denis quickly left after tucking a visiting card into his hand.
The flame that was flickering and candle smoke on Kyra’s tombstone brought Jordan back to the present. After putting the bouquet on the grave and waiting a minute for stillness, he quickly left the cemetery with his children. Everything that Denis had told him briefly bothered him.
Jordan was unable to concentrate on the road. He tried in vain to focus, pulling his car over on the side of the road at odd intervals.
He cried, seeing Kyra seated next to him in the passenger seat. “Was everything she told me a lie then? How could she do this to me?” He asked himself. Jordan was in need of answers to a lot of things and was not interested in what Denis had to say.
But what about her right thigh’s burn scar? Considering the circumstances surrounding their meeting two years prior, he couldn’t help but mistrust her.
It was in the spring of 2016. Behind the bar counter, Jordan was preparing cocktail shots when he noticed Kyra, who was youthful and attractive. She was the loudest member of the group and was with her friends. Jordan thought she was attractive and wanted to date someone as beautiful as her, but he never had the time or resources to do so. As the days went by, Kyra started coming to the bar, and Jordan was always happy to see to her needs.
She would frequently ask him, a glossy smile dancing over her face, “One more Margarita on the rocks, please!” Kyra handled Jordan like a young, friendly bartender and never once gave him a “different” glance. However, he was already smitten with her. Every day he would head out for the night shift, practicing a grin and making sure his black bow tie, muted gray shirt, and hair all looked just right, knowing that he would make an impression on Kyra.
Jordan was devastated one evening when he witnessed her kissing another man in the bar. When he realized Kyra was treating him like a regular bartender and nothing more, reality struck him hard. Jordan, knowing she would never be his, began to separate himself from her, heartbroken. But one evening, he was unable to contain his emotions as he witnessed Kyra sobbing hard in the lounge by herself.
He looked over and spotted her boyfriend, Shawn, dancing with another girl. “Miss, hey, are you alright?” he inquired. Jordan felt his heart soften, and he had a vague idea of what had wounded Kyra. Her eyes had a crimson ring and were swelling. Warm tears trickled down her cheeks, discoloring portions of her makeup and smudging her eyeliner.
She buried her face in her palms and cried, “I want to go somewhere. Can you please take me away. I feel like dying,” Jordan did not treat her like the stranger she had so bravely cried to. He would stop at nothing to soothe her down because she was everything to him.
She was too inebriated to go home alone, so he volunteered to take an hour off and drop her off.
“I’ve known Shawn for six months,” Kyra angrily exclaimed, her breath reeking of booze. “That pervert! He dumped me for that stupid Lily. What does she have that I don’t? Jerk! He said he didn’t want to continue this with me. What a —”
“I’m so sorry for you. Be strong, Miss. It happens, and life has to go on. Maybe he doesn’t deserve you at all. It’s his loss…Please don’t cry. I’m always here as your friend whenever you need me, alright?”
Kyra nodded and fell asleep on the seat, her doe-eyed gaze locked on Jordan. When he arrived outside her house, he woke her up and assisted her in leaving.
Kyra grinned through the fogged car window and said, “Thanks, Jordan!” “See you around!”
Their meetings afterward developed into a routine. After falling in love, Jordan and Kyra began dating. They said, “I love you,” after dancing and strolling through Manhattan’s illuminated streets at night. She agreed when he asked her to swear she wouldn’t drink. He gave her the assurance that he wouldn’t desert her as her previous boyfriend did when she begged him to.
Only two weeks had passed since Kyra wooed Jordan with her pregnancy news and convinced him to tie the knot, igniting their love story. It happened too fast for him to be astonished. He was excited to become a father even though he was unprepared for this.
Soon after, the couple wed in a secret ceremony, and Kyra found it odd that no one from her family showed there. Jordan was unaware of her parents’ whereabouts, and upon inquiring, she informed him that they had passed away. That was all he knew, and he avoided bothering her further out of concern for her safety. He trusted her without question since, at the time, nothing was more important to him than beginning a life with her.
Now it all seemed like a cruel joke. After Kyra passed away, Jordan continued to stare at the wedding band he was still wearing and realized she had always deceived him.
“I was an IDIOT! Everything she told me was a lie… Her love was a game. She married me because she needed a man to father SOMEONE’S KIDS.”
He sniffled, tears continuously streaming from his bloodshot eyes. “I should have known the babies were not mine when she told me she was pregnant in just two weeks. I was so stupid! She cheated on me…that too with an old man. How disgusting!” he exclaimed.
In the backseat, the babies abruptly woke up and began to wail. Jordan wanted to flee somewhere where he could get away from their cries since he was so unhappy and worried. However, he could not begin to despise his children simply because someone had informed him they were not his. Uncertain of the degree of veracity in Denis’s assertions, he promptly went back home, being doubtful on what to do next.
Jordan made the decision to put the experience with the stranger behind him and set about his business. He placed the infants in the cot, taking off their diapers one by one with a scoop. Alan went first, followed by Eric, and Stan. He changed his babies’ diapers and gave them a bath. Trying not to sound like a famished bear roaring in the woods, he sang a lullaby.
After dinner, Jordan proceeded to wash the dishes, but before he could get very far, he smelt something burning, and the three fell asleep in their cribs. He cried out, “Oh, damn, the spaghetti!” and nearly burned his fingers attempting to take the pan off the burner. Then he thought of the laundry and bolted upstairs to a foam-filled bathroom. Jordan was stressed and had used too much detergent. That day, it seemed as though all he had to deal with was trouble.
He knew he had to head to the pub for the night shift quickly. Then he made plans for his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Wills, to come over and watch the children.
He said, “Thank you, Mrs. Wills. I’ll be here till you come,” before checking on his infants. They were in their cot, sound asleep. Jordan was unable to remain calm after seeing them and was troubled. He thought he had the strength and determination to accomplish anything for his kids earlier. But suddenly everything felt so bitter, so strange, and his thoughts were filled with Denis’s remarks.
Jordan whimpered, tears streaming down his face as he remembered the dark day that still troubled him. “Why did you do this to me, Kyra? I never lied or cheated on you. How could you do this then? You had always lied to me about everything, and I’m not able to tell which is true and which is not…even on the day you died, you told me you were at the party. I still don’t know where you went that night,” Jordan said.
Jordan was fidgety and kept checking out the window to see if Kyra had arrived on this rainy night. His incessant calling of all her pals to find out if she was with them caused his phone to overheat. Although no one had seen Kyra about, she had informed him she was at a friend’s party. Jordan became anxious when her phone shut off, possibly because of a dead battery, since it was almost midnight. His newborns began to wail. He had no idea how to calm them down; they were hungry.
Somehow, Jordan had slept his infants. He picked up his phone to check if Kyra had called, only to receive a call from the station.
“Yes, Jordan Fox here.”
“Mr. Fox, we are calling from the station. Could you please come to the morgue? We need help in identifying a woman’s body.”
Jordan left his babies with his neighbor and began to perspire on his way to the hospital. That evening, he was asked to identify the body of a young woman discovered in a vehicle accident.
When the thin white sheet covering the body was raised for identification, he slowed down and nearly stopped. Jordan’s eyes began to well up with tears as his heart fell. Kyra was overdosing on drugs at the time of the crash, as her lifeless body remained motionless.
After that, Jordan’s world was altered. He feared raising his children by himself and felt helpless and weak. He was angry and eventually stopped crying because he felt sorry for the one who was still living. Jordan felt unable to forgive Kyra for abandoning him with such a heavy burden. Even though he couldn’t cope with her passing and going on, he made himself after seeing his kids.
The only thing that kept him going was them. He committed to doing everything in his power to provide a good life for his children. Jordan continued to love Kyra, so he didn’t date anybody else after that. He thought she had disappeared because he was still wearing their wedding band.
For his three young sons, he assumed the roles of both parent and child, dedicating his entire life to them. Jordan struggled to find time for himself as he juggled work and his children. He had lost all memory of what a peaceful night was like. He gave up hanging out with his friends and began living a life centered around his children rather than himself.
But now that he knew he wasn’t their biological father, he began to question if he would truly want to devote his time and efforts to raising them and whether he could ever regard them the same way.
Jordan stumbled, pushing his chair so that its legs scraped the wooden floor and startled his babies. “I can’t do this anymore… I just can’t,” he said. When his neighbor Mrs. Wills arrived to watch the kids, he slammed the door shut and left without even saying his customary “Thanks and have a good day!” to her. This is when he had an odd notion.
Jordan had trouble staying calm in the bar that whole evening. When he got home from work, he went straight to his room to look for Denis’s card. He didn’t even take the time to gaze at or snuggle with his children as was customary.
Minutes later, Jordan emerged from his room, his eyes falling on the three small children who were pointing and murmuring “Da-Da” in their infant tongue, pleading with him to hold them.
Jordan felt his heart drop to the floor. His eyes were immediately fixed on the call that was already connected to Denis. “How could I… How could I even think about abandoning you? I cannot live without you guys. You are my everything…God, how did I even think of leaving them?” he sobbed.
The elderly man’s tremulous voice could be heard over the phone: “Hello? Hello…anyone there?”
“Mr. Roberts, it’s me, Jordan.”
“I was waiting for your call, Mr. Fox. I’m so happy you called me…finally! So, what have you decided? When shall I meet you with the check and take the babies?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Roberts… but I cannot accept your offer. A father is one who raises his children — not necessarily the one who gives birth. I may not be their real father, but they are still my children. I cannot imagine a life without them,” Jordan stated with a smile.
“Mr. Fox…wait a minute, please. Look, we can talk about this again, alright? You don’t understand. I want my babies. I cannot live without them.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Roberts. Even I cannot live without them. They are my world. And I don’t want your money. You cannot trade love for money.”
“I’ll tell the kids about you once they are big. It’s up to them to decide who they choose. But I cannot send them to you because I love them and am THEIR FATHER! Goodbye!”
Denis felt discouraged. “Fine, if that’s your decision. But can we meet tomorrow at the café…or maybe at your place? You decide.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Roberts, but I’m busy tomorrow. I don’t think I can.”
“Don’t you want to know the truth fully, Mr. Fox? I have only told you a part of it. There’s still something else you don’t know yet.”
Jordan nodded, taking a moment to compose himself after realizing how peculiar Denis’s query was. The following evening, he took a night shift off and eagerly anticipated the man’s arrival at his place.
A few hours later, Denis arrived carrying multiple boxes. Hanging his overcoat on the rack and settling in, he smiled, “Just some new sweaters, diapers, and blankets for the babies!” When Denis’s eyes landed on the empty crib, he realized that Jordan had hidden his children out of sight and out of reach.
Jordan detested the quiet in the room. After only a few seconds of staring at each other, he broke the man’s quiet, eager to learn the “truth” he had been bragging about.
“So…what is it? You said I still need to know something.”
With a sour smirk, Denis opened his blazer and pulled out an old picture. Jordan thought it strange that he was staring at it for so long.
“Mr. Roberts…what is it? Look, I don’t have time, and I’d appreciate it if you make it fast.”
Denis suddenly had tears running down his face. His eyes glued on the picture, he was powerless to stop them.
“Mr. Fox, the babies with you are not yours…they are not mine either. Actually, I’m their GRANDFATHER!”
After giving Jordan the photo of him with Kyra, Denis got up and walked somberly over to the window.
“Oh my God…Where were you all these days? Kyra told me her parents were dead. She never told me anything about you. What happened to you? Why didn’t you come for her funeral?”
“Mr. Fox, I was such a lousy father,” exclaimed Denis. “I did something no father would do to his child.”
“After my wife died, I raised my daughter alone. I gave her everything—love, money, and education. I wanted her to live a life I had envisioned, but she lost track and fell astray with her addiction issues.”
“I wanted to send Kyra to rehab and even threatened to disinherit her. But she refused, and things went downhill after that. She started coming home late, and I’d see a random boy dropping her home every night. My name and reputation were getting spoiled, so I kicked her out. She was so furious, and before leaving, she told me I was the worst father and told me not to look for her. I thought she would get back once her money ran out, but she never did. I’m not able to forgive myself for not trying to help my child. I abandoned her, and now she’s gone forever.”
Jordan cut Denis off, trying to put the pieces together. “But how did you find me? And how did you know that the babies aren’t mine?” Jordan asked.
“I didn’t even know my daughter was married, had children, and had died until I recently met Amy, her best friend in Chicago… She told me about you and the babies, so I flew here right away to meet you,” said Denis.
“When she was pregnant, Kyra met her friend and confided her fears. She had told Amy she was afraid you would leave her if you found out the babies weren’t yours.”
Jordan was shocked and exclaimed, “Oh my God… are these her ex-boyfriend Shawn’s children, then?”
“I’m not sure about that because my daughter had told Amy she had dated and broken up with three other men around the same time she married you. Kyra herself was not sure who the father was. We still don’t know the real father, and we don’t want to know that,” Denis said.
“All I can say is I’m happy my grandsons are with a man they can call ‘Dad.’ Mr. Fox, only you can love and raise them well. I am sorry for lying to you that I was their father. I don’t know what got into my head. I was afraid you’d not allow me to raise them, and I knew I’d never get their custody unless you gave them away. That’s why I offered you money. I’m sorry. I’m guilty, and I have no tears left to cry. I’m getting older and only wish to be part of my grandchildren’s lives. I was not a good father, but I wish to be a good grandfather.”
Jordan stopped talking and gave Denis a hug. That was the least he could have done to ease the grief of the old father, who could not forgive himself for having abandoned his daughter when she most needed him.
Over time, Denis began to see Jordan and the children frequently and eventually made the decision to move in with them. Being like a father to Jordan, he took great pleasure in contributing to his grandchildren’s upbringing.
What can we learn from this story?
- A real parent is not just one who gives birth but one who raises their children with love and care. When Jordan learned he was not the biological father of his triplets, he decided to put things in place by giving them away to Denis, who claimed to be their birth father. But then, Jordan changed his mind, telling Denis that a real father is one who raises his kids and not just one who gives birth.
- Do not make a hasty decision that could make you regret it for a lifetime. When Denis was unable to cope with his daughter’s addiction issues, he told her to go to rehab. When she refused, he kicked her out, knowing little he would never get another chance to see her again.
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