A man is accused of being the father of a baby abandoned on his doorstep, costing him his marriage and his way of life.
Kyle Greenbecker had spent a year working on an oil pipeline in Alaska, but finally, he was on his way home to his beautiful wife. He and Lisa had met in high school, and Kyle had never once regretted marrying her at nineteen.
Maybe he was old-fashioned, but Kyle took pride in the fact that Lisa was the only woman he had ever been with. He had never wanted or needed anyone else. It had never crossed his mind that Lisa might doubt him—because she had no reason to.
When his plane landed, Kyle grabbed his luggage and walked out with the other passengers, scanning the crowd for Lisa’s familiar face. But she wasn’t there to pick him up.
He figured she had probably been held up at work by an emergency. He sent her a quick text to let her know he was on his way home but received no reply. Taking an Uber, he was home within an hour.
The living room lights were on, but Lisa wasn’t there. As he stepped into the kitchen, he froze in shock. A bassinet sat on the kitchen table, and Kyle could see a tiny arm waving in the air.
He took another step closer. There was a bassinet with a baby on his kitchen table! The child stared up at him with that wide-eyed wonder unique to babies, and Kyle stared back just as astonished.
Then, he noticed a folded piece of paper next to the bassinet. He picked it up and unfolded it. Inside was another sheet with a message written in handwriting he didn’t recognize:
“You had your fun. Now take responsibility for your child.”
Meanwhile, a second note, written in Lisa’s elegant script, read:
**“Kyle, yesterday I found this baby on our doorstep with that note attached. I’ve always suspected you of cheating on me during your work trips, but I never held it against you—after all, I had my own flings while you were away. But making me bear the burden of someone else’s child is too much. I’ve filed for divorce, and I sincerely hope never to see you again.
P.S. Don’t worry about the baby. I only left after seeing you pull into the driveway. Enjoy your life, Kyle—I certainly intend to enjoy mine.”
Kyle sat down, dropping his head into his hands. He couldn’t believe this was happening. This child wasn’t his—he had never cheated on Lisa! Never!
A soft coo made him lift his head.
The baby waved its tiny hand in the air. Kyle hesitantly reached out, and to his surprise, the baby grabbed his index finger with an unexpectedly strong grip.
“Well, baby,” Kyle sighed, “I guess it’s just you and me now, and I have no idea what to do with you.”
The baby cooed again and gurgled, then suddenly scrunched its little face in an alarming way and turned bright red.
“Oh my God!” Kyle yelped. “What’s happening?”
A certain smell quickly answered his question.
Yep, it was diaper time. But did he even have a diaper?
On the floor next to the table sat a large backpack with multiple snap-button compartments he had never seen before. Rummaging through it, Kyle found an overwhelming assortment of baby supplies—including diapers.
He quickly Googled how to change a diaper and watched a woman on YouTube demonstrating on a lifelike doll.
Kyle followed her instructions, but things didn’t go as smoothly in real life. The woman’s practice doll didn’t wiggle its legs or stomp its tiny feet right into the unpleasant mess of the dirty diaper!
After cleaning up the baby, Kyle realized she was a girl—and he knew absolutely nothing about girls!
“I won’t give you dating advice,” he told her solemnly, “but I can teach you how to ride a bike.”
In that moment, Kyle made a decision. He was going to keep this baby.
Lifting the freshly changed baby in his arms, he murmured, “You need me, and I guess I need you too. So, what do you say, little one?”
He turned to YouTube’s baby expert once more to learn how to prepare formula and carefully cradled the baby in his arms as he fed her.
“You need a name, you know that? How about… Celeste? Do you like that? Or Lily…”
If someone had told Kyle he would adapt to fatherhood so quickly, he wouldn’t have believed them. Lily had her moments—tantrums and all—but they managed.
Kyle considered Lily his daughter and enrolled her in daycare. To him, her birthday was the day he found her.
But on Lily’s second birthday, Kyle’s world came crashing down.
A woman knocked on his door.
“I’m here for my baby,” she said.
Kyle just stared at her. She was tall, blonde, and slender, with enormous breasts that were clearly the work of a plastic surgeon.
“Your what?” Kyle asked.
“A real parent is someone who loves and cherishes their child.”
“My baby,” she repeated. “I left her here two years ago? Sorry, but I was kinda high, and my boyfriend lived nearby—I must’ve gotten the houses mixed up. You know how it is!”
“No,” Kyle said coldly. “I don’t know how it is because I’ve never abandoned a child on someone’s doorstep. I’d leave now if I were you, or I’ll call the police.”
“Now, look here,” the woman snapped. “I realized my mistake about a week later when Burt stopped taking my calls. But now I need that baby!”
“You need her?” Kyle asked, his anger rising. “Why do you need her?”
“Burt just signed a Major League contract,” she said smugly. “And that baby guarantees that some of those millions land in my bank account!”
Kyle kicked her out, but he had a feeling this wasn’t over. And he was right.
A week later, he was summoned to family court. A certain Miss Cherish Vegas was contesting Lily’s adoption.
Suddenly, Kyle was bombarded with injunctions, surprise visits from social services at odd hours, and interrogations of his friends and colleagues. Cherish was determined to get those millions!
Finally, the court date arrived. Kyle anxiously handed Lily to the social worker for the duration of the hearing and stepped inside.
Cherish was there, of course. And standing beside her was a tall man with blue eyes—Burt, no doubt.
Cherish put on a show, crying and sobbing about how much she missed her baby, how her wild college days (long behind her now, of course) had led her to leave Lily with Kyle.
The judge looked down at the documents before her.
“When you say left in his care, you mean left on his porch, correct, Miss Vegas?”
Cherish blushed. “Well, I am still her mother! No one can deny that!” she cried.
The judge turned to Burt. “Sir, are you the father?”
Burt hesitated. “I guess I must be…”
The judge gave him a sharp look. “Are you ready and willing to take on parental responsibility for this child?”
“Of course, he is!” Cherish interrupted. “He just signed a three-million-dollar contract—”
“Oh!” The judge raised an eyebrow. “So, that’s what this is about. Tell me, Miss Vegas, what name did you give your daughter?”
“A name?” Cherish looked confused. “Well, she’ll take her daddy’s name—since he’ll be paying child support!”
Kyle stood up.
“Your Honor,” he said, “may I address the court?”
“Go ahead, Mr. Greenbecker,” the judge replied.
“Ma’am, my daughter’s name is Lily, and she already has her father’s name—mine. From the moment she entered my life, I loved her. And she loves me.”
At that moment, Lily, who had been playing with the social worker’s necklace, spotted Kyle.
“Daddy!” she cried, reaching out for him.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” the judge said. “It seems the most important party in this case has already decided. I hereby dismiss all custody claims and confirm Kyle Greenbecker as Lily’s legal parent.”
That night, Kyle and Lily celebrated by catching fireflies in the backyard.
“Stars!” Lily squealed.
But for Kyle, the brightest star of all was his little girl.
