Grief plays cruel tricks on the mind, but this? This was real. Kelly knew her husband’s voice—and she had just heard it… coming from her daughter’s room. A chill ran down her spine. Jeremy had been dead for two years. So, who—or what—was speaking with his voice? Then she entered… and FROZE.
I’m Kelly. I’m 30 years old, and my life has been a rollercoaster of love and loss. My husband, Jeremy, died in a car accident two years ago. I was eight months pregnant with our daughter, Sophia. One moment I was painting flowers on her nursery walls, dreaming of our future. The next, I received a phone call that shattered my world.
Pregnant woman looking at her phone | Source: Pexels
I remember that moment like it was yesterday. The paintbrush slipped from my fingers, leaving a trail of pink on the wall.
“Miss Kelly?” The voice on the phone was soft, practiced. “This is Agent Reynolds…”
“Yes?” My hand instinctively moved to my swollen belly. Sophia kicked, as if sensing my fear.
“There’s been an accident. Your husband…”
“No,” I whispered. “No, please…”
Scared woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
They told me the accident was severe—so severe I shouldn’t see his body. I never got to say goodbye. Just a closed coffin at the funeral, and that was it.
“Kelly, dear,” my mother said at the funeral, holding me as I sobbed. “You have to stay strong. For the baby.”
“How?” I choked. “How am I supposed to do this without him? He was supposed to be here. He was supposed to hold her…”
Men carrying a coffin | Source: Pexels
Two years later, I did everything I could to move forward, to be strong for Sophia. But the emptiness? It never really left.
And then, two days ago, something happened that made me question everything.
It was an ordinary afternoon. I had put Sophia down for her nap in her room and curled up on the sofa with a book. The house was quiet. Quiet.
The sound of a window closing. Not very loud, just enough to make me look up. Probably the wind, I thought. But then, my blood ran cold when… my God… when I heard JEREMY’S VOICE:
“I love you forever.”
I swear my whole body turned to ice.
It wasn’t a muffled memory in my head. It wasn’t illusions. It was CLEAR AS DAY.
Terrified woman | Source: Midjourney
I stood frozen, breath caught in my throat. My ears were ringing. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I would faint.
“Jeremy?” I whispered into the silence, my voice trembling. “Honey, is that you?”
No. No, no, no. Jeremy was gone. It couldn’t be.
“I love you forever.”
It came from Sophia’s room.
Frantic woman at the door | Source: Midjourney
I got up so fast the book fell from my lap. My mind filled with possibilities: Was someone there? Was I hallucinating?
I rushed down the hallway, barely feeling my feet touch the floor. My hands were freezing, and my stomach churned as if I was about to vomit.
“Please,” I whispered as I ran, tears already forming. “Please, if you’re there…”
I pushed open Sophia’s door.
Terrified woman entering a room | Source: Midjourney
She was deeply asleep in her crib, curled up, her tiny fingers clutching a teddy bear. The room was exactly as I had left it. No open windows. No shadows in the corners. Nothing.
But then I heard it again.
“I love you forever.”
I swear my heart stopped.
“Jeremy?” My voice broke. “Is this some cruel joke? Please… I can’t… I can’t bear this…”
I ran my trembling hands along the room as I approached the window. Something had to explain this. A little girl deeply asleep while holding a teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
My fingers brushed the glass. It was closed. Locked. Outside, a small tree branch rested against the glass, broken as if it had fallen against it.
Alright. That explained the noise. But Jeremy’s voice?
I looked back at Sophia. She stirred in her sleep, hugging the bear tighter.
“Daddy,” she murmured in her sleep, and my heart broke once again.
I knelt beside her crib, my hands trembling as I picked up the bear. I squeezed it.
“I love you forever.”
My chest tightened so much I thought I would collapse.
A scared woman holding a teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
Jeremy’s voice… It was coming from the bear.
“Oh God…” I sobbed, clutching the bear to my chest. “Oh God, Jeremy…”
I sat on the couch, staring at the bear as if it might come to life.
I didn’t remember buying it. Had someone given it to Sophia?
And then I remembered. A week ago, we had celebrated Sophia’s second birthday. My mother-in-law, Gloria, had given her this bear.
A little girl celebrating her 2nd birthday | Source: Pexels
“Look what Grandma gave you!” she had said, trying to sound cheerful despite the pain she felt in her chest. Another birthday without Jeremy.
I barely looked at it at the time. It was just another stuffed animal.
But now? Now I needed answers. So I called Gloria.
She answered on the second ring. “Kelly, hi, dear! Is everything okay?”
An older woman holding her phone | Source: Midjourney
I gripped the bear tighter. “Did you know this thing plays Jeremy’s voice?”
Then, a quiet, almost hesitant: “Oh… it finally played?”
My stomach twisted. “Finally? What do you mean, FINALLY?”
Gloria sighed. “I was wondering when you’d hear it.”
I sat up straighter. “Gloria. What have you done?”
A woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Kelly, please,” her voice faltered. “Let me explain…”
“Explain what?” I demanded, raising my voice. “Explain why you thought it was okay…”
I couldn’t even finish the sentence.
Gloria showed up an hour later, almost nervous. She sat across from me, hands folded, eyes scrutinizing my face.
“It’s just… I thought it would help,” she said softly.
I placed the bear between us. “Help who?”
Two women talking to each other | Source: Midjourney
She exhaled. “Sophia. And you.”
“Kelly,” she crossed the table and took my hand. “Every time Sophia asks about her father… every time I see you trying to explain… it breaks my heart.”
“And don’t you think it breaks mine?” My voice cracked. “Hearing his voice again, out of nowhere?”
Gloria swallowed hard. “After Jeremy died, I kept thinking Sophia would never hear her father’s voice. So I took a recording from their wedding video. Do you remember his vows?”
“‘I love you forever,’” I whispered.
An overwhelmed woman | Source: Midjourney
“I remember,” I choked. “He… practiced those vows for weeks. Said he had to get them perfect…”
She clasped her hands. “I had it sewn inside the bear before her birthday. I wanted her to have a piece of him. To know he’s always with her.”
I blinked hard, staring at the table, my mind spinning.
She had good intentions. I knew that. But I felt so surprised.
“Gloria,” I said, voice barely above a whisper, “You should have told me.”
“I know,” she admitted with a fragile smile. “It’s just… I didn’t want to upset you.”
An older woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
“Upset me?” I laughed bitterly. “I thought I was going crazy. For a moment, I thought I was…”
“Alive?” Gloria finished softly. “Oh, dear…”
She came over to the table and held me tightly as I broke down.
“I miss him so much,” I cried. “Every day…”
“I know,” she stroked my hair. “He would be so proud of you, Kelly. So proud of how you’re raising Sophia.”
I wasn’t angry. I didn’t feel relieved. I was simply… overwhelmed.
A distressed woman | Source: Midjourney
That night, I sat in Sophia’s room, watching her sleep. The bear was in my lap. My fingers traced the soft fabric as I looked at my little girl—the daughter Jeremy never got to know.
She looked so much like him. The same curve in her nose, the same dimple when she smiled, and the same bright blue eyes.
“He would have loved her so much,” I whispered in the dark. “She’s perfect, Jeremy
. Simply perfect.”
I squeezed the bear one last time as a familiar voice filled the room and my heart:
“I love you forever.”
A lump formed in my throat. I wiped my eyes quickly, swallowing the pain.
A woman with a broken heart holding a teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
Sophia stirred and opened her eyes. “Mom?”
“Hello, little one,” I whispered, leaning in to stroke her cheek.
“Teddy?” She searched for the stuffed bear.
I gave it to her and watched as she hugged it tightly to her chest. Jeremy’s voice once again filled the room.
“That’s your dad,” I said, my voice choked with tears. “He loves you so, so much.”
A happy little girl holding a teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
“Daddy?” She looked at the bear with wide eyes, then looked back at me.
She hugged the bear tighter and closed her eyes. “I love Dada.”
For a long time, I thought I had lost everything. But here, in my daughter’s arms, there was a piece of him.
I bent down and kissed Sophia’s forehead.
“You will always have him with you, my sweet girl,” I whispered. “Always.”
The sorrow was still there. It always would be.
But for the first time in a very, very long time… I didn’t feel so alone.
