When my five-year-old mentioned visiting \u201cDaddy\u2019s other kids\u201d at the \u201csecret house,\u201d I was stunned. I thought I knew everything about my husband, but what I discovered left me speechless.<\/p>\n
It was a typical Tuesday. I picked up Tim from kindergarten, and he was his usual cheerful self. He showed me a glittery paper plate turtle and said, \u201cLook, Mommy!\u201d I smiled and asked, \u201cIs it a ninja turtle?\u201d He laughed, \u201cNo, it\u2019s just Turtle. He\u2019s slow but nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I buckled him into his car seat, he casually said, \u201cMommy, can we go to the playground near Daddy\u2019s other house again? I miss his other kids.\u201d I was taken aback. \u201cWhose kids, honey?\u201d I asked. He shrugged and said, \u201cDaddy\u2019s other kids! The ones who call him \u2018Dad\u2019 too! They had juice boxes and a bouncy couch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you see them?\u201d I asked, trying to stay calm. \u201cWhen you were on the airplane for your work trip. Daddy said it was a secret house,\u201d<\/p>\n
I had been away for a tech conference in Austin. Jake had volunteered to handle everything at home. \u201cWhat do you mean by a secret house?\u201d I asked, my heart racing. He leaned forward and whispered, \u201cDaddy said not to tell you because it\u2019s just for fun times. The kids there have balloons all over, and the TV is so big it covers the whole wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t speak for the rest of the drive. My mind raced with questions.<\/p>\n
At home, I checked Tim\u2019s tablet GPS app. There was a dot at an unfamiliar address, about 20 minutes away, where it stayed for three hours that Saturday. Long enough for balloons, juice boxes, and for other kids to call Jake \u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t sleep that night. My mind kept going over every awful possibility. The next morning, I dropped Tim off at kindergarten and drove straight to the address.<\/p>\n
The house was pale yellow with a big front porch and wind chimes. A hand-painted sign said, \u201cBe Kind\u2014Everyone\u2019s Fighting a Battle You Can\u2019t See.\u201d I sat there for about 20 minutes, watching. Then I saw Jake. He walked out holding the hand of a little girl with curly brown hair tied in pink bows. More kids followed, laughing and tugging on his shirt.<\/p>\n
A woman stepped onto the porch and waved at me like she already knew me. She introduced herself as Carol, a retired social worker. She explained that the house was called Sunshine House, a foster care center where volunteers helped take care of kids going through tough times.<\/p>\n
Jake had been volunteering there every Saturday for two months. At Sunshine House, kids were allowed to call the adult volunteers \u201cMom\u201d or \u201cDad\u201d if they wanted, to give them comfort and a sense of family.<\/p>\n
Tim hadn\u2019t lied to me\u2014he just didn\u2019t know the full story. He thought it was a secret because Jake had simply said not to make a big deal about it. He believed the other kids were his siblings because they also called Jake \u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only real secret was that I had married someone even more caring than I realized. I felt guilty for doubting him\u2014for letting my mind go straight to the worst instead of trusting the man I\u2019ve built a life with. I thought he was hiding another family. But really, he was trying to be family to kids who didn\u2019t have one. I\u2019m truly lucky to have a husband like him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"