For weeks I couldn’t shake the strange feeling that something was gone.
Every time I looked out the window, she was there – a little girl across the street waving at me. It was not the kind of occasional wave you would expect from a neighbor. No, that felt different. The intensity in her view,
the way her little hand stretched out as if something was caught … It chased me. I didn’t understand why I felt such an inexplicable connection with her. But when I decided to find out who it was, I could never expect the truth waiting for me behind these doors.
The feeling was immediate. Every evening I found out that I attracted myself to the window and watched the little girl – not older than five – standing in the same place, her little hand held high, her eyes locked up with mine. Every look felt as if she had quietly begged us for something I couldn’t understand completely. She has always been there, in my life a constant that I could not ignore.
“Who is she?” I asked again and again. “What does he want from me?”
And so I started my way to my secrets that I was not ready to solve.
For weeks, a little girl across the street waved from her window, day and night. Something was worrying about her view – something that chased me. When I finally decided to go and see who it was, I had no idea what the heart-red truth expected me.
Every evening I watched it from my window – a small, soft figure that was not older than five, standing by the window, her little hand constantly waving at me. Her eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made me feel restless. What did she want? Why was she so fastened to me?
I turned to my wife Sandy, who read on the couch. “Kat, the girl from the street waving again,” I said.
Sandy looked up, a little confused. “The one who always waves at you?”
I nodded and felt restless. “Yeah. There’s something in her eyes. She looks like he’s trying to tell me something.”
Sandy laid her book and walked to the window. “Oh, Arnie,” she told her voice soft, and put her hand on my shoulder. “Maybe it’s just a lonely child.” Did you try to wave back? ”
I shook my head and I couldn’t explain it. “No, I can’t.” It’s more than that. She feels like she is addressing me. ”
Sandy’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Honey, you’re starting to scare me.” It’s just waving a child. Don’t make too much of it. ”
I forced a smile and closed the curtains. “You’re probably right.” I overcome it. ”
But that night, sleep avoided me. My dreams were full of pictures of the little girl who begged for help.
“Don’t leave me,” she shouted in my dreams. “Please don’t go.”
I woke up in a cold sweat, Sandy hovered over my face. “Arnie, are you okay?” You spoke in your sleep. ”
I sat down and my heart pounded. “She was a girl.” She was crying in my dreams. ”
Sandy’s eyes spread with concern. “Maybe we should talk to someone, the therapist or something.”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t ignore it anymore.” I have to do something. ”
The following morning, exhausted and Groggy, I went down to the kitchen and welcomed the smell of pancakes. But even the comfort of my favorite breakfast couldn’t lift my mood.
I sat at the table and sipped tea, but my gaze was attracted to the window again. She was there, she waved at me.
I put a cup with a sink. “That’s it.” I’m going to her house. I have to find out what’s going on. ”
Sandy looked at me with a mixture of worry and confusion. “Arnie, are you sure?” What are you going to do? ”
“I need to know, Sandy.” I don’t know why, but I feel he needs me. ”
She wrapped her hands from behind. “Just be careful, okay?” And call me if something feels right. ”
I kissed her forehead and promised to be safe.
A walk across the street felt endless, every step was heavy with anxiety. As I approached the building, my heart ran, and my palms sweated when I pressed a buzzer.
There was a long pause before the female voice burst through the intercom. “Yes?”
“Hi, I’m Arnie, from the street.” I wanted to talk about your daughter, ”I said, and my voice was shaking.
After a short silence, the door opened.
A woman stood in the doorway. My breath grabbed my throat.
“Juliette?” I whispered.
She nodded tears in her eyes. “It’s been a long time, Arnie.”
Before I could react, a little figure appeared behind her. Little girl. She looked at me, her eyes wide with hope.
“DADDY?” She said.
I shook back and grasped the doorframe for support.
“What did she say?” I asked, barely I could understand what was going on.
Juliette retreated aside and I walked into the apartment, still in shock. She sat opposite me, eyes full of tears.
“Do you remember that weekend in the Lake House, six years ago?” She asked quietly.
I nodded slowly and the memories flooded back. “Last weekend before …”
“… before we broke up,” she finished.
My heart sank as the weight of her words hit me. “But … I didn’t know.” How couldn’t you tell me? ”
Juliette’s tears fell freely. “I tried, Arnie.” I tried so hard. But you moved out, and changed your number … it seemed like you disappeared. ”
“I had the right to know,” I whispered, and my voice broke.
“I know,” she said quietly. “I was young and frightened.” Years have passed before I gathered the courage to look for you. I thought it was too late. ”
The little girl Juliette called Heidi sat quietly in the corner and watched me with wide eyes.
Heidi. My daughter. The words hit me as a blow to the intestine. “When did you move here?” I asked and tried to calm down.
“Just a few months ago.” I got a job transfer. When I first saw you across the street, I told Heidi that you were her father, ”Juliette explained. “I thought it was perhaps fate and giving us another chance.”
I took a deep breath and tried to process it all. “I have a wife, Sandy,” I said.
There was a hard silence between us. Suddenly I got up, stunned. “I need some time.” I have to think. ”
Heidi’s face was crumpled and she looked up at me. “Daddy? Are you leaving?”
Her innocent voice hit me like a wave and I knelt, my heart broke. “I’ll get back, sweetheart,” I promise. I just need some time, okay? ”
She nodded quietly, and when I left, he called Juliette’s voice behind me. “Arnie, sorry.” For everything. ”
I couldn’t bring myself to the answer.
A walk home was a blur. When I returned to the house, Sandy waited at the door, her face full of concern.
“Arnie?” What happened? You look like you saw the spirit, ”she said as I collapsed into her arms.
Tears poured out of my eyes when I told her everything – probably Juliette, about Heidi, about a daughter I never knew I had.
Sandy listened to the stunned silence, her hands firmly around me. When I finished, she pulled out and looked at me, her term soft but serious. “What are you going to do?”
I shook my head, uncertain. “I don’t know. I can’t just leave her. She’s my daughter.”
Sandy was quiet for a moment and nodded slowly. “We must be careful.” We can’t just believe everything Juliette says. ”
I nodded. “I know.” I want to get a DNA test just to be sure. ”
The next day I returned to Juliette’s apartment and asked her for a DNA test. Her face immediately hardened.
“Do you think I’m lying?” She asked and injured her flashing in her eyes. “You just found out you have a baby, and now you don’t believe me?”
“I want to be sure,” I said, trying to explain it, but she killed the door to my face.
I returned home defeated, but my mom listened patiently as I explained what happened. The next day Juliette called me and said the DNA test was opened after she spoke to my mother.
“I understand,” she said. “We’ll do a test.”
It was relieved, I told Sandy, but she was still worried. “I love you, Arnie.” But I’m afraid. I hope it won’t change things between us. ”
The following weeks were full of anxiety, fear, and hope. When the results of the DNA finally arrived, my hands were trembling as I opened the envelope. The words were blurred in front of my eyes, but one sentence excelled: “The probability of paternity 99.99%.”
My heart raced. Heidi was my daughter.
For sure I took another test, and when the second result was confirmed, I cried in Sandy with my arms. “It’s true,” I sobbed. “It’s mine.”
Sandy smiled her tears. “I love you.” You’ll be an amazing father. ”
We visited Juliette’s apartment, and when Heidi saw me, she shouted, “Dad!” And hit my arms. I kept her firmly and looked at Sandy. She smiled at me, her eyes full of love.
“She’s beautiful,” Sandy whispered.
Juliette watched us, the bitters sweet on her face. “I never wanted to complicate your life, but I wanted Heidi to know her father.”
“I’m glad you did it,” I said, and tears in my eyes.
When we left, Heidi held on to my leg and asked, “Will you come back, right, Dad?”
I knelt and looked into her eyes. “Of course, sweetheart.” I don’t go anywhere. ”
Sandy took my hand on a walk home. “So we’re parents now?”
I pressed her hand. “It looks.” Are you okay with that? ”
She was quiet for a while and then nodded. “It’s not as I imagined it, but yes, I’m fine.”
We reached our front door and I pulled it into a solid embrace. “I love you.” Thank you for all this amazing. ”
That night, when I stood by the window, I saw Heidi from the street waving at me. But this time I felt only love instead of fear. I waved back, my heart full. Maybe it wasn’t the way I expected to become a father, but that was the way it was supposed to be.
As the days passed, I found that I was adapting to this new chapter in my life I never expected, but now I couldn’t imagine living. The guilt and confusion of the past slowly retreated to a deep, unspoken bond with Heidi, and Sandy, despite her initial concern, accepted this unexpected way with love and grace. A little girl who was a spirit in my dreams was now real, holding my hand and calling me a “dad”. And even though the journey ahead of us would undoubtedly have their challenges, I knew that together we were navigating this new family we created. He was no longer looking back – he was just moving forward with love,hopep,e, and promise of the future where we would all be together.