When my daughter Ellie asked to invite a woman I’d never heard of to her birthday,
I was shocked. I soon learned that this “pretty lady” was someone who had been
visiting Jake while I was at work. At the party, Lila revealed she was Jake’s daughter,
whom he’d just recently learned about after her mother passed away. Jake had kept it a secret, unsure how to tell me.
Though it was overwhelming, I realized Lila just wanted to connect with her father.
Over time, she became a part of our family, and while it was difficult, we adapted to this new reality.
