At 17, Daniel abandoned his newborn son at the request of his parents. A few years later, while I was coaching a little league team, there was a new student. He bore a striking resemblance to his late friend Emily, and Daniel needed to find out if he was her son.
Daniel was 27 and had coached the Little League baseball team at his old elementary schools. Growing up, he had no idea working with kids could be so great, but this job fell on him, and it was better than sitting in a classroom all the time. He went to college and earned a teacher’s degree, but after a few years of teaching English to uninterested teenagers, he dropped out.
Just like he had with little Josh. He was shy and a bookworm, but his parents pushed him into the team and Daniel saw that he had talent, but he was a bit afraid of being beaten. Hopefully Josh will be better soon and he can enjoy it.
Eventually Josh hit the ball and it flew further than the rest of the team could have imagined. The boy ran to first base and jumped for joy. “Well done, Josh! It’s awesome !” Daniel shouted from the field, clapping and smiling at the boy.
The boy sat down with the other children and Mrs. Finkle returned to her table. But Daniel frowns, keeping his gaze for a second on Robert sitting on the bench. The guy looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t figure out why. He shrugged and continued to study.
Robert was naturally a good baseball player and soon joined the team. He was also social and the other boys laughed at almost everything he said. Eventually the parents came in and Daniel saw his new student approach the woman with a friendly smile. She leaned over to him, hugged him and stood up.
Ten years ago, he got his girlfriend Emily pregnant. Needless to say, neither was ready to become parents at 17. Both parents told them that abortion was out of the question. So Emily continued the pregnancy and died giving birth to their son.
His distraught parents refused to take care of their grandson. Daniel’s parents persuaded him to adopt when it became too difficult for him. But he disagreed. Emily had died for this child, and he loved her. How could he abandon her? But he had no money and his parents insisted.
He seemed to have no choice, so Daniel obeyed his parents and abandoned the child. But he thought about himself all the time and felt guilty. Maybe that’s why he loved coaching the little league team so much. They were in the same age group.
The results confirmed that Robert was Daniel’s child, but he kept his promise not to interfere in their lives. That year, however, Nina invited him and his baseball buddies to Robert’s birthday party. Then she told them to tell the boy the truth and find out if he wanted a relationship with Daniel.
Robert was very excited when Nina and Daniel told him they were getting married. He finally had a father, like most of his friends, and now he had a complete family.
