My 5-Year-Old Wants to Invite ‘The Lady Who Visits Dad While Mom’s at Work’ to Her Birthday Party

When my five-year-old daughter Ellie said she wanted “the pretty lady who visits Daddy” at her birthday party, I was stunned. She described a young woman with long hair hugging Jake goodbye. Heart pounding, I stayed calm, avoiding a confrontation. At the party, a shy woman, Lila, arrived with a gift. Ellie’s joy—“Daddy’s friend!”—made Jake go pale. In the kitchen, he confessed: Lila was his daughter from a past relationship, unknown until her mother’s recent death. A DNA test confirmed it; she’d been visiting secretly.

Furious he hid this, I was also moved by Lila’s pain and Ellie’s acceptance. Weeks later, Jake worked to rebuild trust, Lila joined our lives, and Ellie loved her new big sister. One night, hearing Lila read Ellie a bedtime story, I smiled. Our family grew unexpectedly, but love found a way.