Andrew stood in the foyer of his late mother's family home, sorting through her old possessions. He secretly wished he could sell Mom's house as it was, leaving the buyers to deal with the old furniture, décor, and house plants.

"Dad? I found something weird in here!" Andrew's adopted daughter, Louise, cried down the hall.

Andrew dropped the bubble-wrapped box he was holding and hurried to his Mom's bedroom. "What's this?" he asked, fear kicking in as he saw Louise holding a blue folder.

"If those are medical records from Mom's gynecology practice, they must be burned, Louise. Hand it over," Andrew leaned forward...

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"Did you hear me?" Louise pointed to a note on the first page. "It's about Mom...it says Mom's infertile. But you've always told me you adopted me because you're infertile, Dad."

"Louise, just give me the folder...it must be a mistake. You can't upset your Mom over a mistake," Andrew insisted, but Louise knew that her Dad was hiding something.

"Are you hiding this from Mom?"

"Of course not!" Andrew chuckled. "Why would I hide something from her?"

"Then I'm showing this to her!" Louise clutched the folder tight.

The blood drained off Andrew's face, and he knew there was no way to deter Louise from showing the folder to Nina except to tell her the truth.

"You're right! I'm hiding something from your mother. But I hope you'll understand why after I explain everything."

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40 years ago...

The party was in full swing when 16-year-old Andrew and his friends arrived. Once Andrew saw Nina dancing, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Everything about her had been perfect!

"Will you dance with me?" Andrew approached Nina.

Nina smiled brightly, and after dancing to some slow background music, they sat on the sofa and talked for hours, drinking a lot of beer in between.

And the next thing Andrew and Nina knew was that they were drunk out of their minds and heading down the hallway to a random bedroom where they made love.

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Regrets crashed down on Andrew like a tidal wave when he woke up the next day. He rushed to his Mom as he knew only she could help him.

"Mom, I...uh, need your help," Andrew hesitantly approached his mother. "I went to a party last night, and I...."

Andrew's Mom listened intently, never expecting what he was about to confess.

"I met this beautiful girl...and we...we, you know. We did it! But I didn't use contraceptives. And now, what if she gets pregnant, Mom?" Andrew spilled out, shocking his mother.

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"You WHAT? How could you be so stupid?" Mom barked. "Underage sex comes with risks...you don't know where that girl has been before, Andrew."

Andrew nodded. "Nina is a nice girl, Mom. She isn't like that."

"I don't care. You're going to have an STD test. And I'm going to give you something for the girl to ensure she doesn't get pregnant," Mom leaned across the table. "You make sure she takes all of it, understand?"

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The following week of Andrew's life was hell. His gynecologist Mom lectured him daily, urging him to abstain from sex until he completed medical school.

She was not ready to flush her son's medical career down the toilet for one silly mistake he made. Andrew had no choice but to agree.

"Good. And time's running out, Andrew," Mom then said one day. "When are you seeing that girl again? We need to fix your problem before it's too late."

"I have a date with Nina this weekend, Mom," Andrew replied.

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That weekend, Andrew took Nina to the movies. As soon as they settled in their seats, he told her to wait while he bought snacks and beverages for them.

On his way back to the theater, Andrew spiked Nina's orange juice with the crushed sleeping pills Mom had given him. He was guilty but took the risk, knowing it would anger Mom if he foiled her plan.

"Andy, I'm not feeling well," Nina leaned over and asked Andrew to take her home a little later after consuming the juice. "I think I'm going to throw up."

When Andrew got home later that night and informed Mom, she nodded coldly.

"Sounds like it worked!" she said.

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Present day...

"How could you do such a terrible thing, Dad?" Louise fumed at Andrew. "Why did you not consider what Mom would've been through?"

"I didn't love Nina then...not that it justifies what I did was right," Andrew said, his eyes downcast. "And we never dated again after that night."

"Urgh! I don't understand. If you two didn't date, then how did you get married?"

"I promise you'll have answers to all your questions when I'm done talking. But I warn you...the story doesn't get any better. Are you sure you want to know the rest?" Andrew looked into Louise's eyes.

"I want to know everything!" she replied.

"Fine..." Andrew continued.

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32 years ago...

Andrew was doing his residency when a familiar face stopped him in his tracks. He saw Nina reading a magazine in the waiting room.

"I know you!" she said with a smile. "We went on a few dates in high school...your name's Andrew, right?"

Andrew nodded. "What are you doing here, Nina?"

"I have an appointment for an eye infection," Nina said. "Judging by that coat and stethoscope, I guess I'm here to see you!"

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Nina and Andrew chatted while he examined her eye. At the end of the examination, he asked her if she'd meet him for coffee sometime. His heart leaped in his chest when she agreed.

Following a few dates, Andrew soon realized he had fallen head over heels in love with Nina. Mom had some reservations when he told her he planned to marry Nina, but Andrew refused to back down.

They were engaged for only six months before getting married in an intimate beach-themed wedding.

Married life was bliss for the newlyweds until they decided to start a family. After several months and several failed attempts of trying, Nina and Andrew agreed to consult with a doctor.

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"Mom's one of the top gynecologists in this city. I'll ask her if she can help us," Andrew told Nina. She agreed, and soon, they visited Andrew's Mom at the clinic.

"I had some kind of pelvic infection when I was young," Nina told Mom. "I had to be admitted to the hospital for a while."

Mom nodded as she took note on Nina's file. "How old were you at this time?"

"Sixteen!" Nina replied, turning to Andrew. "It was a little after our second date went bad...I even had to leave early because I was sick, remember, Andy?"

Andrew worriedly nodded. But Mom was calm. How could she be so composed when Nina had just revealed she got an infection after they gave her those pills to ensure she didn't fall pregnant?

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"I'll schedule an appointment on Tuesday for some blood tests," Mom told Andrew and Nina. She also promised to discuss getting Andrew tested with a urologist she knew.

That evening, Mom paged Andrew, asking him to meet her privately.

"I've got bad news," Mom told Andrew when he arrived at her home. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Nina because...

...it's our fault she can't fall pregnant. Nina likely picked up an infection after we gave her the abortion-inducing pills."

Andrew sat silently, trying to process what he and his mother had ended up doing to Nina.

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"It sometimes happens after using these drugs...but we gave it to her as a precautionary measure," Mom crossed her arms. "I didn't think it would matter. Andrew, it's up to you to decide how we proceed."

"Great! I get to decide when things go wrong??" Andrew fumed. "It was never my idea to give her those pills. But I have to deal with the consequences?"

"Grow up, Andrew," Mom snapped. "I did what was right for you and saved you from getting your future sabotaged. You're a man now. So act like one!"

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"Act like a man??" Andrew clenched his jaw. He wanted to cry but knew that wouldn't help him or Nina unless she learned the truth.

But Andrew was not ready to take that risk and watch her endure that pain.

"That urologist you mentioned...will he tell a lie if we asked him to?" Andrew looked up at Mom.

"You want to pretend you're the one who's infertile, don't you?" she said.

"I don't have a choice. I can't let Nina think she's to blame for being infertile. I can't tell her the truth. She'd leave me...and I can't imagine a life without her."

"Fine, I'll speak to Kevin, the urologist," Mom nodded. "You need to ensure she continues with her tests. If she ever decides to get a second option, this whole plan will come crashing down around us."

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Andrew thought the problem would be sorted if he shouldered the blame for their inability to have children. But he was wrong. Nina wanted to try in vitro fertilization.

"I just want to be a mother," she cried in bed one night. "I know it's not your fault. But I wish there was something we could do."

Andrew knew it would break Nina's heart if she ever discovered she was the one infertile and responsible for them being childless. So he suggested adoption.

"Adoption?" Nina sniffed. "But I don't think it would be the same. I'll never feel the baby's tiny feet kick inside me...or hear them cry for the first time."

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"But there's so much you'll experience...like their first day of school, their first steps," Andrew tried convincing Nina to agree.

"Motherhood is not just about being pregnant, love. There's more to it...more wonderful things you'll get to experience after we bring a child home. What do you think?"

"I'm already thinking," Nina smiled. "And I've always wanted a daughter. Do you think we could adopt a girl?"

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"...so Mom helped me lie to Nina for years," Andrew finished. "But the day you entered our lives, Louise, was the day Nina found peace."

"It would've broken Nina to find out the truth. But I would never let that happen. So all I could think of was to shoulder the blame by letting her think I was infertile."

Louise said nothing except nod subtly. A grave silence filled the air as her eyes brimmed with tears.

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"I know I acted selfishly," Andrew added. "But wouldn't it also have been selfish to tell Nina the truth when there was nothing I could do to set things right?"

Louise placed the folder beside Andrew and rose, approaching the untidy stack of Mom's framed medical diplomas on the dressing table.

She lifted one of them, and after studying it, Louise hurled it onto the floor, smashing the glass frame with a loud crack.

"Let's go home now, Dad," Louise stomped on Mom's diploma. "I never want to step foot in this house again."

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