“Don’t Let Me Die: A Mother’s Secret Buried for 30 Years”

(A short story of a mother’s heart and a sister’s bond)

(For three decades, she carried the silence like a second skin. No one knew about the child she bore, the life she thought had ended before it began. But secrets never stay buried—not forever. This is the story of a mother’s hidden grief, and the miracle she never dared to pray for.

Two young cousins loved each other as sisters. They lived over 500 miles away, but spent as much time together each year as possible. Dana was a year older than her sister-cousin Jenna. Dana lived down south, and Jenna lived up north.

Dana and Jenna had many incredible adventures together. They would take turns visiting each other during summer vacations and holidays. As they grew older, they grew closer. They made great memories that would last a lifetime. One summer, while visiting Jenna up north, Dana met Andrew. Andrew was much older than Dana and Jenna, but Dana lied about her age, making him think she was much older than she was.

Andrew and Dana spent much time together alone when Jenna was in dance class. When Jenna returned, Dana told her about Andrew and how much she liked him. Jenna was genuinely happy for Dana and Andrew even though she never met him. Jenna and Dana continued to enjoy their time together. When Dana returned during the Thanksgiving holiday, she met up with Andrew, and they were intimate. Dana didn't tell anyone, including Jenna, because her parents were strict and she knew she shouldn't have done it yet.

After the Thanksgiving holiday, Dana returned home and then to school. A few weeks passed, and she began to throw up and feel unwell. Her strict parents started to question her illness. Her mother took her to her pediatrician for answers. After testing, the doctor returned and asked to speak to Dana alone. Her mother refused, asking the doctor why her 14-year-old daughter needed to talk to the doctor alone. The doctor asked Dana if he could discuss anything with her mother, and she agreed.

The doctor then asked Dana if she was sexually active. Dana said no. Then the doctor looked confused, and then asked Dana if she could have been touched without her consent. She said no. Her mother then asked what was going on. Then the doctor looked at Dana and said, “You're pregnant.”

“She’s 14 for Christ’s sake! How can she be pregnant?” Her mother shouted.

“Please, ma’am, lower your voice.” The doctor pleaded. “Did anyone touch you without your consent?” The doctor asked Dana again.

She looked over at her mother, who was fuming. “I’m sure.” She said, lowering her head in shame.

The doctor discussed the next steps with Dana and her mother and sent them home after planning her next appointment. When Dana got in the car, her mother freaked out. “How could you do this to me, Dana? Your father and I are trying to give you a good life, and this is how you repay us?” She yelled at Dana.

“I’m sorry, Mom, I didn’t know.” Dana cried

“You didn’t know what? That sex can lead to pregnancy? Or you didn’t know you would get caught? Wait until your father hears this!” Her mother shouted.

“Please don’t tell Daddy,” Dana begged, afraid to no longer be Daddy’s little princess.

When she got home, Dana was sent to her room. Her mother told her father, and he was furious with Dana. Everything changed for Dana. Her parents didn’t trust her anymore; she couldn’t go anywhere alone and could no longer do the fun things she loved, including spending time with Jenna. Dana was devastated. She didn’t know what to do.

Abortion was not an option because her family was against it, and she was too far along anyway. She was homeschooled the rest of the school year, so no one knew she was pregnant. Her parents kept her away from the rest of the family, so no one knew she was pregnant at 14. Her parents kept pressuring her to put the baby up for an adoption, a closed adoption where she would probably never see her child again.

Dana refused to give her child away. She didn’t even get to tell Andrew she was pregnant; she never got to see him again.

Eventually, in July, Dana gave birth to a baby girl. She held her briefly, and then the nurses took her away. Dana kept asking for her baby. “Where’s my baby? She cried. Eventually, her mother returned to the room and told Dana the baby didn’t make it.

“What do you mean the baby didn’t make it? The baby was just fine!” Dana cried.

“I know, honey,” her mother said, hugging her. Her father just stared at her, unsure and uneasy. Dana’s life was never the same. She always struggled in July, feeling alone, grieving her child. She wondered if it was her fault that the child didn’t make it. A part of her didn’t believe her baby didn’t make it, but she never spoke about it. She hushed it up and convinced herself this was her punishment for having sex so young and unwed.

Dana never spoke about her baby. She was forced to move on as if it had never happened. Her parents never brought it back up, and the traumatic event became part of a memory that she buried deep, so deep that she began to forget as she got older. Dana returned up north to visit Jenna the summer after she had her baby. They hadn’t seen each other in about a year. They resumed their adventures as older teenagers and made new memories.

Jenna told Dana about a guy who flirted with her, but she never got his name. A few years passed, and Jenna and Dana were still close. Dana went to college down South but felt a strong pull up north. She figured it was because of Jenna and never considered it. Eventually, she surrendered to the pull and moved north when she was of age.

Dana lived her life trying to make a difference. She loved children but didn’t have any of her own. She missed home, but enjoyed being up north. Dana and Jenna became young women, exploring life and adulthood together. As time went on, Dana and Jenna both found themselves struggling with health conditions that left them both without children.

Then, one day, Jenna told Dana she wanted her to meet the guy she was dating. She agreed, and Jenna left the room to fetch her new love. When Jenna returned, she looked at Dana and said, “Dana, this is Drew, Drew, this is Dana.” Dana looked up, and to her surprise, it was Andrew, the father of her “deceased” child.

“Andrew?” Dana said.

“Hey, wassup, Dana? How you been?” Andrew replied with a big smile on his face. Dana and Andrew hadn’t seen each other since she returned home after Thanksgiving break over 10 years ago. She made it her mission to avoid him and has never spoken of him until now.

“Y'all know each other?” Jenna asked, confused.

Before anyone could answer, Dana asked Jenna if they could talk privately. Once in private, Dana said to Jenna, “That’s Andrew!”

Unsure of what she was referring to, “Yes, it’s Andrew.” Jenna obliviously responded.

“No, that’s Andrew, the guy I told you I liked years ago when we were younger,” Dana explained

“Oh no! That’s Andrew. Omg I forgot all about him. I’m sorry, Dana, I must break it off with him.” Jenna cried.

“But you really like him; I’m okay with it if you are,” Dana said, hugging Jenna.

“I do like him, but I can’t let this break us, I can’t.” Jenna cried

“It was so long ago, there are no feelings between us.” Dana tried reassuring Jenna.

“You liked him, Dana, you did. Did y'all ever kiss or anything?” Jenna asked.

“Well.” Dana hesitated. Jenna stood waiting for an answer.

“We had sex that year, and I never saw him again,” Dana explained.

Growing angry, “he ghosted you?” Jenna asked

Feeling all the emotions and shame rushing back, Dana took a breath. “I ghosted him.” She answered.

“Why? Did he hurt you?” Jenna asked, growing concerned now.

“No, no. He was cool. One, I didn’t tell him my true age, and two, because I got pregnant by him and our baby died shortly after I had her. That’s why I took a break from coming out here to see you, because my parents hid the pregnancy.” Dana shamefully explained. Jenna gasped and hugged Dana immediately after she finished talking. They hugged for a minute until Andrew asked from the other room was everything okay.

“Yeah, we’ll be out in a minute,” Jenna yelled to Andrew in the other room, wiping her eyes.

“I have to break it off, Dana.” Jenna continued whispering to Dana.

“Please don’t. He doesn’t even know about the baby.” Dana quietly added. Jenna gasped, not sure of what to do.

“You gotta tell him,” Jenna said sincerely.

“Can you?” Dana asked. “I can't say it. I can't even think about it.” Dana added, tears filling her eyes.

“You sure?” Jenna asked.

“Please!” Dana pleaded. She left to let them talk it out. She couldn't deal with reliving that moment.

Later that night, Jenna called Dana, but she didn't answer. She secluded herself from everyone, feeling the weight of a pain she once buried. She took a few days for herself. Eventually, she answered Jenna’s call and agreed to come to her house. Andrew was there when she arrived; Jenna and Andrew both hugged Dana. Andrew apologized for not being there and admitted he didn't know she was so young and they were cousins.

Andrew and Jenna discussed ending their relationship out of respect for Dana, but she declined. She appreciated that they respected her feelings, but didn't want to get in the way of their love. She watched them and saw how much they loved each other. They didn't know each other and had no idea they knew Dana, so she didn't feel betrayed. She did like him in her youth, but she moved on long ago and told herself she would be okay with it.

Years went by, and eventually, Jenna and Andrew got married. Dana was even in the wedding. Things were great for the newlyweds, and Jenna even got to keep a bond with her sister. Things got rough when Jenna struggled to have children with her now-husband, Andrew. Andrew vowed to stay by her side. It sometimes hurt Andrew that he didn’t have children of his own to celebrate Father’s Day with, but he never blamed his wife.

After a while, Jenna and Andrew adopted their first child, a baby girl. Then they adopted another child and named her after Dana and Andrew’s baby girl, who didn’t make it. Soon after, Dana had a baby through IVF, and Jenna allowed Andrew to help fertilize the egg. Jenna refused to overlook or forget the baby that passed away over 20 years ago. “I can’t let her die.” Jenna constantly thought to herself, feeling the guilt of Dana losing a baby, and she wasn’t there to help her. She also felt the weight of her own infertility journey. That's why she agreed to name her second daughter after the baby girl who passed away, and allowed her husband to fertilize her sister's egg.

It is unclear how the decision for Andrew to help Dana have a baby through IVF came to be, but it was very much shunned by the few relatives who knew. The conception of Dana’s new baby was kept a secret amongst the few who knew. Disclosing who fathered her babies was not something Dana felt comfortable with. Only Dana’s parents, Jenna and Andrew, knew Dana was pregnant at 14, or so she thought.

Dana had a son 21 years after secretly having a baby at 14. He was precious to her, and she loved him dearly. To protect their secret, he knew his father, Andrew, as his uncle, who married his aunt Jenna, his mother’s sister-cousin. Jenna and Andrew’s daughters know Dana’s son as their brother-cousin, not because they know their father is also his, but because of Dana and Jenna's bond.

Things were good for Dana, while Jenna secretly struggled with the reality that Dana gave her husband the biological child that she wanted to give him. However, her heart wouldn't let her look at the child funny; she loved him. This secret struggle put a strain on Jenna and Dana’s relationship. Jenna knew how hard it was as a woman struggling to have children; she could only imagine how hard it was to be a mother who lost a child. So she found peace in her decision to help her sister have a baby. Dana had yet to find her husband, and she was getting older than the childbearing age when Jenna and Andrew helped her have the baby.

Jenna struggled knowing that Dana gave Andrew the biological child she couldn't, and Dana struggled that Jenna gave Andrew the complete family that she couldn't. Dana doesn't romantically want Andrew, but it hurts her that she cannot give her son a mother and a father. His father was always there, but he knew him as his uncle. Time went on, Jenna and Dana stayed close to each other, their children grew closer, and Andrew was there to see it all. Their family makeup was working for them.

Then something hit them all very hard. An almost 30-year-old woman called Dana and asked, “Are you my mother?” Dana immediately denied the young woman; there was no way she could be this woman’s mother if her baby had passed almost 30 years ago. The woman claimed to look like Dana and said God sent her to Dana, so Dana asked her to show her. The young woman sent a picture to Dana, and Dana froze. This young woman looked very much like Dana.

“I see the resemblance,” Dana said to the young woman. But I can't be your mother, honey.” Dana continued. Confused as to how they looked alike, the young woman offered a follow-up question.

“Can we be cousins?” she desperately asked.

“No ma'am, I'm the oldest.” Dana was the oldest of her generation, so she figured no way anyone else could have parented an almost 30-year-old; it wasn't possible. She politely finished her conversation with the distraught and confused young woman and blocked her. A few moments later, a blocked number called. Dana instinctively answered it; the young woman suggested that Dana had not been honest with her. Dana grew offended and threatened to have the FBI look into this young woman. They argued a little, and Dana told her to leave her alone.

After hanging up on her this time, Dana called her mother furious. She told her mother about the call and expressed her frustration about the young girl insinuating she was a liar. Dana’s mother was speechless.” I don't know what to say, Dana,” her mother said. Her mother’s reaction made Dana uneasy. She quickly ended the conversation with her mother and sat in silence. Looking at her phone, she stared at the young woman’s number, lost in thought. Then suddenly she felt that pull she felt almost 30 years ago. It couldn't be. No way.

A few weeks passed. Andrew and Jenna were at an event inside a school, and this young lady came in and caught their attention. After their event, they speak to this young lady. Andrew asked her about herself, and she told them she was on a journey to find her parents. Andrew began asking her more questions about her age, where she was from, and how she ended up far from her home. She told him she had been led to this place, was almost 30, and was from Andrew's hometown.

Andrew felt this young woman favored him and wondered if he could have unknowingly fathered a child in his youth. He was unaware she had already contacted Dana, claiming to be her daughter. “I could be your dad,” he blurted out. She wasn’t expecting him to say that and didn’t know how to receive it, so she made him aware that she wasn’t insinuating that he was her dad and that she thought God had sent her to him only to get help.

Over time, Jenna and Andrew began to get to know this young woman. There was a bit of confusion when Jenna and Dana finally discussed it. They all saw the similarities, but who is this young woman, and how could she be Dana’s daughter if Dana’s daughter passed away? They wondered if she was there to mess with them, scam them, or cause chaos, so they all dismissed her.

One day, Dana was talking to her mother about it, and her mother told her she needed to tell her something. “Dana, when you were 14 and you gave birth to that baby, she didn’t die; we secretly sent her up north to live with some distant relatives. We thought it would be easier for you to move on with your life; we thought it would be best for you. There’s a chance that she’s her,” her mother explained. Dana dropped to the floor, praying to God, “Jesus, I can't take this. God, please don't let me die.”