The moment I entered the cabin, something felt.
Perhaps it was the way the driver barely made eye contact, or how the car smelled of something metal under the usual aroma of the cheap air freshener.
Maybe it was just exhaustion that was playing with my head after two exhausting night shifts. Either way, I ignored the restless twist in my intestine and leaned against the seat and let me sleep when he pulled me down.
There was a silence between us, thick with lost years and a strange, uncertain possibility of coming years. I didn’t know if I could open up, I didn’t know if I wanted it.
Christmas Eve always carried the weight I could never shake. When I slipped in the back seat of the taxi, the world around me was blurred and left it. When I woke up, it wasn’t to look at home, but a cold, abandoned room.
After the change, I left the hospital as a sister, completely exhausted. My friend, Jeremy, called earlier and said he had already ordered me a taxi and waited at home to celebrate Christmas.
Was the yellow cabin pulled out and the driver gave me a friendly “megan?” I nodded, barely able to keep my eyes open after two straight night shifts and climbed in. The second I sat down, I fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes, it was black. I was still in the back seat, but the driver was gone and the car was parked in some dark garage. My heart started racing when I reached on the phone, but it wasn’t in my bag.
I got out of the car and started to feel in the dark, looking for anything in the black room. At that moment I heard the open door creaking.
“Who are you?” I demanded a cracking of the voice.
The man stepped forward and the door creaked wider behind him.
“Megan Price, right?”
“Why do you know my name?” I asked.
He looked at the cabin and then returned to me. “You’re not a danger.” I need you to go with me. There’s something you need to know. ”
Christmas Eve I will never forget
There was a severe silence between us, thick with the weight of the lost years and the uncertainty of what lay forward. I wasn’t sure if I could open up to him – or if I wanted it at all.
Christmas Eve always carried a burden that I could not shake. Exhausted from a long shift in the hospital I slipped in the back seat of the taxi and let me sleep when the world overtaken me when it broke. But when I woke up, I wasn’t at home. Instead, I found myself in a dark, unknown garage.
I left the hospital completely exhausted and eager to go home to my friend Jeremy, who arranged for me the cabin earlier. When the yellow taxi rose, the driver warmly greeted me, “Megan?” I barely nodded before I climbed, my exhaustion amazed me. The moment I settled in the seat, I was driving into a deep sleep.
When my eyes opened, I was surrounded by darkness. The driver was gone and the car was parked in an unknown garage. Panic was rising through me as I instinctively reached for my phone – I just found that it was missing.
I hastily got out and walked through the darkness for any sense of direction. Then the sound of the creaking door stiffened me in place.
“Who’s there?” I demanded my voice unstable.
The shadow stepped forward and pushed the door openly wider.
“Megan Price, right?”
I stiffened. “How do you know my name?”
Before he met the mine again, his eyes moved to the taxi. “You’re not a danger.” But you have to come with me – you need to know. ”
Then, after a break, he added, “To be honest, I was against the frightened that you. But your friend … he planned it. ”
There was confusion and mistrust in me. “What do you mean by Jeremy planned it?” Who are you? ”
When he spoke, his expression was unreadable. “I know it’s stunning, but we didn’t have a choice.”
Among us, there was a tense silence between us before finally whispered, “Megan … I’m your father.”
The word father cut me like a shard of a glass, unknown and sharp. For years, my parents in my mind existed only as distant shadows. And now there was a man of flesh and blood who claimed to be part of my past.
Jeremy had to feel my hesitation because he stepped forward and held a crumpled envelope. “Megan, I know it’s a lot, but … that’s proof.” DNA test. I had to be sure before I show you. “
My breath hit. “How … How did you ever find him?”
Jeremy exhaled and his gaze moved between me and the man standing in front of us. “I know you never looked for them.” But yes. Two years ago I started looking for your family – bravely – just if it would mean something to you one day. ”
He pulled me close, his voice gentle, but firm. “I saw how much it hurt you, especially during the holidays, I didn’t know where you came from.” So I hired private detectives, scientists … followed by every management until I found it. ”
The man – my assumed father – went through his eyes and still seemed to try to believe it himself.
Jeremy continued, “It wasn’t easy. After your mother became pregnant, she never told him. He had no idea he existed at all. ”
I was hit by a painful realization. My mother decided to leave me behind without giving him a chance to get to know me.
Jeremy’s voice softened. “She died years ago.” But I watched her sister. She lives in Eastern Europe and, after many conversations, showed me to a single man who could be your father. ”
I turned to him, my voice barely over whisper. “And you just … accepted it?” Just like that? ”
Jeremy nodded. “He was shocked.” But as soon as I told him about you, he agreed to meet. But first I needed evidence. So one night … I took several strands of hair from your brush. ”
The man – my father – behaved, his voice fat with emotions. “Megan, I swear I didn’t know.” If I had, I’d be there. But I found out only recently and at first I couldn’t believe it. But now … see you … ”His voice broke.
The bitterness crawled into my tone. “You’ve never been there.” I grew up myself. ”
His eyes shone with regret. “I can’t change the past, Megan.” And I don’t expect to forgive me overnight. But if you allow me … I’d like to be here now. ”
Jeremy’s grip on my hands was tense – the quiet assurance that I didn’t have to face this moment myself.
I swallowed hard before I finally whispered, “I don’t know if I can call you dad … But I think I’d like to meet you.”
His face softened, the years of separation faded for a moment. A tear slipped down his face as he offered a small, hopeful smile.
“That’s all I could ask,” he said, and his voice was grateful.
When the glow of Christmas lights was poured down the staircase, I got a step towards something I never thought I had – my father. And maybe just a new family.
When I stood there, he grabbed between the past I always knew, and the future took place in front of me, I felt everything in the chest. The pain of abandonment, the shock of discovery, the uncertainty of what came on – it was all there, tangled together in a way that I could not unfam from.
But for the first time in my life I had a choice. I could turn away, let the injury and indignation keep me closed for years, or I could take a step forward, be it small, towards something new. Towards the possibility of recovery.
I looked at the man in front of me – my father – and then Jeremy, who risked so much to give me this moment. And in that quiet space between us, I decided.
No, I wasn’t ready to call him my dad. Not yet. Maybe not. But I was willing to try to find out where this way could lead. And when the warmth of Christmas lights plunged around us, I dared to believe – just for a moment – that even this season of miracles could also hold for me.