When a mysterious package arrived at Kate and Josh’s house, they were confused to see that the sender was her father. But things became even stranger when they found something inside the beautiful pillow. This led to a confrontation, and Josh had to face the truth. Should he forgive his father or pretend the relationship doesn’t exist?

Josh had just taken his daughter Emily for a stroll in the garden when the doorbell rang, signaling that the day was starting.
“Do I have a package for you?” said the delivery man as he opened the door.
I signed for it and carried the box to the kitchen. Our third wedding anniversary had been this week, and Josh always bought things to surprise me.
“I just want to surprise you, Kate,” he’d said one day while we relaxed on the couch. “It’s the little things, you know?”
So naturally, when I brought the package to the kitchen, I assumed it was from him.
I grabbed some scissors and cut through the thick tape. When I opened the box, I found a beautifully embroidered pillow, underneath which was a card. It would fit perfectly with the décor in our living room.
Happy Birthday, Josh and Kate! – Taylor.
For a moment, I marveled at the thoughtful gesture. But then I remembered that Josh would never accept that gift under any circumstance.
“What’s this?” Josh said, returning to the kitchen with Emily on his shoulders.
“Well, it’s a gift,” I responded cautiously. “From your dad.”
Josh grabbed the card from my hands, his eyes scanning the paper.
I wondered what he would do. Josh and his father always had a complicated relationship. When Josh was a child, Taylor abandoned him and his mom.
He was dating another woman, and when it came time to choose, Taylor picked her and left his family.
Josh was seven years old and never got over it. He told me one night as we were having dinner.
“A dad should choose you, Kate. But he didn’t, and he left us to start a new life with his lover. That’s not how it works.”
I understood his point. Of course, he just wanted his father to be there for him and his mother.
But Taylor had other ideas.
“He said he needed to be happy and that my mom was too strict with him. He had a job, but he was always doing illegal things. So he packed his bags and left.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, surprised Josh had been exposed to that at such an early age.
“Money, lies. Gambling, all that,” my husband said, taking a sip of his whiskey.
And so it was. Josh only spoke to him again a year before we got married.
Taylor discovered our wedding through other family members and thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and fix things between them.
But Josh refused.
“I don’t want him anywhere near us on our special day, Kate. It’s not going to help anyone. And, in fact, seeing him would ruin everything for me.”
“Don’t you think you’ll regret it?” I asked as I folded wedding invitations.
“No way,” Josh replied, picking up an envelope. “For all we know, someone could come and crash the ceremony because they owe him money.”
And that was it. End of topic.
I didn’t want to push it. He knew it was his responsibility to deal with it later if he regretted it. I would support him, but I didn’t want to interfere, especially since Taylor was a lot to handle.
When Emily was born, Taylor tried to interfere in our life again. He wanted me to get in touch and try to fix things with Josh so he could play his part as a grandfather.
“I don’t want him near us. I don’t want him near our daughter. Please, Kate, don’t insist. That man is bad,” my husband said, holding our baby.
And so it was.
Which brings us to the present.
Josh took the pillow and started feeling it, lifting it and letting it drop. He even held it close to his ear, his eyes wide.
“Sweetie, we can’t keep this pillow!”
Without saying more, he ran over to it and tossed it out the back door.
“Josh, what’s wrong?” I exclaimed, leaving Emily in her high chair with pieces of fruit.
“Well, it’s running, Kate! There’s something inside. He’s up to something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
We both went out into the garden.
We stood next to the pillow, which was innocently sitting among the flowers. I hesitated and crouched down to listen.
Sure enough, a soft sound could be heard.
“Ah,” I said, surprised. I was convinced that Josh had heard something that wasn’t true.
Why would Taylor want to hurt us?
“Take your phone and record all this,” Josh said, bending down to grab the pillow. “Just in case something happens or there’s something illegal in there.”
Taking a deep breath, Josh opened the pillow to reveal a small mysterious box with a timer.
“What the hell is this?” I murmured, fear creeping up my spine.
“Let’s figure this out,” Josh said, stunned. “Call him.”
He dialed Taylor’s number, my hands shaking.
“Hello, Kate,” he said in a cheerful voice. “Did you get my package? I didn’t know what to buy you, but I knew I had to get you something.”
“There’s something inside the pillow,” Josh said. “A box. It’s making noise. What’s going on?”
“Please, be honest,” I begged.
“It’s a gift, Kate. For your birthday,” Taylor said calmly, almost soothingly.
“Probably the timer; it should make a noise and open during the day,” he explained. “There’s something in there.”
My husband ripped the phone from my hands.
“Do you really think we want anything from you? What’s really in the box, dad? Is there something we shouldn’t know? Something illegal that Josh demanded?”
“Please, Josh,” he said. “It’s just a gesture. I don’t mean to hurt you.”
“If you’re serious about your health, stay out of our lives.”
“Wait, Kate,” Taylor said. “Open the box, okay?”
Taylor sighed deeply, and Josh reached out and hung up the call.
I looked at him. He seemed confused by all this. He knew he was curious to see what was inside the box, but he was traumatized by everything his father had done.
“What do you want to do?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, holding his head.
“Let’s open it,” I said. “If he wanted me to open it, then there’s no way he’s trying to hurt us, right? Okay?”
Josh slowly nodded, finally accepting what it was. His father just wanted to get closer to us and give us a gift. Maybe everything was as simple as it seemed.
“But record it, okay?” Josh said.
I took the phone again and started recording.
My husband opened the box, revealing its contents: a check for $100,000.
Josh looked at the check, emotions crossing his face as he tried to understand it.
“What are you joking about, Kate?” Josh asked, stunned. “This can’t be clean money. He must be trying to cover something up.”
But before we could process more, Taylor called again.
I answered, hesitantly.
“We found the check,” I said. “Why did you do this?”
“Because I’m dying, Kate,” he confessed calmly. “I’ve made enough mistakes, and I know Josh hates me. But this money is for you. And if my son doesn’t want it, keep it for Emily’s future. For her schooling. No one needs to know it came from me.”
I entered the house, realizing we had left Emily alone for too long. Not that it mattered, because our daughter was sitting quietly by herself, eating her fruit.
Josh was right behind me.
“Dad,” he said, taking the phone from my hands. “If you really care about your health, we need to talk. No more games.”
“Thank you, Josh,” said Taylor’s voice on the phone. “Tell me when.”
We met Taylor in a park later that week. It wasn’t far…