Reddit Stories - Love Lost, LONELY REUNION_ The UNEXPECTED Return_

Episode Date: June 8, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #love #lost #lonelyreunion #unexpectedreturn #relationshipsSummary: In "Love Lost, LONELY REUNION_ The UNEXPECTED Return_," a heart-wrenching tale unfolds as past lovers reunite unexpectedly. Emotions run high as they navigate unresolved feelings and confront the reality of their lost love.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, relationships, love, lost, reunion, unexpected, heartbreak, emotional, fiction, shortstory, drama, romance, storytelling, writing, community, supportBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

Partner abruptly ended our relationship because she wanted to embrace being alone. Several months afterward, she appeared at my residence expecting a child and insists that I am the father despite our previous separation. To date other guys. Me and her have been together for about five years. We started dating in high school, junior year for me, sophomore for her. I still remember how nervous I was asking her out after chemistry class. Honestly, I thought we were on track for the whole marriage and family thing.

We got engaged a while back and everything seemed perfect. I was so FNG happy, man. Like the happiest I'd ever been in my life. We'd been talking about our future, where we'd live, how many kids we wanted, all that stuff couples do when they think they're going to spend their lives together. We even had a small apartment we were renting together. She was finishing up her degree and I had. had been working full time at this place my uncle got me into.

The pay isn't amazing but it's steady and has benefits, which is better than a lot of people our age have. We would go on dates every Friday, just a tradition we kept up. We'd always just grabbing burgers and catching a movie, other times we'd try a new restaurant or go bowling or whatever. We hardly ever fought about anything serious. Sure, we'd bicker about normal stuff like whose turn it was to do dishes or what to watch on Netflix, but nothing major. Then one day she just blindsides me completely. No warning signs,

no fights, nothing that would make me think something was wrong. It was a Tuesday night, I think. Maybe Wednesday. I had just gotten home from work and was watching some YouTube videos waiting for her to get back from class. She comes in and she looks weird, like she'd been crying or something. She asks to talk and starts with you're not going to like what I have to say. She spends like 15 minutes crying and telling me how she'll always love me but apparently we got together too young and she needs to be single for a while. I was confused as shit. What does that even mean? So I pressed her to explain what the hell she was talking about. I mean, we'd been together for five years, we were engaged, we had a fucking life together. You, you're just. You

You don't just throw that away because you need to be single. That's not how this works. She gave me this whole list of crap reasons that made no sense. Something about not wanting to be responsible for my happiness. Wanting to go places without worrying about me, another BS that just left me more confused. Said she felt trapped and needed to find herself. Like what the fuck does that even mean? This isn't some rom-com movie.

This is our life. I told her she could already do all that stuff right now and we didn't need to break up. I offered to give her space or whatever she needed. I even suggested we could take a break from wedding planning if that was stressing her out. I was desperate, trying to find any solution that didn't involve us breaking up. Nothing was changing her mind though. She just kept shaking her head and crying, saying she'd already made up her mind. Finally it clicked and I asked if this was really about her wanting to date and see other people.

She denied there was anyone specific she wanted to date, but ultimately admitted that yeah, that's basically what she wanted to do. I was completely broken by this. Felt like someone had ripped my heart out and was stomping on it right in front of me. She tried to tell me again that she loved me and I just told her to keep that shit to herself. Then she had the nerve to ask if I was going to be okay. Like what the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I'm not going to be okay.

I told her that wasn't her problem anymore and walked right out. I drove around for hours that night, just trying to clear my head. Ended up at my buddy Jake's place. He let me crash on his couch for a few days while I figured out what to do. I couldn't stand being in our apartment. She tried calling and texting multiple times after that, but I just deleted everything without reading and blocked her on everything, phone, social media, email, everything. I wish I could say I handled it like a man and didn't care, but the truth is I fell into a really dark place for a while.

Jake tried to get me to go out, meet new people, but I wasn't interested. Eventually I went back to the apartment. She had moved most of her stuff out by then. Left a note saying she was staying with her friend Amber for a while. I threw the note away without reading all of it. Those first few weeks were the worst. I'd come home from work and just sit in the dark, thinking about everything. I stopped eating regularly.

Started drinking more than I should have. Called in sick to work a couple times when I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. My mom came by once or twice, tried to talk to me, but I just told her I was fine and needed some time. The only thing that kept me going was work. I threw myself into it, taking extra shifts whenever I could. One of my coworkers, this older guy named Phil, noticed something was up and took me under his wing a bit. He'd been through a nasty divorce years back and would let me vent during lunch breaks.

Never gave me any bullshit advice, just listened. That helped more than he probably knows. Fast forward about three months without any contact. I was doing a bit better. Not great, but functioning. I started hanging out with Jake and some other friends again. Even went on a date that my cousin set up, but it was awkward as hell and I wasn't ready. Then yesterday happens.

I'm pulling into my driveway when I notice a car parked across the street. Something about it seemed familiar, but I didn't think much of it. Then she gets out and starts walking toward me. My first instinct was just to ignore her and go inside. I mean, what could she possibly have to say that I would want to hear? But as I'm walking toward my door, she calls my name. I turn around and snap what? And that's when I see it, she's obviously pregnant.

I just stood there not knowing what to say. Like, what do you even say in that situation? She apologizes for sneak attacking me but says she's been trying to reach me for a while and knew I had her blocked, but she needed to talk to me. Said she'd even come by a few times when I wasn't home and left notes, which I guess must have blown away or something because I never saw them. I wasn't happy to see her at all, especially not pregnant with some other guy's kid after everything. I mean, she broke up with me to go be single and date other people,

and apparently she wasted no time doing exactly that. I tell her we don't have anything to talk about and turn to go inside. That's when she yells that the baby is mine, which stops me dead in my tracks. At first I thought I misheard her, or that it was some kind of sick joke. I turned back around and just stare at her for a minute. She's crying again, mascara running down her face. I ask her what the hell she's talking about. To cut a long story short, she claims she's four months pregnant,

which would mean she was about a month pregnant when she broke up with me, but didn't know it. She says she didn't even suspect until the second month when she missed her period, but got mixed results on home pregnancy tests. Then she went to a clinic and got it confirmed. According to her, she spent the next month trying to convince herself to get an abortion, but couldn't go through with it. She begged me to let her come in so we could talk. Said she didn't feel comfortable discussing all this on my front lawn where the neighbors could hear.

After standing there for what felt like forever, I finally let her in. The apartment looked different with her in it again. I hadn't changed much since she left. Still had the same furniture, same pictures on the walls, though I'd put the ones of us in a drawer somewhere. She noticed I still had the plant she had given me for my birthday last year. Seemed surprised it was still alive. I don't know why I kept watering the stupid thing. We sat on opposite ends of the couch, as far from each other as possible.

I was probably meaner than I should have been. I told her I didn't believe it was mine, that she wanted to go fuck other guys, and now she got knocked up by some dude who wants nothing to do with her. So she's running back to me, hoping I'll play daddy. She started crying and said I was right to think that, but swore she never even went out with anyone else. At this point, I was getting really frustrated. I asked her if she really expected me to believe that she broke up with me to be single and date other people, but then just didn't for three months while pregnant. It made no sense. To summarize the rest of our conversation, she claimed she never went out with anyone else and never even got the chance. She swears she was telling the truth about not having anyone specific in mind when we broke up. Said she had this overwhelming feeling of panic and like she was missing out on something. But after we broke up, she realized what she was really missing was me.

She thinks being pregnant made her hormonal and impulsive, and that the urge to break up with me came out of nowhere. She hadn't been planning it at all. Said she woke up the day after we broke up feeling like she'd made the biggest mistake of her life. She asked if I ever read any of her texts or emails. When I said no, she told me that the very next day after our breakup, she texted saying she wanted to talk and take it all back because she knew breaking up was a mistake. Apparently she sent me

dozens of messages over the next few weeks, trying to explain and apologize. I asked her why she didn't just come find me in person if it was so important. She said she did try, but I was either at work or at Jake's place. She even went to my mom's house once, but my mom told her I didn't want to see her and that she should respect that. I didn't even know about that until now. She said she didn't tell anyone at first, not her parents, not her friends, nobody. She was in denial for a while, hoping it would just go away somehow. Then when she couldn't deny it anymore, she considered abortion, even made an appointment, but couldn't go through with it.

That's when she started trying to reach me more urgently. By this point, we've been talking for a couple hours. I got up to get some water and noticed she looked really tired. pregnant women need to rest, right? I don't know anything about this stuff. I asked if she wanted something to drink and she asked for water too. So here's where I'm at right now after talking with her for hours. My heart is still fucked up from all this.

Part of me wants to just forget all my doubts and fears and take her back, be a husband and father. I mean, that was the plan anyway, right? Just maybe not so soon, and definitely. not like this. But as much as I want that, I refuse to be a father to a kid that isn't mine with a woman who left me to go sleep with other guys. I mean, I'm not against being a stepdad someday, but I can't do that with someone who deliberately shattered my heart. I've demanded a paternity test. Neither of us really knows how to arrange one, but she's going to ask her doctor at her next appointment. I don't know if we have to wait until the baby is born or what, but I

need this for my peace of mind. She says she's fine with it because she has zero doubt its mind since she claims she hasn't been with anyone else. She showed me ultrasound pictures that got a little choked up seeing them, thinking that could be my kid in there. But I can't let myself go there until I know for sure. I can't get my hopes up just to have them crushed again. Before she left, she gave me a letter she said she wrote about a month ago, said she'd been carrying it around, hoping to give it to me if she ever got the chance to talk to me. I didn't read it until after she was gone. In it, she talks about deeply regretting hurting me, how much she loves me, and how breaking up was the biggest mistake of her life. Says she panicked about the future

and let her fears get the best of her. There was a lot in there about how she wants us to be a family, how she's thought about nothing else for months. I don't know what to believe anymore. She seemed sincere, but then again, she seemed happy with me right up until the moment she wasn't. How do I know this isn't just another impulse that she'll regret later? Here's what I'm struggling with. One, if the kid is mine, where do I go from here? Do I try to make it work with her for the baby's sake? Do I just co-parent and keep my distance emotionally?

I know what my parents would say, they're old school and would expect me to do the right thing and marry her. But is that the first thing? right thing for any of us. Two, how do I believe she hasn't been with anyone else since she left me? Even if the kid is mine, that doesn't mean she didn't sleep with someone else after getting pregnant. I know it might make me an asshole, but if that's what happened, I don't want her back. I couldn't handle that kind of betrayal, even if technically we were broken up. 3. If the kid isn't mine, this is obviously a non-issue because that's a hard no for me without question.

I'd be cutting contact again immediately. She says she wants to do whatever it takes to make this work. She's offered to pay for couples counseling and give me any type of transparency I want. Said I could have access to her phone, her email, whatever would make me feel secure. I think that's a good sign. Why would she offer that if she had to be? had something to hide. I told her I needed time to think and process all this. She seemed disappointed, but understood. She left her new number and address. She's still staying with

Amber and asked me to call her when I was ready to talk more. Said her next doctor's appointment is in a week and she'd like me to be there if I can. My head is completely spinning right now. For months ago, I would have been thrilled to become a father and make this woman my wife. Those feelings are still there, but now they're all mixed up with pain and hurt and distrust. I keep going back and forth between wanting to believe her and thinking this is all some elaborate lie or manipulation. I called Jake after she left and told him everything. He thinks I should get the paternity test before making any decisions, which I was already planning to do. But he also warned me not to get sucked back in just because of the baby.

Said I should be sure it's her I want, not just the idea. of having a family. My mom keeps calling, but I haven't answered yet. I'm not ready to tell her about all this. She never really liked my ex that much anyway, always said we got too serious, too young. Guess she was right about that. I haven't been able to sleep much since she showed up. Keep thinking about what it would be like to be a dad, whether I'd be any good at it. My own dad wasn't around much when I was growing up, always working. I don't want to be like that, but I also don't want to force myself into a relationship that isn't right just because of a kid. Any advice would be appreciated.

I feel like I'm drowning here. Edit, there are way too many to reply to individually. So I'll add this update to answer the main points people keep bringing up. I heard what everyone was saying about me having issues with how I've handled this. I get it, I've been an ass about some things. I was totally ignorant about pregnancy hormones, but I've read up on it today and see how this could have affected her. From what I'm reading, it really can mess with your head in ways I never realized. Please understand that when I wrote this, I had just finished talking with her and my emotions were raw and confused.

I didn't mean to come across like such a jerk. To the people asking if I've ever loved her at all, yes, of course I have. I love her with all my heart. I know that now and knew it last night. That's why this has been so hard. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be this torn up about it. For those saying I should have at least read her messages, you're right, I probably should have. But at the time, I was too hurt and angry to think clearly.

It was easier to just block it all out. I realize now that was immature. To answer the most common question, yes, it's possible to do a paternity test before birth. Apparently they can do it with a blood test from the mother now, though it's expensive. We're looking into options. I can't answer all your questions because I'm heading out to talk with her again. I can't let this go. I've been given a second chance with her and that's all I want.

I'm still going to ask for a paternity test just for my peace of mind. I hope she understands even though I know it might hurt her feelings. I think I'm just going to take a leap of faith and trust that everything she said about hormones and never really wanting to break up is true. Sorry to anyone I offended because I came across as a graded douchebag. This situation has brought out the worst in me, but I'm trying to do better. Update, can't believe how much this blew up. Thanks for all the comments, even the ones calling me names and stuff. I guess I deserve some of that.

A lot of you were asking for an update, so here it is. I wanted to give everyone an update on what's happened since the weekend. A lot has happened, well, not really that much, but it feels like a lot to me. After reading your comments and doing some research, I found out that pregnancy hormones can really mess with some people's minds. Like, way more than I ever realized. I read stories from women who made crazy impulsive decisions, had complete personality changes, or developed weird phobias during pregnancy.

Made me realize that maybe what happened wasn't entirely her fault. I went to the apartment where she's staying with her friend Amber. I was nervous as hell on the drive-over, kept changing the radio station because nothing sounded right. I almost turned around twice, but made myself keep going. When I got there, Amber opened the door and seemed surprised to see me. She gave me this look like she wasn't sure whether to let me in or slam the door in my face. I'd always gotten along okay with Amber before all this, but I guess she's been there for my ex through everything, so she's protective now. Amber was nice enough to leave so we could have a long talk.

She made a point of saying she was just going to the coffee shop down the street and would be back in two hours, which I think was her way of warning. me not to upset her pregnant friend. I'll spare you all the details, but it was long, painful, and filled with crying, mostly by me, embarrassingly enough. I completely broke down, any pretense of being strong and unaffected just washed away within minutes. She makes me really vulnerable, and while I don't like that much, once I got everything off my chest, I felt a million times better. She was patient, kind, and loving. This was the girl, I've known all these years. We talked about everything and what had happened in the three months we were apart. I told her how devastated I was, how I couldn't understand why she would throw

away everything we had. She listened and just kept apologizing, saying she didn't have a good explanation other than she felt overwhelmed and panicked. From her side, she confirmed she never went out with anyone else. She did have two guys who knew we were broken up ask her out, but she told the first one she wasn't ready, and by the time the second one asked, she already knew she was pregnant. She showed me her phone and said I could look through her messages if I wanted to, but I didn't feel the need to. Something about the way she was talking to me made me believe her. She told me about how lonely she'd been these past months, how she'd cry herself to sleep almost every night, regretting what she'd done. She said she'd

drive by my work sometimes, hoping to catch a glimpse of me, but never had the courage to come in. She'd written me dozens of letters that she never sent because she didn't think I'd read them. The pregnancy has been hard on her. She's been sick a lot, had to take time off from school. Her parents were upset at first, but have come around and are being supportive now. She hasn't told them we're talking again yet. After hours of talking, we ended up falling into each other's arms. By this time, Amber had texted saying she was heading back. So my ex came home with me to continue our conversation. I was nervous about having her back in our old apartment, but it felt right somehow.

We stayed up almost all night just talking. She told me about her doctor's appointments, showed me more ultrasound pictures. We talked about names, both agreeing we didn't want to know the gender until birth. We ended up spending the whole weekend together. I'll be honest, I thought I might be grossed out by the pregnant sex thing because I've never even thought about it before. I wouldn't have even considered it if I thought for a second the kid wasn't mine. But it wasn't weird at all. Well, a little weird maybe, but in a good way.

That's the big takeaway from all this. I now believe her 100%, and here's why, she's the one insisting on a paternity test. If she wasn't sure, she probably wouldn't push for it, but she says she's never been with anyone else, and I believe her now. She said she wants us to have the test so that I never have any doubts, and we can move forward with complete trust. Yesterday, she had a pre-scheduled OB-GYN appointment and arranged for me to go with her. I was nervous about it, never having been to one of these before.

Didn't know what to expect or if it would be awkward with the doctor. Here's the cool part, her doctor is this guy who can't be more than mid-30s or so, and he was the coolest motherfucker I've ever talked to. Seriously, if I met this guy away from the doctor's office, he'd be a first-rate bro. He didn't treat me like some clueless idiot, just explained everything as he went along. We did the exam and I got to see the baby on the ultrasound. That's when it really hit me that I'm going to be a dad. The doctor pointed out different parts, the head, the spot,

little arms and legs. Said everything looked healthy and normal. The heartbeat was so fast, like a little drum. I'm not an emotional guy usually, but that got to me. After the exam, the doctor asked her if now would be a good time for the talk, and she said yes. I had no idea what was happening, but she explained she wanted him to talk to me and that it was her idea. She left and the doctor and I chatted. He said my girlfriend had spoken with him about everything over a month ago, and while he couldn't discuss her medical condition specifically, he wanted me to know the facts about female hormones and how they can affect women during pregnancy.

Like I said, coolest guy ever, he broke it down so I could understand. He talked about how pregnancy causes huge hormonal changes that can affect mood, decision-making, and even personality. said it's not uncommon for women to have moments of panic or make impulsive decisions, especially early in pregnancy when hormones are going crazy, but they don't even know they're pregnant yet. He also mentioned that she had talked to him yesterday about paternity testing and they were setting it up for next week. He said for both our peace of mind, we should go ahead with it, even though based on her history

and the timeline, he had no reason to doubt the baby was mine. He also spent a few minutes talking about how I was a little bit of the baby. feeling and even shared a story about how he and his wife nearly separated over a pregnancy-related issue. They'd been fighting a lot during her first trimester and he'd actually moved out briefly before they worked things out. Now they have three kids and are happier than ever. Said sometimes the hardest times can lead to the strongest relationships if you're willing to work through them together. I left that day feeling 100% confident that this is a relationship worth fighting for. I honestly think she just had a crisis caused by a mix of frustration, hormones and emotions and she didn't even understand

why she was having those feelings. It doesn't excuse what happened, but it helps explain it and that's enough for me to move forward. Yesterday, we went to dinner with Jake and his girlfriend. It was a bit awkward at first, Jake kept giving her these suspicious looks, but by the end of the night, things felt almost normal. Jake pulled me aside at one point and asked if I was sure about all this. I told him I was and he said he'd support me whatever I decided. I just finished moving her stuff back to my house about a few hours ago. Not everything, she's keeping some things at Ambers until we get settled, but enough that she can stay here comfortably. When she gets off work tonight, we're going to start our journey to make this work. I'm not rushing things because

either of us might have built up emotions we're not even aware of yet, but I already have a ring, the same one she gave back when we broke up, I couldn't bring myself to return it. And if all goes well for a month or two, I'm going to ask her to marry me again. Both our families would prefer us to be married before having a child. Which reminds me, now I have to tell my parents they're going to be grandparents and also that we're back together. That should be fun. My mom is going to have a lot to say about all this, I'm sure. Her parents already know about the baby, of course.

but not that we're trying again. Her mom also never liked me much to begin with, so that's going to be an interesting conversation. Amber helped us move some of her stuff and seemed happy for us. Though she did pull me aside and give me the if you hurt her again speech. I assured her that wasn't going to happen, but I understand where she's coming from. She's been there through all of this, seen all the tears and pain.

Anyway, thank you all so much for helping set me straight. I wanted to believe her, but didn't buy the hormone thing. Thanks to some of your stories, I now know better. The paternity test is scheduled for next week. I know what the results will be, but it's good to have that confirmation so we can move forward without any doubts or questions. I might update again if anything significant happens.