Part 1:

Death was an omen I had not foreseen for a child who just came out of his mother’s womb. Death of aging grandparents was expected as they had lived for many years. Death of parents fighting a terminal disease was of no surprise. However, death of a two-month-old newborn was the least anticipated and had shocked his parents to the core.

My friend, Mel, had just experienced childbirth and being a mother for the first time in her life to a lovely baby boy, Justin. He was born healthy, and mother and baby had gone home celebrating a new addition to the family. The parents, Mel and her husband, David, had been ecstatic and had the nursery room painted blue and ready for this new arrival. Baby Justin had been the love of his parents and grandparents. He had been eating and sleeping well.

On one terrible, stormy night when Mel had gone to nurse him, she found that baby Justin was no longer breathing. This discovery had crippled her thoughts and immobilized her for ten minutes until at last, reality kicked in and she screamed for her life. In this case, it was the life of her first and only child.

They had driven to the hospital in rage and disbelief. Luckily, they had not caused an accident in a road rage. The doctor proclaimed Justin dead as soon as the baby had arrived. He had died from a congenital heart disease.

It was an incredible finding to Mel and David because neither of them had a family history of heart disease. Moreover, neither Mel’s parents nor David’s parents had a history of heart disease. The results had them all baffled, until Mel shouted out, in pain and shame, that David was not the father of baby Justin.