Unwanted

On her sixteenth birthday, Katrin receives a truth she was never prepared to hear.

A powerful short story about identity, love, and the invisible ties that define a family.

Unwanted

By Faramarz Parsa**

Katrin’s sixteenth birthday had just come to an end.

She was a lively, warm-hearted girl, and nothing in her life mattered more than her parents.

They had thrown her a wonderful celebration. Friends, classmates, and relatives had come, and together they had created a night full of joy and laughter.

After the guests left, Katrin hugged her parents with childish excitement and kissed their cheeks.

With her mother’s help, she cleaned the leftover mess from the party. A warm, familiar silence filled the house — the kind of silence born from comfort and belonging. She was about to say goodnight when her father spoke softly:

— Katrin… come sit down. Your mother and I need to tell you something important.

Her mother, fingers tightly interlocked, whispered:

— Let’s leave it for tomorrow… she’s tired.

But curiosity froze the wings of Katrin’s happiness.

— No, Mom. I’m not tired. Please, tell me. What happened?

Her father exchanged a brief look with his wife. His chin trembled slightly.

— We decided to tell you tonight… not tomorrow.

Her mother, visibly shaken, sat beside him and placed her hand on his knee, as if looking for strength. Her father took a deep breath.

— Katrin… you are our whole life. In two years, you’ll turn eighteen and the big decisions will be yours. But tonight, you will hear a truth — and what you choose afterward will also be your decision.

Tears slipped down both their cheeks.

A strange fear tightened Katrin’s chest. Her voice trembled:

— Mom? Dad? What happened? Please don’t scare me… is something wrong with you, Dad? Or with you, Mom?

Her father stroked her hair. Her mother held her hands. Her father said quietly:

— My daughter… we are not your biological parents.

Katrin jumped to her feet.

— No! What are you saying? Since the moment I opened my eyes, I’ve only seen you two!

Her mother quickly stood and embraced her.

— Your biological parents are coming tomorrow to see you…

Katrin burst into tears.

— You are my real parents! Please don’t say these things!

Her father, his tears drying on his cheeks, said:

— Sit down, my girl… let me explain.

Katrin sat beside her mother. Her father continued:

— Your mother and I couldn’t have a child. Until the day you were born. One of your mother’s friends, a nurse, called and said a baby girl had been born that morning — a beautiful child whose parents couldn’t afford to keep her. We rushed to the hospital and adopted you. Because we were already on the waiting list, they gave you to us without delay.

He paused.

— We should have told you earlier, but your biological parents wanted you to learn the truth on your sixteenth birthday.

Katrin stood again, shaken and hurt.

— My parents are you! I will never meet them. You turned my birthday into a nightmare…

Her mother rose and took her hand.

— Sweetheart… you may meet them if you want to. No one is forcing you to go with them.

Katrin asked:

— Does anyone else know about this?

— No… only those who placed you with us. And your biological parents.

With anger she cried:

— Please stop saying “biological parents”! YOU are my real parents — in every way that matters!

A heavy silence filled the room. The joy of a few hours ago had turned into a painful weight.

Her father spoke quietly:

— The nurse told us they didn’t have the means to raise a child… and that the pregnancy was unplanned.

Katrin’s voice trembled with tears.

— Someone who becomes a parent unwantedly can’t understand me…

All the sleepless nights, the worries, the pain, the tears… you carried them all.

I can’t have feelings for someone who only held me in her body for nine months.

If you love me… tell them never to come.

I will forget everything I just heard… just don’t let this night become a nightmare that burns my future…

Her mother held her — tighter than ever — and with tearful, pleading eyes looked at her husband…