08/06/2025
“HE SAID I WASN’T ‘FATHER MATERIAL’—BUT I’M THE ONLY DAD THEY’VE EVER KNOWN.”
I was at a motorcycle rally when I got the call—my sister Maelis was in labor. She’d begged me not to cancel the trip, said she had time.
She didn’t.
Three tiny, perfect lives entered the world that night.
Maelis didn’t make it out.
I showed up at the NICU smelling like gas and leather, clueless and terrified, staring at newborn triplets: Roux, Brin, and Callum. No plan. No training. Just a promise I made the moment I held them in my arms:
“You’re mine now. I’ve got you.”
So I traded late-night rides for midnight feedings.
Swapped grease-stained gloves for diaper duty.
Sold two bikes to build bunk beds. Learned how to braid hair, calm meltdowns, and negotiate with a five-year-old about vegetables.
Five birthdays. Five Christmas mornings.
Fevers, scraped knees, tantrums, first words, bedtime songs.
I didn’t always know what I was doing. But I never left.
And then he showed up.
The man who’d walked away from Maelis the second she said “triplets.”
No name on the birth certificates. No hospital visits. No birthday cards.
But now? He wanted “his kids.”
He didn’t come alone. A social worker named Marianne stood beside him, took one look at my tattooed neck and oil-streaked overalls and said,
“This isn’t a sustainable environment for long-term development.”
She toured our home.
Saw the crayon drawings on the fridge.
The little boots lined up at the door.
The bunk beds I built myself.
And still, I could feel her judgment clinging to me like motor oil.
The worst part? The kids were scared.
Roux clung to my leg.
Callum sobbed.
Brin whispered, “Is he gonna be our new daddy?”
I knelt down and said, “Nobody’s taking you away. Not without a fight.”
And now, that fight is here.
The custody hearing is next week.
I’ve got a lawyer. He’s good—and expensive. I’m working double shifts and the shop’s barely scraping by, but I’d sell my last wrench before I give up those kids.
I don’t know what the judge will decide.
But I do know this:
I may not be their biological father.
But I’ve been their dad since day one.
And I’m not giving up now. 💔👨👧👦