The Man With The Sperm

He zipped up his pants and walked away from the girl thinking how easy that had been. Then again, high school hormones can make almost any sexual situation easy to pull off.

A few months went by and he began to notice that the girl seemed to be getting fatter, but he wasn't for sure, she was a big girl to start out with. "No reason to freak yourself out," he thought.

A few more months passed and The Man With The Sperm, along with everyone else in school, knew the girl was pregnant. But she was known for getting around, so how could he be sure it was his? Besides, he'd definitely pulled out in time.

The girl eventually left school and never came back, but in a small town The Man With The Sperm saw her baby in different places. The girl's sister would bring the baby to some school functions, or he'd run into the family out at the grocery store or other places around town. The Man With The Sperm had made up his mind that the baby was definitely not his, and the girl's family didn't seem too intent on finding the father anyhow.

As years went on The Man With The Sperm met a girl he thought he could love and they were married and had children of their own. With each new child he'd think back to the girl from high school and her baby, but always pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

He'd see newspaper stories about the girl's baby as the baby grew from a child to a teenager, winning various awards in school, or being part of some community activity. The Man With The Sperm begin to notice how the kid in the pictures had his nose, or his youngest daughter's smile. His denial of the situation slowly crumbled away.

The Man With The Sperm couldn't come forward now though, how could he explain the kid to his wife and children? How could he approach the kid or the girl from high school now after so many years? They had never sought him out, so maybe they didn't want him to be a part of the kid's life. Plus, what if he was wrong and the kid wasn't his? Just having similar physical traits doesn't make you someone's father.

The Man With The Sperm decided again to let the issue slide and continue on with his life. The kid eventually graduated from high school and left town, taking his appearances in the local newspaper with him. The kid's family eventually moved as well, leaving The Man With The Sperm alone with his questions, his interest, his guilt.

The Man With The Sperm missed out on so much with the decisions he'd made. Never did The Man get to know the joy of being proud of the kid as he did well all through school and got that acceptance letter to college. The Man never got to experience that feeling of hugging the kid, knowing he was part of this human's biological makeup. Maybe he would have felt shame or anger, or maybe even love, when he found out the kid was gay. No birthdays, no Christmas mornings, no eventually getting to be a grandfather to the boy's own children. So much life and love that The Man With The Sperm let his fear or disinterest rob him of.

But The Man With The Sperm keeps on living his life, the kid keeps on living his, both perfectly fine without the other, both not knowing exactly what it is they could be missing out on.