Liam had just taken their daughter, Ava, for a stroll around the garden when the doorbell rang, signaling that the day needed to begin.

"I have a package for you," the delivery man said as I opened the door.

I signed and carried the box into the kitchen. Our third wedding anniversary was this week, and Liam was always ordering things for me.

"I just want to surprise you, Emma," he said one day while we were lounging on the couch. "It's just the little things, you know?"

So, naturally, as I took the package to the kitchen, I just assumed that it was from him.

Until I took a pair of scissors and cut through the thick tape. Opening the package, I found a beautifully embroidered pillow, a note sticking out beneath it. It would have matched our living room décor perfectly.

Happy Anniversary, Liam and Emma! - Thomas.

For a moment, I reveled in the kindness of the gesture. But then I remembered that there was no way possible that Liam would accept this gift.

"Hey, what's this?" Liam said, coming back into the kitchen with Ava on his shoulders. "Did we order something?"

"Well, it's a gift," I said cautiously. "From your father."

Liam pulled the note from me, his eyes flying across the paper.

I wondered what he was going to do. Liam and his father had a very complicated relationship. When Liam was a child, Thomas had abandoned him and his mother.

He had been seeing another woman, and when it finally came down to a choice, Thomas had chosen the other woman.

Liam had been seven, and he had never recovered from it. He told me all about it one evening when we went out for dinner.

"A father is supposed to choose you, Emma. But he went ahead and left us behind so that he could start a new life with his mistress. That's not how this works."

I understood his point of view. Of course, he had just wanted his father to be there for him and his mother.

Instead, Thomas had other ideas.

"He said that he needed to be happy, and that my mother was too strict with him. He had a job, but he was always doing illegal things on the side. So he packed up his things and left."

"What do you mean?" I asked, shocked that Liam had been exposed to something like that at such a young age.

"Money, swindling it. Gambling, all that," my husband said as he picked up his glass of whiskey.

And that was it. Liam didn't speak to him again until a year before we got married.

Thomas had heard about our upcoming wedding through other relatives, and he thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and make things right between them.

But Liam refused.

"I don't want him around us on our special day, Emma. It's not going to benefit anyone. And if anything, seeing him will spoil everything for me."

"And you don't think you'd regret it?" I asked as I folded wedding invitations into envelopes.

"Not at all," Liam replied, picking up an envelope. "For all we know, someone will come and crash the ceremony because he owes them money."

And that was that. Topic closed.

I didn't want to push it. I knew it was up to him to deal with it later if he regretted it. I would support him, but I wouldn't want to overstep anything, especially because Thomas sounded like a lot to deal with.

When Ava was born, Thomas tried to get into our good books one more time. He wanted to reach out and try to make things right with Liam so that he could have his role of being a grandfather.

"I don't want him around us. I don't want him around our child. Please, Emma, don't fight me on this one. This man is bad news," my husband said, carrying our baby.

So that was it.

Which brings us back to the present.

Liam picked up the pillow and felt it up and down; he even put it to his ear, his eyes widening.

"Sweetheart, we can't keep this pillow!" he said.

Without another word, he rushed over and threw it out the back door.

"What's going on?" I exclaimed, leaving Ava in her high seat with fruit slices.

"It's ticking, Emma! There's something inside. He's up to something."

"Ticking?" I said. "What do you mean?"

We both went outside.

We stood over the pillow lying innocently among our garden flowers. I hesitated, then reached down to listen.

Sure enough, there was a soft ticking sound.

"Oh," I said, shocked. I had been convinced that Liam had been hearing things that weren't there.

Why would Thomas want to hurt us in any way?

"Take out your phone and video this entire thing," Liam said as he bent to pick up the pillow. "Just in case something happens or there's something illegal in there."

With a deep breath, Liam tore the pillow open to reveal a small, mysterious box equipped with a timer.

"What the hell is that?" I murmured, dread creeping up my spine.

"Let's find out," Liam's jaw was set. "Call him."

I dialed Thomas's number, my hands trembling.

"Hi, Emma," he said, his voice cheery. "Did you get my package? I didn't know what to get you, but I knew that I had to get something."

"There's something inside the pillow," Liam said. "A box. It's making a sound. What is it?"

"Please be honest," I said.

"It's a gift, Emma. For your anniversary," Thomas's voice was calm, almost soothing to me.

"The sound is probably the timer; it's supposed to make a sound and open on the day," he said. "There's something in there."

Liam snatched the phone from my hand.

"Do you really think we want anything from you? What's really in the box, Dad? Is there something that shouldn't be there? Something illegal?" Liam demanded.

"Please, Liam," he said. "It's just a gesture. I mean absolutely no harm."

"If you truly mean that, then stay out of our lives."

"Wait, Emma," Thomas said. "Just open the box, okay?"

Thomas sighed deeply, and Liam reached out and cut the call.

I looked at my husband; he seemed confused by it all. I knew that he was curious about what was inside the little box, but he was traumatized by everything his father had done.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said, holding his head.

"Let's open it," I said. "If he wanted me to open it, then there's no way that he's trying to hurt us, darling. Okay?"

Liam nodded slowly, finally accepting it for what it was. His father had simply wanted to reach out to us and give us a gift. That maybe everything was as easy as it seemed.

"But record it, okay?" Liam said.

I picked up my phone again and began recording.

My husband pried the box open, revealing its contents: a check for $100,000.

Liam stared at the check, his emotions flying across his face as he tried to make sense.

"What is he playing at, Emma?" Liam asked, stunned. "There's no way that this is clean money. He must be trying to cover up for something."

But before we could process this further, Thomas called back.

I answered, hesitant.

"We found the check," I said. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I'm dying, Emma," he confessed quietly. "I've made my fair share of mistakes, and I know that Liam hates me. But that money is for you guys. And if Liam doesn't want it, then keep it for Ava's future. For school. Nobody needs to know that it came from me."

I walked inside the house, realizing that we had left Ava alone for too long. Not that it mattered, because our daughter was sitting quietly by herself and eating her fruit.

Liam was right behind me.

"Dad," he said, taking the phone from me. "If you're really serious about your health, then please, we need to talk. No more games."

"Thank you, Liam," Thomas's voice came through the phone. "You tell me when."

We arranged to meet Thomas at a park later that week; it wasn't far from us, and we often took Ava there.

As the day arrived, Liam was visibly nervous, fidgeting as we waited on a secluded bench.

When Thomas arrived, he looked frail and worn.

"I'm so sorry for everything. I was a terrible father. I don't have much time left, but I want to spend it making amends."

Liam took a long breath.

"It's not easy, Dad. But I'm willing to try. For Ava's sake, so that one day, she'll know that her grandfather carried her through school."

While Liam and my father-in-law spoke, I set up the picnic that I had brought along with me. I figured that if anything awkward happened, we all still needed to eat.

As we left the park, Liam squeezed my hand, a weight lifted from his shoulders.

"Maybe it's good that pillow showed up, after all," he mused, a small smile breaking through.

Things could only get better from here, right?

This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.