When Navy sailor Chris Daugherty heard that he would be deploying for five months in 2016, he was devastated to be spending so much time away from his family, which included his three young children and wife, Natasha. He was used to doing his duty abroad, but when he talked to his wife over the phone, he could tell that she was hiding something from him.
It wasn’t until Chris returned home that he found out what his wife was neglecting to tell him for nearly half a year. And when he found out, he was left in shock and awe. After nearly a decade together, he couldn’t believe that his wife was even capable of keeping such a secret.
Navy Man Was Set to Go Abroad
U.S. Navy sailor Chris Daugherty was due to deploy in January 2016 and he was set to be away for five months. This devastated his wife Natasha, who loved having him home for holidays and their three children’s birthdays. But having spent time in the Navy herself, she respected her husband’s tireless devotion to his country.
The Happy Couple Was Used to the Change
The couple lived in Temecula, California, which is a long ways away from South Korea, where Daugherty was due to be for the next five months. Natasha knew that as a cryptologic technician her husband would be safe from harm’s way, but she couldn’t help but worry while he was gone.
Natasha Learned Something New About Herself
Not long after her husband departed, Natasha learned some surprising news that threatened to change her entire life. She then had a great decision to make. Should she tell her husband what she had just learned over text or email? Or should she keep her secret and only reveal it at the inevitable time her husband returns?
They Had a Long History Together
The couple had been together since Natasha and Chris met while working in the Navy. Natasha was an IT systems technician and Chris was doing his job as a cryptologic technician when his future wife caught his eye. Natasha was the whole package, she was smart, sweet and easy on the eyes. And just thinking about letting her husband in on her secret made Natasha take a stroll down memory lane.
They Tied the Knot in 2011
Natasha and Chris got married in 2011 when the couple was in their early 20’s and the two swore that they had never been happier. In the next couple of years they welcomed a son and then two daughters, completing their happy home. They were overjoyed to be so lucky, considering that many people are not as fortunate as they are.
He Shipped Out in 2016
Natasha had no idea that her life was due for a big change when her husband Chris shipped out on the USS Carl Vinson in 2016. She had a happy life as a wife and mother to three young kids, a boy and two girls. She even had two jobs under her belt, so she hardly had time to think about making a major life change, but she was about to, and soon.
The Children Missed Their Father
Natasha and Chris had three children, including a four-year-old girl who loved her father dearly. When Natasha’s secret emerged in her life, she didn’t even dare tell her young daughter, who had a way of telling her father everything when they were on the phone together. Natasha knew that it was better to make up some lies to cover for the secret that would inevitably get out soon enough.
She Thought About Telling Him the Truth
There were times when Natasha thought about revealing her secret to her husband. She remembered, “I emailed him and I told him to call me as soon as he gets a chance but then I thought about it for a few minutes and I was like, ‘You know, this isn’t how I want to tell him, in an email.’” When her husband called, she backtracked her earlier statement.
“I Didn’t Believe It”
Regarding her secret, Natasha told ABC News, “I found out about a week after he left. I didn’t believe it.” And having to deal with her life’s change by herself was not an easy path to take. She only told a few close friends and family members, who also agreed not to let her husband in on the details.
They Talked By Phone, But She Hid Her Secret
Many times, Natasha thought about telling her husband about what was changing her life. She often talked to him on the phone, as did her children, and the couple chatted via email every day. It broke her heart to be so many hundreds of miles way from her husband, but she knew that they would be reunited soon. That is, until something changed the course of her husband’s future.
Chris’s Plans Changed
Chris Daugherty was due to be in South Korea for five months, but as tensions rose between the U.S. and North Korea, Chris was then scheduled to stay for an extra four weeks. This didn’t make the couple happy, as they already had been away from each other for five months, but they both respected Chris’s duty to his country.
She Was More Worried Than Ever
This change in plans also made Natasha worry for her husband’s safety more than she ever had before. She knew how difficult international conflicts could be, and she didn’t want to regret her decision to hide a part of her life from her husband forever. Now more than ever she wondered if she should come clean about the change in her life, but she decided to continue to keep her lips sealed instead.
She Didn’t Want to Regret Her Decision
“As soon as we started having trouble with North Korea, I became worried,” she later told NBC. “He was telling me goodbye. At that point, I was extremely emotional. I wanted to tell him, I wanted to freak out,” Natasha said. “But I kept my calm and waited, just a little longer.” And she hoped that this would not be a decision that she would later come to regret.
Reunited and It Feels So Good
Soon enough, the day arrived that the family was reunited and the couple’s children were so happy to see their father again. But Natasha was nervous about seeing her husband because she knew that as soon as he laid eyes on her, he would be able to tell what she was hiding from him. And Natasha had no way of knowing what her husband’s reaction would be.
Her Family Was Ready to See Their Father
The Daugherty’s made a trip to San Diego where Chris’s ship was docked on June 23, 2017. The kids hadn’t seen their father for six months and they really missed his presence in their lives. Natasha brought a bright colored sign along to hold, so that Chris would immediately see his family when he returned.
Natasha Let the Kids Say Hello First
“My heart was racing,” she remembered. “I stood back and let the kids run to him. I hung back for a minute, and then he reached into me to give me a hug and then I dropped [the sign]. He just stood there in shock. He didn’t know what was going on.” And when she dropped her brightly colored sign, Chris immediately knew what Natasha’s secret was.
He Was Shocked
When Natasha dropped her sign, Chris noticed that his wife had gained a couple of pounds around her midsection. More than just a few, in fact, his wife was seven months pregnant! Chris was absolutely shocked and nearly didn’t believe that what he was seeing was true. He later admitted, “There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind. The first was confusion, then I thought she was joking with me so I poked it to make sure it was real. When it was real I was extremely confused so I asked, ‘Is that real?’ to be sure, then hugged her because it was the only thing I could think to do.”
It All Made Sense Now
The sign that Natasha held to hide her growing stomach read: “Welcome Home Baby Daddy” which hadn’t made sense to Chris until his wife shared her secret. Now he knew why his wife didn’t immediately run up to him as she usually did when they first met eyes on the dock. But, he wondered how she was able to keep this secret for so long!
She Hid Her Stomach in Photos for Months
In the months between Chris’s departure and his return, Natasha found some creative ways to hide her growing baby bump from her husband. When the two would chat, it was often through emails, but she also had to think about the photos she posted on social media. She hid her stomach with large objects in every photo and sometimes held up a beer for the camera (which she wouldn’t drink) to keep people, including her husband, from getting wise to her secret.
She Found Out a Week After He Left
Natasha didn’t realize she was pregnant until her husband had already left, so she had to make the decision not to tell him about the pregnancy early on. “I found out about a week after he left. I didn’t believe it,” Natasha told ABC News. “I took the pregnancy test again and I was like, ‘Oh no way.’” She knew that her husband would hardly believe it either until he could see it with his own eyes.
Natasha Didn’t Even Let Her Daughter in on the Secret
Not only did Natasha have to keep the secret from close friends and her husband, she also had to find clever ways to refrain from letting her four-year-old daughter in on the surprise! She knew that if she told the young girl, she would spill the beans to her father on one of their phone calls, so she simply told her daughter that she was “getting fat.” How funny!
This is Why She Kept the Secret From Him
The question on some people’s mind was, why did Natasha want to keep her pregnancy a secret from her husband? Surely he would have been just as happy as she was to learn about the little addition to their growing family. And while she knew that Chris would have been happy to know about her pregnancy, Natasha kept it a secret because she wanted to save him from any undue worry while he was gone.
He Still Couldn’t Believe It
“I can't believe she was able to keep the secret for as long as she did because we tell each other everything so I know it was really hard for her,” he said. “I'm sure every day she wanted to just tell me but I'm really happy she waited because it was an awesome homecoming surprise.” And there were still more surprises in store for the happy couple, including one that neither one of them could predict.
Lots of People Had to Keep the Secret
And the few people that were in on the secret, including some close friends and family, had a hard time not spilling the beans in their social media posts and correspondence with Chris. It was really a group effort that made this surprise go off without a hitch, and thankfully Natasha didn’t have any health problems during the course of her pregnancy, so they didn’t have to let Chris in on the secret any earlier than they planned.
The Kids Were Just Happy to Be a Family Again
The children were also excited to see their father and the two youngest girls dressed up in sailor outfits to see their dad again. There wasn’t anything that wasn’t planned for as the family reunited, so Chris could have a happy and stress-free return to family life. He couldn’t wait to share the good news with all of his friends and family on social media, but he didn’t expect that he’d be telling the whole world, too.
Their Story Got Some Unexpected Attention
These photos soon went viral on Facebook and they brought joy to countless people. The happy couple really wasn’t expecting to be sharing their news with anyone but their friends and family, but soon they were also answering questions for news outlets and publications all over the country. It was such a well-done surprise that no one could believe it was all real.
Their Family Was Growing
Chris was so excited that his family would be growing. He posted to Facebook, “I have three (kids) already now so a fourth will just add on to the excitement and craziness!” And having three kids wasn’t exactly an easy job for a man in the Navy and a woman working two jobs and taking care of three kids while her husband was away, but they found a way to make the best of their difficult situation.
Natasha Had Taken Care of Everything
Even though Chris was absent for the first seven months of his wife’s pregnancy, there was still plenty that he would get to experience, including being there for the birth of his new child. Natasha had taken care of all of the hard work of being pregnant, so when Chris returned they could enjoy their last few moments before the baby was born. And there was a surprise in store for both members of the happy couple.
They Had Another Surprise in Store
Over the next two months of Natasha’s pregnancy, the couple had a blast. The surprise for the both of them was the gender of the child, as Natasha did not want to find out the gender without Chris by her side. Being able to share that moment together was something that the couple had always cherished, so Natasha didn’t want to do it alone.
The Gender Was Revealed
The couple threw a gender reveal party to let their friends and family in on the secret, and when they popped balloons filled with pink confetti, everyone was happy that the little family would be welcoming another girl! Now the family would have one boy and three girls, which may have made other fathers wish for another son, but Chris was so happy that he had four beautiful children to care for.
They Weren’t Sure When He Would Leave Again
But those who have served in the military will know that it isn’t always a certainty that you’ll be able to stay with your family for extended periods of time. Chris and Natasha were not even sure that Chris would be present for the birth of their new child. So, they decided to spend each and every day like it would be their last day together.
They Celebrated Each Day Together
To cherish their time together as a family, Chris and Natasha also planned a maternity photoshoot and took some absolutely gorgeous photos together. They celebrated their reunion and also planned for the busy days of raising a newborn baby that were ahead of them. But having had three children already, they knew what to expect and they knew that there would be no complications.
Chris Was Ready to Ship Out Again
Later on, Chris found out for sure that his next deployment date was set for 2018, which meant that he would surely be present for the birth of his daughter in August of 2017. He would also have enough time to help his wife with the stresses of having a newborn in the house (along with three other children) before he shipped out in the new year.
They Welcomed a Healthy Baby Girl
Surely enough, on September 2, 2017, the couple’s new baby was born and her parents were overcome with joy. They named the girl Anara Rose, and wrote on Facebook that the baby “completed our family of six.” Now the couple couldn’t wait to bring her home and start their life together.
He Didn’t Feel Like He Missed Out
At no point did Chris feel like he missed out on something because his wife didn’t tell him about her pregnancy sooner. He told ABC News, “It was an awesome surprise to find out that way. Finding out in email or over the phone, that’s easy, but since she saved it, it was special.” His wife really knew how to keep a secret!
How Would Natasha Top This Surprise?
Some people wondered how Natasha could top this surprise when Chris returned next time from his deployment. When she was asked by CBS, “What surprises are you going to have next time?” Natasha simply laughed and answered, “Nothing.” It’s nice to know that nothing could top that ultimate surprise, except seeing four happy children welcoming their father!
Chris Went Away Again
The next time Chris shipped out, his new daughter Anara was just four months old, and Chris was due to be gone for four months. This time he would be on a tour around Guam, the Philippines and Vietnam. And while he was gone he really wondered whether his wife would stick to their “no surprises” agreement…
There Weren’t Any Surprises This Time
In April of 2018, Chris Daugherty reunited with his family once again and there weren’t any crazy surprises waiting for him. But something had changed since Chris had last returned to his family after a long time abroad. The couple was now famous the world over for sharing their story with the world and bringing joy to many thousands of people.
Their Story Went Viral
When the couple shared the photos of their reunion on Facebook, they immediately started to get the attention of people who were not in their immediate friend circle. The photos soon made their way onto various websites and news channels, and soon the couple was asked to do interviews in front of the entire country that they had both served.
It’s a Story That Keeps on Creating Joy
The story warmed hearts around the world because the couple’s love for each other and their children was palpable. People also applauded Natasha’s willpower to keep the secret from her husband and save him any unnecessary worry. In the end, the incredible story proved that long-distance love can weather any storm.