‘Daddy or not?’ - Husband demands DNA test after spotting footprints in his house

A boot print in wet cement in his kitchen still torments David*. For him, it is not just a construction mishap, but a symbol of betrayal and the reason he now questions if the two children who call him 'Daddy' are really his own.

David, 52, has been married to Marsha* for 10 years. Together they are raising Kemoy*, 10, and Kelani*, 5. But the marriage has fractured under accusations of infidelity and suspicion that another man may be their children's biological father.

"When mi leave fi work, she bring man inna mi house," David alleged.

Despite his doubts, David's connection with the children is unmistakable. On a recent visit, the children bolted across the yard to greet him, their laughter echoing as they tugged at his shirt and proudly offered him guineps. To the children, he is not a man weighed down by suspicion, but simply 'Daddy'.

He says the children keep him grounded.

"Them bond wid mi good," he said. "Them glad when mi come, and them run come hug mi up. Mi love them same way, but mi just want to know the truth. Look how much jacket out deh weh fava the man and a nuh fi him."

Meanwhile, explaining his wet-cement theory, David said he spotted the boot marks around the kitchen counter and in the bathtub while doing renovations.

"When mi was fixing up the kitchen, the cement never dry yet, and mi see the boot print dem around the counter. Same thing inna the bathtub. Dem try rub it out, but mi could see it clear. Yuh caah be carrying my child and disrespect me like this," he fumed.

David said the confrontation over the cement was not the only time his trust wavered. He recalled visiting Marsha at her mother's home and got even more reasons not to trust her.

"She did on the verandah when mi a walk come in, and mi see when she get up and go inna the room. By the time mi greet the mother, she a tell mi she (Marsha) gone 'round by the fowl coop. Mi seh to miself, why she lie when mi just see her? That's when mi call the mother a liar, too. From long time mi know something nuh right."

He also remembered a phone call that unsettled him. "She call mi one time and ask mi how much fi a pack a Rough Rider (condoms). Mi ask her why she want to know, and she say[it was] fi a friend. Mi tell her, 'Then the friend can't go shop and ask herself?' From them little thing deh, mi start think."

David admits the red flags were always there, but he ignored them. Looking back, he said the first sign of trouble surfaced when Marsha told him years ago that she no longer felt the same way.

"The first time she tell mi, mi never take it serious. That was five years ago. Now mi nuh even know weh mi deh," he said.

Marsha, however, insists the doubts are baseless and says she, too, wants the paternity tests to be done.

"Mi glad him a look 'bout it," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"Mi really want fi do it fi prove to him say is his children. He does not trust me, and if mi did have the money mi woulda do it long time. Mi caah disown them because dem a mi own, and mi know who mi sleep with," she added.

Just like it has done for several other families caught in the web of doubt, the partnership between DNA testing firm Polygenics Consulting and THE STAR is stepping in to bring answers. In the coming days, both children and David will undergo DNA testing to finally determine if he is their biological father.

Marsha has admitted that the tension has taken a toll. The constant quarrelling is wearing her down. She said their problems are not new. In the early stages of the marriage, she was a stay-at-home mother, while David worked to keep the family afloat. Now she works on a farm and contributes financially, but distrust has hardened their relationship.

"Mi try everything," she said. "Mi cook, mi wash, mi stay home with the children; mi work now pon the farm. But all now him nuh believe mi. Mi can't do more than mi already a do," she said.

For David, the DNA test represents closure. "Mi caah live the rest of mi life with doubt," he said. "Mi just want to know."

For Marsha, it is about proving loyalty and protecting her children's future.

"Mi know them is his," she insisted. "Mi only hope when it done, him can stop accuse mi and we can move forward."

* Names changed to protect identity.