It’s the story that John Edwards wishes would die, but it just keeps coming back to haunt him. Little Frances Quinn Hunter, the child of his former mistress, filmmaker Rielle Hunter, has just celebrated her first birthday. A photo of the baby girl was released that makes it nearly impossible to deny that the fallen Democratic contender is the daddy. She is the spitting image of him! The National Enquirer is reporting that while Edwards publicly maintains that the child isn’t his, he has privately confessed the obvious to his wife Elizabeth, who is in the terminal stages of breast cancer. Sources say this was a strategic move on Edwards’ part to diffuse tension between him and Hunter over Elizabeth’s forthcoming memoir.

John Edwards has finally confessed to his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth what the rest of the world already knows – that he fathered a child with his mistress.

Edwards made the belated admission to his wife in an effort to stop ex-lover Rielle Hunter from going public, sources told The ENQUIRER.

While Edwards has admitted to having an affair with Rielle, he has shamelessly denied fathering her baby, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Instead, one of his campaign workers, Andrew Young, claimed to be the dad.

But now, at least in private to his wife, he is finally telling the truth, sources reveal to The ENQUIRER.

The ex-senator sprang into action when he saw how upset Rielle had become over Elizabeth’s forthcoming book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life’s Adversities, which will be published in May.

“Rielle has become extremely edgy, and John’s been afraid she might go public before Elizabeth’s book comes out so she can put her story out there first,” the close source told The ENQUIRER.

“These concerns led to John telling Rielle that he had sat down with Elizabeth and admitted to being the baby’s father. This is something Rielle had been pushing John to do for a long, long time because he initially told Elizabeth he was not the father.

“The last thing John wants right now is for Rielle to go public before Elizabeth’s book comes out, make new headlines and trigger a nasty battle between the two women.”

In what’s been called the biggest scandal of the 2008 presidential campaign, The ENQUIRER exposed John Edwards’ shocking affair with 44-year-old divorcee Rielle – and the birth of their love child, Frances Quinn, now one year old.

[From The National Enquirer]

I don’t know if the Enquirer has the real story – but there’s one thing I do believe. That child is definitely his! They have the same eyes – even her eyebrows look just like his. Celebitchy and I were comparing photos and we think John Edwards must have had a nose job somewhere along the line, because that baby has his old nose from his teaching days at the University of North Carolina. I do hope that Edwards finally comes clean to his wife. That poor woman has been through hell, and she deserves to know the truth about what a weasel her husband is before she dies.

Photo credits: WENN.