The silence that followed seemed endless. Dana’s face turned pale, her freckles standing out like dots of paint. Carrie’s lower lip quivered.
‘So…so Daddy was a liar?’ Dana’s voice cracked. ‘He cheated on you?’
‘And our real mum…’ Carrie wrapped her arms around herself. ‘She died because of him?’
“It was an accident, honey. A terrible accident.”
‘But you…’ Dana’s eyes narrowed, something hard and horrible creeping across her young face. “You just took us away? Like… like some sort of consolation prize?”
‘No! I took you because…’
‘Because you felt sorry for us?’ interrupted Carrie, tears streaming. ‘Because you couldn’t have children of your own?’
‘I took you because I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you,’ I reached for them, but they both flinched. “You weren’t a consolation prize. You were a gift.”
‘Liar!’ Dana jumped up from the bed. “Everyone’s a liar! Come on, Carrie!”
They ran to their room and slammed the door shut. I heard the click of the lock and then muffled sobs and furious whispering.
The next few years were a minefield. Sometimes we had good days, when we’d go shopping or settle on the couch together watching films. But whenever they got angry, knives came into play.
‘At least our real mum wanted us from the start!’
‘Maybe she’d still be alive if it wasn’t for you!’
Each barb hit the target with surgical precision. But they were in their teens, and I put up with their tempers, hoping that someday they would understand.
Then came that terrible day shortly after the girls turned sixteen.
I came home from work and the key wouldn’t turn in the lock. That’s when I noticed a note taped to the door.
“We are adults now. We need our own space. Go and live with Mum!” – the note read.
My suitcase stood by the door like a coffin for all my hopes. I could hear movement inside, but no one answered my calls and knocks. I stood there for an hour before climbing back into the car.
At my mum’s house, I was thrashing around like a caged animal.
‘That’s how they act,’ she said, watching me make a path on the carpet. ‘Testing your love.’
‘What if it’s more than that?’ I stared at my silent phone. “What if they’ve finally decided I’m not worth it? That I’m just a woman who sheltered them out of pity?”
‘Ruth, stop it now.’ Mum grabbed me by the shoulders.
“You’ve been their mother in every sense for thirteen years. They’re hurting, yes. They’re angry at something none of you can change. But they love you.”
‘How can you be sure?’
‘Because they act just like you did when you were sixteen.’ She smiled sadly. ‘Remember when you ran away to Aunt Sarah’s?’
I remember. I was so angry about…what? Over some little thing. I lasted three days before homesickness made me come back.
Another five days flew by.
I called in sick to work. I hardly ate at all. Every time the phone rang, I rushed to it, but was disappointed by another spam call or message from a concerned friend.
Finally, on the seventh day, I got the long-awaited call.
‘Mum?’ Carrie’s voice was thin and soft, like when she climbed into my bed during a thunderstorm. “Can you come home? Please?”
I drove back with my heart in my throat.
The last thing I expected was to see my house transformed. The walls were freshly painted and the floors gleamed.
‘Surprise!’ The girls emerged from the kitchen and smiled like they usually did when they were little.
‘We’ve been planning this for months,’ Dana explained, bouncing on her toes. ‘Working at the mall, babysitting, saving money on everything.’
‘Sorry about the mean note,’ Carrie added embarrassed. ‘It was the only way to surprise me.’
They led me into the nursery, which had now turned into a lovely home office. The walls were a soft lavender colour, and hanging by the window was a picture of the three of us, with tears in our eyes and smiles on our adoption day.
‘You gave us a family, Mum,’ Carrie whispered, her eyes moist. “Even if you didn’t have to do that, even if we were a reminder of everything that hurt. You still chose us, and you were the best mum in the world.”
I pulled my girls closer, inhaling the familiar scent of their shampoo, feeling their hearts beating against mine.
“You two are the best thing that ever happened to me. You’ve given me a reason to keep living. I love you more than you will ever know.”
‘But we know, Mum,’ Dana said, her voice muffled behind my shoulder. ‘We’ve always known.’
This piece is inspired by real events and people, but for creative purposes it was fictionalised. Names, characters and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or real events is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.