Take My Daughter from the Orphanage
Susie stood there, feeling confused and skeptical as she gazed at the woman before her.
The caretaker had just explained that her mother had come for her!
It turned out that her mom had been searching for Susie all along and hadn’t given up on her as Susie had thought. Susie had once gotten lost in another town, was taken in by strangers, and brought to the orphanage. All the while, her mother was desperately searching for her!
Susie warily studied the face of the smiling stranger in front of her. She was trying to see if she could recognize her mother’s eyes or hands. Could this really be her mom, though she couldn’t remember her at all?
Susie tilted her head, and suddenly something changed in the woman’s face. She kept smiling, but tears slowly began to roll down her cheeks, and she couldn’t hold them back any longer.
Little Susie’s heart softened. Of course, this was her mom! She recognized her by the sparkle in her eyes and the tilt of her head. Somehow she just knew.
Taking a couple of hesitant steps, Susie spread her arms wide and ran toward her, shouting, “Mom, Mommy, you finally found me!”
That evening, at home, they sat cuddled together on a large comfy sofa. Julia stroked Susie’s hair and slender shoulders, kissing her tear-stained eyes.
For the hundredth time, Susie asked the all-important question: “Mommy, why did it take you so long to come? I’ve been waiting for you!”
“My little sunshine! Forgive me. I looked for you every day. But you vanished, and it was terrible! Someone said they saw a woman running away with a child, and we even went searching, but you were nowhere to be found! I checked every nearby town. Then someone told me they knew of a little girl who had been brought to an orphanage, and it just had to be you. So I came!”
“So long, Mommy! I’m glad you found me!” Susie embraced Julia with her warm, tiny arms.
After enjoying a sweet bun with milk, the warmth of the house, and her mom’s loving embrace, Susie became drowsy. Her little hands still clung to her mother, but they had grown weak and limp. Julia lifted the sleepy child and carried her to bed.
“No one will take me away again, right, Mommy?” Susie whispered sleepily.
“No one will take you away, I promise!” Julia hugged the small body close and kissed her silky hair before laying her in bed.
“Don’t leave,” Susie asked, and Julia lay down beside her on the small bed.
Susie immediately began to snore softly, though one hand stayed attached to Julia’s robe, as if checking to ensure her mom was still there.
“I’ve finally fulfilled my beloved sister’s last wish. I found Susie, and now she’s with me. Diana asked me not to tell Susie about her. Now, I’m Susie’s mom,” Julia thought as she lay awake.
She adjusted Susie’s soft blanket, and Susie smiled in her sleep.
May all the bad times be left behind, although it’s hard to come to terms with losing both a sister and a mother.
Their mother had been kind to Diana and Julia but somehow helpless. She had them without a father, and as long as Julia could remember, her mom always wept about how hard it was to raise two daughters on her own. As if someone else was to blame for her troubles!
Diana was older than Julia by fifteen minutes and always made decisions for the both of them.
When their mother introduced yet another one of her partners, Diana decided they needed to leave the house.
But Julia felt sorry for their mom. How could they abandon her? She was trying to make things better, hoping a man in the house would help.
“Julia, I’ll get us money, and we’ll run away,” Diana persuaded her. “Otherwise, things will get worse! We’re seventeen now, we can go to college, live in a dorm, you know? That guy Mom’s with gives me the creeps!”
Julia was so naive back then!
Diana had said something about their stepfather, but Julia thought Diana was making it up. Their mom seemed happy, and even the stepfather smiled and bought them sweets and fruit. He even winked at Julia and said, “Life’s better with a dad, right? Stick with me, and things will be good, blue-eyes.”
“Leave her alone, got it?” Diana snapped, stepping in front of Julia, and Julia found it strange that Diana spoke so harshly to him.
Diana had really changed, especially since a boy from their building started showing interest in her.
Antony had liked Diana since fifth grade. They were good friends, and Julia teased her sister that Antony would one day propose and without Diana, she’d be lost.
But lately, Diana seemed at odds with Antony, and he often looked troubled. Even when he spoke to Julia, she didn’t know what to tell him.
Soon, Diana managed to gather a large sum of money, and Julia was worried about where she got it.
“Don’t worry about where I got it! Are you coming with me or not?” Diana’s face was so intense that Julia was scared and agreed. They did plan to go to college after all.
But things went differently. Diana rented a room and refused to enroll. Then it turned out Diana was pregnant!
“Shouldn’t you tell Antony, Diana?” Julia tried to comfort her sister, but Diana only snapped at her, “What’s Antony got to do with this? Leave me alone, got it?”
Later, Diana cried and asked Julia for forgiveness. Julia tried to comfort her, saying she’d help with the baby, work, and it would all work out. But rather than comfort Diana, it only made her angrier.
The baby girl arrived prematurely. Julia greeted her sister and the newborn at the hospital. She got a job at a local shop, buying a small wardrobe for her new niece, and did her best to help Diana in every way.
But fate had other plans. Their mom learned about how her daughters were “studying,” and the stepfather started a row, accusing them of stealing his money, saying it was their daughters who took it! One word led to another, and the stepfather blurted out that it was his child Diana was carrying!
Their mom couldn’t believe such a confession. She pushed the stepdad away, and he hit his head on the corner of a piece of furniture. She called them in a panic, “Girls, I’ve done something terrible, what do I do?”
She was sentenced, and being fragile, didn’t survive.
Diana lost her will to live. One day Julia came home to an empty house.
A note on the table read, “Don’t look for me, don’t look for Susie, either. I took her to another city, to an orphanage. You’ve got your life, and I have mine. Goodbye, sister!”
Julia cried through the night. How could this be? Her mom was gone, and now her sister had abandoned her too!
She cried enough to last a lifetime. The next morning, she washed her face and resolved to find Susie. It seemed she had no one else in the world.
But her search yielded no results, despite her best efforts.
Two years later, Diana called, her voice rough, strange, and desperate. “Julia, please, do this one thing for me. Take Susie from the orphanage. It’s in Winchester. Forget about me!” Then the line went dead.
***********
Susie whimpered in her sleep as Julia adjusted the blanket, “Shhh, sleep, sleep…my daughter.”
Daughter.
Yes, her daughter.
Soon, Paul would return from his business trip. They had already discussed everything. They’d adopt Susie, not telling her anything for now. What would a child understand of all this anyway?
Eventually, life would sort itself out.
Maybe Diana would come back?
Life is unpredictable.
Susie’s mother found her.
For now, they would live simply. Julia and Paul wanted more kids and just a good simple life!
Because ordinary family happiness is the one dream Julia always had.
And dreams do come true if you want them very much…
