“I’ll leave you, and you’ll never see the child again!” screamed Jane. “I want us to have a proper family! No outsiders!”
“Jane, calm down! There are no outsiders in this family!” Alexander tried to soothe his wife. “Eleanor is our daughter too!”
“Alex, lets send Eleanor back to the orphanage!”
“Have you lost your mind? ‘Send her back’? What are you saying?” Alexander stared at her in disbelief.
“Its simplewe just send her! Well have our own baby soonwhy keep someone elses child?”
“Jane! Perhaps this is Gods way of blessing us for taking in an orphan! You were the one who insisted on adopting her!”
“I never thought wed have a child of our ownthats why I wanted her. What kind of family has no children?”
Five-year-old Eleanor stood outside her parents bedroom door, unable to believe what shed heard. She wasnt theirs? They wanted to send her back?
Tears spilled down her cheeks. Shed been so happy about the new baby but now, because of it, she would lose her parents.
As if sensing something, Alexander rose from the bed and went to the door. There stood Eleanor, weeping.
“Daddy am I not really yours?” Her wide eyes trembled with fear.
“Of course you are, sweetheart!” He lifted her into his arms. “Youre ours!”
“But you said you want to send me away! Doesnt that mean Im not?” She stubbornly wiped her tears.
“Yes, we brought you home from the orphanage, but that doesnt make you any less ours! We love you! Mummys just overwhelmed with the baby coming Come on, lets get you to bed.”
***
“Ill leave you, and youll never see the child again!” Jane shrieked. “I want a proper familyno strangers!”
“Jane, please! There are no strangers here!” Alexander pleaded. “Eleanor is our daughter!”
“I didnt give birth to her! Shes not mine!” Janes rage grew. “Chooseher or me!”
Alexander helped pack Eleanors things.
“Youll stay with Granny for a while, just until Mummy calms down,” he told her. “Once the babys here, shell come to her senses, and well bring you home. All right?”
Eleanor nodded.
Shed agree to anything to avoid the orphanage. And she loved Grannykind Granny, who always had treats for her.
“Granny if Mummy tries to send me away, can I just live with you instead?” Eleanor asked as soon as they arrived.
Lydia Edwardovna gave her son a stern look. He shrugged helplessly.
“Janes hormones are all over the place.”
“Of course you can, my darling!” Granny helped Eleanor out of her coat. “But Mummy wont send you awayyoure her daughter! Shes just upset, thats all.”
***
Two months passed. Eleanor stayed with Granny while her father visited less and less, torn between work and the hospital, where Jane was on bed rest.
One morning, as Granny cooked breakfast, Eleanor gazed out the window. Spotting her fathers car, she cried out joyfully:
“Granny! Daddys here!”
“So early?” Lydia frowned.
Her son never came before noon. Sensing trouble, she told Eleanor to stay in the kitchen and went to meet him.
“Jane passed away last night. The labour started she didnt make it. The baby either.” Alexander sank onto the hallway bench, exhausted.
The three sat in the kitchen, untouched tea cooling in their cups.
“Mum, Im taking Eleanor home. Its time.”
“If youd like, I could stay with you for a while,” Lydia offered gently.
“Thank you”
***
Eleanor admired her new hair ribbons. Soon, shed be a proper schoolgirlher uniform and bright satchel ready for September.
The front door creaked open. Daddy!
“Daddy!” She ran to greet himbut he wasnt alone. A slight, delicate woman stood beside him.
“Darling, this is Eliza. Shell be living with us now,” Alexander said with forced cheer.
“Hello, Eleanor.” Eliza smiled softly and held out a bouquet. “For your first day of school.”
“Hello,” Eleanor muttered, ignoring the flowers as she retreated to her room.
“Dont take it to heart,” she heard her father say. “Shes really very sweet once you get to know her.”
“Im sure well be friends,” Eliza replied.
“Yeah, right!” Eleanor slammed her door.
Her father and Eliza married quietly. Soon, he was offered a promotion and vanished into his work.
All care for Eleanor fell to Elizas slender shoulders. She tried everythinghelping with schoolwork, attending parents evenings, taking her to films and cafés.
Slowly, Eleanor softened. Peace settled over the house.
The school year ended with joyous newsEliza was expecting. For Eleanor, it felt like a betrayal.
She locked herself in her room and sobbed. Eliza stood outside, begging her to open up.
“Eleanor, please dont cry! I love you! Id never give you away! Well always be togetheryoure my girl!”
“Really?” Eleanor emerged, face streaked with tears.
“Of course!” Eliza hugged her tightly. “Youre my own child. Id never let you go.”
Months later, Eleanor cradled her baby brother, marvelling at how tiny he was.
“Mum! Look how funny he is!” She hadnt realised what shed called her.
Eliza, hiding happy tears, hugged them both.
Two more years passed.
Eleanor was in Year 4 when disaster struckAlexander died in a car crash. She and Eliza moved mechanically through chores, caring for little Nicholas, neither daring to speakwords would bring tears. Nicholas, too young to understand, grew fussy.
One evening, after hed fallen asleep, Eliza sat beside Eleanor.
“We cant go on like this. We have to keep living. We cant bring Daddy back, but life goes on. Lets stop suffering, all right?”
“All right,” Eleanor agreed. Her mother was rightDaddy wouldnt return.
But trouble never comes alone. Just as they resolved to move forward, the doorbell rang.
A stern woman introduced herself as a social worker. Eleanor, she declared, must pack for the orphanageshe had no legal guardians now.
“What do you mean? What about me?” Eliza protested.
“Show me the adoption papers,” the woman demanded. There were none. “Exactly. The grandmother is too old to provide properly, and youre no relation. Come along, Eleanor.”
Unlike Eliza, Eleanor didnt cry. She didnt care what happened next. Her oldest fear had come trueshe was alone.
“Ill get you back!” Eliza called after her, but Eleanor didnt believe it.
Who wanted an orphan? When Daddy was alive, shed been loved. Now he was gone, and no one needed herleast of all Eliza, who had her own child.
Eliza visited Eleanor at the orphanage, but the girl refused to see her. She watched from windows as the woman waited on benches, then left. Over time, the visits grew fewer, then stopped altogether.
“Of course. Shes done playing mother,” Eleanor thought bitterly.
Two months later.
“Eleanor! The headmistress wants you!” The voice belonged to the homes resident troublemaker.
“What does she want?” Eleanor wondered. “I havent done anything.”
“Well, Eleanor, congratulationsyouve been taken in!” the headmistress announced. “Not a full family, but still”
“I dont want another family,” Eleanor muttered. “Families dont work out for me.”
“Whether they do or not, well see. Pack your thingsyour new parents are waiting.”
Eleanor obeyed numbly. By the porch stood Eliza.
“What are you doing here?”
“Ive come for you.”
“Ive already been adopted.”
“By me.”
“You?” Eleanor couldnt hide her hope.
“Yes. I told youyoure my child, and Id never let you go. Single mothers arent first choice for adoptions, but I proved I could provide. And bribes still work, thankfully So now were a proper family. Come homeNicholas has missed you.”
“Lets go Mum.”
