The rain drizzled outside as Emily hurriedly packed sandwiches for her husband, wrapping them in foil before setting them on the kitchen table. Michael worked at an autoshop, never taking proper lunch breaks, always relying on whatever she could spare for him to take.
Emily herself was a cook at a local diner, her shift starting an hour earlier than Michaels, forcing her to rise before dawn. As she grabbed her umbrella, it slipped from her grasp and clattered loudly to the floor. She froze, glancing toward the bedroomMichael hadnt stirred.
“Bloody careless,” she whispered, smiling faintly before slipping out the door.
The bus arrived sooner than expected. Emily sat by the window, watching the streets blur past, her mind drifting. At nearly thirty, she was no longer a young woman, yet despite their modest life, she and Michael were happyor so she believed.
Only one shadow loomed over her: they had no children. Three years of marriage, countless tests, yet every doctor had shrugged, insisting everything was normal.
The bus stopped. Emily paid her fare and stepped into the damp morning, cutting through the park toward the diner. But as she walked, she halteda small girl sat shivering on a wet bench, her thin coat no match for the chill. Tears streaked her cheeks, mingling with the rain.
Emily crouched beside her. “Hello, love. Why are you out here alone?”
“Mum threw me out,” the girl sniffled.
“Threw youwhat?” Emily stared, disbelieving.
“She was sleeping. I was hungry. I woke her, and she shouted. Then I was here.”
“Whats your name?”
“Sophie.”
Emily sighed. “What am I to do with you, Sophie?” She checked her watch. “Come on. Where do you live?”
“Not far.” The girl gestured vaguely.
They walked in silence, arriving at a shabby block of flats minutes later. Emily pressed the buzzer. No answer. Then, finally, the door creaked open, revealing a dishevelled woman in a stained dressing gown, her greasy hair framing a haggard face.
She blinked at Emily, then at Sophie, stepping aside without a word.
The flat reeked of stale air and neglect. Dust coated the sideboard, and a photograph caught Emilys eyeher breath hitched.
Shed seen that picture beforein Michaels old album, cropped to exclude the woman standing beside him. The woman now scowling at her.
“Well?” the woman snapped.
Emily clenched her fists. “Your daughter was crying in the park, and you couldnt care less? What kind of mother are you?”
“Who the hell are you to judge? Bugger off!”
Sophie darted into another room. Emily turned on her heel and left, the image of that photo burning in her mind.
That evening, she confronted Michael, sliding the photo toward him. “Who is this woman with you?”
His face darkened. “Lena. We were engageduntil she left me for someone else.”
“Why did you cut her out?”
A heavy pause. “She was pregnant. Told me she lost the baby when we split. But if Sophies seven she could be mine.”
Emilys chest tightened as she recounted the day.
Michael listened, then asked where they lived.
That night, she awoke to find him sitting at the kitchen table, staring into the dark.
The next morning, he went to Lenas flat. Sophie answered, wide-eyed.
“Hello. Are you Sophie? Wheres your mum?”
Lena appeared, her eyes narrowing. “You? What do you want?”
Michael stepped inside, the stench suffocating. “Is she mine?”
Lena scoffed. “Loan me fifty quid, yeah? Never paid child support, did you?”
“You lied to me.”
“Her dad wanted herthen he didnt. Thought about coming back to you, but youd already gone.”
Michaels jaw tightened. “Ill get a test. If shes mine, Im taking her.”
Lena waved a hand. “Take her nowshes a bother. Always needing something.”
Sophie crept forward. “Are you my dad?”
His voice cracked. “Yes. And Im taking you home.”
Lena followed them out, hand outstretched. “The money?”
He shoved notes into her grasp, then turned back. Sophie stood frozen in the hall, her small face uncertain.
“Get your coat. Were leaving.”
Half an hour later, Sophie stood in their flat, blinking at Emily.
Michaels voice was firm. “Shes staying.”
Emilys hands trembled. “Just like that?”
“Theres no other way.”
That night, Emily wept in the kitchen until small fingers touched her hair.
“You sad?” Sophie whispered. “Want me to tell you a story?”
Emily pulled her close.
A year passed. The DNA test confirmed what they already knewSophie was theirs.
Then, one morning, Emily collapsed at work.
In the hospital, the doctor smiled. “Didnt you know you were pregnant?”
She stared. “What?”
Michael burst in with Sophie, both wide-eyed.
“Mum-Emily, whats wrong?”
“Nothing, love. Just a surprise.”
Nine months later, little Thomas was born. Sophie helped with everything, doting on her baby brother.
Then came Grace.
Their family was whole.
And Emily knewthis happiness had walked into her life with a small girl and a heart too big for the world.
