**Diary Entry 15th October**
Its been years now, and still, I wonderhow can five children love a woman who isnt their real mother? But then, whos to say what makes a mother?
Ethan lost his wife. She never recovered from the birth of their youngest. Five children left behindNicholas, the eldest at nine, then Elijah at seven, the twins Arthur and Louis at four, and little Eleanor, barely three months old. A daughter theyd longed for.
No time for grief when children are hungry. But after tucking them in, hed sit in the kitchen past midnight, smoking in the dark.
At first, Ethan managed alone. His sister-in-law helped when she couldno other family left. Social services came once, suggesting the children go to a care home. He refused outright. How could he give his own flesh and blood away? Hard as it was, theyd grow. Slowly, but theyd grow.
The older boys sometimes needed homework checked. Eleanor was the hardest, of course, but Nicholas and Elijah helped where they could. The health visitor, Mrs. Carter, dropped in often. One day, she promised to send a nanny. A good woman, she said. Works at the hospital. No children of her own, but shes from a big familyknows how to care for little ones.
And so Lucy arrived. Petite, sturdy, with a plain plait down her back. Quiet, too. But the house changed the moment she stepped in. Floors gleamed, clothes were mended, meals cooked. The children were scrubbed clean, their shirts no longer patched haphazardly.
When Eleanor fell ill with fever, Lucy stayed up night after night, never resting until the girl recovered. And somehow, she never left.
The younger ones started calling her Mum, starved for a mothers touch. Lucy never held backa hug, a gentle hand on their heads. The older boys hesitated at first, settling on just Lucy. Not nanny, not mother. A way to remember their own mum, I suppose.
Her family objected. Why take on another mans burden? they said. Plenty of lads in the village would marry you.
Plenty of lads, she replied, but Ethan needs me. And the childrentheyre used to me now.
Fifteen years passed. The children grewNicholas married, expecting his first. Elijah at university, studying engineering. Arthur and Louis at agricultural college. Eleanor, now in Year 9, the star of every school play.
Then, one summer, Lucy felt unwell. Dizzy spells, nausea. She shooed Ethan outside to smoke, blaming the fumes. But when it didnt pass, she saw the doctor.
That evening, she called Ethan to the porch. Sit down, she whispered. The doctor says Im pregnant. Too late to do anything but keep it. She covered her face. The shame of itat my age.
Ethan blinked. After all these years? Shame? The older ones are nearly grown! Nature knows what its doing. Well manage.
But the childrenwhat will they say? An old woman like me
Old? Youre thirty-nine!
The next day, he gathered them at the table. Listen, all of you. Youll have a new brother or sister soon.
Lucy flushed crimson, staring at her plate.
Nicholas burst out laughing. Brilliant, Mum! My wifes due soon tootheyll grow up together!
Arthur cheered, A brother!
Louis shook his head. A sister. Weve only got one girlEleanors spoiled enough.
Eleanor gasped. A sister! Ill tie her ribbons, buy her pretty dresses!
Elijah rolled his eyes. Shes not a doll, Ellie. Shell need raising.
Well raise her, Ethan said firmly.
Months flew by. Nicholass son was born. Elijah returned to uni. The twins left for college. The house grew quietjust Eleanor, now trailed by a smitten lad from the village.
Then, one night, pain struck Lucy like lightning. Ethan, she gasped, its time.
He fumbled for his shoes. Ellie, call an ambulance!
The boyTomran for his fathers car. All night, Ethan chain-smoked outside the maternity ward. At dawn, a nurse emerged. Still puffing, Dad? Youll need to cut backyouve got seven now.
S-seven?
Twins. A boy and a girl. Hes a loud one, she chuckled. Shes a beauty. Go homebring what theyll need.
On discharge day, the whole family crowded the hospital. Even the twins skipped lectures. The nurse handed over two bundlesblue and pink ribbons.
Ethan took one, flustered. Forgot how to hold two.
Nicholas grinned. Ill take the other. Not my first rodeo.
Eleanor peered in. Oh, shes perfect! My little sister!
They piled into the farm vanthe manager lent it for the occasion. Nicholas teased, Well, Mum, youve pleased everyone!
Lucy cradled the baby, smiling faintly. Theyd raise them well, God willing. She glanced at Ethan, holding the other. *Well raise them*, she corrected silently.
Children, she said, what shall we name them?
A chorus of suggestions erupted.
And the driver, Ethans old friend, listening to the chatter behind him, thought: *Shes not their real mother, these five. But whod ever know?*
