“Please pick up my daughter from the orphanage”
Mary stood bewildered, eyeing the woman in front of her with suspicion.
The caretaker had just explained that her mother had come to see her!
It turns out her mom never abandoned her, as Mary had thought. Mary had once gotten lost in another city, was found and taken to an orphanage. All this time, her mother had been searching for her!
Mary cautiously studied the face of this smiling stranger. Was it really her mother? She couldn’t remember her at all. Were those her mother’s eyes? Her hands?
Mary tilted her head, and suddenly, something changed in the woman’s face. She was still trying to smile, but tears slowly started to stream down her cheeks, which she could no longer hold back.
And Mary’s little heart softened. Of course, it was her mom; she recognized her now by the sparkle in her eyes, the tilt of her head. Who knows how, but she knew.
Taking two timid steps, Mary flung her arms open and ran toward her, yelling, “Mom, Mommy, you’ve finally found me!”
Later that evening, at home, they sat cuddled up on a large soft couch. Julia stroked Mary’s hair, her thin shoulders, and kissed her tear-stained eyes.
For the hundredth time, she tried to answer the most important question, “Mommy, why didn’t you come for so long? I waited for you so much!”
“Oh my sunshine! Forgive me, I searched for you every day. But you vanished; it was dreadful! Someone saw a woman running with a child in her arms. We even visited the travelers, but you weren’t there! I traveled to all the nearby towns. Then someone told me a child had been left at an orphanage, and I instantly thought it might be you. So, I came!”
“So long, Mommy! I’m just glad you found me,” Mary clung tightly to Julia with her warm little hands.
But after a tasty bun with milk, the warmth of the home, and her mother’s embrace, she grew very sleepy. Though Mary’s hands still clung to her mom, they were already weak and limp. Julia picked up the sleepy girl and carried her to bed.
“No one will take me away again, right Mommy?” Mary sleepily whispered.
“No one will ever take you from me again, I promise!” Julia squeezed the little body close and kissed her silky hair before laying her in bed.
“Don’t leave,” Mary pleaded, and Julia lay down next to her on the small couch.
Mary quickly began to breathe softly, though one hand still clung to Julia’s robe, as if checking, is Mom still here?
“I’ve fulfilled my beloved sister’s last request. I found Mary and now she is with me. Diana asked me not to tell Mary anything about her. Now, I am Mary’s mom,” Julia thought as she lay awake.
She adjusted the soft blanket over the little one, and Mary smiled in her sleep.
May all the bad be left behind, though how hard it is to come to terms with losing her sister and mother.
Their mother had been kind to them but somehow helpless. She had given birth to them without a father. For as long as Julia could remember, their mother often cried, struggling to raise two girls on her own, as if someone else was to blame.
Diana was older than Julia by fifteen minutes and always made decisions for both of them.
When their mother brought home a third partner, Diana said they had to run away, or things would get worse!
But Julia felt sorry for their mom; how could they leave her behind? She was trying her best for her daughters, even if it meant having a man in the house.
“Julia, I’ll find some money and we’ll run away,” Diana would reassure her, “or it’ll come to no good! We’re seventeen now; we can enroll in college and live in a dormitory, understood? Otherwise, mom’s boyfriend won’t leave me alone!”
How naive Julia had been back then!
Diana had some grievances against their stepdad, but to Julia, it seemed Diana was just imagining things. Their mom was happy, and their stepdad smiled, even buying them sweets and fruits. Once, he even winked at Julia, “Isn’t it better to live with a dad? Stick with me, and things will be fine, got it, blue-eyed?”
“Leave her alone, got it?” Diana immediately stood between them. Julia thought it was strange how sharply Diana spoke to him.
Diana really changed back then. A guy from their neighborhood was courting her.
Tony had liked Diana since fifth grade. They were good friends, and Julia would tease her sister that Tony would marry her and she’d be lost without Diana.
But recently, Diana and Tony had a falling out, and Tony walked around looking gloomy. He even approached Julia, but she didn’t know what to say to him.
Soon, Diana came into a large sum of money, which frightened Julia. Where had she gotten it?
“Where I got it doesn’t matter,” Diana told her sternly, “Are you with me or not? You always act like a child, even though you’re only fifteen minutes younger! Are you coming with me?”
Diana’s expression scared Julia, and she agreed. They were supposed to enroll in college after all.
But things turned out differently. Diana rented a room and refused to enroll. Then it turned out Diana was… pregnant!
“You should tell Tony, Diana,” Julia tried to encourage her sister, but she snapped back, “What does Tony have to do with it? Leave me alone, got it?”
Later, Diana would cry and ask Julia for forgiveness. Julia comforted her, promising to help with the baby. She’d find work, and everything would work out. But these reassurances only made Diana angrier.
The baby girl was born premature. Julia met her sister and the baby at the hospital. She had gotten a job as a shop assistant, bought clothes for her little niece, and did her best to help Diana.
But what’s meant to be cannot be avoided. Their mom somehow found out how her daughters were really “studying.” Then their stepdad created a scene, claiming money had disappeared, presumably taken by them! One word led to another, and he blurted out that Diana was pregnant by him, imagine that!
Their mom, not expecting such a confession, pushed him away. He hit his head against the sharp corner of a table. In a panic, she called them, “Girls, I’ve done something terrible, what should I do?”
Their mom was sentenced, but she was fragile and didn’t survive long enough to return.
Diana lost all interest in life because of this. One day, when Julia returned from work, the house was empty.
And there was a note on the table, “Don’t look for me, and don’t look for Mary. I took her to another city to a home for little ones. You have your life, and I have mine. Farewell, sister!”
Julia cried all night. How could this happen? She had no mother and now no sister!
She used up her tears for a lifetime. In the morning, she washed up and firmly decided to find Mary. It seemed she had no other family left.
But all her searches came to nothing, no matter how hard she tried.
Two years later, a call, Diana’s voice, but rough, strange, and desperate, “Julia, fulfill my request, get Mary from the orphanage. The orphanage is in the city of ***. Forget about me!” Then the phone went silent. Just like that…
***********
In her sleep, Mary whimpered, and Julia adjusted the blanket, “Shhh, sleep, sleep… darling.”
Darling.
Yes, darling.
Soon, Paul would return from his work trip. They had already discussed everything. They would adopt Mary and not tell her anything for now. And why would the little one need to know it all?
In the future, fate would sort everything out.
Maybe Diana would return one day?
Life is so unpredictable.
Mary’s mom was found after all.
In the meantime, they would simply live. She and Paul wanted more children and just wanted things to be good, that’s all!
Ordinary family happiness was what Julia had always dreamed of.
And dreams can come true if you want them badly enough…
