Nicks Happy Childhood Ended at Five
Nicks happy childhood ended when he was five. One day, his parents didnt come to pick him up from nursery. All the other children had been collected, but the little boy sat at the table, drawing himself, his mum, and his dad. The nursery teacher kept glancing at him, wiping her cheeks for some reason. Finally, she walked over, scooped him into her arms, and held him tightly.
“You must be brave now, Nicky,” she whispered. “No matter what happens, you mustnt be afraid. Do you understand?”
“I want my mum,” he mumbled.
“Your aunt and uncle are coming soon. Youll go with them, love. There will be other children there, so dont cry.” She pressed her wet face against his.
Then someone took his hand and led him to a car. When he asked when hed see his mum again, they told him she and his dad were far away and couldnt come for him today. Nick was placed in a shared room with other boys like him. But his parents never camenot the next day, nor the day after. He cried himself sick, his fever spiking from grief.
Only the nurse in her white coat spoke plainly to him once he recovered. She told him his parents were now in heaven, watching over him. They couldnt come back, but they saw everythingso he had to behave and stay healthy to make them proud.
Nick didnt believe it. He stared at the sky and saw only birds and clouds. He vowed to find them no matter what.
First, he searched the orphanage yard, finally spotting a gap beneath a bush where the fence bars bent. He couldnt squeeze through, so he dug a tunnel, scooping loose, sandy soil until he could wriggle free.
Once outside, he ran blindly, desperate to escape the place he hated. But the city was a maze, and soon he was lost. Every house looked the same. Then, at a crossing, he saw a woman in a polka-dot dress, her blonde hair neatly tied upjust like his mum.
“Mum!” He sprinted after her.
She didnt turn.
“Mum!” He grabbed her sleeve.
The woman crouched, studying him. No, not his mum.
Emma had fallen in love at twenty, and it was forever. She and James were perfect together. Theyd met by chance at a summer dance, where hed shyly asked her for a slow song. They talked all night, and he never left her side.
They married three months later, inseparable. But after three years, Emma learned she couldnt have children. James struggled to accept it, and she endured endless tests and treatments. Finally, they faced the truth: theyd never have a child of their own. James suggested adoption.
But Emma loved him too much. She offered him a divorcehe was still young, he could marry someone else. Shed manage alone.
James refused. So she devised a cruel plan. She lied, claiming shed fallen for another man. He didnt believe heruntil she stayed out all night, returning at dawn smelling of wine and cologne. When she insisted she had a lover, he finally agreed to end their marriage.
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When Nick called her “Mum,” Emma had been divorced for two months. She missed James terribly, wondering how he was. Now this lost boy tugged at her heart.
“Are you all right, sweetheart? Are you lost?” she asked gently.
“Im looking for my mum and dad. They told me theyre in heaven, but I dont believe it,” Nick sobbed.
“Come with me, I live nearby. Ill get you some cakes, would you like that?” She took his hand.
At her flat, Nick devoured the cakes shed bought, washing them down with fragrant blackcurrant tea. Between bites, he told her everything. The older boys stole his sweets and bullied him, leaving bruises.
Emmas heart ached. “Would you like to live with me, Nicky? When youre grown, youll understand. Youll see your parents againjust not yet.” He nodded eagerly.
She called the childrens home, returned him, and begged the staff to watch him closely. She visited daily but couldnt adopt himsingle women werent allowed. For the first time, she regretted the divorce. But how could she fix it?
Desperate, she approached a coworker, Richard, proposing a sham marriage. Recently divorced and a flirt, he agreedfor a price. He fancied Emma and expected “dinner with benefits.” The demand sickened hershe still loved James.
But that evening, she found Nick with a black eye. The older boys had punished him for “telling tales.” The staff had betrayed him. Hed suffer more now.
The next day, Emma agreed to Richards terms. On Saturday, she lit candles, dressed in red, and waited, disgusted with herself. But shed promised Nick.
The doorbell rang. To her shock, it was James.
“Ive been watching you, Emma. Ive never seen anyone else come or go.”
Then the lift openedRichard staggered out, flowers and champagne in hand.
“Emma, darling”
James clenched his fists, turned, and stormed down the stairs.
“Wait! Its not what you think!” Emma ran after him, but he jumped on a bus and vanished.
In tears, she sent Richard away. What would happen to Nick now?
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Two years later, Nick stood proudly in his school uniform, clutching flowers for his teacher. His parents and little sister, Molly, watchedMolly giggling in Dads arms. Mum wore Nicks favourite polka-dot dress.
Emma, James, and their second adopted child were a family.
Richard, it turned out, wasnt a complete cad. Hed explained everything to James, who raced to Emma the next day, dragging her to the registry office. They remarried, adopted Nick, and later took in Molly the moment she arrived at the home.
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“Mum, Dad, Ill study hard,” Nick whispered, glancing at the sky. “Dont be sadI love you, but these are my parents for now. Until I see you again.”
He knew the truth nowhis birth parents had died in a car crash. Hed visited their graves. Sundays meant Sunday school, where hed learned what heaven really was.
Emma had tried to control fate, but life had other plans. Shed married James twiceand in the end, everyone was happy.
