Nickys happy childhood ended when he was five. One day, his parents never came to collect him from nursery. All the other children had gone home, but the boy sat at the table, drawing pictures of himself, his mum, and his dad. The nursery teacher kept glancing at him, wiping her cheeks for some reason. Then she scooped him up, held him tight, and whispered,
“Whatever happens, you mustnt be afraid, Nicky. You have to be brave now. Understand? Do you understand, love?”
“I want my mum,” he replied.
“Your aunt and uncle are coming soon, Nicky. Youll go with them. Therell be other children therejust dont cry.”
She pressed her damp face against his before taking his hand and leading him to a car. When he asked when hed see his mum again, they said she and his dad were far away and wouldnt be coming back today.
Nicky was placed in a shared room with other boys like him. But his parents never returnednot the next day, nor the day after. The boy cried himself sick, his fever spiking in the night.
Only the woman in the white coat spoke to him plainly after he recovered. She told him his parents were in heaven now, too far to come back. But they were always watching, she said, always knowingso he had to be good and stay well, for their sake.
Nicky didnt believe her. He stared at the sky, seeing nothing but birds and clouds. He decided he *would* find them.
First, he scoured the yard during playtime. At last, he found a gap behind a bush where the fence bars bent inward. He could only squeeze halfway through, so he started digging. The earth was soft, sandysoon, a tunnel formed beneath the widest gap.
Nicky wriggled free, bolting from the wretched orphanagethats what the older boys called it. But he didnt know the city. Lost, he searched for home, though every house looked the same.
Then he saw hera woman at the crossing, just like his mum. Same polka-dot dress, same neat bun of blonde hair.
“Mum!” Nicky sprinted after her.
She didnt turn.
“Mum!” He grabbed her sleeve, panting.
The woman knelt, studying him.
No. Not his mum.
***
Lizzie fell in love at twenty, and it stuck. She and Tom made a perfect pairmet by chance on a summer dance floor, him shyly asking for a slow song. They talked easily, and he never left her side.
They married three months later. Three years on, Lizzie learned she couldnt have children. Tom struggled to accept it. Endless treatments, sanatoriumsnothing worked. Finally, resigned, he suggested adoption.
But Lizzie loved him too much. She offered a divorcethey were barely thirty; he could marry someone else, have the family he deserved. Shed manage alone.
Tom refused. So Lizzie hatched a plan. She confessed shed fallen out of love, that there was another man. Tom didnt believe her.
The next night, she didnt come home. Dawn found her smelling of wine and cologne. When Tom demanded answers, she insistedshe had a lover. And at last, he agreed to the divorce.
***
When Nicky called Lizzie “Mum,” shed been divorced two months. Heartbroken, missing Tom terribly. The boys word sent her pulse racing.
“Are you lost, sweetheart?” she asked softly.
“Im looking for my mum and dad. They said they’re in heaven. But I dont believe it,” Nicky sobbed.
“Come on, I live nearby. Fancy some cake?” She took his hand.
At home, Nicky devoured the treats shed bought, washing them down with fragrant blackcurrant tea. Between bites, he told her everythinghow the older boys stole his sweets, called him names, left bruises.
Lizzies heart ached. “What if I took you in, Nicky? Wed live together. When youre older, youll understand. Youll see your parents againjust not yet.”
Nicky agreed.
She rang the orphanage, returned him, begged the staff to watch him closer. She visited dailybut couldnt adopt him.
A job, a flat, but no husband? Single women werent allowed. For the first time, Lizzie regretted the divorce.
So she proposed a sham marriage to a coworker, Simonrecently divorced, a flirt but competent. Hed do itfor a price. A candlelit dinner, with… *extras.*
The thought repulsed Lizzie. She still loved Tom.
But that evening, she found Nicky with a black eyepunishment for “snitching.” The staff had told the older boys about her visits.
The next day, she agreed to Simons terms.
Saturday came. She cooked, wore the red dress hed demanded, lit candlesand waited, sick with dread.
The doorbell rang.
Her stomach dropped as she opened it*Tom* stood there.
“Ive been watching you, Lizzie. Theres no other man.”
Then the lift openedSimon, flowers and champagne in hand.
“Liz, darling”
Toms fists clenched. He turned, stormed downstairs.
“Wait! Its not what you think!” Lizzie cried, chasing him.
But he jumped on a bus and vanished.
She returned in tears, sent Simon packing. What now?
***
Two years later, Nicky stood proudly in his first school assembly, smart in a blazer and white shirt, clutching flowers for his teacher.
His parents and little sister, Maisie, watchedhis mum in that polka-dot dress, Maisie giggling in Dads arms.
Lizzie, Tom, and their second adopted child.
Simon, it turned out, wasnt all bad. Hed tracked Tom down, explained everything.
The next day, Tom dragged Lizzie to the registry officethey remarried, adopted Nicky, then little Maisie soon after.
They still visit the orphanage, bringing gifts.
“Mum, Dad,” Nicky whispered, gazing skyward. “Ill study hard. Dont be sadI love my new parents, but theyre just… temporary. Till I see you.”
He knew the truth nowhis parents had died in a crash. Hed visited their grave. Sunday school taught him the meaning of heaven.
Lizzie hadnt listened to Tomtried to fix things her way. Fate had other plans.
Still, everyone got their happy ending.
