Take My Daughter from the Orphanage
Mary stood bewildered, peering incredulously at the woman in front of her.
The caretaker had just explained that her mother had arrived!
She said she’d been searching for Mary for a long time and hadn’t actually abandoned her, despite what Mary had thought. Mary had once gotten lost in another city and was taken to an orphanage. All the while, her mother had been searching for her!
Mary cautiously examined the face of the smiling stranger. She wanted to recognize her but couldn’t. Were those her mother’s eyes? Her hands? Could it truly be her mother? She didn’t remember her at all.
Mary tilted her head, and suddenly the woman’s expression changed. She still tried to smile, but tears began to roll slowly down her cheeks, which she couldn’t hold back anymore.
And Mary’s little heart fluttered. Of course, it was her mother. She recognized her now by the glint in her eyes, the turn of her head. God knows how, but she knew.
Taking two tentative steps forward, Mary threw out her arms and ran towards her, shouting, “Mum, mummy, you finally found me!”
Later that evening at home, they sat cuddled up on a big soft sofa. Julia stroked Mary’s hair, her thin shoulders, and kissed her teary eyes.
For the hundredth time, she tried answering the most important question, “Mummy, why did it take you so long to come? I’ve been waiting for you!”
“My sunshine! Forgive me, I looked for you every day. But you disappeared; it was horrible! Someone saw a woman running with a child in her arms. We even went to the cottages, but you weren’t there! I visited all the neighboring cities. Then I heard there was a girl in an orphanage; I immediately thought it might be you, and here I am!”
“So long, mummy! I’m glad you found me!” Mary tightly hugged Julia with her warm little arms.
But between the milk and the warm, cozy apartment, and her mother’s hugs, Mary felt drowsy. Her arms, which still held onto her mum, grew weaker and slack. Julia cradled the sleepy little girl and carried her to bed.
“They won’t take me away again, right, mum?” Mary murmured sleepily.
“No one will take you away from me again, I promise!” Julia hugged the small body and kissed her silky hair before laying her down in bed.
“Don’t go,” Mary pleaded, and Julia lay beside her on the little couch.
Mary immediately began peacefully snoring, her little hand clutching Julia’s gown, checking now and then to see if her mum was there.
“I fulfilled my beloved sister’s last wish. I found Mary, and now she’s with me. Diane requested I tell Mary nothing about her. I’m Mary’s mum now,” Julia thought, lying awake.
She adjusted the soft blanket over the little one, and Mary smiled in her sleep.
Let all the bad memories stay behind, though it’s hard to accept losing a sister and mother.
Their mum was kind but somehow helpless. She had them without a father, and as long as Julia could remember, she was always weeping about how hard it was to raise two girls alone, as if someone was to blame.
Diane was older than Julia by fifteen minutes and made all the decisions for both of them.
When their mother brought home her third partner, Diane said they should run away, or things would get worse!
But Julia felt sorry for their mum, wondering how she could leave her. She was trying her best for her daughters, wanting a man in the house.
“Julia, I’ll get some money, and we’ll leave,” Diane persuaded her. “Otherwise, it won’t end well! We’re seventeen now; we can apply to a college and live in a dormitory, understand? But mum’s boyfriend won’t leave us alone!”
How naive Julia was back then!
Diane said things about their stepfather, but Julia thought she was making it all up. Mum seemed happy, and the stepfather smiled, buying candy and fruit. He even winked at Julia, “Isn’t it better living with a dad? Stick with me, and everything will be alright, understand, blue eyes?”
“Leave her alone, got it?” Diane stood in front of Julia. It seemed so odd to Julia that Diane spoke so sharply to him.
Diane had changed recently. A boy from the building was pursuing her.
Anthony had liked Diane since fifth grade. They were good friends; Julia often teased her sister that Anthony would take her away, and Julia would be lost without Diane.
But Diane and Anthony had fallen out recently, with Anthony looking dour as ever. He even said something to Julia, but she didn’t know what to tell him.
Soon, Diane somehow got hold of a large sum; Julia was frightened at how she got it.
“It doesn’t matter where it came from!” her sister snapped at her. “Are you with me or not? You’re always like a baby, even though you’re only fifteen minutes younger! Are you coming with me?”
Diane looked so serious that Julia got scared and… agreed. They wanted to apply for college, after all.
But things turned out differently. Diane rented a room and refused to enroll. Then it seemed Diane… was pregnant!
“Shouldn’t you tell Anthony, Diane?” Julia tried comforting her sister, but she just snapped back, like someone had replaced her. “What’s Anthony got to do with it? Leave me alone, alright?”
Then Diane cried, asking Julia for forgiveness. Julia comforted her, saying she’d help with the baby. She’d work, and then everything would be fine. Even then, Diane only grew angrier from the consolation.
The baby girl was born prematurely. Julia met her sister at the hospital with the little one. She got a job as a shop assistant. Bought things for her little niece. She tried hard to help Diane in everything.
But what was meant to be, happened. Someone told their mum how her girls were “studying”. Their stepfather even caused a scandal, claiming his money was gone, obviously accusing them of stealing it! One word led to another, and the stepfather blurted out that Diane was pregnant by him!
Their mum, not expecting such a revelation, pushed him away, sending him crashing against the sharp corner of a table. In hysterics, mum called them, “Girls, what have I done?”
Their mum got sentenced, but being frail, she didn’t survive it, never returning.
This whole ordeal caused Diane to lose her will to live. One day Julia came home from work, and no one was there.
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 children’s home. You have your life, and I have mine. Goodbye, sister!”
Julia cried the whole night. How could this be? She had no mother, and her older sister abandoned her!
Julia wept as though for a hundred years. The next morning, she washed her face and resolved to find Mary. It seemed she had no other family left.
But despite Julia’s efforts, her search led nowhere.
Two years later, there was a call. Diane’s voice, sounding harsh, unfamiliar, and desperate, “Julia, do me this favor, take Mary from the orphanage. It’s in ***. Forget about me!” Then the line went dead. Just like that…
***********
Mary whimpered in her sleep, and Julia tucked the blanket around her. “Shh, sleep, sleep, darling.”
Darling.
Yes, her darling.
Soon Paul would return from his business trip. They had already discussed everything. They’d adopt Mary and wouldn’t tell her anything for now. After all, the little one didn’t need to know all this.
Life would sort everything out in time.
Perhaps Diane would come back?
Life is unpredictable that way.
Mary’s mum was found.
For now, they would simply live. She and Paul wanted more children, and for everything to just be alright!
Normal family happiness was all Julia ever dreamed of.
Dreams come true, if you want them enough.
