**Diary Entry**
I heard a small voice behind me. “Excuse me, miss?” I turned to see a little girl, no older than six, staring up at me with wide, grey eyes.
“Are you looking for someone?” I asked.
“Im trying to find my mum. Have you seen her?” Her voice was trembling, and she clutched the hem of her coat nervously.
I hesitated. Id only just moved into this flat myself, and as far as I knew, the apartment opposite mine had been empty for months.
“No one lives there, love,” I told her gently.
Her face crumpled, and she sank onto the stairs, tears spilling over. “Please, miss, we really need her! Dad misses her so much, and shes the only one who can fix things.”
I stood there, unsure what to do. Id never had children of my ownI didnt know how to comfort her. Should I give her a hug? Offer her tea? But shed hardly come inside with a stranger. Just then, my phone rang. I asked her to stay put and hurried to answer it. When I returned, she was gone.
That evening, I couldnt stop thinking about her. I rang my landlady, Mrs. Higgins, and asked about my neighbours.
“That flats been empty for years,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
“A little girl came by earlier, looking for her mum.”
There was a pause. Then Mrs. Higgins sighed. “Ah that must be Catherines daughter. Poor thing. Catherine passed away, and her husband couldnt bear to stay. Moved out with their baby. The flats been vacant ever since.”
She gave me their new address, just in case the girl returned.
Weeks passed, and life moved onwork kept me busy, leaving early and coming home late. Then, just before Christmas, I heard a faint knock and quiet sobbing at my door. There she was again, the same grey-eyed girl, shivering in the cold.
“Whats wrong? Wheres your dad?”
“Hes at home,” she whispered. “But I need to find Mum.”
Remembering the address, I ushered her inside while I searched for the slip of paper. She perched on the hallway stool, watching me with tired eyes. By the time I found it, shed curled up and fallen asleep. I carried her to the sofa and called Mrs. Higgins.
“That girls here again, but she fell asleep. I dont want her father to worry”
“Ill go round to theirs,” Mrs. Higgins said. “Stay by the phone.”
As I waited, I studied the girls face. My own dreams of motherhood had been shattered years agotwo miscarriages, then a divorce. My ex-husband had moved on, started a new family. Id buried my grief in work, drifting from one rented flat to another.
A knock startled me. I opened the doorand froze.
“James? What are you?”
“Im here for my daughter,” he said, breathless. “5 Willow Lane, right?”
I nodded. He stepped inside, and we tiptoed to the kitchen.
“Should I wake her?” he asked.
“Let her rest. Whats going on? She keeps coming here, knocking on the empty flat.”
James rubbed his face. “We used to live thereme and Catherine. It was her grandfathers place. We moved in after the wedding, and then she got pregnant.” His voice broke. “When the time came, I took her to hospital. She knew something was wrongbegged me to take care of our baby if anything happened to her.”
A tear slipped down his cheek.
Just then, tiny footsteps padded into the room.
“Daddy?”
James scooped her up, holding her tightly. “Annie, why did you run off?”
“I just wanted to find Mummy.”
“Well find her,” he murmured. “But not today. Lets go home.”
Before leaving, he handed me his number. “Call me if she comes back. We live close by now.”
“How did she even know this address?” I asked.
“I showed her,” he admitted. “I had to collect some things. She saw Catherines photos on the walls I told her Mummy had gone away but would be back someday.”
They left, but James called again a few days later. Soon, we were meeting upwalks in the park, trips to cafés, even the cinema. Annie clung to my hand, calling me “Mum” once by accident.
One evening, James turned to me. “Irene,” he said softly, “move in with us. No more rented flats. Annie misses you when youre not there.”
“And you?”
He took my hands. “Ive missed you too. Im sorry for everything.”
Now, were a family. I get to be a mother to Annienot by blood, but with all the love I once feared Id never give. Every day, I thank fate for this second chance.
