Today’s story is about a woman who learns a shocking truth about her past after discovering an abandoned stroller in the middle of the road with a baby who looks exactly like her son!
“Mom! Mom! There’s a stroller outside the park with a pretty baby girl inside!” Timothy said to his mother, Phoebe. It was a Sunday morning, and Phoebe had decided to stop by a park after Timothy insisted on playing there. She was exhausted from the morning jog, but she yielded to Timothy because he kept pleading with her.
“Oh, is there, honey?” Phoebe gently smiled at him, wiping the sweat from his face after he came running to her. “Does she look cuter than you?”
“Yes, mom!” Timothy nodded his tiny head. “She’s beautiful, and she’s alone. There’s nobody around her. Can we take her home?”
“She’s alone? Where’s her mother?” Phoebe wondered. “Can you take me there, honey? I think her mother must be around.”
“Yes, mom. Come with me.”
Timothy held Phoebe’s hand and led her outside the park, where she noticed a stroller lying in the middle of an empty road. The whole street seemed eerily quiet, and there was not a single soul in close sight.
Phoebe dashed to the baby, concerned about who had abandoned her in such a state, only to discover that the baby resembled Timothy a lot. Is this some sort of dream? Am I hallucinating? She rubbed her eyes and stared at the child, perplexed. But her doubts vanished as she lifted the baby in her arms and noticed a note fall to the ground.
She picked up the note and began reading it. “I’m sorry that I’m leaving my child like this, but please take care of her,” it said. “Her name is Ava, and she’s only 6 months old.”
Worried about the situation, Phoebe brought the baby home and called her husband Daniel, who was away on business. “I’m sorry for calling so early, honey,” she explained, “but something strange happened today. I was in the park when I came across a baby who looks exactly like Timothy!”
“That’s not possible, Phoebe. I think you’re taking too much stress. Just inform the cops about it, and they’ll take care of it,” he mumbled, half awake from sleep.
“No, honey, trust me. Wait, I’m sending you a picture.” When Daniel looked at the photograph, he was puzzled too. “But how’s that possible? What do we do now?”
“And you know, that’s not all!” Phoebe continued, worried. “I discovered a note inside the stroller. The mother abandoned her child because she did not want to care for her. Should we get a DNA test? You see, 6 months ago, we were relocating from New York to Florida. So it’s definitely not my child, but…”
“But What? Do you really think I’d cheat on you?” David snapped on the call. “That’s not my baby, Phoebe!”
“I’m not saying this to offend you, but do you remember your ex-girlfriend Carla? You told me you met her last year, you guys got drunk, and you don’t remember what happened after that. That’s what I mean when I say it’s a possibility.”
“Well, yeah, that did happen, but I’m pretty sure that nothing happened between us.”
“But, just for my sake, David, could we please take a test?”
“I honestly can’t believe it, Phoebe! I’m sure that’s not my child, but let’s go ahead and do it anyway. I’ll be there this weekend, and we’ll get it done.”
“Thanks, honey,” Phoebe said and then hung up the phone.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Having shifted the stroller inside her bedroom, Phoebe answered the door and saw it was her mother, Mrs. Watson, who’d come to visit her.
“Hi there, honey. How are you doing, and where’s my adorable grandson? I baked a pie for him,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Well, mom, can you please come some other day? I’m busy right now.” Phoebe stated. She didn’t want her mother to find out about the baby. Mrs. Watson would ask her thousands of questions, and Phoebe was pretty sure the baby was Carla and David’s child. If her mother found out, it would be yet another scenario that Phoebe knew she couldn’t handle.
“Well, I can come later, honey,” Mrs. Watson said. “But I want to see Timothy. I’ll just meet him and then leave, okay?”
“But mom…” Before Phoebe could say anything, Mrs.Watson just walked inside Phoebe’s home. “Timothy, where are you, honey? Look, Grandma bought you a pie!”
“What? Is it apple pie?” Timothy came out running in excitement and hugged her. “Thank you, Grandma. Can I share it with the baby? Mom and I found her in the park today, and we brought her home.”
“Baby?” Mrs. Watson looked at Phoebe in shock.
“She’s inside mom and dad’s bedroom. Do you want to meet her?” Timothy continued.
“Sure, honey,” Mrs. Watson said as she followed Timothy inside. But as she looked at the baby in the stroller, she froze in place.
“Look, mom, I can explain everything. It’s not what…” Phoebe started speaking when Mrs. Watson cut her off.
“I need to talk to you in private, Phoebe. Can you please stay here for a while, Timothy? Mom and I will be back,” she told her grandson, who obediently followed her command as she and Phoebe exited the room.
“You look quite worried! What’s the matter, mom?” Phoebe inquired of her mother, who appeared nervous and on the verge of tears.
“Well, honey, remember how one day when you came home from school, you asked me why you didn’t look like me while other kids looked like their parents?” Mrs. Watson spoke shakily. “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you the truth, Phoebe, but the reality is that you’re my adopted daughter, and you have a twin sister.”
“What?!” Phoebe froze in shock.
“Yes, honey. It all started when I was told I couldn’t have a baby. Your father was very anxious, and we fought a lot. I assumed that if we had a child, everything would be fine. As a result, we adopted you from an orphanage while your sister was adopted by a different family. Things were fine between your father and me at first, thanks to you. But when you turned four, he simply left, claiming that he didn’t want to care for us.
“After that, I immersed myself in work to get over him, and it did help me. But I never had the guts to tell you you weren’t my daughter. Your father had already left me, and I was scared you’d leave too if you learned the truth.
“The baby you found today is your sister Amanda’s child. Two days ago, I was returning from the market when I came across a homeless woman with a baby. I recognized her right away as Amanda and took her home. She stayed at my house that night, but when I came to wake her up the next morning, she was gone, as was the baby.”
“But mom,” Phoebe broke down in tears. “If you had just told me the truth earlier, I could have helped my sister!”
“I was going to tell you, honey, but everything happened too quickly. I’ve also informed the cops, but there has been no word from your sister. But we need to inform them that we have found the baby. I’m hoping they find Amanda soon. She fled her abusive husband and came here. Her family was killed in a fire, so she has no one to look after her.”
Phoebe was worried about her sister. When she couldn’t take it all in, she ran to the bedroom, called David, and told him everything. “I’m sorry for doubting you, honey. I can’t believe mom hid the truth that I have a twin sister. I want to find her soon!”
And so it happened. A week later, Mrs. Watson received word from the cops that Amanda was found dumpster diving behind a restaurant. When Phoebe met her long-lost sister at the police station, she couldn’t stop crying. She hugged her and promised she would never leave her alone again.
Later, the two sisters went to Mrs. Watson’s home, where the elderly lady fed Amanda, washed her, and gave her neat clothes to wear. Amanda thanked Mrs. Watson and Phoebe for looking after her daughter, and that’s how the two sisters were reunited.
