There is more to family than blood. Just sharing the last name with someone, or being related to them doesn’t mean that they are really your family. In fact, you can be family and experience genuine, authentic, unconditional love, from people who aren’t related to you. This is a story that was inspired by an experience of a reader of AmoMama. It shows us that real family is those who care about you, through everything.
Kelly was getting her stepdaughter, Michelle, ready to go to a birthday party. The little girl was so excited to finally hang out with some of her friends. Michelle’s dad, Eric, was not a very nice man. He would never let Michelle have any friends over, or go to sleepover parties. So, being allowed to go to a birthday party was a big deal to her.
Eric sat at the breakfast table, reading his newspaper, as he often did in the mornings. Michelle looked over at her dad and asked if he would go with them to the party.
“Daddy, will you join us? Please?”
But, sadly, Eric ignored his daughter and pretended not to hear her. That was his usual response to his daughter, and it broke Kelly’s heart every time he did it. She had plans to divorce him as soon as the adoption papers were finalized. Kelly wanted to be Michelle’s mom, not just with her heart, but legally too. When she could truly call Michelle her daughter, she would leave Eric and never look back.
In fact, the only reason she married Eric so quickly was because of the baby he had with him. A newborn at the time, Eric told Kelly that his wife died and left him with a baby to raise on his own. Naturally, Kelly felt like she had to do something, so, she made Eric and Michelle a part of her life. She had no idea how horrible Eric could be…but she had a plan.
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The Party
Michelle climbed into the seat of the car with Kelly’s help, and the two were off to the birthday party. Her favorite color is yellow, and Michelle chose to wear a yellow-flowered dress that day. It was fairly easy to keep an eye on her at the party with that choice of color.
Kelly walked over to a group of other parents and sat down. They spent the next several minutes chatting about their kids or step-children, and Kelly excused herself to go to the restroom. As she turned the corner, she saw that shade of yellow Michelle loved so much sitting in a corner by herself. She approached the back of the child, put her hand on her shoulder, and asked Michelle what she was doing all alone.
“Michelle, why are you sitting out here by yourself? Shouldn’t you be playing with your friends? Here, let me take you back to them so you can play a bit before we have to leave.”
As the little girl stood up, she realized that this wasn’t Michelle. But, it looked almost exactly like her!
“Oh! I’m so sorry, I thought you were my stepdaughter, Michelle.“
Just then, an elderly woman walked up to the little girl and asked her if everything was alright. Kelly explained she thought the girl was her stepdaughter and told her how much they looked alike.
“It’s quite uncanny actually! In fact, you should meet Michelle, she’s wearing a dress the same shade of yellow too. How strange is that?”
The elderly woman said she would love to meet Michelle, and her granddaughter, Mary, would as well. Mary stood next to her grandmother when Michelle came walking up to them, and Kelly noticed Mary had one leg shorter than the other. She didn’t pay it much attention and called for Michelle to come closer.
“Michelle, come look! This little girl, Mary, has a dress just like yours, and she looks like you too!”
It was right then that Kelly noticed the elderly woman’s smile change. The joy disappeared and pain appeared on her face.
“Umm…Michelle, why don’t you and Mary go play on the swingset for a little bit, I’ll be right over in a minute.”
Kelly asked the woman if she was okay. That’s when she learned the truth about Eric and his past.
Truth
The elderly woman looked Kelly in the eyes and told her something that changed her world forever.
“Mary is Michelle’s twin sister. Eric’s previous wife was my daughter, and she tragically died during childbirth. Mary and Michelle were born, and Eric noticed Mary had one leg shorter than the other. Even after my daughter passed away, Eric refused to sign the birth certificate for Mary. He refused to be a part of the life of a child who had special needs. So, we took her, and Eric left with Michelle on his own. He refused to let us see her, and kept the two apart this whole time… I can’t believe we ran into you today.”
Kelly couldn’t believe it either. She told the elderly woman how she was planning on leaving Eric and getting the adoption paper finalized. The woman looked lovingly at Kelly and told her that she could never repay her for the kindness she has shown Michelle.
“Michelle is my daughter, and I will always love her. The paperwork is merely a formality because in my heart, she is as much mine as if I had given birth to her myself.”
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Real Family
As soon as the adoption papers were finalized and sent through to Kelly, she was ready to leave Eric. The elderly woman told her that Kelly could stay in their rather large home for as long as she wanted while going through the divorce.
“Truth be told, my husband and I would love for you and Michelle to be a permanent part of this household. We love having you both here, and you’re already more than family to us all.”
Kelly graciously accepted. She knew how much Mary and Michelle liked being together, they were twin sisters after all. That is a special bond that no one can break, and Kelly was happy to be able to bring them closer together.
After a few short months, the family completely distanced themselves from Eric and neither of the girls ever saw him in their lives again.
As the twins, their grandparents, and Kelly grew closer together, they showed each other what real family means. Every holiday was spent together, and even though they didn’t have much money, they lived the best life possible. One filled with trust, and unconditional love.
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This story was inspired by an original piece of fiction that first appeared on AmoMama. Any similarities between this story and actual people is purely coincidental.