It had been six months since I came back to the orphanage. I discovered that the orphanage was going bankrupt, and there were no supporters. There was nothing we could do. The remaining children—only five of them—were being sent away to other orphanages. As for Mrs. Mary, she had been promoted by the government to become the headmistress of a government boarding school. I was so happy for her. She was going to be leaving today.
"Okay, that's the last of the bags," I said, smiling while helping her pack her belongings.
"Amy, dear, what about you?" she asked.
"Well… I don't know. I guess I'll just have to pick my life up from where I stopped," I said, not wanting her to worry.
"You know you can always come to me," she said, looking at me fondly.
I smiled. "Oh dear," she said, resting her hand on her forehead. "You are one of a kind."
"Of course, I am! You brought me up, didn't you?" I said, smiling cheekily at her.
"You little brat—"
Before she could finish, we suddenly heard someone knocking on the gate.
"What is that?" I asked.
"I'll go check."
Walking towards the gate, I saw something unbelievable—two babies had been dropped in front of it. From their appearance, I could tell they were twins.
"Who would do such an unforgivable thing as to abandon their kids?" I thought.
"What seems to be the problem, dear?" Mrs. Mary asked, walking forward.
Upon seeing the children, she gasped. "Oh, good Lord, have mercy," she said softly, rushing forward.
I quickly picked up the babies. "What are we going to do now?"
"Well, I guess we have to take them to the hospital. This place is no longer an orphanage," she said, looking at the children softly.
This was one thing we all knew—Mrs. Mary absolutely loved twins. Being a twin herself, she had always held a special place in her heart for them, though she could not save her other half from the cruel hands of fate and society.
---
At the Hospital
"There's nothing we can do in this case. We will not be able to accept both of them," the man in front of me said.
"I don't understand. You want us to separate them?" I asked, feeling a rising sense of panic.
"The little girl has a heart condition. There is a special orphanage for her. As for the little boy, he seems alright. He will be able to get adopted in no time. But the girl—no one wants a child with a heart condition. There is nothing we can do," he said, seeming frustrated with me.
"There's got to be something you can do! You can't separate them!" I shouted back at him.
All of this arguing began at the hospital. After taking the babies there, we discovered that the little girl had a heart condition. It wasn't serious, but she needed special care. Since we wouldn't be able to keep them, we decided to take them to another orphanage, but that was where the problem began. No one wanted to take the girl.
There was a special orphanage for children like her, but that meant she had to be separated from her brother. Neither Mrs. Mary nor I wanted that, and that was where all of this began.
I sat outside the orphanage. They had only taken the baby boy in but refused to take the girl. She had been in my arms since morning.
Looking at me, Mrs. Mary smiled and said, "I think we should do as they said. There's nothing we can do."
But I could see the pain in her eyes. No one wanted to separate two twins who had come into this world together.
I decided to try one more time, but to no avail.
This time, the man looked at me and said, "If you love them so much, why don't you just adopt them?"
It clicked.
I guess this was a way for me to start my life over.
Looking at the man, I said, "What papers do I need to be able to adopt them?"
He looked at me in shock, as if he didn't believe I was actually going to take his advice. But I guess he didn't want to give me a chance to regret my decision because, quickly, the procedures were done. I never knew it was this easy to adopt a child—or children.
Mrs. Mary looked at me, smiling all throughout.
Walking outside the orphanage, I was holding both of them. She looked at me and said, "Are you sure you're ready for this step? It's a very important step."
"I know. But what is better than having these two little brats separated?" I said.
Looking at me, she said, "You are definitely not ready."
"Is it because I called them brats?" I asked, smiling.
"Oh dear, this is going to be one hell of a ride," she said. "I wish you all the best."
She got into the taxi that was going to take her to her new school and zoomed off.
Looking at the both of them, I sighed.
"Well, I guess we've got to put our life together," I said, smiling. Then, I walked away.
I guess it is true what they say—a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And I had just taken that step.
---
A New Beginning
The first few days were a blur. Taking care of one baby was hard enough, but taking care of two—one of whom needed constant medical attention—was exhausting.
I spent the nights waking up to their cries, taking turns feeding them, and making sure the little girl was comfortable. The doctors had given me a list of things I needed to do to monitor her heart condition, and I followed it religiously.
I named them Liam and Liana.
Liam was the more active one, always waving his little fists in the air, laughing at the smallest things. Liana, on the other hand, was quieter, observing the world with big, curious eyes.
Every night, I sat beside their crib, wondering what kind of life they would have had if they hadn't been abandoned. I wondered about their parents—what had driven them to leave their children behind?
But I didn't dwell on those thoughts for too long.
What mattered was that they had me now.
I had no job, no income, and no idea how I was going to take care of them in the long run, but I knew one thing for sure—I was not going to let them suffer.
I started looking for work. At first, it was difficult. Not many companies wanted to hire a young woman with two babies to care for. But I didn't give up.
Eventually, I found a job as a receptionist at a small publishing house. The pay wasn't much, but it was enough to get by. I rented a small apartment—a one-bedroom place that was barely enough for the three of us, but it was home.
Every morning, I woke up at dawn, fed them, changed them, and got them ready before dropping them off at a daycare. Then I went to work, spent the day dealing with customers and paperwork, and rushed back in the evening to pick them up.
It was tiring.
There were moments when I thought I couldn't do it.
But then I would see them—Liam's bright smile, Liana's gentle gaze—and I knew I had to keep going.
Months passed. Then a year.
And just like that, I was a mother.
Not by blood.
Not by choice.
But by love.
And that was all that mattered.
---
I had lost everything once. My boyfriend. My best friend. My job. My home.
But in the end, I had gained something so much more valuable.
A family.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.