My wife and I adopted a newborn baby girl. When she was seven years old, my wife got pregnant. I WAS STUNNED when I heard WHAT my wife said, leaving the hospital
«Mary, we met when you were sixteen… Same as Emily now. I remember well that you used makeup and wore short dresses. Why can’t Emily?» John tried to speak calmly, not escalating to a fight. «I’m different! I had decent parents!»
Mary crossed her arms and turned to the window. «Does Emily have indecent parents?» John smirked. «Stop your stupid smirks! I’m not laughing. I meant her biological parents, and you understood perfectly. I’m tired of it, John! Because of Emily, we have nothing but arguments. If she weren’t here, we’d live happily and peacefully, raising our sons. And I’m fed up!»
John covered his face with his hands. «I see our family is falling apart, but not because of Emily, because of you.» Four months later, John told Mary he met another woman.
«You can’t leave me with two children!» Mary hysterically beat. «I’m not abandoning the sons, I’ll help financially. I’ll visit them, communicate. And you can’t forbid me.»
«It’s all because of her!» Mary hissed. «She destroyed our family! Ruined my life! Drank so much blood! We lived so well, John, soul to soul! What changed?» «You changed, Mary, you! You became cold and angry, always dissatisfied. You constantly snap at Emily, always reproach her, though such a smart daughter is hard to find. Many mothers would envy you, but you don’t appreciate.»
Emily was in her room at that time. Hearing her parents’ scandal, she threw her things into a bag and ran away from home. That night she stayed at a friend’s, whose parents had gone to the cottage.
Emily couldn’t imagine what would happen next. It seemed her father would leave her mother. And where would she go?
She wouldn’t stay with her mother, and her mother wouldn’t want to live with her. If not for her father, she would have given her back to the orphanage long ago. Emily had no doubt about that.
Emily’s world collapsed in an instant. Her father called. «Daughter, where are you?»
«Don’t worry, Dad,» Emily smiled. It was nice that her father worried about her. «I’m at a friend’s. How are things with you and Mom?»
«Bad, daughter.» Returning home, Emily learned her parents decided to divorce. «Dad, what about me?» Emily asked hesitantly.
Her eyes were full of tears. «Don’t leave me. Mom will send me to the orphanage.» «Silly, how could you think I’d leave you?» her father smiled, wiping the tears running down Emily’s cheeks…
