Nadia felt her entire body bow with strain. Sweat ran down her forehead while she held back the screams. She didn’t want her father to discover what was going on, or he would do something to the precious baby currently demanding to get out of her body.

Her fists clutched the pillow tightly, feeling like they were about to break. She began breathing in rapid inhales and exhales, thinking about the hidden box under her bed with things she had bought for the baby she wanted but couldn’t keep.

Years later…

While swiping photos on his phone, Nadia and her husband, Aaron, discussed the new house design they were considering. “So, we’re happy with the house? With the renovations?” he asked.

“I am,” Nadia replied, nodding eagerly.

As an architect, her husband had spent the last year designing their dream place, so he grinned, too, his eyes squinting with movement. He kissed her tenderly, and they stared at the pictures again.

Nadia’s smile waned as she remembered how her life had changed. After the “incident,” she took time off from school and later embarked on a soul-searching backpacking trip through Europe, funded by a writing competition win.

This journey was an escape and a healing process, allowing Nadia to start healing from her past.

***

While Aaron packed their delicate crockery, Nadia watched him intently at the dining table. “So, you want to actually help me?” he joked.

“Pass,” Nadia laughed, “I’ll do anything and everything else – well, nothing that involves fragile things. You know how clumsy I am, Aar.”

But instead of finding something to do, she cleared her throat. “We have the jobs, the house, and each other,” she mused. “You know what’s missing now?”

Aaron chuckled, one corner of his mouth lifting knowingly.

“So, we can start trying?” Nadia asked, her quick words giving away her excitement.

“Nadia, we can begin the paperwork tonight,” he nodded, eliciting a yelp from his wife.

***

That night…

Nadia recalled the day she told her parents about her pregnancy. “I’m sorry,” she had stammered.

“Sorry? That’s all you have to say, Nadia?” her father spat. He then accused her of bringing shame to their family.

“Dad!”

“Hush,” her mother, Irina, said, shaking her head and silently urging Nadia not to provoke him further.

So, once in the throes of labor, Nadia knew she couldn’t scream or alert her father. But she needed help. She messaged her mother: “It’s happening. Come, please.”

Silently, her mother arrived, and they prepared to go to the hospital. Despite Nadia’s reluctance, her mother insisted on informing her father. “He needs to know. I’ll keep him away from the delivery room,” she promised.

At the hospital, after a few more hours of the worst pain imaginable, Nadia was given a brief moment with her newborn son. That was even more excruciating.

“Five minutes are all we need,” her mother said solemnly. “You have to say goodbye. You have to kiss his forehead and send him with blessings.”

The tears were already blinding her, but Nadia focused on her son for the first and last time, knowing she would have to give him up. “Can I name him?”

“No,” her mother shook her head. “That won’t help.”

Nadia nodded and just kissed the baby again. She told the nurse to wrap him in a special navy blanket before he was taken away.

“I’ll see what I can do,” the nurse replied, her smile soft and knowing.

***

Nadia and Aaron settled into their new home and began the adoption process. She had always desired children, but after failing to conceive, they sought medical advice.

“What if you’re the problem and not me?” Nadia had joked with Aaron, who had already scheduled his check-up.

But Nadia’s diagnosis of endometriosis came as a shock, especially after revealing her teenage pregnancy and the challenges she faced.

The doctor was concerned. “The chances of conceiving don’t look good… I need you to be hopeful, but I also need you to be realistic.”

She told Aaron the news after getting home, knowing that her husband wouldn’t be averse to looking into adoption while they also tried fertility treatments.

He agreed readily, holding her hand in comfort. But his eyes turned thoughtful. “If the treatment gets to be too much, we pull the plug and focus on adoption only. Okay?”

“Deal,” Nadia smiled, exhaling as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

A few months later, they discussed decorating their future child’s room, but it was complicated because they had been open to adopting any kid ranging from newborn to 16. Therefore, they decided to get the simplest things anyone would need, like a dresser.

***

Years ago, when Nadia returned from Europe, she started her plans for the future: going to college to study psychology and become a trauma counselor. She succeeded.

After several years of experience, Nadia felt prepared to connect with an adopted child. Their social worker, Alice, advised them on the complexities of adopting children with difficult pasts during their first interview.

But Nadia confidently said, “We’re ready.”

Two months after that meeting with Alice, they received a call about a 13-year-old boy named Kai, who was rejected by a foster home due to his love for painting. Nadia and Aaron were touched by Kai’s depth and resilience after meeting him.

“If you hate the smell of paint, maybe it’s time to leave now,” Kai said hesitantly, fidgeting with his fingers like he wanted to hold a paintbrush as a security blanket.

“Are you kidding me? Leave now and miss our opportunity to have an artist in the family?” Nadia responded warmly, her voice a little cheerful.

Aaron added, “My sister is a painter, too. I grew up with the smell of paint.”

“So, it’s not a problem?” Kai asked, astonished.

“Unless you paint sharks. We may have a problem there,” Nadia said. “I’m terrified of them.”

Kai burst out laughing, and Nadia realized that she wanted to make him happier. Later, she asked Alice for an appointment in her office. She wanted to know more about the kid.

The social worker revealed that Kai’s father died of a heart attack when Kai was very young, and his mother was fatally shot during a robbery when he was six.

“He’s been in and out of the foster system,” she explained, her voice tinged with sadness. “He comes from a past full of loss… but this child is incredible. He just needs a family.”

***

Nadia walked into the tattoo studio a few weeks after she had given her baby up. Her mother, supportive yet concerned, waited for her in the car.

She chose to get her baby’s birth date tattooed on her ankle, a small but significant reminder. Nadia breathed through the pain of the needle, which was nothing compared to what she had gone through already.

***

Back to the present…

Kai’s official move-in day arrived, with Alice bringing him to Nadia and Aaron’s home. The couple prepared dinner and a welcoming cake.

Kai walked timidly, staring around the house, while Nadia and Aaron showed him everything. They had prepared his room, asking him to decorate it as he wanted. But they had another surprise: a special art studio for him.

“Thank you,” the boy whispered hoarsely.

It took a while, but Kai adjusted as best he could. Nadia and Aaron encouraged his creative pursuits in school and planned family outings with him.

A year after adopting him, Kai started calling them “Mom” and “Dad,” and they adjusted their lives to support him, bonding over activities like swimming.

Nadia and Kai loved swimming in the backyard pool. Kai would often beat her at backstroke. One day, she sat at the pool’s edge with her feet in the water instead of swimming.

Kai wanted her to time how long it took him to do four laps of freestyle, but he saw her ankle. “You have a tattoo,” he said, pointing at her submerged leg.

“I do,” she said, lifting her leg to show him. “It’s a special date. Well, just a day that I want to remember.”

“That’s my birthday,” he laughed.

“I know! Not a chance of forgetting your birthday, huh?”

“Nope,” he said, splashing her. He started swimming and couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

Nadia let her mind wander for a second. It was a coincidence. Of course, it was.

Months later, Kai had a gallery debut. It was a showcase for young art, and Aaron had to miss it because he double-booked with a client. But Nadia went and proudly told her son how great he was. Even Alice showed up to support him.

Aaron arrived just an hour late, surprising them all. “Let’s go for dinner,” he said once the event ended. “Let’s celebrate! Kai, what would you like to eat?”

“Are you sure?” Nadia asked. “Look at the rain.”

“It still seems okay, Mom,” Kai said. “It’s just a drizzle.”

So, they went to a pizza place. A while later, they were almost home from their dinner when the rain began falling harder.

“Aaron, should we stop and wait it out?” she asked. “Let’s park at the mall up ahead. It’s too dangerous.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, his face squinting at the road. But just as they were about to turn, a car hit the pavement wrong and skidded into them. Kai’s side of the vehicle took the biggest impact.

At the hospital, Kai was taken into surgery immediately. He had a severe head trauma. Nadia paced the hallway in her soaking clothes and cold bare feet while Aaron sank to the floor, hanging his head.

A nurse snapped them from their silent trance. “We need more blood for him. What is his blood type? And who is a match?”

“Our son is adopted,” Aaron shook his head. “We’re not sure.”

“Okay, that’s fine. We can test both of you now and see if you are a match or a universal donor. Our bloodstock is critical, and the surgeon would like to have more on hand just in case Kai needs it,” the nurse urged. They followed her orders and waited.

But the nurse came back a long while after taking their blood, with surprising results. She asked a little about the adoption. Aaron and Nadia nodded quickly.

“You’re Kai’s mother. The markers are clear. Genetically, you’re his mother,” the nurse said, shaking her head at the papers in her hand.

Nadia’s head snapped back because she had felt a deeper connection with him than normal. There was also the coincidence of his birth date. But she thought it was just her maternal instincts wanting more.

But there was no time to waste on what-ifs or whys. The nurse led her away to donate blood, promising to delve deeper into things later.

Fortunately, Kai made it through surgery. He was discharged a week later, and the boy returned to his old self quicker than expected. But Nadia and Aaron had a big dilemma.

“Should we tell him?” Aaron wondered one day. Nadia had been thinking about that since the hospital. But she shook her head.

“I don’t want to,” she stated. “It doesn’t matter. We’re already his parents. Telling him won’t change anything. Also, he should keep the memories of his parents. They did me a favor in raising him while they could.”

Aaron nodded, smiling almost in relief. “I think that’s the best decision we could ever make,” he said, turning his head away for a second. “Kai! Come get some cake.”

“Coming, Dad!” he replied.

Nadia smiled, feeling blessed.

Tell us what you think about this story, and share it with your friends. It might inspire them and brighten their day.

If you enjoyed this story – here’s another one | A widow had her husband’s children from his first marriage take a DNA test after his parents did the same to her. That was not the end; she continued to shock the family with demands and ultimatums as payback for how they treated her.