“Where did you move from?” “Texas. We lived in Dallas,” Henry replied. “Hmmm…,” Wendy hummed and placed her chin on her hand. “What?” Henry wondered, frowning at the woman. “I’m reluctant to say this. But I believe Sandra was born in Texas too,” Wendy revealed, wetting her lips with her tongue in hesitancy. “I’ll have to recheck her birth certificate. But is there any chance your late ex-wife had twins?”

“I don’t… I wasn’t there with her because of business. But no. It can’t be. I returned a week after she gave birth. She had already left the hospital, and I met Sophie in her home. So, there’s no way this could happen,” Henry replied, his eyes blinking fast, trying to think. “Were you and her in a good place at the time?”

“What do you mean?” “Well, if she felt like you wouldn’t be around, maybe she thought having two kids was too much,” Wendy suggested as carefully as she could. “So, you’re saying she might have given one kid up and kept the other?” Henry asked, still not believing that Irene would’ve given one of their children up for adoption. “We were not good together, and that’s why we broke up. But this is just… ugh… I don’t know what else to say.”

“Is there any way we could find out?” Wendy wondered once again. “I guess I could call the hospital, and we could check things…,” Henry mumbled, still in shock and running his fingers through his hair. Just then, the girls came back and said they were hungry, so this conversation would have to continue another day.

A few days later, he took Sophie to stay at Wendy’s house and traveled back to Texas. He talked to hospital staff and asked around as much as possible. Finally, one kind nurse took pity on him and discovered Irene had given birth to two babies. Unfortunately, Henry would never know why she made the tough decision to give one baby up, but he suspected it was his fault.

I left her alone to give birth, and I wasn’t there for most of her pregnancy. This is my doing. She probably knew she was having twins and didn’t tell me. But there was nothing he could do about the past now. He could only go forward and try to make amends. When he returned, he and Wendy got a DNA test for Sandra, confirming their suspicions.

But Henry made it clear that Wendy was the girl’s mother. He would never try to separate them. The adults sat down with the girls and told them everything as best they could, which meant explaining to Sandra that she was adopted. But the twins cheered in delight and hugged each other, chanting, “We’re sisters! We’re sisters!”

Henry and Wendy could only laugh at them, glad that they were so happy. They had to navigate this tricky situation because Henry wanted to be a father to Sandra, but Wendy didn’t know how she would fit into Sophie’s life. In the end, they decided to co-parent as if they both were their legal parents, and it turned out amazingly. The girls transitioned into this new normal better than they did, and it was perfect.

One night, Sophie said something that shocked Henry. “Dad, why don’t you marry Wendy? Then she could be my mom too.” “Oh honey, that’s complicated. Wendy and I are just good friends,” he responded. “I’ll never forget my mom. But I like her. I think she could be good for you too,” Sophie insisted. Henry smiled. “We’ll see.”

But it was like his daughter predicted the future. Eventually, he and Wendy started dating. They got married when the girls turned 12, and they were both bridesmaids.