After adopting twins, Tina lost her husband, and her life became filled with many financial struggles. But just as she was finding her footing, a stranger showed up at her house with the news that he was her children’s biological father, and she never expected what would come next.
“Ok, guys. Let’s finish our cereal, so we can go to the park,” Tina told her twin daughters, Ilsa and Ellie, who were talking and having breakfast at the kitchen table. The kids had been splashing a bit of milk on themselves, and Tina had smiled at them instead of scolding them. At last, it seemed like their lives were starting to normalize.
The past five years had been a whirlwind after her husband, Andy, died unexpectedly a few months after they finalized the girls’ adoption. Suddenly, Tina went from being a housewife to struggling to feed her family and keep a roof over their heads. The pressure had been intense, mainly because the kids were so young.
Tina had been looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom after they struggled with fertility, but Andy’s passing forced her to focus on the kids and shut out the pain of his loss.
Some days, things were so hard that she berated herself, hitting her forehead for failing at motherhood and being a provider. Some days, she simple fed them a few pop tarts, and she didn’t eat herself because their rent and other expenses took up her meager salary.
“Excuse me?” Tina’s mouth formed a grin of disbelief as her head started to shake slightly. “I’m sorry. You must be mistaken. My late husband was their father.”
Finally, she moved her family to a cheaper, two-bedroom apartment and cut down on luxuries. Her sister, Tamara – who was also struggling financially – would sometimes help her with babysitting until Tina found a job in a company with an in-house daycare for their employees. It was perfect.
They pulled through, and now, her adorable twins were innocently playing with their breakfast on the kitchen table. And although it was wrong to waste food, she didn’t have the heart to stop them. They were just like Tina and Tamara as little girls, and she loved watching them. It was her free day, and she planned to spend as much time bonding with them at the park.
Now that the financial struggles had subsided somewhat, Tina found time to remember her husband and told her twins stories about their father. She knew – or hoped – that her husband would be there with them in some form, in the breeze of the trees or the screeching of the swings. Maybe her kids might feel it too, although they really didn’t remember him.
Tina had gotten the girls dressed after breakfast and put some jackets on them just in case it got chilly. Minnesota was always cold, no matter what. But just as she knelt to tie their shoes, a knock sounded on her door.
It was odd because she lived in a third-floor apartment, and usually, people couldn’t get in without being buzzed up. She squinted her eyes to look through her peephole and saw a strange man.
“Girls, why don’t you go to your room for a sec? Mommy needs to get this. We’ll go out in a moment.”
Some might call her paranoid, but she was a lioness when it came to her babies.
“Yes?” she said after opening the door and getting the strange man’s attention.
“Are you Mrs. Feelan?” the man asked. Tina nodded. “I’m Peter… and this is going to sound so strange, but… I believe I’m your daughters’ father.”
“Excuse me?” Tina asked in disbelief, her head shaking slightly. “I’m sorry. You must be mistaken. My late husband was their father.”
Peter wet his lips, and he nodded in chagrin. “Yes, of course. It’s just… I believe I’m their biological father.”
Tina had no idea what to say. It was a closed adoption, as far as she knew, and they had never met the girls’ parents, so why was he here? What did he want? What should she do? Andy would know, she thought. But she was alone in this situation and scrambled to think quickly.
“Ok, uh, Peter,” she began, pausing to think. “Let’s say that’s true. I’ve adopted them, so I have no idea what you’re doing here.”
“I didn’t know they existed,” Peter revealed without preamble and kept speaking before Tina could say more. “My girlfriend… we had a fight before I went to live in London for a couple of years, and we reconnected some time ago. But in the heat of another fight, she blurted something. I… never expected this.”
Tina could see the man shaking his head and using his hands to express his emotions, but she was mostly frozen in place, listening to this story.
“I’ve been searching for you ever since. It hasn’t been easy, and I had to hire a private investigator because the agency said that in a close adoption, the adoptees had to reach out too. I couldn’t wait years for them to get older and maybe try to find me, so I desperately hired someone, and he found you,” Peter revealed with a look of guilt. “I know it’s a violation of privacy in a way, but I couldn’t leave it alone.”
Tina crossed her arms and thought about this situation. First, she would need proof. Anyone could come off the street and say the same thing. Maybe a DNA test would work, but what would happen?
“What do you want, Peter?” she asked honestly, her arms going down. “These are my girls.”
“I was just hoping to get to know them. Be in their lives if possible. I dreamed of being a father, and my ex…what she did… not telling me about them broke my heart,” he said, defeated. “But I won’t push. It’s only if you allow it.”
“Well, this is all so unexpected, and I’m not sure I believe you. Do you have proof of this?”
“No, but we can get a DNA test to confirm,” he answered, echoing her thoughts.
Tina nodded. “Ok, we’ll do that. And then we can talk about what happens next. But these are my kids. They are no longer yours, and I’m sorry for what happened, but I have to protect them first. I will disappear in a heartbeat and call the police if you try to push,” she warned and expected Peter to resist.
Instead, he smiled. “I would expect nothing less from their real mother.”
The DNA tests confirmed Peter’s story, and slowly, she introduced them to Peter because he seemed so honest. She had to tell herself it wasn’t a mistake whenever they met with him. But he respected her decisions and boundaries.
Months passed, and spending time with Peter and the girls suddenly didn’t feel odd. It felt normal, even in this weird parenting dynamic she never expected.
A few years later, they realized their feelings for each other had shifted, although Tina was conflicted about starting a relationship with him.
They took it slow. Peter encouraged her to talk about Andy because he had also been the girls’ father. That’s what finally convinced her to marry him.
What can we learn from this story?
Life takes many turns, and all we can do is work hard, push through, and enjoy every moment. Tina lost her husband after adopting children and struggled, but she pulled through and found happiness.
Family comes in many shapes and forms. Tina was a widowed mom who eventually parented her twins with their biological dad, which was odd, to say the least. But they grew to become a nuclear family filled with love.
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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young man who adopted an orphan boy and discovered he was the biological father.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.