Neil was a newly widowed father who was left to raise his young son Kenny alone after his wife Pauline passed away from an incurable disease. She had been ill for some time, and there was nothing doctors could do. However, he could not wrap his head around her last words about not to hurt Kenny. "You're right, he's your son...our son," was what she said on her deathbed. Neil could hardly cope with the loss of Pauline, but resolved to stay strong for Kenny's sake.
3 years had passed since Pauline's demise. Neil was still struggling to cope with the emptiness, but raising Kenny kept him from drowning from depression. On his son's first day of school, Neil was dropping him off when something made him stop in his tracks. "This can't be true," Neil muttered. He tried blinking his eyes but the vision he had did not go away. The thing was he saw a young lady with a child who looked exactly like Kenny.
"Miss, I think there's something we need to talk about," Neil said as he approached the lady. Upon hearing those words, the lady shuddered. It was as if she had been hiding a secret. "Let's go somewhere more private to talk," she whispered.
"Dad, why does this boy look so much like me?" Kenny asked. For the first time, Neil did not know how to answer. Just then, a female teacher came and took over the school children. After teacher and students had entered the school compound, the lady joined Neil. They went to a cafeteria near the school, where Neil ordered hot coffee and sandwiches for himself and his female companion. There, she told Neil what happened.
It turned out that the lady's name is Lindsay Yiu, and her 5 year old son is Roger. She had been raising him as a single mother, and he had no idea who his father is. They had just moved to the city recently, so they did not have time to make friends. Lindsay then told Neil about her past. She had been abandoned by her parents at the orphanage when she was just a baby, only because of her gender. She had grown up in the orphanage, and had suffered hardships during her time there. Even when she left the orphanage at age 18, her life was no better. She struggled before getting a job. There, she met Glen, who later became her boyfriend. Not long after, Lindsay realized she was pregnant. However, Glen dumped her after finding out about her pregnancy. He revealed that he had been married with a kid, and he had been toying with her all along. Despite Glen's betrayal, Lindsay was determined to keep the baby, reasoning that it was innocent. She struggled to provide for herself and her unborn child. To make matters worse, the ultrasound scan revealed that she was carrying twins. She had expected anything but that. Lindsay experienced severe morning sickness throughout her pregnancy. She checked herself into the hospital a few days before her due date to avoid complications. By a twist of fate, she ended up in the same maternity ward as Pauline. Both women started having contractions at virtually the same time, which made it difficult for the doctors. "The truth is 5 years ago, Pauline gave birth to a stillborn. You need to understand, she was so distressed about having lost 3 pregnancies."
"So what did you do?" Neil whispered in shock.
"I gave her one of my babies. I knew I would have a hard time raising 2 kids on my own, and since Pauline had always dreamed of motherhood, I gave Kenny to her so that she can finally become a mother," Lindsay said.
Neil listened in on her revelation. Then he remembered Pauline's last words. The realization that he was raising someone else's son shocked Neil to the core. However, he loved Kenny so much and still considered him his son. "Thank you for changing my life for the better. If not for Kenny, I would already have been drowning in depression after Pauline's death," Neil said. Those words brought comfort to Lindsay, who said that there were times when she felt guilty about giving away Kenny at birth.
Neil and Lindsay spent hours reminiscing about the past. When it was almost time to fetch the children from school, they waited outside the school gate. Kenny and Roger were spotted exiting the school together, chatting happily. It was apparent that they had become friends. Neil and Lindsay wasted no time in telling the boys that they were actually twin brothers. Of course, Kenny and Roger did not understand much of what was happening, but as we knew, life puts everything in its place. At first, Neil and Lindsay met up for the sake of the boys, but as time passed, they developed feelings for each other. On Kenny and Roger's 6th birthday, Neil proposed to Lindsay and she agreed. They got married, and a year later, they welcomed a baby girl, whom they named Pauline.
