I Adopted My Late Best Friend’s 4 Children – Years Later, a Stranger Showed Up and Said, ‘Your Friend Wasn’t Who She Said She Was’
Before a stranger stepped up at my door years later, I believed that adopting the four children of my late best friend was the hardest thing I had ever done.
After stating that my friend “wasn’t who she said she was,” she gave me a letter. The life we had created without my late companion was now under danger due to her falsehoods.
For as long as I could remember, Rachel was my closest friend.
We didn’t become buddies all at once. We simply were.
Because our last names were similar in the alphabet, we sat next to each other in primary school.
We wore the same clothing in high school. We told each other stories about horrible partners and awful flats while we were in college.
For as long as I could remember, Rachel was my closest friend.
We shared calendars and carpools by the time we had kids.One time, while standing in my kitchen with a kid on her hip and another pulling at her leg, Rachel said, “This is it.” “This is the part they don’t tell you about.”The sound?”The affection. She smiled at me. “How it just keeps multiplying.”
By the time we had kids, we were sharing carpools and schedules.
I had two children. She had four.
Despite her constant fatigue, she exuded a genuine glow. Above all, Rachel cherished being a mother.
That’s what I thought, anyway.
Twenty years later, you believe you know someone. You believe that friendship entails openness, but in retrospect, I wonder how many secrets Rachel had that I was unaware of.
Above all, Rachel cherished being a mother.
How many times did she come close to telling me the truth? I will never know.
Shortly after Rachel gave birth to her fourth child, a young girl she called Rebecca, everything changed. The pregnancy had been challenging. For the latter part of it, Rachel was bedridden.
Rachel’s husband was involved in a car accident just one month after they welcomed Becca home.
My phone rang when I was doing laundry.”You’re needed,” Rachel said.
Soon after Rachel gave birth to her fourth child, everything changed.I need you here right now.
She was sitting in a plastic chair with the baby carrier between her knees when I arrived at the hospital. Tears filled her eyes as she gazed up at me.He is no longer there. exactly like that.”
I held her while she sobbed because I was at a loss for words.I need you here right now.
It was a Saturday when the funeral took place. As Rachel stood there with her kids gathered around her, the cemetery was battered by rain.She later confided to me, “I don’t know how to do this alone.”You won’t be by yourself. Here I am.
She received a cancer diagnosis shortly after that.She informed me, “I don’t have time for this.” “I just got through one nightmare.”
She received a cancer diagnosis.
She made an effort to be courageous for the children. When she was scarcely able to stand, she insisted on school drop-offs and made jokes about wigs. I began walking over each morning.Get some rest. “I have them.””You already have your own,” she would feign weakness.So? All of them are merely children.
Rachel would occasionally gaze at me over those months as if she had something to say.All of them are merely children.
She would frown as she looked off into the horizon, opening her mouth, then closing it again.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” she once declared. You are aware of that, correct?You’re also mine.”I’m not sure if I am—that is, a good buddy.”
I now realize that I was mistaken when I assumed she felt bad about how much I was assisting her.I’m not sure if I am—that is, a good buddy.”
After six months, she was near death.”I need you to pay attention,” she said.I’m present.”Please swear to me that you will steal my children. I don’t want them to be divided, and there isn’t anyone else. They’ve already lost a great deal.I’ll accept them and care for them as if they were my own.”Please assure me that you will take my children.The only one I trust is you.
I felt the weight of those words descend into me.”There’s another thing,” she murmured in an almost discernible voice.
I leaned in. “What is it?”
She shut her eyes. I briefly believed she had slept out. Then she opened them once more and gave me a stare so intense it made the back of my neck tingle.Something else is present.Rebecca, please keep a careful watch on her.”Of course.
Becca was the youngest and still a baby, so I assumed she was concerned, but those remarks subsequently haunted me.
It was easy to fulfill my commitment to Rachel when the time came. There were no close relatives willing to accept the children with her and her spouse. My spouse didn’t think twice.
Later on, their remarks haunted me.
We had six kids in one night.
In a way I couldn’t describe, the house felt fuller even though it was smaller, noisier, and messier.
But something changed as the weeks stretched into months. My spouse and I loved them all as if they were our own, and they grew to be as close as siblings. A few years later, things felt steady once more. I had begun to believe that we had succeeded.
However, there was a knock on the door one day when I was at home by myself.
A few years later, things felt steady once more.
I didn’t recognize the well-dressed woman standing on the porch.
She was perhaps five years younger than me. She wore a gray coat that looked costly, and her hair was pushed back tight. I was drawn to her gaze, though. They had a crimson tint, as if she had been crying lately.
She didn’t give her name.Rachel remarked, “You’re her friend.” “The one who adopted her four children?”
I didn’t recognize the well-dressed woman standing on the porch.
I nodded, but my skin prickled at the way she said it.
She continued. “Even though we don’t know one another, I must be honest with you because I knew Rachel. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find you.”What’s the truth?
“She wasn’t who she claimed to be,” she added, passing me an envelope. You should read this letter that she wrote to you.
With the door partially open, one hand still on the knob, and the hefty envelope in the other, I stood on the porch.
I opened the letter.
She gave me an envelope.
There was no mistaking Rachel’s penmanship. I felt as like I was losing my breath as I read her words.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve rewritten this since it always seems to express too much or too little. Which one you’ll hear, I’m not sure.
I continued to read.
Even though we’ve both given ourselves various stories afterward, I still recall exactly what we decided.
When you were pregnant and struggling to maintain your composure, you came to me. You expressed your love for your child to me, but you were worried about the consequences of trying to raise her the way things were at the time.
I can still clearly recall our agreement.
I glanced up at the unfamiliar woman. “What is this?”Simply continue reading.
I didn’t want to steal anything from you when I offered to adopt her. I did it because I believed I could keep everything in check until you were able to breathe normally again.
I crumpled the paper in my fingers. Wasn’t one of Rachel’s kids? And I was unaware of it?
We chose to keep it confidential. You didn’t want inquiries. Explanations were not what I wanted. It felt easier to tell people I was pregnant than to be honest. And because I thought it kept us all safe.
Wasn’t one of Rachel’s kids her own?I said, “So she wasn’t pregnant.”No, not with my girl, and now that you’re aware of the reality, it’s time to return her.”
I blocked the door by stepping sideways out of impulse.That isn’t taking place.
The woman moved in my direction. “I came here without the cops and in good faith. However, if you’re going to be challenging…Therefore, she wasn’t expecting.”
Even though my heart was racing and all of my instincts were telling me to do something—run, hide, do whatever it takes to keep my children safe—I somehow maintained my composure.She was adopted by Rachel. She was adopted by me. That doesn’t disappear just because you wish it to.That’s what she assured me of.” The lady gestured toward the letter. “It’s all there.”
Even though I wanted to rip the letter up and act like this woman had never come to my house, I made myself read it through.That’s what she assured me of.”
I previously promised to speak with you again when you were feeling better. that we would solve the problem. I’m not sure if that was fear or kindness, but I know it gave you hope. And I apologize for that.
I only ask that you consider her first. It’s about the life she has today, not about what was lost or what seems incomplete.I made a change in my life. I promise that I can now look after her. The woman’s lip quivered.
I apologize for it.She should be with her family and myself.
I reflected on the four kids upstairs and how meticulously we had constructed this family. Regarding Rachel’s confidence in me. And about how she had concealed this information from me.I said, “She lied to me.””Yes,” said the woman. “She lied to everyone.”However, she didn’t take your child, and she made no commitments to return her.”She misled me.
Her eyes blinked. “She convinced me to give her up, and she said we’d figure it out later.”The documents were signed by you. You were aware of the meaning of adoption.I had hoped for another opportunity! I pictured myself becoming the mother she deserved once I had my life together.That’s not how it operates,” I remarked, now speaking more softly. “You don’t get to come back years later and undo a child’s life.””I own her,” the woman demanded. “She has my blood.”She has siblings, a room filled with her belongings, and my name. I have the legal documentation to show that we are family even though we are not blood relatives.”It doesn’t operate that way.
Now almost imploring, the woman shook her head. “This cannot be done to me! You were meant to comprehend…”Yes, I do. I know what you’re asking and I know what Rachel did, but the answer is no.”You’re not even interested in finding out which one?”
It had to be Rachel because I remembered her saying, “Rebecca… keep a close eye on her, okay?”They’re all mine now, so it doesn’t matter,” I remarked. “Every single one of them. And I refuse to allow you to deny any of them that.”
She had to be the one.”I have rights,” she muttered. “Legal ones.”What topic are you discussing?”It was a private adoption. There were anomalies. My attorney says—”No! The answer is still no, regardless of what your attorney says.You can’t simply—”Observe me.
We looked down at one another.It was a private adoption.
I could see the years of regret and what-ifs, as well as the desperation in her eyes. However, I also noticed that she was prepared to ruin what was now in order to get back what she had lost.
At last, she rushed forward and grabbed the letter out of my grasp.You won’t be able to stop me from taking what is rightfully mine when I return.”
After turning, the woman down the stairs.
Leaning my forehead against the door, I shut it.
What-ifs and years of sorrow.
Rachel had said a falsehood.
She had maintained a big secret, and now I would have to search Rachel’s belongings for the original adoption documents and get legal advice. For safety’s sake.
A year later, the courts affirmed what I had always known: adoptions cannot be reversed simply because a person decides to change their mind.
Her original mother had no claim to Becca; she was mine.
I knew my family was safe and that no one could take any of my kids away from me when I walked down the courtroom stairs that day.
