‘Mom, Do You Want to Meet Your Clone?’ – What My 5-Year-Old Said Uncovered a Secret I Wasn’t Ready For

Emily thinks her daughter is joking about a clone, but a hidden camera and an unfamiliar voice talking in a different language make it clear otherwise. The novel is a profound story on motherhood, people’s identities and the family that turns out to be missing from our lives, even if we didn’t notice.
When I arrived home after work that day, I was exhausted just like mothers can be and it made me tired in ways others don’t experience.

I put aside my heels, grabbed a glass of juice and stepped toward the couch when I sensed someone pulling my sleeve.

Lily looked up at Mommy and said, “Mommy.” Do you wish to meet a version of yourself?

“My what?” I gasped. Lily was five years old which means she might not have fully understood what a clone was.

“Your clone,” she said casually, acting as if it was the most obvious thing to her. She arrives when you are away at work. Daddy told me that having the toy will make it easier for me to miss you less.

I started laughing at the beginning. That chuckle parents make when children come out with something strange and you aren’t sure if it means you have to worry. Lily spoke so clearly for her age which used to make me a bit scared.

The way Lily spoke, with a kind of calm reassurance, made my skin suddenly tingle. I had little doubt that she wasn’t only talking about an imaginary friend.

Jason had been home on parental leave for six months. After getting promoted, we decided I’d work full-time and he would look after Lily at home.

It fit together well. He was exceptional with her, really. He would be patient, lively and loving. But in the past few weeks, a change was happening inside of me. All those odd thoughts were crossed from my mind, but I now knew I couldn’t avoid them.

Nevermind that Lily was saying things no one expected.

ONE OF YOU tucked me in for a nap during the day.

When you read about the bear and the bee, your voice sounded really different.

It looks like you had even curler hair this morning, Mama. What happened?”
Still, I put it down to her vivid imagination as every part of me tried to scream otherwise. Things were more complicated than that. Such a thing cannot happen.

Jason showed a smile and explained, “That’s normal for kids.”

However, those worries? It stayed in my thoughts.

It was one night after dinner when I was brushing Lily’s hair that she turned around and looked at me.
Mama arrives before your nap time each day. There are times when boys and girls go into the bedroom and close the door for privacy.

“They?” I spoke in a quiet way. “Who?”

Daddy and your copy! she said.

All movement in my hand was arrested.

Are you asked to stay out of school? I asked in a soft voice.
“However, I looked once,” she said.

So, what were they focusing on most of the time? I was already afraid before she could say what happened.

She said that she wasn’t quite sure yet. I could tell that Daddy was crying. She gave him a hug. Then she spoke not in English.

A language you have not used before? What was happening with my family that wasn’t right?
Lily went to bed and afterward I spent time at the kitchen table alone and did not even touch my meal.

I lost my interest in food. All my thoughts went around and around in my mind, bouncing off the same unanswerable question:

Suppose she is having an actual experience and not imagining it?

Not having a good night’s sleep made me both more tired and more stressed by the next day. So, as the light from the sun took over the bedroom, I got out Lily’s old nanny cam from the closet.

Ever since Jason chose parental leave, he did not feel a need for a nanny or a nanny cam anymore.

A little jitter came over my hands as I started untangling the cord. I tried it out and I’m very glad it still functioned. I assembled it in our room, putting it among the books on the bookshelf and just right for the photo.

I notified work by texting that I had to take the afternoon off. I didn’t mind that it was a lie. I was already very anxious about the event hours in advance.

Around midday, I went to the local library, placed my laptop on a table and prepared the live feed.

After a little while, I drank some water and smiled at a teenage couple trying to keep hidden behind the shelves. We used to manage somehow and keep going like Jason and I had done. We used to be a young couple always holding hands. Side by side everywhere they went. Always smiling.

But before I could think too much more, something started happening in the live video. I had my headphones in by the end, hoping to hear some kind of music.

There was a female character. She moved into my bedroom as if it was her usual place. Her hair was past my shoulders and her skin looked a little deeper in color.

The face, though, was nothing other than mine.

I looked at the display, hoping it would act up and explain itself. I found myself with a dry mouth. I notice that my hands are very cold.

I put my laptop in the car and drove right back home. I left my car a block past my house and started running home quickly.
Hot with fear, I slipped in quietly at the back and slunk into the darkness of the hallway.

I could hear light laughter coming out of the living room. There is a gentle female voice speaking Spanish in the conversation.

I moved forward calmly and steady.
Jason had his hand in Lily’s as they stood there. They weren’t bloodshot from staying up or looking at a screen; those red eyes came from his tears.

He has always had a lot of feeling. Not easily broken, just very expressive. All the secrets started coming out now.

Her was right beside him. The individual on the live camera.
My clone. My twin, my… I don’t know what I am.

I basically saw in her a different version of myself. She had lost some weight, became kinder and a bit more untidy. She was not pretending to be something she wasn’t. A strange place it was.

She was quite unusual.

Happiness came into Lily’s eyes.

“Mama!” she squealed. “Surprise! It looks like you arrived at home early today. Isn’t she a beauty to look at? Your clone!”

There was something sparkling in her eyes. She walked forward, feeling very nervous.
I am very sorry about this. I didn’t want to frighten you, Emily,” she said, giving my name a hard drag. I have waited my whole life for this moment to come.

Her speech-pattern had a quiet Argentine accent. She spoke English beautifully, but what she said sounded like wonderful music.

Jason looked at me, his voice gentle and a little shy.

Camila is the name he said. She is your sister and she is your twin.
I was unable to say anything. I was no longer able to stand on my own knees. And I flopped down onto the sofa.

First my body got icy cold, then it became numb and only then did I get sweaty everywhere. Twin sister? When in the world did that occur?

Jason got down next to me and spoke in a low voice.

Shannon contacted me two months ago. Via the services offered by an international adoption registry. It’s been years since she has been looking for you. She made sure not to say too much all at once.
He paused. I held the room in an atmosphere of quiet. Lily too did not make a sound.

Camila wanted to discuss it with me to be certain. She was full of fear. In fact, sometimes I felt just the same. I meant to mention it to you last night. At the same time, I became nervous. I thought that you’d never be able to forgive me.

He explained all his thoughts to me. About the small hospital where I was born which was a memory my mind no longer held. He shared with me how such adoption works, how the papers are messy and how a loving couple in Argentina became her family. She was raised bilingually, in strong educational environments and always knew she had a sister somewhere.

And it had taken Camila many years to find it.
It seems she came across my company’s new charity drive when looking through online forums. I saw a photo of myself, grinning, feeling happy and with lots of balloons.

She saw right away who I was from the look in my eyes.

While he talked, I looked at him. Really looked.

The eyes that are a deep, almost crimson color. How he spoke with a tremor.
He’d kept his secret close to his chest for weeks, helped Camila find Lily, organized the reunion and aimed to protect everyone’s feelings. I observed this when he kept looking back at the two of us and held Lily’s hand very closely, as if she was all that was keeping him steady.

I imagined that every day he thought: Emily might feel betrayed if she found out. What if building something new ends up spoiling something important?

He didn’t only cry for today’s reasons. Every slow and quiet day in the days leading up to this one was a part of it. And how good it was to have it finally out.

He informed me that I was at work when woman identified as Camila was at the door. Lily and he were there and Camila did not feel comfortable randomly calling.

Thus, they made plans and scheme. It came as a big shock. An introductory section that invites the reader in slowly. Let Lily help “prepare Mama to go out.”

Camila’s guardians thought Alex would never use the word clone to describe her. Her straightforward approach was unanticipated by anyone.

All they hoped for was that it would be unique.

I stared into her beautiful face. It was as if I saw all the things about myself that had changed before me. Same features. Same mouth. listening to her, her voice sounded so musical. She felt both happy and very sad at the same time.

“I just wanted to know who you are,” was her reply. I am confused about it. It was much easier because of Lily. Emily is a really wonderful person.

I probably should have gotten angry. I should have told them what I thought and why they didn’t tell me.
Nevertheless, I didn’t do that. I came to her, put my arms around her and hugged her. I did not feel the terrible feeling of betrayal; something else took its place. Something warm. Something that worked.

Camila and I went to see Aunt Sofia, my mother’s younger sister, on the following morning. After Mom died, many years went by without us staying close. Only an occasional holiday card, the occasional Facebook like and a phone call now and then to see how Lily was.

Once I called and explained, “I really need to speak to you.” Camila is here with me,” then she paused.

Let us go, she said. I can make breakfast for you.

She had to steady her hands when she opened the door. She looked as if a ghost had appeared in her house and after a brief gasp, she ran in through the door.

Whispering to my dead mother, Melinda’s eyes were filled with tears. Your daughters are seeing each other again now!

We were at her kitchen table, where I colored when I was a kid and she was holding the familiar chipped mug.

She said, “She looks just like you,” as she looked from one of us to the other. And just as one of a kind as you are. It seems really odd, doesn’t it?

She picked up a bit of tres leches cake and began to eat it, smiling a silent smile.

We tried to be kind in asking the question.

Why did no one ever inform me? I asked. Why did we get separated in the first place?

Aunt Sofia let out a long breath. Her face drew in as if she was suffering from grief, not from years.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen that you and I were apart,” she whispered softly.

She loved each of you in her own way. But life was difficult for your parents in those days. The family lived in the village until your father was able to get work that would last in the city.

Fedacen barely had food for themselves which meant they would not have enough for two growing babies.

She took her mug from her hands and looked straight at us..

You were just perfect when you were born. Pink, noisy and confident! But Emily, I could hear no breath coming from you. The labor midwife spent some time helping you through the hard part.

Your mother feared that she would not have you anymore. She brought a blanket and had you sit close to her heart all night long. And when the adoption coordinator came in the morning, she wasn’t ready to let you go.

I took in a deep breath. Camila cried as she noticed her tears appearing. I understood my birth was complicated, though my mother did not give many details.

Her mom worried I was healthy and gave me away, so she would go to a better home. Camila whispered.

No, my child,” she told him. She let go in the belief that you would be able to survive. Her goal was to give at least on of you a life that began without hardship.

The silence in the room got thicker and was interrupted only by the buzzing of the old refrigerator.
She had always hoped both of you would meet each other some day, I think. Gloria often mentioned her ‘other girl’ to everyone. Even at that point it’s not over.

She leaned across and took my hand and I did the same for her. There was the same tiny tremble… the same steady pulse.

Not identical. But in the end we feel whole.
On that weekend, my husband held the surprise party he wasn’t letting me know about. Balloons, various dishes and a big cake were part of the decorations. Both my parents had left this world long before. I used to think I had no siblings.

Many years passed and Genie was never absent from me. I was not aware of it until now.
What might appear as heartbreak… may really bring good. Often, when your kid confides an unbelievable tale, it ends up being one of the strangest true things you never knew about yourself.
Read another story, if you enjoyed the first one.

To stop worrying about her two-year-old, Rachel secretly installs cameras while the sitter is watching her child. When her daughter’s nightmares in nap time start, the recordings uncover an awful reality that rips away her trust. Before it becomes too late, Rachel has to deal with the real threat.