So, who was the baby in the photo?
On the back of the image, in shaky handwriting that he recognized as Emily’s, were the words: “Mama will always love you.” Beneath them, a phone number.
Despite his trembling hands and the late hour, Mark called the number.
A woman answered, soft-spoken and cautious. Mark introduced himself and explained what he had found. There was a long pause, and then the woman, Sarah, spoke words that stopped him cold: “I’ve been waiting for this call for years.”
Mark revealed that Emily had pa:ss:ed away, and Sarah responded with deep sorrow. Then she said something even more sh0cking—she had adopted Emily’s daughter, Lily.
Everything around Mark seemed to blur. “Her daughter?” he asked, struggling to comprehend.
Sarah gently explained
Emily had been nineteen, a college freshman, when she gave birth. She knew she couldn’t raise the child and made the painful choice to give her up for adoption. Sarah, who had taken Lily in, assured Mark that Emily had done it out of love. She’d never forgotten her daughter. And Lily, now a grown woman, knew about her biological mother.
Mark’s heart was torn. He and Emily had spent years trying for a child, enduring doctors, treatments, and crushing disappointments. Through it all, Emily had never mentioned her past. The revelation felt like betrayal, but also like a glimpse into a chapter of Emily’s life she had hidden, perhaps out of shame or fear.
Sarah offered Mark the chance to meet Lily. She spoke warmly about the young woman—her kindness, her smile, how much she reminded her of Emily. But Mark hesitated.
The thought of meeting Lily stirred up conflicting emotions.
Part of him was drawn to her—this link to the woman he loved and lost. But another part was filled with uncertainty. How could he face her without resentment? Would he ever be able to look at her without feeling the sting of the secret Emily had kept?
In his letter, Mark wrote honestly: he didn’t know what to do. He wanted advice, a sense of direction. Should he open this new chapter, meet the daughter his wife never told him about, or leave the past untouched, protecting himself from more pain?
His grief, confusion, and longing bled through every word. “I don’t know if I can ever see Lily without the shadow of this truth standing between us,” he admitted. “But maybe, just maybe… meeting her is the only way I’ll truly understand Emily—and begin to heal.”
