Aiden lost his mother at the age of six. Doctors diagnosed Adeline with cancer, leaving the woman with only a few months to live.
When Aiden’s mother passed away, he was heartbroken. While his father Edward was cold and distant, as if he wasn’t worried about the loss at all. He also did not remain a widower for long. Soon a woman named Lisa came into the house and into Edward and Aiden’s lives.
As time passed, Aiden began to realize that Lisa was taking over the house and had no intention to leave. At first Lisa was friendly and nice to the boy, but right after she and Edward got married, it was as if the woman had been replaced. Aiden’s father had not shown much love for his son before, but with Lisa in the picture he paid no attention to the boy at all, devoting himself entirely to his new chosen one.
One day Aiden asked his father to give him some money for his mother. The fact was that Adeline’s thirtieth birthday was approaching, and the boy wanted to give his mother her favorite flowers. Before he could say anything, Lisa abruptly interrupted him, “What else did you think of?” the woman said sternly. “You got your pocket money last week, didn’t you?”
“It’s safe, I didn’t touch it,” Aiden answered quietly. “But I don’t have enough of that money. My mother’s birthday is coming up, and I want to buy her flowers.”
Lisa cocked an eyebrow. “Look, boy, no one here is interested in hearing about your dead mother. That’s why you better stop wasting our money. All right?”
“Please, I’m begging you,” Aiden could barely hold back tears, Lisa’s words hurt him. “This is my last request. This is my mother, after all.” With hope in his voice, he turned to his father: “Daddy! Please, I give you my word!”
But the adults remained indifferent to his request. “Aidan, Lisa’s got it right,” Edward said. “I understand you miss your mother, but it’s not a good idea to spend money on things like this. And then, you see that Lisa and I are trying for you to have everything.”
The resentment overwhelmed Aiden. He ran out of the house, clutching in his hand a picture of Adeline smiling happily and holding white lilies. Aiden ran to the flower store and stopped. “I’m sorry, Mommy!” he uttered with tears in his eyes. “If I were an adult and could earn my own money… I promise you, Mommy, when I’m older, I’ll buy you a whole garden of lilies.”
The store clerk saw the crying boy and asked the reason for his tears. Aiden told the florist that today was his dead mother’s birthday and he wanted to buy her a bouquet of flowers, but his $2 wasn’t enough to buy. But the salesman had nothing to offer. All upset, the boy headed for the exit. Suddenly a stranger volunteered to help Aiden. “Give me what this boy wants, please,” he appealed to the florist. “I’ll pay for the purchase.” Aiden could barely hold back tears at the man’s action. “Thank you! My mother will be very happy. After all, it’s her birthday today.”
At this point the stranger sat down and turned to Aiden with a smile. “It’s a blessing for any mother to have a son like you. You know, and we have something in common. I came in here to buy lilies, too.”
Aiden wiped the tears from his face and asked: “Are they for your mom, too?”
The man laughed in response, liking the boy’s directness. “No, boy, they’re not for mom. These flowers are for someone dear to me. Unfortunately, I’m in a hurry, and I can’t tell you my story. Have a nice day!” The stranger shook the boy’s hand, paid for the flowers, and left.”
Happy Aiden went with a bouquet of lilies to his mother’s grave. He sat down next to it. The weather outside was cold. He wrapped himself tightly in the jacket Adeline had bought him for his last birthday. Aiden lowered the lilies onto the grave and turned to his mother, “How are you, Mother? I hope you’re having a good time there. I can’t say I have, today wasn’t a good day. How I wish you were here now so I could talk to you about everything.
Daddy refused my request today and wouldn’t give me the money to buy you flowers. I was very hurt. But a stranger turned out to be kind and sympathetic, just like you. He helped me.” Tears came to Aiden’s eyes. “Mother, do you remember my comrade Alex?”, Aiden continued in a trembling voice. “In his sad moments, he comes to his mother and they talk for a long time. I wish I could have that, too. Mommy, come back! I swear I’ll never disturb you. I miss you so much!” He couldn’t hold back any longer and cried his eyes out.
At that moment a voice came from behind him. “Rest assured, Mom misses you very much,” Aiden heard. When he turned around, he saw that stranger from the flower store in front of him.
“You?! Adeline’s your mom?” the man said in surprise.
Aiden nodded affirmatively, wiping away his tears with his hand. “Do you know my mother? How?” the boy inquired.
“She used to be a good friend of mine, but due to certain circumstances we stopped talking,” the stranger explained. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“My name is Aiden,” the boy replied with a smile. “And what is your name? I want to tell my mother about you.”
“My name is William,” the man replied, smiling at Aiden. “Just call me Will.”
“Great! I’ll call you Uncle Will,” Aiden agreed. “I was just telling my mother about the good deed you did for me today. I’m very happy to see you again. Let’s congratulate Mom together.”
William happily agreed. They shared a cake that Will had brought with him, and later he took Aiden home. “Why don’t you come over to our house, Uncle Will?”, Aiden asked. “My mother always taught me that when someone helps you, you should thank that person or at least offer to come visit.”
“Really? Well, since your mom talked about it, that’s what you should do. I’ll put the car in now and come over. You go in the meantime,” William said.
The boy got out of the car and headed toward the house in joy when suddenly Lisa stopped him. “What took you so long? You picked a bad time to come back. Is this how your dead mother raised you, then?”
“None of your business,” Aiden objected to her. “Let me come in.”
“Did I just hear that? What did you just say?”, Lisa clenched her fists in anger.
“I don’t want to continue this conversation with you. You’re bad!”, Aiden shouted loudly.
Lisa finally lost her temper and was about to swing at the boy to hit him, but at that time William appeared. “Take it easy, miss. Don’t you dare lay a finger on him!”
“What right do you have to interfere?”, Lisa’s angry gaze fell on William. “My son, whatever I want, I do!”
“Wrong. THIS IS MY SON!”, shouted William.
At his shout Edward ran out. “What’s that supposed to mean? What are you doing here? How dare you take over my son in the first place?”
“I suggest we call the police and arrange for a DNA test. How do you feel about that, Edward?”, Will addressed him.
“I don’t care,” Edward answered grudgingly. “It’s even better that you showed up. You can take your luggage. I’m not going to raise this puppy anymore.”
“Daddy!” cried Aiden. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I am. I would have given you to a shelter anyway. You’re not my problem, and I have no desire to mess with you any further.”
William hugged Aiden, and when he calmed down, he told him the whole story. It turned out that William and Adeline had a great love affair. They had dreamed of having a family. But their happiness was short. When Adeline was pregnant, William had a terrible accident.
Fearing that William would never recover, Adeline accepted Edward’s proposal, who was always by her side and supported her in everything. However, when Will recovered and came to Adeline, time was lost.
“I have no right to keep you by my side, little one,” William concluded the story. “But I always knew about you and remembered you.”
“I learned I had a son from your mother’s lips. We saw each other once, when she was already married. I sent you letters every year, but I understand Edward never gave you anything. I was sure he was an excellent father to you, as Adeline assured me he was. I realize now that he was just pretending to be a good one. I’m sorry I acted that way today, I just couldn’t see the state you were in.”
Aiden paused for a moment, and then pressed himself tightly against William. “I think Mom would have done the same thing if she were around right now. I want to be with you, Daddy, and I don’t want to go back.” Tears of happiness overwhelmed William as he heard the long-awaited words from his own son for the first time.
