Henry and his 7-year-old daughter Sophie moved from Texas to Los Angeles. Sophie was supposed to go to second grade.
“Well, here we are. Now you’re going to study here. Are you excited?” questioned his daughter Henry.
“I think so,” replied Sophie. She was visibly nervous, and to calm her anxiety a little, she rubbed the hem of her skirt with her fingers. “What if they don’t want to communicate with me?”
“They will. The main thing is to be polite to everyone, don’t respond to rudeness, just walk away. Don’t get into a fight. Okay?”, Henry reassured his daughter.
Sophie waved her father a “goodbye” and entered the building.
She had no trouble finding her class, everyone was in their seats by then. But as soon as she entered the classroom, the children opened their mouths and some even gasped when they saw Sophie. The girl remained standing in one place, gazing around incomprehensibly.
Her classmates looked from Sophie to the other girl in the back. Sophie tried to see which one of her classmates everybody was starring at. Just then she saw the girl’s blond hair. Suddenly one of the boys exclaimed loudly: “Look! Sandra’s clone!”
At that moment Sophie was able to see the girl in question and was shocked. The girl was exactly like her. Just then Sandra stood up from her seat, her eyes were wide open when she saw Sophie. “Wow! It’s like we’re twins!” the girl said with a smile.
Sophie exhaled in relief and smiled back at Sandra. “I wonder how that happened? I don’t have sisters,” she said.
“Neither do I. I’m alone at my mother’s,” Sandra replied and ran up to Sophie. She took the girl’s hand and said: “Sit down next to me.”
The girls chatted about something for a while, and other children gathered around them. Then the teacher, Miss Carr, entered the classroom. “We have an addition to our class today, Sophie Douglas. Let’s get acquainted,” the teacher said. But when she saw the girls, she gasped in amazement, “Ah!”
“Miss Carr, she’s a carbon copy of Sandra,” someone from the class pronounced as Sophie walked to the blackboard.
“Hello. My name is Sophie. I like to read and go to the beach with my dad. We used to live in Texas. I’m very glad I can make new friends,” the girl said, and a smile shone on her face. At that moment Miss Carr applauded, and the students joined her.
“Wonderful, Sophie. It seems we have your twin in our class. Amazing! Come on in and take your seat. Okay, guys, the topic of our lesson is frogs…” Ms. Carr started the lesson.
Sandra introduced Sophie to her friends and they played all day. Surprisingly, the girls quickly found common ground. After school, Sophie hurried to tell her father about Sandra and how much they were alike.
For the next week, Henry heard nothing but talk about his daughter’s new friend. Curiosity gripped him, he wanted to see this girl with his own eyes. So he called Sandra’s mother and made an appointment. It was decided to meet at McDonald’s.
A few days later, Henry and Sophie went to the cafe to meet Sandra and her mother. But when Henry saw the girl and her mother, Wendy, walk in, he was speechless. Everything his daughter said was true
Wendy gasped when she saw Sophie, too. “My God! Hi! You’re Sophie, aren’t you? Sandra talked about you so often. It’s amazing how much you look alike, like two drops,” she said admiringly. When the girls went off to the playground to play, the adults were able to talk quietly.
“Hello, I’m Henry, Sophie’s father. Nice to meet you,” Henry said and held out his hand to Wendy. They sat down at one of the tables and continued their conversation.
“Wow, what a way to go! I’ve heard of similar cases, but something different here,” Wendy said and looked at the playing girls.
“What do you mean?”
“You see… I never told Sandra, but I adopted her. And you’re Sophie’s biological father?”
“Yes. The thing is, Sophie’s mother found out she was pregnant when we were already separated. She gave birth to Sophie alone. We were co-parents. She passed away last year, and now I am the sole guardian of my daughter. I was worried about my daughter, I think you know what I mean,” Henry muttered. “Sophie lost her mother and I had to move to another city for work. It’s a meaningful change. But then Sandra came along and saved the situation.
Sophie was glowing with happiness, she kept talking about how much she and Sandra had in common. I’m very grateful to your daughter.”
“And where did you live before?”
“In Texas, we’re from Dallas,” Henry replied.
Wendy looked astonished.
“What’s the matter?”, Henry asked and frowned.
“I’d hate to talk about it. I believe Sandra was born in Texas, too,” Wendy replied in a hesitant voice. “We’ll have to check her birth certificate. Tell me, is it possible that your late wife could have had twins?”
“No…I wasn’t around; I was busy with business. But I don’t think so. It’s not possible. I arrived a week after my daughter was born. They had already been discharged from the hospital, so this was the first time I saw my daughter at her mother’s house. Exceptional,” the man replied. He blinked his eyes repeatedly and tried to comprehend what was happening.
“Did you have a good relationship then?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s possible that she didn’t feel your support and decided she couldn’t handle two children,” Wendy said cautiously.
“In other words, she kept one child and gave the other away?”, Henry clarified. He couldn’t believe Irene could do that. “We didn’t have the best relationship, which is why we separated. But to do something like this… I’m speechless.”
“Is there any way to find out?” questioned Wendy again.
“We could call the hospital and find out,” Henry pronounced. He was still in shock. Just then the girls came up to them and said they were hungry. So the conversation had to be postponed.
The next week he left Sophie at Wendy’s house and went to Texas to find out. He talked to the staff at the maternity hospital, trying to figure something out. Finally, one of the nurses took pity on him and told him that Irene had given birth to twins.
Alas, he was not destined to find out what motivated her to give up the baby. But he suggested that it was his fault, too.
“She had to give birth alone. I wasn’t there for her most of the pregnancy. It was my fault. She probably knew she was having twins, but she didn’t tell me anything.”
But there was no going back on the past. All he had to do was go forward and try to right his wrong. Upon returning home, he took a DNA test, which confirmed his paternity over Sandra. But Henry immediately stated that he would not separate Sandra and Wendy. She was still her mother.
Gathering their spirits, the adults told the girls the truth as clearly as possible. And that implied that Sandra was Wendy’s adopted daughter. But the twins were overjoyed, hugging each other and repeating, “We’re sisters! We’re sisters!”
All Henry and Wendy could do was be happy for the girls. It wasn’t easy for them, since Henry was going to be a father to another daughter and Wendy was worried about what role she would play in Sophie’s life.
In the end, they decided that they would raise the girls together as if they were legal parents. And it was the right decision. Sophie and Sandra endured the change in their lives much more easily than the adults did.
One evening Sophie said something that struck Henry hard. “Daddy, maybe you should marry Wendy. Then she’d be my mother.”
“Honey, it’s not that easy. Me and Wendy are just close friends,” he replied to his daughter.
“I’ll always remember my mother. But I like Wendy. I think you two are right for each other,” Sophie assured him.
Henry replied with a smile: “We’ll see.”
It was as if Sophie had foreseen his fate. After a while her father and Wendy would see each other. Eventually, when the girls turned 12, Henry and Wendy got married, and Sophie and Sandra were bridesmaids at the wedding.
