When the boys’ mother arrived, Estella froze—it was Emily, a woman she vaguely remembered. Emily gently explained that she had dated Neil and gotten pregnant shortly before his untimely death. Too scared and alone to reach out again, she raised the twins on her own, surviving day by day. She had knocked once on Estella’s door but left before finding the courage to speak.
Tears welled in Estella’s eyes as she embraced Emily and the children. Her sorrow melted into something new—hope. She welcomed them into her home and handed Emily the ring Neil once gave her, whispering, “You brought him back to me.” In that moment, her broken heart began to heal. For the first time in a decade, laughter echoed through her home again.
