My name is Mila and my husband is Alex. We were married seven years ago. The wedding was wonderful and fun.
The guests wished us love, understanding and, of course, children. We rushed to have them right after the wedding.
My first pregnancy was unsuccessful, the embryo froze in development. We mourned and continued our efforts. But again it did not work. The second pregnancy was even worse than the first — it was an ectopic pregnancy. And after the operation I was given a terrible diagnosis — I could never have children again.
Now our grief was immense. Alex and I both took it hard. We began to live for ourselves. But we were now in the thirties. We have everything we need: a flat, two cars. We entertain ourselves by travelling twice a year, but there’s a feeling of emptiness in our lives.
Alex was the first to talk about adoption:
«Mila, why don’t we take someone from an orphanage? Everyone has children… everyone talks about prams, scooters and cartoons… I want to raise a child too…»
«Alex, I thought about it, but somehow I was afraid to ask you. What do you want? A boy or a girl?»
«I don’t care, but probably a girl, I want to raise her like a princess!»
«OK. Agreed.»
We started the paperwork. We were able to get the adoption licence very quickly because of our financial situation. And then came the big day when we went to meet the children at the orphanage. We weren’t expecting a newborn, it was a long wait, but there were lots of older children there.
The children were playing in the playground when we arrived. We stood apart and started to look at them. Suddenly I felt someone tugging at my hem. When I looked down I saw a little girl, blonde with funny freckles. She looked about three or four years old. She smiled and asked me:
«Auntie, aren’t you my mother?»
My heart almost stopped. I didn’t know what to say, but the tears flowed from my eyes and the words came from my lips:
«Yes, my darling, daddy and I are here for you!»
Alex took the baby in his arms and we went to see the director of the orphanage. When he saw the little girl in our arms, he shook his head negatively with some regret and asked the teacher to take the child. He took us into his office for a chat.
«You see… it’s complicated… this girl is not alone…»
I interrupted the director:
«So what, we’ll take both! Does she have a brother?»
«No, she has two sisters… They’re triplets. Are you taking them all?»
Alex and I clapped our eyes together. Three identical princesses? Is that even possible?
«They were abandoned by their parents?»
«Their mother is one of our foster children. She was very young when she became pregnant… And then three at once, so her body couldn’t cope: the children were saved, but she wasn’t… No one took them as babies. Who needs three at once? You can’t separate them!»
«We can!»
Alex said confidently, getting up from his chair.
«Come on, let’s show them all!»
We hurried to the girls. They immediately treated us like family, flooding us with questions and stories. A few days later the five of us went to look for a new, bigger flat, because we needed a lot of space for our now large family!