Sophie, Henry’s daughter, spent time with Sandra, who was an exact replica of her mother, at school. They truly believed they were sisters. Henry resolved to find out what had transpired after meeting Sandra and her mother, as he was taken aback.
When Sophie turned seven and was ready to start second grade, Henry moved with her from Texas to Los Angeles. Alright, let’s get started. Sophie, your new school. At the drop-off, he asked his daughter, “Are you excited?”
“I think so,” Sophie responded, twirling her fingers around her skirt in nervousness. “What if no one likes me?”
“They will. You just have to be nice to everyone, and if someone is mean to you, you go the other way. No starting fights, ok?” Henry added and kissed her forehead.
With a wave, Sophie went to school. She found her classroom right away, and all the other students were in. But as soon as they saw her, the children’s eyes grew big, and several of them even gasped. She abruptly stopped at the threshold and gave the place a confused glance.
Her new classmates began to shift their gazes from her to a different girl seated in the back. As she peered in, she noticed a blonde head. One boy exclaimed, “It’s Sandra’s clone!” at that moment.
Sophie gasped when she spotted the girl near the rear of the classroom at that point. She was exactly like the girl! Sandra got up and gave the new girl a wide-eyed, gaping stare. “Whoa! We appear to be twins!” she cried, grinning broadly.
Sophie immediately felt at ease and grinned at the girl too. “Yeah. But why? I don’t have any sisters,” she responded.
“Me neither! It’s only my mom and me,” Sandra said and jumped towards Sophie, holding her hand. “Come sit with me.”
They spent a few minutes talking, and other kids approached them too. Then the teacher, Miss Carr, came in. “I believe we have a new student today, Sophie Douglas. Come say hello,” their teacher said and suddenly gasped a small, “Oh.”
“Miss Carr, she’s just like Sandra!” one kid said as Sophie made her way to the front of the classroom.
“Greetings, I’m Sophie. I enjoy reading and taking my dad to the beach. We just moved here from Texas, and I can’t wait to meet new people,” the girl exclaimed, grinning broadly at everyone. The class applauded, and Miss Carr joined in.
“That’s great, Sophie. And it looks like you have a twin in our class. That’s so cool! You can go sit down now. Ok, today we’re going to learn about frogs…” Miss Carr started her lesson immediately.
All day long, Sophie and Sandra played with all of Sandra’s friends. They were close before anyone could have predicted. Sophie told her father everything about Sandra and how similar they both looked after school.
Henry was eager to visit Sandra after hearing all about her new buddy this week, so he called her mother to discuss the situation. A few days after Sophie’s first day of her new school, they planned a playdate and made plans to meet at McDonald’s. Henry’s mouth dropped at the sight of Sandra and her mother, Wendy. It was astounding to him that her daughter hadn’t overstated anything.
The woman also gasped after seeing Sophie. “Oh my God. Hi! You must be Sophie. Sandra has been talking to me about you all this week. You really do look like twins!” Wendy exclaimed with a big smile. The girls went to the playground, and the adults could finally speak.
“Hello, I’m Henry. It’s nice to meet you,” Henry said, shaking Wendy’s hand. They sat down at one of the booths and talked some more.
She repeated the sentiment. “Wow, I just can’t believe it. I’ve read of counterparts, but this has to be something else,” Wendy commented as they watched the girls playing.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Sandra doesn’t know this yet, but I adopted her. Is Sophie yours biologically?”
“Yes. I mean, my ex-wife, Irene, discovered she was pregnant after we separated and had her. We co-parented, but she died a year ago, and so now, I have full custody. I was worried for Sophie, you know,” Henry blabbered. “She just lost her mother, and I had to move here for work. It’s too much change. But Sandra has been a godsend. Sophie has been smiling all week and talking about everything they have in common. I can’t thank your daughter enough.”
“Where have you relocated to?”
“Texas. We were Dallas residents,” Henry answered.
Wendy put her chin on her hand and hummed, “Hmm.”
“What?” Henry scowled at the woman as he wondered.
“I’m reluctant to say this. But I believe Sandra was born in Texas too,” Wendy revealed, wetting her lips with her tongue in hesitancy. “I’ll have to recheck her birth certificate. But is there any chance your late ex-wife had twins?”
“I don’t… I wasn’t there with her because of business. But no. It can’t be. I returned a week after she gave birth. She had already left the hospital, and I met Sophie in her home. So, there’s no way this could happen,” Henry replied, his eyes blinking fast, trying to think.
“At the time, were you and her in a good place?”
“Explain what you mean.”
“Well, if she felt like you wouldn’t be around, maybe she thought having two kids was too much,” Wendy suggested as carefully as she could.
“So, you’re saying she might have given one kid up and kept the other?” Henry asked, still not believing that Irene would’ve given one of their children up for adoption. “We were not good together, and that’s why we broke up. But this is just… I don’t know what else to say.”
“Is there a way for us to learn more?” Wendy pondered once more.
With his fingers tumbling through his hair and still in disbelief, Henry muttered, “I guess I could call the hospital and we could check things.” We would have to continue this conversation another day, though, because the girls returned at that very moment and indicated they were hungry.
A few days later, he returned to Texas with Sophie, staying at Wendy’s house. He made as many inquiries as he could and spoke with hospital employees. When a compassionate nurse finally noticed that Irene had given birth to two infants, she felt sorry for him.
Henry thought he was to blame, but regrettably he would never know why she had made the difficult decision to give up one kid.
I didn’t spend the most of her pregnancy with her, and I left her to give delivery alone. I’m the one who did this. She most likely knew she was expecting twins but chose not to inform me.
However, he was powerless to change the past at this point. All he could do was try to move forward and make excuses. Upon his return, Steve and Wendy obtained Sandra’s DNA test results, which validated their suspicions. However, Henry was able to identify Wendy as the girl’s mother. He would never attempt to drive them apart.
The grownups took a seat with the girls and did their best to fill them in on everything, including Sandra’s adoption. However, the twins cried out in joy, gave each other hugs, and said, “We’re sisters! We are siblings!”
Wendy and Henry were able to laugh at them and were relieved that they were content. Henry wanted to be a father to Sandra, but Wendy wasn’t sure how she would fit into Sophie’s life, so they had to work through this difficult situation.
They ultimately made the decision to co-parent as though they were both their legal parents, and it worked out wonderfully. It was ideal that the girls adjusted to this new normal more smoothly than they did.
One night, Sophie said something that shocked Henry. “Dad, why don’t you marry Wendy? Then she could be my mom too.”
“Oh honey, that’s complicated. Wendy and I are just good friends,” he responded.
“I’ll never forget my mom. But I like her. I think she could be good for you too,” Sophie insisted.
Henry smiled. “We’ll see.”
But it was as if his daughter had foreseen what would happen. He and Wendy eventually began dating. The daughters were both bridesmaids in their wedding, which took place when they turned twelve.