Chapter 2 - The Truth About the Four Babies
Alex arrived at Little Nests before eight the next morning.
Elena was waiting.
She looked tired.
“Come in.”
He followed her upstairs.
The office was nothing like the polished corporate buildings he knew.
Colorful drawings covered the walls.
Photographs of children.
Bookshelves.
Small shoes lined near the entrance.
Everything felt warm.
Alive.
He had forgotten that Elena always wanted children around her.
She had talked about opening a daycare someday.
He had always told her to be realistic.
Now he realized she had done it anyway.
“You built all this?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After you left.”
He touched a framed photograph.
Elena and the four children.
All smiling.
“What are their names?”
She hesitated.
“Ethan. Emma. Noah. Grace.”
Alex repeated each name softly.
Four names.
His children.
“Why are there four?”
Elena looked at him.
“Sit.”
He did.
She opened a file.
“When the fertility specialist told me my chances were low, I wasn't devastated because of the numbers. I was devastated because I saw the way you started looking at me.”
“How?”
“Like I had failed you.”
He looked down.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
She continued.
“After our appointment, I went to another specialist.”
Alex's head lifted.
“Another?”
“Yes.”
“A fertility doctor?”
“A reproductive endocrinologist.”
She handed him a report.
“He believed the original assessment had been incomplete.”
Alex read.
The original diagnosis had been based on one set of tests.
The second doctor had found different results.
Pregnancy was difficult.
Not impossible.
Possible.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Elena's laugh was bitter.
“I was going to.”
She touched another file.
“But that wasn't all.”
“I became pregnant naturally.”
“I know.”
“I thought we were finally getting the family we'd wanted.”
Her expression changed.
“Then I started bleeding.”
Alex felt his stomach twist.
“I was admitted.”
“What happened?”
“The doctor found that I wasn't having one baby.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“I was carrying twins.”
His heart stopped.
“Then—”
“I lost one.”
She looked at the floor.
“I was twelve weeks pregnant.”
Alex couldn't speak.
“The pregnancy was complicated. I had a major hemorrhage. They told me I might lose the other baby.”
She swallowed.
“But the remaining fetus survived.”
“The baby.”
“Yes.”
“And that child was…?”
“Emma.”
Alex stared.
“That explains one.”
Elena nodded.
“After Emma was born, I discovered something.”
“What?”
“Three embryos had been created during one of our old fertility procedures.”
Alex frowned.
“We never did IVF.”
“We didn't.”
“Then why were embryos created?”
Elena looked at him.
“Your mother arranged it.”
His blood went cold.
“What?”
“She secretly paid for an IVF cycle using my eggs and your sperm.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It was never completed.”
“Then where did the embryos come from?”
“She had the procedure started without your knowledge.”
Alex stood.
“You're saying my mother took our reproductive material and had embryos created?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So you would always have an heir.”
He felt nauseated.
“That's insane.”
“It gets worse.”
Elena opened another folder.
“After you left, I learned what she had done.”
“You found the embryos?”
“Yes.”
“They were stored at a fertility clinic.”
She hesitated.
“I transferred them.”
“To where?”
“To another clinic.”
Alex stared.
“Why?”
“Because I needed answers.”
“And?”
“One of the doctors said all three were viable.”
Three.
Plus Emma.
Four.
His children.
His family.
The family he had walked away from.
“You chose to implant them?”
“No.”
She looked directly at him.
“I chose to donate them.”
Alex's confusion deepened.
“To another woman?”
“Yes.”
“Then—”
Elena's eyes softened.
“The woman who carried them became ill halfway through the pregnancy.”
He stopped.
“Pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“The embryos…”
“Were placed in a gestational carrier.”
“So those three aren't biologically yours?”
“They are genetically ours.”
The sentence destroyed him.
Three children created from their cells.
Three children he never knew existed.
One daughter born from the pregnancy Elena carried.
Four children who had inherited pieces of them.
“But how did all four end up with you?”
Elena looked down.
“Because the surrogate couldn't keep them.”
“What?”
“She died shortly after delivery.”
Alex sat back down.
Elena continued.
“She had no family who could take them.”
Alex could barely speak.
“So you adopted them.”
“Yes.”
“Your own genetic children.”
“Yes.”
“And you raised all four?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
Elena nodded.
He covered his face.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried once.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“I never received anything.”
“I sent a letter to the address your mother gave me.”
Alex looked up.
“My mother?”
“She told me you wanted nothing to do with me.”
He froze.
“What?”
“She said you had moved on.”
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
He stood.
“Elena, I swear to you, I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
She opened another file.
Inside were letters.
Dozens.
All unopened.
All addressed to Alex.
Alex picked up the first.
His name.
Her handwriting.
He opened it.
Dear Alex,
Emma smiled today.
She has your dimple.
I almost called you.
He opened another.
Ethan took his first steps.
He looks exactly like you did in the photograph from our honeymoon.
Another.
Grace asked why she doesn't have a daddy.
Another.
Noah has your temper.
Alex couldn't read further.
He sat down and cried.
He had not cried at the divorce.
Not at the funeral of his best friend.
Not when his father died.
But four five-year-olds were enough.
“You kept every letter?”
“I couldn't send them.”
“Why?”
“My mother intercepted them.”
He stared.
“She intercepted my letters?”
“She intercepted everything.”
“Why?”
Elena gave a bitter laugh.
“Because she wanted control.”
Alex's phone rang.
Beatrice.
He answered.
“Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“With Elena.”
Silence.
Then his mother's voice hardened.
“You need to leave.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what she's doing.”
“I understand exactly what she did.”
“You mean those children?”
Alex looked at Elena.
“Yes.”
His mother's breathing changed.
“How much has she told you?”
“Enough.”
“Alex, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You were protecting our family.”
“I was protecting your idea of our family.”
“Don't be dramatic.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You lied to me about Elena.”
“I told you what you needed to know.”
“You told me she could never become a mother.”
“She couldn't.”
“She had Emma.”
“That was a miracle.”
“You created three more embryos behind our backs.”
Beatrice was silent.
Alex felt something inside him turn cold.
“Why?”
“Because you needed options.”
“I needed my wife.”
“She couldn't give you what you needed.”
“She did.”
His mother's voice became furious.
“You don't know what those children mean.”
Alex froze.
“What?”
“There are documents.”
“What documents?”
“They belong to the Vance family.”
Alex's chest tightened.
“You knew about them?”
“Yes.”
“What documents?”
Beatrice hung up.
Alex stared at the phone.
Elena looked concerned.
“What did she say?”
Alex told her.
Elena's face changed.
“I knew there was another reason.”
“What?”
“When the embryos were transferred, I found a legal agreement.”
“Between whom?”
“Your mother and the fertility clinic.”
“What did it say?”
“I never got the full copy.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
Alex stood.
“I'm finding out.”
He looked at Elena.
“Tomorrow.”
“What?”
“I want to see the children.”
Her eyes softened.
“They're not a test.”
“I know.”
“They don't know you're their father.”
“I know.”
“Don't make promises you can't keep.”
“I won't.”
He paused.
“But I intend to earn the right to make them.”
Elena stared at him.
For the first time in years, she saw something in his eyes that wasn't entitlement.
It was regret.
And hope.
That afternoon, she let him meet them.
Emma walked into the room first.
She stopped.
Looked at him.
Then tilted her head.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Why does that man have Daddy's chin?”
Alex almost broke.
Ethan came next.
Then Noah.
Then Grace.
Four little faces.
Four pieces of him.
Grace walked up and touched his suit sleeve.
“Are you rich?”
Alex laughed through the tears.
“Not as rich as you think.”
She considered him.
“Mommy says rich people can still be lonely.”
Elena looked away.
Alex crouched.
“Your mommy is very smart.”
Grace nodded.
“She is.”
Then Noah stepped forward.
“Do you know how to play soccer?”
“No.”
“Then you're not Daddy.”
Alex's heart cracked.
He whispered:
“Maybe I can learn.”
Noah smiled.
“Okay.”
It wasn't forgiveness.
It wasn't love.
It was one tiny door opening.
And Alex would have taken it.
But later that night, when Elena was putting the children to bed, a stranger was already inside the Little Nests building.
He found a locked drawer.
Inside was the original fertility agreement.
He took it.
Then he left one thing behind.
May you like
A note.
The children were never meant to belong to Elena.
