When my 14-year-old daughter came home from school carrying a stroller with two newborn babies inside, I thought that was the most shocking moment of my life. Ten years later, a lawyer’s phone call about millions of dollars would prove me completely wrong.
Looking back now, I should have known something extraordinary was coming. My daughter, Savannah, had always been different from other kids her age.
While her friends obsessed over boy bands and makeup tutorials, she spent her evenings whispering prayers into her pillow.
“God, please send me a brother or sister,” I’d hear her say night after night through her bedroom door. “I promise I’ll be the best big sister ever. I’ll help with everything.
Please, just one baby to love.”
It broke my heart every time.
Mark and I had tried for years to give her a sibling, but after several miscarriages, the doctors told us it wasn’t meant to be. We’d explained this to Savannah as gently as we could, but she never stopped hoping.
We weren’t wealthy people. Mark worked maintenance at the local community college, fixing broken pipes and painting hallways.
I taught art classes at the recreation center, helping kids discover their creativity with watercolors and clay.
We managed just fine, but there wasn’t much left over for extras. Still, our small house was filled with laughter and love, and Savannah never complained about what we couldn’t afford.
She was 14 that autumn, all long legs and wild curly hair, still young enough to believe in miracles but old enough to understand heartbreak. I thought her baby prayers were just childhood wishes that would fade with time.
But then came that afternoon when I witnessed the unexpected.
I was in the kitchen, grading some artwork from my afternoon class, when I heard the front door slam.
Usually, Savannah would call out her usual “Mom, I’m home!” and head straight for the refrigerator.
This time, the house stayed eerily quiet.
“Savannah?” I called out. “Everything okay, honey?”
Her voice came back shaky and breathless. “Mom, you need to come outside.
Right now. Please.”
Something in her tone made my heart skip a beat. I rushed through the living room and flung open the front door, expecting to see her injured or upset about something at school.
Instead, I found my 14-year-old daughter standing on our porch, her face pale as paper, clutching the handle of an old, worn stroller.