I learned the whole story from my father while my mother was sleeping. If I want to hear the truth from anyone, my father would be the most trustworthy person on this matter. When my parents got married, they had high hopes of having children.
However, three years passed and nothing happened. Then my grandmother suggested adopting a child, as there is an old belief that this could trigger jealousy and lead to having a biological child. So my father went through the process of adopting me when I was just a child. I was raised with the best care, lacking nothing.
Then, when I was about four years old, my mother finally got pregnant, as they had hoped. She gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. However, the younger twin, the girl, was not in good health. Just three days after she was born, my mother's little girl passed away.
"At that time, your mother was in a terrible state. I thought she would lose her mind... Postpartum depression hit her hard. Nothing could cure her."
During this time, my mother refused to eat and cried constantly, blaming herself for the baby’s death. My father, unable to bear seeing her in such a state, decided to adopt another child and named her “View B.”
With this new daughter, my mother finally smiled again and was convinced that View B was the daughter she had lost, now reborn through another mother.
So, our mother devoted all her love to View B more than to anyone else, as you can see. Whatever she wanted, she got, and our mother never let her out of her sight. Sometimes our father had to remind our mother that she was being too partial to a child, but it was no use. They ended up arguing often because of it.
“I’ve heard our parents argue before,”
View B interrupted as she sit holding our mother’s hand, who remained oblivious in her sleep.
"That day, I overheard the conversation about adopting a child, and mother mentioned... she talked about you, P’May."
View B was overheard, and that’s how she found out. As for me, I had some idea of what was going on because I saw and understood everything when father brought it home, even though I was still young.
Father thought that one day the truth would come out. In fact, he had prepared many things to say, but when the time finally came, he still couldn’t fully accept it.
"But at least you two found out at a time when everyone was mature enough not to be completely overwhelmed."
Father sighed as he looked at the two of us.
"But still, it seems that your mother can’t accept it. She’s afraid that if the children ever find out they’re not her biological daughters, the love they share will change, and their behavior toward each other will be different.”
I looked away from my father, feeling guilty because what my mother was afraid of was exactly what I had become. When I discovered that I wasn’t really part of this family, I began to feel strange and embarrassed.
From someone who had always been true to myself and never listened to anyone, thinking that as a child I could do whatever I wanted, I suddenly changed when I found out.
I spoke gently to my mother, feeling respectful of my father and ashamed that I had disappointed him so many times.
If I had known earlier that I was adopted, maybe I would have endured medical school and finished it to repay the debt of gratitude…
"Will you and Mommy still love us the same?"
View B, who is much more direct than me, asked sincerely. Father looked at my sister and smiled warmly.
