When Ryan and his wife couldn’t have children, they adopted a six-year-old boy who had been returned to the orphanage after almost being adopted. The kid looked precisely like Ryan, which raised everyone’s suspicions. And that’s when Ryan’s mother had something shocking to confess.
Today, they gathered at Ryan’s parents’ house so they could meet their son, and everything was going well. Thomas seemed to be adjusting great to his new life with them.
Ryan’s mother had something shocking to confess. | Source: Pexels
“I know. I think that’s partly why we felt such a connection with him, but it’s a little odd, right?” Ryan replied to his mother, sipping a beer and watching Sandra running around the yard with Thomas and his parents’ dog, Jiggle.
“Yeah, well. Apparently, he was adopted as a baby, but the adoptive parents chickened out, and he has been part of the system since then. It’s so sad. I can’t believe someone would do that,” Ryan explained to his mother.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe you can just return a kid. Who would do that? What about his birth parents?” Mrs. Phillips wondered.
The boy was now home with them. | Source: Getty Images
“They hadn’t completed the adoption, so they were allowed to return him. Otherwise, it would be considered a crime. And according to the orphanage director, the birth mother disappeared after giving the baby up. It was supposed to be an open adoption. That’s when the birth parents are involved in the process. But she gave them the baby and was gone. They tried calling her when Thomas was returned, but they couldn’t reach her,” Ryan revealed, shaking his head at how hard Thomas’ life had been already. Not anymore. Thomas was home with them.
Mrs. Phillips wondered why Thomas looked like her son. | Source: Pexels
“What?” Ryan asked, looking at his mother’s face.
“No, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Let me go play with my grandson too,” Mrs. Phillips deflected and rushed to join Thomas and Sandra.
Ryan stared at his mother in concern, scratching his chin. What was she thinking? What wasn’t she saying? he wondered while looking at his happy family.
Could Thomas be related to him in some way? Maybe, they had a distant relative. He should look into it. But he had to ask her more about it later.
He questioned his mother and crossed his arms at their doorway. | Source: Getty Images
The older woman looked down. “Oh, dear. My poker face is the worst,” Mrs. Phillips began and took a deep breath. “Look, I’m not certain, and I want to be wrong. I just… years ago, Haley came here to talk.”
“Haley? My ex-girlfriend?” Ryan asked, a million thoughts racing through his head.
Mrs. Phillips and her son were determined to find out the truth. | Source: Pexels
Ryan covered his mouth with his hand. “Mother… I can’t believe this. Why didn’t you say something back then?”
“She never came back. I figured it was a lie or that she had left town. I’m so sorry. But Thomas can’t be that child. It’s impossible,” Mrs. Phillips commented, wringing her hands and hoping her words were true.
“If she was pregnant right after we broke up… well, it could be Thomas. He’s the right age,” Ryan added, running a frustrated hand through his forehead.
Mrs. Phillips wondered what they would do if Thomas was Haley’s son. | Source: Getty Images
“What are you going to do? What if he’s Haley’s son?” Mrs. Phillips wondered, concern and guilt evident on her face.
“I’m going to do my best. We’ll find out the truth,” Ryan said seriously and looked at his mother’s ashamed expression. “Don’t worry, Mom. I think she tried to tell me what happened all those years ago, but I didn’t answer her calls. We both turned her away. But we’re going to do the right thing now.”
Ryan was unsure of himself. | Source: Pexels
“I don’t know. I don’t know where to start. I guess the orphanage should be able to give us more information. I mean, they said it was an open adoption,” Ryan mumbled, unsure of himself.
“Oh my God. That’s it!” Sandra exclaimed suddenly, She stood up from their bed and dug through some of the folders on their desk. One of them contained everything related to Thomas, and she took out his birth certificate from there.
“Wow,” Ryan breathed, looking at his ex-girlfriend’s name on Thomas’ birth certificate. “It has to be true. It would fit the timeline unless she rebounded fast.”
Ryan breathed, looking at his ex-girlfriend’s name on Thomas’ birth certificate. | Source: Getty Images
“Let’s get a DNA test and confirm it. But I don’t care either way, Ryan. Thomas is already our son,” Sandra gushed, holding her husband’s hand in support.
“Of course, he is. But it would be nice to know,” Ryan agreed.
They took a DNA test, which confirmed their suspicions. Thomas was Ryan’s biological son, which meant that Haley had not lied to his mother. But when they tried to find her, Ryan discovered that Haley had died in a car accident shortly after she gave Thomas up for adoption. The orphanage had no idea, and that’s why they couldn’t contact her when Thomas was returned to them.
Thomas was Ryan’s biological son. | Source: Pexels
Luckily, the DNA test made it easier for Ryan and Sandra to complete Thomas’ adoption. When he became a teenager, Ryan told him everything and apologized to him for not being there for his birth mother. However, his son forgave him as they had raised him with so much love, attention, and care that he never felt like anything was missing in his life.
But Ryan never ceased to marvel at the fact that he had somehow “adopted“ his kid.
What can we learn from this story?
- Some things are meant to happen. It almost seems like fate that Ryan and Sandra chose Thomas, not knowing who he was.
- Don’t assume people are lying right away. Mrs. Phillips shouldn’t have turned Haley away when she told him about her pregnancy. She should’ve confirmed it first and talked to her son about it.