It’s all going to be okay,” Thomas gently told his sister, marching alongside her while she was being carried to the operation room on a gurney. Leah’s sweaty brows furrowed as she tried to take a deep breath. “You’re… You’re the best older brother I could ask God for, Thomas,” she whispered as they entered the OR.
Leah had gone into labor at only 36 weeks of pregnancy, and the doctors had suggested performing a C-section. But soon after delivering the first baby, Leah’s pulse began dropping, and her condition worsened…
“Leah, please stay with me! Nurse, what’s happening?
Look at me, Leah! Look at me,” Thomas cried, his palms wrapped around his sister’s hand. “Doctor Spellman, you need to leave, please,” Dr.
Nichols said, escorting him outside. Then the doors of the OR were slammed shut. Thomas sank onto one of the chairs in the waiting area, his tears not stopping.
He could still smell his sister’s scent on his palms. He buried his face in his hands, hoping it would all be fine soon. But when a doctor’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, he could tell something was not right.
She’s dead! My sister…she didn’t even survive to see her kids!”
“Where are my children? I want to see them!” Joe screamed, yanking away Thomas’s arms.
“Don’t you even dare talk about them, Joe! Get out of my hospital, or I will call security!” Thomas warned him. “OUT!”
“I’m leaving now, but I’m going to get my children back, Thomas!
You can’t take them away from me,” Joe shot back as he disappeared away from the hallway. For the sake of his three little nephews, Thomas decided he couldn’t just sit and mourn his sister’s loss. He was all his nephews had, and he would do anything to ensure the children didn’t grow up under their alcoholic father’s care.
So Thomas decided to adopt the triplets, and he fought for their custody in court. “This is unfair, your honor!” Joe screamed on the witness stand, shedding fake tears. “I am the kids’ father.
How would I survive without those little lives? They are Leah’s flesh and blood, MY flesh and blood, and they are all I have now!”
“Let me get something clear,” the judge told Joe. “You were not married to the children’s mother, Leah, nor did you support her financially while she was pregnant.
Is that right?”
“Well, you’re not wrong, your Honor,” Joe sighed, lowering his head. “I work as a handyman and take up small gigs. I couldn’t afford to support her, and that’s the reason why we didn’t get married.”
“Pardon me, your honor, but my client has text messages and voice notes from his sister where she clearly states that Mr.
Dawson is a heavy drinker,” said Thomas’s lawyer. “And she refused to marry him unless he entered a rehabilitation program.” The lawyer presented the evidence in court, convincing the judge that Joe was not fit to raise the children, and the court decided in favor of Thomas. As Thomas walked out of the courtroom, he looked up at the bright skies, remembering his sister.
“I had promised you I would do my best to help you. I hope I didn’t disappoint you, Leah,” he whispered with teary eyes. Right then, Joe stormed out of the court and grabbed Thomas’s arm.
“I’m the real father of the children, and I’m going to fight for them, Thomas. Don’t be too proud that you’ve won for now.”
Thomas pulled his arm from Joe’s grasp and glared at him. “That’s exactly why you’re not fit to become their father, Joe!
You shouldn’t fight for the children but for the children’s sake!”
When Thomas returned home from the court, satisfied that Leah’s kids were safe with him, he saw his wife packing her bags. “What’s going on, Susannah?” he asked, bewildered. “What’s with all the packing at this time?”
“I’m sorry, Thomas,” she huffed, zipping the last bag.
“I’m not even sure if I want children at all, and here you have three at once. You won the case, didn’t you? Well, I thought it over, but I don’t think I want to spend the next few years of my life changing diapers.
I didn’t sign up for this when I married you, Thomas. Sorry.”
And then Susannah was gone. Thomas looked around the house, and he still couldn’t believe he was left all alone to care for his nephews.
He pulled out a bottle from the wine rack in frustration, but just as he tossed away the cork, his gaze was drawn to the screensaver on his phone. His three little nephews were waiting for him. He couldn’t just drown in his sorrows and leave them to their fates.
“I promised Leah I would give them a good life. I can’t do this!” He returned the wine bottle to the rack and walked away. Time flew by, and the triplets, Jayden, Noah, and Andy, were raised in the love and care of Thomas.
Whether it was cleaning the boys’ poopy diapers or lulling them to sleep with his tragically unmelodic voice, Thomas loved each moment he spent with his nephews. But their care also took a toll on his physical and mental health, and one day, Thomas collapsed at work. He dismissed it as a lack of sleep and left to pick up his nephews from kindergarten.
