Woman Adopts Orphan Boy, Few Years Later Millionaire Knocks on Door Claiming to Be His Father — Story of the Day

A grieving mother who loses her son in a terrible accident adopts an orphaned boy, but their happiness is threatened when a millionaire claims he is the child's father.

Maggie Walgreen had thought the day her divorce was final had been the worse day of her life, signing away her dreams of happiness, her fantasy of being loved. But that day was nothing to the day her son died.

That day Maggie died too, but it all started so innocently. She had dressed her three-year-old as she did every morning, tickling him, delighting in his wiggles and giggles. Then she had strapped him into the car seat and that was where her memory ended.

The next memory she retained was of a dizzy spin through space and a jarring fall to earth that plunged her into darkness. When she woke she was in a hospital and her ex-husband was by her bedside.

Maggie saw the pain in his eyes, the tear tracks on his cheeks, and she forgot that she hated him. She struggled upright. "Sean?" she gasped. "Alex where is Sean?"

Great sorrows break our hearts, but giving love heals us.

Her ex-husband just shook his head and held her hand. When Maggie started screaming, the nurse came in and the brief pain of a needle prick sent her back into oblivion. It took her months to surface.

With her son gone, Maggie had no reason to live. "Why?" she kept asking, but no one answered, so she started asking "How?" Her queries led her to the Sheriff's department where an officer told her what they had pieced together from the crash.

"A car swerved into your lane, and there was a head-on collision," the officer said gently. "From the tire marks, we could tell you tried to get away, but it was impossible."

Maggie had tears running down her cheeks. "My son?" she whispered.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Walgreen," the officer said. "Your son died on impact. He didn't suffer..."

"And the other car?" Maggie asked. "What about the people in the other car?"

"An examination of the car showed that the breaks had failed," the officer explained. "The driver is in a coma and has been for six months now. He was the only passenger."

As Maggie was walking out, she saw a photo on the noticeboard of a boy a little younger than Sean, with big brown eyes. "Who's that boy?" she asked the officer. "Is he missing?"

The officer shook his head and said, "No, we found him in the woods close to the highway two days after your accident. He's at the local orphanage. The doctors think he is around two years old.

"We're still trying to find his parents but all he knows is his name is Peter Rabbit and hugs that toy. We can't tell if it's the toy's name or his. He says he has no mother and his father's name is 'Daddy.'"

The next day, Maggie went to the orphanage and asked to see the boy. He was a sweet, shy child, who clutched a stuffed Peter Rabbit to his chest. "That was with him when they found him," one of the councilors told Maggie. "He calls himself Peter, but it may be the toy's name."

Maggie started visiting Peter almost every day, and soon the boy started opening up to her. In Peter's presence, Maggie's pain softened to a distant ache. This boy needed her, she felt. She decided to do something about it.

After talking to Childen's Services and the councilors, Maggie set the legal wheels in motion, then she went to speak to Peter. "Peter Rabbit," she said in a serious voice. "I have a question for you."

The boy looked up at her with limpid eyes. "For Peter Rabbit?" he asked in his whispery voice.

"Yes," Maggie said. "I wanted to ask Peter Rabbit if he'd like to come home with me, to stay."

"Oh!" the boy whispered in awe. "You mean like a REAL mommy?"

"Yes," Maggie said, as tears filled her eyes. "Like a real mommy."

Peter's presence transformed Maggie's life. The pain of Sean's death was there, but so was the joy of watching Peter come out of his shell little by little and blossom into a mischievous fun-loving little boy.

Maggie thought that she'd found her way back, that her life had new meaning, but two years later, a stranger came knocking and turned her life upside down. Maggie opened the door and found a tall man with a drawn face standing on her doorstep.

"Mrs. Walgreen?" he asked. "I'm Simon Ball. I was in the other car...the accident..."

Peter Ball? Maggie knew that name. He was a millionaire software developer. Maggie drew back. "If you were involved in my son's accident," she cried. "Please, go away."

"The boy..." Simon said. "They said the boy..."

"You mean my son?" asked Maggie. "My son is dead."

Simon shook his head. "No, not your son," he said. "I'm so sorry about that, but I think the boy you adopted is MY son."

"Your son?" asked Maggie, aghast. "Peter?"

"Yes," Simon said. "I've been in a coma. No one else knew Peter was in the car with me. I have no family you see, and I'd just fired Peter's nurse. They only connected him to the lost boy now that I asked for my son. Please, I need to see him."

Maggie's knees were trembling. She opened the door wider and gestured to Simon to come in. She led him to the family room where Peter was eating cornflakes and watching cartoons.

"Peter?" she said in as normal a voice as she could manage. "There's someone here to see you." Peter looked up and such joy filled his eyes that Maggie knew she had lost him.

"Daddy!" Peter cried and threw himself into Simon's arms where he burst into a storm of weeping. Simon and Peter clung together for a long, long time.

Then Simon asked Peter gently, "Well, son, do you want to go home?"

Peter looked up at his father, then he looked over at Maggie. "I love Mommy Maggie too, daddy," he said in a small voice. "I want to be with you both." Simon's and Maggie's eyes met over Peter's.

Maggie felt her heart constrict. She hoped Simon would agree, wouldn't make her fight for Peter, because she knew he was a millionaire and she had very little money. But she was in for a surprise.

"We'll find a way," Simon said gently, smiling at Maggie. "I won't take you away from Mommy Maggie, I promise."

And he didn't. Simon and Maggie started a negotiation to hammer out a way to share custody of Peter but it was all in vain. Halfway through the negotiations, Simon and Maggie discovered they were in love and solved the problem by getting married.

Two years later, Peter was delighted to become a big brother to a beautiful little baby girl they called Jannine.

What can we learn from this story?

• Great sorrows break our hearts, but giving love heals us. Maggie turned her pain at losing her son into devotion for a child who needed her.
• There is no greater pain for a parent than losing a child. Losing a child is every parent's greatest nightmare and something both Maggie and Simon understood.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy's mother who was surprised to see a man cry as he watches his own daughter at play. His story breaks her heart.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com