Man Takes Care of Late Friend’s Triplets, Leaves Them in Crib for a Minute and They’re Gone — Story of the Day

Patrick stepped outside the house for just a minute after putting the triplets to bed. He was devastated to find them taken away when he returned. What unraveled further was a series of unexpected events.

Patrick had found a minute to put his feet up and think about how unfair life was.

"Patrick, all our dreams will come true! You just wait and watch", Layla would say when she was a kid.

"I'll be rich, you'll be rich. I'll have a handsome husband and a beautiful wife. We'll have big houses, like palaces, right next to each other. And together, we four will travel the world with our cute little kids…"

Decades later, their lives never exceeded the small nook of the world where they grew up, dreamed, failed, and dreamed some more.

As Patrick sat in the old rocking chair in the bedroom, the three babies on his chest were fast asleep. The warmth of their breaths and the rhythms of their heartbeats made Patrick's eyes heavy with sleep.

Just as the 34-year-old was about to get some much-needed sleep, a loud crackling sound outside startled him awake. It had started to rain again.

Some clothes had been hung out to dry. "Ah, why bother? Let them get wet and dry out there again."

There were so many questions he was afraid to ask himself. "How am I going to take care of these kids? How many more days can I afford to skip work? And how much more can I expect my wife Sarah to do? These aren't her kids after all…"

Patrick gently patted the babies, thinking of Layla, their mother, who had just died two weeks ago.

Friendship is thicker than blood.

"She was quite something, your mother," he whispered to the babies. "She was the most caring, most fearless woman I ever knew. Someday, when you guys grow up, I will tell you all about her and how she was the sister I never had…"

At that moment, he noticed that the rain had gotten louder. "I better bring the kids' cloth diapers back inside," Patrick thought. "We don't have many of those."

Patrick carefully placed the triplets in the crib and waited a few seconds to ensure they hadn't woken up.

The sight of the three peacefully sleeping babies filled him with a sense of purpose. "I look at you and know things will work themselves out. Don't you worry, I'll be right back."

Patrick rushed to the narrow backyard and started pulling clothes off the clothesline. It had barely been a minute when Patrick noticed the silhouette of a man running out to a car parked right in front of the house.

The man seemed in a hurry, fumbling to hold something in one hand and open the car door with the other.

"Something's not right," sensed Patrick as he rushed inside the house. He went straight to the bedroom and leaned over the crib; at that moment, his heart sank.

The clothes he had collected fell onto the ground as Patrick gasped in shock.

"Where are the babies?"

He looked frantically across the room and then a disturbing realization hit him.

"The man in the car! It's got to be him who took the babies! I have to stop him!" Patrick ran out onto the street, screaming.

"Hey, you! Stop! Stop right there!"

Patrick stumbled as he tried to chase the car that was driving away too fast.

In a strange moment of clarity, he made a mental note of the number plate.

He kept running and screaming until the car was completely out of sight.

Drenched and dripping with sweat, Patrick collapsed on the empty road and cried.

He spent the rest of the afternoon at a police station, pacing back and forth as he waited to hear from the cops.

"It's great that you noticed the number plate, sir", the cops had assured him. "Don't worry, whoever is behind this, we'll get them."

It certainly helped that Patrick's wife Sarah was with him at the precinct, calming him with her presence and words.

It had been over three hours when a policeman finally walked up to the worried couple and delivered the news.

"Sir! We've got him! The kids are safe."

Patrick and Sarah sighed with relief and hugged each other tight.

It turned out that Layla's ex-husband was the one who had taken off with the triplets. Patrick felt a rush of anger as he heard the man's name. He was the one who had made life miserable for Layla, torturing her emotionally throughout their marriage.

He left her the day he found out that Layla was pregnant.

"Look at me, and look at you," he would say, shaming her because of her weight.

"You look like a fat cow! And if you haven't lost weight in the last few years, that will not change anytime soon. I can't bear to look at you!"

The day he found out Layla was pregnant, the man had packed his bags and left her, leaving her helpless and without a plan.

It was Patrick who had convinced Layla to move back to her mother's house next door.

"Forget about him. Your mom, Sarah, and I are here for you. Come and be my neighbor again, just like old times."

The ex-husband didn't show up at the birth of his children or when Layla died in pain a few weeks later.

Since then, it had been Sarah, Patrick, and Layla's bereaved mom, Hailey, who took care of the babies.

It wasn't easy, especially because Hailey was constantly ill, and Sarah and Patrick barely made ends meet.

But the couple, who were never blessed with children of their own, turned their lives upside down to take care of Layla's children.

This devotion stayed unshaken, even when Hailey suddenly had a stroke a week ago.

Patrick decided to take unpaid leave and stay home with the kids, while Sarah doubled down on her work and spent the nights at the hospital, never leaving Hailey's side.

So when the cops finally brought the triplets back, Patrick and Sarah were beyond relieved.

"Should we tell Aunt Hailey?" Sarah asked her husband as they were leaving the police station.

"No, this will only worry her more. Besides, the kids are okay. Maybe we should take them to see her. She would be delighted!" Patrick suggested.

That evening, Hailey was happy to see her grandchildren again, even though she couldn't kiss them through her oxygen mask.

She cried at the memory of Layla and wept again, while looking at the new dutiful guardians of her grandbabies.

As she experienced a mix of pain and relief, Hailey struggled to breathe. That night, surrounded by the people she loved most, Layla's mother passed away in her sleep.

It was another dull overcast day when Hailey was laid to rest next to her daughter. The road ahead was uncertain for Patrick, Sarah, and the kids. But the couple was not going to give up.

Two weeks later, Patrick and Sarah got a phone call confirming that their adoption request had gone through.

"I can't believe it, Patrick! We have three beautiful children to call our own!" Sarah, always steady as a rock, burst into tears that day.

Many questions in Patrick's mind were still unanswered.

"My sweet children," Patrick said, talking to the triplets sleeping on his chest. "I still don't know how I will make ends meet. I still don't know what it means to be a great parent. But here's a promise, kids, I will spend my life learning for you, loving you. Just like Layla would."

Patrick started training to become a realtor. Sarah happily took on the burden of providing for the family as her husband found his footing.

And when they least expected a miracle, a visitor showed up at their home one day.

It was Layla's lawyer. She always knew that Patrick and Sarah were the only ones who could raise her children if something went wrong.

And so Layla had left everything, including her own house and savings, to Patrick, the brother she never had.

What can we learn from this story?

• Friendship is thicker than blood. True friendship can be more enriching than any other relationship. Patrick stayed a true friend to Layla and cared for her children even after her death. Layla, too, left all her world belongings to her childhood friend, who was there for her throughout.
• Never lose hope. You never know when and how your hard work will pay off. Despite their hardships, Patrick and Sarah gave their all to care for the triplets and Hailey. Their dedication was eventually rewarded by Layla posthumously when she left them her house and savings.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who suddenly got the responsibility of taking care of triplets after their grandmother passed away.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers 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.