Doctor Adopts Triplets after Mom Dies in Labor, in 5 Years Their Bio Dad Appears — Story of the Day

Doctor Spellman had to watch his sister die when she went into early labor. He refuses to let her deadbeat baby daddy ruin her children’s lives but ends up powerless when he comes for the kids five years later.

"Breathe. Just breathe, Leah, everything will be okay." Thomas stared down at Leah as he jogged alongside the gurney she was lying on. She’d gone into labor early, and the hospital staff was rushing her to the theater to deliver her triplets via a C-section.

Leah's big, brown eyes were filled with fear and pain when she looked up at him. Her face contorted into a grimace as she tried to control her breath.

"Much better." Thomas smiled at her. It took all his willpower to hide the fear in his heart, but Leah needed him to be strong.

When they reached the surgical theater, one of the nursing sisters turned to bar Thomas from entering.

"You know you can't go in there, Dr. Spellman," she said. "Only the father—"

"He isn't coming," Thomas snapped. "I'm going in there to support my sister, not as a doctor."

"That's still not a good idea." The nurse shook her head. "This is a high-risk situation and you may be tempted to step in."

"I'm a pediatrician, not an obstetrician," Thomas replied, "and I won't do anything to endanger my sister's health. Please, sister, there's nobody else to stand by her. Leah needs me."

The nursing sister stepped aside. Thomas dressed in scrubs while the nurses prepped Leah for surgery and soon stood by her side.

"I don't like this," Leah muttered. "It's too early...what if there's something wrong with one of my babies?"

"Don’t even think about it." Thomas took Leah's hand in his. "We've gone over the health risks a hundred times, Leah. We're prepared for everything."

Leah smiled at him.

"You're right. I can't thank you enough for standing by me through all of this. You're the best big brother anyone could ask for."

"I told you I'd take care of you and my nephews." Thomas squeezed Leah's hand. "So don't you worry about anything."

The surgery progressed well. Thomas held Leah's hand as he peeked over the protective covering surrounding her belly. His heart clenched when he saw the first of his nephews emerge. God, he was so tiny!

Thomas watched anxiously as the nurse carried his nephew away to clean and swaddle him. So great was his concern for his premature nephews he didn't realize Leah was in distress until the anesthesiologist announced a sudden drop in blood pressure.

Forever contracted into a single moment; the gap between Thomas's heartbeats, the silence of a breath held when he saw how pallid Leah was. He said something to her, but he could never remember his words afterward, only how she struggled to focus on him.

"Stay with me!" He took Leah's face in his hands and turned her head to face him. "Look at me, look at me, Leah."

Leah's lips moved, but Thomas didn't hear what she said. A nurse was dragging him away. The last thing he saw was his sister's eyes rolling back into her skull. The obstetrician called for the crash cart as Thomas was ushered out into the hallway.

Thomas waited and waited, and waited. He knew it was bad news the moment he saw the doctor's face.

"I'm sorry, Thomas. We did everything we could to save her but we couldn't stop the bleeding in time." Dr. Nichols said. "All three of her children are safely in the NICU."

Thomas nodded. He was numb with shock. How could Leah be gone? One moment everything was fine...what the hell had happened? He looked down at his hands and remembered the warmth in Leah’s face. He gasped for breath as he realized he’d never know what she said to him. His sister’s last words were lost forever.

Thomas was still reeling from the news of Leah's death when the last person in the world he wanted to see appeared in front of him.

"Where is she?" Joe asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Now you care where she is?" Thomas put his hands on Joe's shoulders and shoved him. "It didn't seem to bother you when she had to spend a night on the street because you were on a bender, and where were you when she collapsed four hours ago?"

"It's none of your heckin' business, Thomas." Joe sneered. "Now quit with the overprotective brother act and tell me where Leah is."

"She's in the morgue, you dog." Thomas wiped angrily at the tears spilling over his cheeks.

"She died during the cesarean section."

Thomas turned to leave. He didn’t even make it to the end of the hall before Joe grabbed his arm.

"What about the babies?" Joe asked. "Where are my kids?"

Thomas shook Joe off and rounded on him. "You can forget about those children. There's no way in hell I will let them live with a scumbag like you. In fact, I'll do everything to ensure they never know who their father is."

"You can't do that!" Joe grabbed the front of Thomas's shirt in his fists. "I have rights."

Thomas laughed. "The only right you seem to care about is your right to buy alcohol and get drunk. Get out of here, or I'll get security to throw you out."

There was no guarantee that the court would grant Thomas custody of his nephews, but he and his lawyer were confident he'd win the lawsuit Joe had filed. Today was their first day in court.

The judge cleared her throat. "Let me get some clarity on this. Mr. Dawson, you were not married to Leah, the children's mother, nor did you support her financially while she was pregnant?"

Joe folded his hands together. "I'm a cook in a fast food outlet, your honor, and I couldn't afford to support her as much as I would've liked to. That's also the reason we didn't get married—"

"Pardon me, your honor," Thomas's lawyer stood, "but my client has text messages and voice notes from his sister where she clearly states that Mr. Dawson is a heavy drinker and that she refused to marry him unless he entered a rehabilitation program."

"That's not true!" Joe shouted.

"Don't speak out of turn in my courtroom, Mr. Dawson." The judge glared at Joe. She then asked to see the messages and voice note transcripts. While she read, she developed a deep scowl.

"These messages indicate that you are emotionally as well as financially unstable, Mr. Dawson, and lead a lifestyle that's incompatible with parenting. Do you have any evidence to show me that might disprove these accounts of drunken misconduct and poor decision-making?"

Joe looked to his lawyer, but the man just grimaced. Joe glared across at Thomas, and looked like he might shout or argue, but in the end he just hung his head. "No, ma'am."

"Then I'm awarding full custody to Doctor Spellman." The judge tapped her gavel.

Thomas paused on the top steps of the courthouse and stared out as the sun appeared from behind a cloud. The scent of rain clung to the air, and the world seemed fresh and new.

"Stop right there!"

Thomas turned just as Joe ran up to him. He had tears in his eyes and glared at Thomas hatefully.

"I won't let you do this to me," Joe snarled. "Just because you're rich, doesn't mean you can take my kids from me. I’ll fight for them!"

"That's your problem right there." Thomas pointed at Joe.

"Instead of fighting for the boys like they're possessions you're entitled to, you should be fighting for their best interest; to give them the stable and loving home all children deserve."

Joe was still staring at him in shock when Thomas turned away and jogged down the steps. The sadness that had lived in his heart since Leah died was finally shifting, giving way to the bright future that awaited Thomas and his nephews. However, Thomas soon learned that his court victory came with a heavy price.

Thomas hurried home. When he entered the door, he started calling for his wife, Susannah, but the packed suitcases nearby made him freeze.

"I'm sorry, Thomas." Susannah stepped out of the sitting room. "I love you so much, and I know that you're doing a good thing by taking in Leah's children, but it's not a choice that works for me."

"But Susannah—"

"No." Susannah shook her head. "I don't think I want children at all, and now there will be three at once, and all of them preemie babies that need extra care." A tear rolled down Susannah's cheek. "I can't do it, and I don't want to do it. God bless Leah's soul, but I can't bear the burden of her bad decisions."

Thomas didn't know what to say to that. He wanted to stop her from leaving, to promise her that everything would work out and they'd be okay. Instead, he watched in shocked silence as she carried her bags outside and hung her keys on the hook by the door.

He continued to stand there long after Susannah was gone, but finally, it hit home that he was on his own now.

Thomas removed a bottle of liquor he and Susannah kept in the cupboard for visitors, but then he paused. He pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the picture of his triplet nephews he'd set as his lock screen.

Susannah was right. It would be difficult caring for three babies, but what else could Thomas do? He definitely couldn't leave them in the care of that reprobate, Joe. That man spent more time on the bottle than every infant in the neonatal ward combined.

Thomas looked back at the liquor bottle sitting on the kitchen counter. If he succumbed to his despair, if he tried even once to drown those sorrows in alcohol, then he'd be just as bad as Joe.

"No." Thomas put the bottle back in the cupboard and shut the door. "I won't become the thing I hate. I have three beautiful children to live for, and I won't let them down."

Thomas sat down to a lonely dinner, and then he went into the nursery. He'd bought and assembled three cribs and stocked the drawers with baby clothes. The narrow closet in the corner was filled with diapers and anything else a baby might need. Thomas switched on the nightlight and smiled at the pattern of stars it projected onto the walls.

"Soon, my nephews and I will start a new life together," he muttered.

Thomas was prepared. He'd taken a week off work, figured out a basic schedule, and hired a very experienced nanny named Rosa. Nonetheless, he didn't fully realize how chaotic it would be once he brought Andrew, Jayden, and Noah home.

Rosa knew a trick that allowed her to feed two of the boys simultaneously while Thomas fed the third. They changed all three babies, set them down to sleep, and barely had a few minutes to discuss caring for triplets when the crying started.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Thomas lifted Noah from his crib and cradled the baby in his arms. Little Noah was kicking his legs and had almost freed himself from his swaddling blanket.

"Should've wrapped you up better, huh?" Thomas lifted the baby to his shoulder so he'd have a hand free. Noah promptly spit up milk all down Thomas's back.

By that time, Andy and Jayden were also awake. Rosa came in, lifted Andy into her arms, and set Jayden's crib rocking with her foot.

"Go and change your shirt, Dr. Spellman," Rosa said. She lifted a hand towel and held it out to him. "And remember next time, you never lift a baby without putting a cloth over your shoulder first."

The day passed in a blur of feeding, diaper changing, and cleaning up the messes of spit-up milk, poo, and pee that Rosa assured him were inevitable. She assured him he'd manage just fine when she left for the day, but everything fell apart by the second feeding.

It was only eight p.m., but Thomas was tired. He'd been busy with the triplets all day and never realized how stressful it was to be constantly alert for a baby's cries. He couldn't do Rosa's trick of feeding two boys at once, so he had to do it one at a time while the other two bawled their lungs out.

Once the boys were all burped and settled for sleep, Thomas crawled into bed. He still missed having Susannah beside him at night, and his nerves were on edge; every part of him expected to hear a baby whimper at any minute. When all remained silent, his fears only increased.

Thomas lifted his head from the pillow and fiddled with the volume on the baby monitor. Why was it so quiet? His neck ached with tension, and his chest felt tight. Preemies had an increased risk for SIDS...maybe he ought to check on them.

Thomas tiptoed into the darkened nursery. He leaned over Jayden's crib until he heard the boy breathe, then moved on to Andy and Noah's cribs. Once satisfied the boys were fine, he turned to leave.

He tripped over the trashcan, and used diapers spilled across the floor. Thomas bumped his head against the corner of the changing table when he bent down to pick them up and swore.

Andy woke up first, but his cries soon roused his brothers. Thomas set the trashcan aside to soothe the boys back to sleep, but by then, they needed to be fed again. Then they needed to be burped again, and changed again, and by the time Thomas got back to his bed, his morning alarm was ringing.

Thomas ran to greet Rosa when she arrived. His pajamas were stained with milk, and he hadn't had time to change, shower, or even brush his teeth.

"Thank God you're here!" Thomas passed Andy over to Rosa and rushed back toward the nursery. "They've just woken up and need to be changed."

Thomas lifted Noah from his crib, set him on the changing table, and removed his onesie and diaper. A stream of wee hit him on the side as he reached for a fresh diaper.

"You have to be careful with little boys," Rosa commented sagely as she entered the room.

"Why am I so bad at this?" Thomas sniffed. "I'm a pediatrician; I've worked with kids and babies my entire career..." he clenched his jaw to hold back his tears.

"Dr. Spellman, you are making a mistake." Rosa gently pushed him aside and took over changing Noah. "You think you know everything because you are a doctor, a smart man, hey? But looking after babies is something you learn from doing; it's never as simple as books and blogs make it seem."

Rosa changed Noah in record time and passed him back to Thomas. "Let him lie down now, and bring me the next one. Then you are going to bed, Dr. Spellman. Get sleep, and get clean, then you'll feel better."

With Rosa's help, Thomas gradually got into the rhythm of caring for his nephews. Over the next few years, he continued to fulfill his role as their guardian with a little bit of paranoia as the boys grew, but Rosa was as patient with him as she was with the kids.

"You checked his temperature five minutes ago." She shooed Thomas and his thermometer away so she could finish dressing five-year-old Noah for the day. "He's just got a sniffle, Dr. Spellman, it's fine."

"But what if—" Thomas hovered nearby.

"No." Rosa raised her finger.

"Just because you have the whole textbook of sicknesses in your brain, doesn't mean you must fuss over them. You're worse than those mothers that check symptoms on the internet and assume their babies have some rare illness."

Thomas sighed. He acquiesced to Rosa's wisdom and experience and left for work. Worrying about Noah's sickness had already given him a headache. He took painkillers and soldiered through his morning appointments, but by lunch, he felt awful.

Thomas stumbled through the entrance to the hospital cafeteria. The overhead lights reflected on the stainless steel surfaces of the serving area like annoyingly bright stars. He walked up to the counter, and...why was he here again? And what was that smell?

Thomas didn't even have the time or self-awareness to realize something was wrong before he fell to the floor.

Thomas woke up on his side on the cafeteria floor. A doctor he recognized crouched nearby.

"Can you hear me, Thomas?"

"What...I don't understand." Thomas started to rise. The doctor immediately moved closer and helped him sit up.

"You had a seizure, Thomas, but you're okay now."

"A seizure?" Thomas started to shake his head, but the motion worsened his headache. "That can't be right."

"I'm a neurologist, Thomas, and I can assure you that you just experienced a seizure." The doctor frowned. "You should get checked out a.s.a.p. Come with me, so we can do it now, okay? This is very serious."

“Uh, okay.” Thomas stared at the doctor. A seizure? He didn't understand. He got to his feet and took in the nearby nurses and doctors. All of them were watching him.

Thomas walked with the neurologist to his office for an examination. As the doctor tested his responses to various stimuli, Thomas realized something was very wrong.

“I’m going to book you for a CT scan,” the neurologist said. “Depending on what we find, we might need to do an MRI too.”

When Thomas arrived home, he noticed a familiar man leaning against a car parked outside his house. All of Thomas's protective instincts kicked into overdrive. His hands shook as he helped Jayden, Noah, and Andy carry their backpacks to the front door.

"You go inside and see what Rosa has prepared for you for lunch," Thomas told the boys. "I'll be in soon."

Once the front door was shut and locked, Thomas stalked toward the man on the sidewalk.

"I've come for my kids," Joe said when Thomas drew near.

"Your kids? Ha! I've raised them and provided for these boys for five years. You're nothing to them," Thomas replied.

"You're wrong. I've spent every day of the last five years working hard to become financially stable. I've been sober for four years and have a good job."

Joe patted the bonnet of his car. "I told you I wouldn't give up and now the time has come for my kids to come home to their Dad."

"Over my dead body." Thomas jabbed his finger at Joe. "You're gravely mistaken if you think a new car and an AA button will convince a judge to give you custody. Don't waste your time; just crawl back into your hole and leave us alone."

But Joe didn't listen, and a few months later, Thomas was in court, fighting for custody of the triplets again. Everything was going well, and Thomas was confident he'd get to keep the boys until Joe's lawyer exposed his secret.

"It has recently come to our attention that Dr. Spellman is on a very specific regimen of prescription medications," Joe's lawyer said. "According to the medical specialist I consulted—"

"Objection!" Thomas's lawyer stood.

"I'll allow it since the guardian's health directly impacts these proceedings." The judge gestured to Joe's lawyer to continue.

"As I was saying, my medical consultant states that this particular combination of medications is used to treat a brain tumor." The lawyer turned to address Thomas directly. "Can you confirm that you're receiving treatment for an inoperable brain tumor, Dr. Spellman?"

Thomas hung his head. "Yes, I am.”

“For how long, Dr. Spellman?” The judge asked.

“My neurologist confirmed it after I had a seizure at work a few months ago. I’m taking medication to shrink the tumor and prevent the seizures."

Joe stared at Thomas while he described his medical condition to the judge. This was supposed to be his moment of triumph over the man who stole his kids from him, but instead, he just felt bad.

As Thomas described his seizures and the side effects of his medication and how they impacted his routine with the boys, Joe realized how much this jerk must love the triplets to sacrifice his health for them.

"I hope you can understand that this isn't an easy decision to make, Dr. Spellman, but the children's best interests must take priority.”

The judge frowned. “You have a very serious health issue and a long battle ahead. I am awarding custody of the children to their biological father. You have two weeks to prepare them."

Joe was thrilled that he'd finally get to be a father, but watching Thomas weep tainted his happiness.

Joe remembered how it felt when he lost his first custody case to Thomas. It had been the wake-up call he needed to get his life on track. Every time he'd lost hope or been tempted by the bottle after that day, Thomas's words on the courthouse steps helped him remember what he was working for.

Two weeks later, Joe pulled up outside Thomas’s house. Thomas was waiting in the driveway with the boys. They clung to Thomas like burrs.

“Hey, boys, are you ready to go?” Joe grinned as he crouched down in front of the boys. “Go pack your bags.”

Immediately, all three kids wailed like the world had ended and hid behind Thomas.

“Don’t give us away!” One of the boys cried.

“Not going, not going,” another boy screamed.

“Come on, boys.” Thomas crouched down and gathered the triplets into a hug. “We had a deal, remember? Joe is going to take very good care of you and I’m going to visit you every weekend.” Thomas smiled sadly as he kissed each boy on the forehead. “It’s time to go now.”

Joe’s heart broke as he watched Thomas nudge the triplets toward him. He had never imagined that the day he took his sons home would leave him feeling like such a villain.

'Instead of fighting over the boys like they’re possessions, I should fight for their best interests,' he thought and approached Thomas and children to hug them. After that, Joe helped Thomas carry the boys’ bags back into the house.

What can we learn from this story?

• A child’s best interests must always come first. Too often, adults are consumed by spite and self-interest during custody disputes and forget that the most important thing is that the children live in a safe and loving home.
• Have faith that every bad situation will work out for the best. Sometimes it’s hard to be positive during bad times but we should try to remember that bad times never last forever and everything works out in the end.

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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.