**A Family for Her**
Oxford was bathed in the golden hues of autumn, yet shadows lingered in Emily Bennett’s home. She looked exhausted, as if life were slipping through her fingers. A housewife, she seemed to fade before her husband—James couldn’t fathom why her eyes were so hollow, why she moved as though weighed down by invisible burdens. Where had the vivacious woman he married gone?
James worried. Emily didn’t work, and he’d imagined returning each evening to a cheerful, radiant wife—just like before. But now, her laughter had dimmed to silence. Friends hinted she was stifled by routine. James felt helpless until, one evening, he came home early—only to find the house empty. Emily was gone. Suspicion coiled in his gut. Was she seeing someone?
The next morning, he followed her. She boarded a bus to St. Mary’s Hospital on the outskirts of town. His hands clenched the steering wheel. Was she visiting someone? A lover? He drove home, furious—but the pattern repeated. Every time Emily left, she returned weary yet strangely content.
One afternoon, while she was out, James opened her laptop. There, on the screen, was a volunteer schedule for the pediatric ward—all shifts matched her disappearances. Shame burned through him. That evening, he waited.
“Em… where have you been?” His voice wavered.
She hesitated, then whispered, “Jamie, darling… we have to take her in. She’s so bright, so lovely.”
Emily confessed. For months, she’d been volunteering—until she met Lucy, a little girl abandoned at the hospital. Lucy had become her lifeline, pulling her out of the emptiness.
Adopting? James wasn’t prepared. But Emily’s eyes, alight with hope after so long, made his hesitation fade. They filed the papers that same week.
When Lucy came home, Emily discovered she was pregnant. Soon, little Oliver arrived. Now, their house hums with laughter. Emily shines as she once did, and James knows—this little girl, and their son, didn’t just save their family. They saved their souls.