Len, are you out of your mind? We just had our own baby!” Alexei slammed the cupboard door with irritation. “What adoption are you talking about?”
Elena stood by the window, staring at the bleak February sky. The maternity hospital was on the outskirts of their small town, and from the ward’s window she could see drab five-story apartment blocks and leafless tree branches swaying in the cold wind.
“You haven’t seen him, Lesh. He’s so tiny… Only three months old, and already unwanted,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself as if to ward off the chill.
It had happened a week ago. Elena was preparing to leave with her newborn daughter Dasha when she heard a child crying from the adjacent room. The cry was different—strained, hopeless, as if the baby already knew no one would come for him.
“The mother abandoned him right here, in the maternity ward,” the elderly nurse, Nadezhda Petrovna, whispered, noticing Elena’s interest. “His name’s Vanya. Healthy as a horse, but nobody wants him.”
Since that day, something inside Elena cracked. She couldn’t look at her peacefully sleeping Dasha without imagining another little baby in the next room, without a mother’s loving voice, without gentle touches, without warmth.
“Lesh, at least let’s check the paperwork? Just find out,” Elena turned to her husband. “Maybe it’s some kind of sign. That we can help…”
“A sign?” Alexei gave a bitter chuckle. “A sign that you’re not yourself after giving birth. We have a mortgage, Len. A one-bedroom apartment. I’m the only one working. What child?”
“We’ll manage,” Elena said stubbornly. “I’ll go back to work in six months, I have the highest teaching category…”
“Yeah, sure,” Alexei interrupted. “Meanwhile, you’ll be stuck with two babies. At once. Can you even imagine what that means?”
Footsteps echoed in the hallway as Victoria—Elena’s school friend who came to visit—peeked into the ward.
“Oh, family meeting?” she glanced at the tense faces. “What’s going on?”
“Len’s lost it,” Alexei grumbled. “She wants to take in another child. Right now.”
“What other child?” Victoria asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“There’s a boy… abandoned,” Elena’s voice trembled. “Vanya. He’s three months old.”
Victoria whistled. “Wow! What do the doctors say?”
“Nothing yet,” Elena glanced at her husband. “We haven’t checked. Lesha’s against it.”
“Of course he is!” Alexei exploded. “Because someone in this family has to think clearly! We just barely got to know our own newborn daughter, and now you want another?”
His voice held not just anger but fear. Fear of overwhelming responsibility, uncertainty, and potential troubles.
“Lesh, have a seat,” Victoria said gently. “Let’s talk calmly.”
He sat down, running his hand over his face. “What’s there to discuss? It’s madness.”
“Why madness?” Vika shrugged. “People overcome worse. My colleague has three adopted kids, and they’re happy.”
“Your colleague’s husband’s a businessman, if I’m not mistaken,” Alexei snapped. “I’m a simple engineer. And our place isn’t a big apartment—it’s a one-room in a Khrushchyovka.”
“Housing can be solved,” Vika mused. “You could use maternity capital…”
“Vik, you’re crazy too?” Alexei stood up. “What maternity capital? What adopted kids? We just had our own baby! We need to focus all our energy on her, not scatter ourselves!”
At that moment, Dasha began to cry. Elena rushed to the crib, carefully picking up her daughter. The baby calmed immediately, burying her nose in her mother’s shoulder.
“There! That’s your main concern, Len,” Alexei gestured toward them. “And you’re thinking about some other kids…”
“They’re not ‘other’,” Elena said quietly, rocking Dasha. “They’re nobody’s. That’s the difference.”
A heavy silence settled over the ward. Only Dasha’s soft breathing and muffled voices in the hallway could be heard.
“Lesh,” Victoria finally spoke. “Why don’t we just go see the boy? You haven’t even met him.”
“Why?” Alexei asked tiredly. “So it’ll be even harder to say no to this madness?”
“Because your wife has already seen him,” Vika answered calmly. “And you need to understand how she feels. Otherwise, this will haunt you forever.”
Alexei was silent for a long time, staring out the window. Then he slowly nodded. “Okay. Let’s see. But remember—this doesn’t mean anything, Len. It’s not a promise.”
“Of course,” Elena quickly agreed. “Just looking.”
They left Dasha with Victoria and walked to the neighboring ward. The elderly nurse Nadezhda Petrovna smiled knowingly when she saw them.
“To Vanya? One moment.”
She disappeared behind the door and soon returned with a bundle. A tiny, helpless lump with barely visible dark hair on his crown.
“Here he is, our little abandoned one,” the nurse said softly. “Would you like to hold him?”
Elena glanced at her husband, who stood frozen, eyes wide as he stared at the infant.
“I’ll take him,” Elena said decisively, reaching out.
Vanya was surprisingly heavy. He sleepily smacked his lips and opened his dark brown, almost black eyes.
“Well, hello,” Elena whispered.
She didn’t notice the tear that slid down her cheek.
“Len…” Alexei’s voice was hoarse. “Let me…”
He awkwardly took the baby, uncertainly supporting his head. Vanya looked at him seriously and attentively.
“He looks like my younger brother,” Alexei suddenly said. “Same gaze… too serious for his age.”
“You have a brother?” Elena was surprised. In five years of marriage, she’d never heard of one.
Alexei hesitated, gently rocking the baby. “I did. He died as a child. He was only four…”
There was a broken note in his voice. Elena carefully put a hand on his shoulder. “Why never tell me?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you…” he faltered. “After his death, my mother… well, she lost her mind. She kept blaming herself for neglecting him. Then… then I came along. The late, unwanted child. She never truly loved me.”
Now much made sense—the constant withdrawal, the strained relationship with his mother, his fear of having another child.
“Excuse me,” Nadezhda Petrovna coughed politely. “It’s time to feed him.”
Alexei reluctantly handed the baby back. “C-Can we come again?” he asked uncertainly.
“Of course,” the nurse smiled. “Come anytime. He needs to get used to people.”
They silently returned to the ward. Vika looked at them curiously. “Well, how was it?”
“I don’t know,” Alexei rubbed his temple. “It’s complicated.”
“In my opinion, it’s simple,” Vika said. “You see—the boy is healthy, handsome. And he clearly liked you.”
“It’s not that,” Alexei shook his head. “It’s about responsibility. Readiness. And capability.”
“When an unplanned child is born—does everything get calculated in advance?” Vika scoffed. “Life’s unpredictable. The main thing is love and desire. The rest will follow.”
Her words rang true. Elena looked at her sleeping daughter, then at her husband.
“Lesh, let’s at least check the paperwork? Nothing bad will happen if we just find out.”
Alexei was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed heavily. “Alright. Let’s find out. But remember—this doesn’t mean…”
“Of course, of course,” Elena said quickly. “Just find out.”
The following weeks became an endless cycle of discussions, consultations, and paperwork. While Elena recovered from childbirth and adjusted to motherhood, Alexei surprisingly took on most of the bureaucratic work.
“You know,” he said one evening, rocking a crying Dasha, “I was thinking… Maybe we should really take the risk?”
Elena froze, bottle in hand. “Are you serious?”
“More than that,” he gave a weary smile. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About my childhood, my brother… You know what scared me the most? That I wouldn’t be able to handle it. That I’d be a bad father. That I’d repeat my mother’s mistakes.”
“Lesh…”
“No, let me finish,” he shook his head. “When I held Dasha for the first time, I realized—all those fears are nonsense. Because love… it either exists or it doesn’t. You can’t calculate or plan it. And when I saw Vanya…” he faltered. “I understood I couldn’t just turn away from him. Forget him. Cross him out.”
Elena stepped close, wrapping her arms around him from behind. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you,” he turned to her. “But be prepared—it’ll be hard. Sometimes unbearable.”
“We’ll get through it,” she said confidently. “Together.”
And they did. Despite sleepless nights, financial struggles, and disapproving looks from some relatives. Vanya turned out to be an incredibly calm baby, as if he sensed how important it was not to add trouble for his new parents.
“You got lucky with his temperament,” Nadezhda Petrovna said during one of her visits. “Not every abandoned child is like that. You can tell he’s a kindred spirit.”
The hardest part was dealing with Alexei’s mother. Marina Nikolaevna threw a real tantrum upon learning about their decision:
“You’re crazy! Bringing a stranger’s child into your home! What if he has a bad heredity? What if he’s sick? And what about your own daughter?”
“Mom,” Alexei said quietly, “you remember Sasha?”
Marina Nikolaevna fell silent halfway through her sentence. Her face twisted painfully. “What does Sasha have to do with this?”
“Anyone’s child can die. Anyone can survive. It’s not about genes, Mom. It’s about love.”
After that conversation, something shifted in their relationship. Alexei seemed to breathe easier.
“You know,” he told Elena, “I’ve spent my life trying to be what she wanted—right, convenient. But now… now I just want to be happy. And to make you both happy.”
Time passed quickly. The children grew, bringing joy with every milestone. Dasha was lively and spirited—a true daddy’s girl. And Vanya grew into a remarkably sensitive and understanding boy, as if his early loneliness gave him a special wisdom.
“Mom,” he asked one evening when he was five, “is it true you found me in the hospital?”
Elena stopped. They never hid the truth about the adoption from the kids, but didn’t emphasize it either.
“It’s true, sweetheart,” she answered gently. “Why do you ask?”
“Dasha was bragging in the yard that she lived in your belly,” Vanya said seriously. “And I’m thinking maybe I’m the luckiest one because you chose me. Because of love.”
Elena felt a lump rise in her throat. She hugged her son tightly, burying her nose in his dark, unruly hair—just as thick and wild as when he was a baby.
“Of course it was love, darling. Love at first sight.”
Ten years went by. Their small one-bedroom apartment transformed into a cozy three-room home on the city’s edge. They took out a new mortgage, but managed. Elena returned to school—not just as a teacher but as deputy head for educational work. Alexei got a promotion at the factory. The children thrived.
Of course, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. There were quarrels, hurts, and moments of despair. But they faced it all—together, supporting each other, drawing strength from love and faith in their choice.
Then something happened that changed their lives once more.
“Guess what,” Victoria said one day, dropping by for tea, “there’s a girl at school—a fourteen-year-old orphan. Smart, excellent student… The orphanage is closing, and no one’s willing to take her because she’s too old.”
“What will happen to her?” Elena asked, concerned.
“They’ll transfer her to another orphanage,” Vika sighed. “Such a shame. She’s in my math class, really gifted…”
Elena exchanged a look with her husband. From his eyes, she knew he was thinking the same as she.
“Vika,” she said carefully, “can we meet her?”
That’s how Nastya became part of their family. A thin girl with serious gray eyes and wheat-colored braids. She took a long time to accept the idea of having a family—one that would love her as she was, ready to embrace her.
“You know,” she said once at dinner, “I never believed in miracles. But now… now I do.”
Alexei pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “And you should. Because true love is always a miracle.”
Their story wasn’t easy. But it was real—with all its struggles, doubts, victories, and defeats. A story about how one chance glance can change not only your life but the lives of others. About how love isn’t measured by genes or blood but by trust in your heart and the courage to step into the unknown.