~Finally Home For You~

"Mateo?" Damian called out, unable to recover from his shock. After their daughter's death, the couple had traveled out of the country with no intentions of ever returning. He was forced to bid them goodbye. Now, here they were in the flesh.

"Damian, what a pleasant surprise!" The man stepped in right after his wife did. He had jet black hair like Adelina and was taller than Damian by only some inches. His broad shoulder filled the casual polo shirt which he wore. He pulled the astounded man into a manly hug.

His wife on the other hand, bore striking semblance to her late daughter with same eyes and the cheeky grin she flashed to Dolores. "How big you have grown." She commented, giving the stunned girl a hug.

Instead of replying as they were all expecting to, Dolores burst into tears with her shoulders trembling as she did so. Adelina was at loss for what was happening. She had wanted to introduce both parties but turned out she was the stranger amidst them.

"What's going on here? Have you two met each other before? What's wrong with her? Why is she crying?" The questions shot out from her lips. She needed an explanation and needed it fast.

Mateo decided to put the girl out of her misery while his wife embraced Dolores. "Let's get settled first. I don't think we can discuss that sensitive topic when she's still like this."

Adelina forced herself to exercise patience as she went to Dolores side, placing an arm around the sobbing girl. She had a feeling something about her parents must have awoken the feeling they had both fought so hard to suppress.

A while later, Dolores calmed down and was now sitting in silence with her fingers clutched around the blue handkerchief which Isabella, Adelina's mom, offered. Adelina settled in her seat, her gaze moving to and fro the adults in the room.

Is anyone going to offer an explanation already?

Mateo cleared his throat then began the long winding tale up, putting an end to the riotous thoughts having a grand party in his daughter's befuddled mind. "You see, we had a daughter before you. Like you, her name was also Adelina. Some months after we lost her, your mom here couldn't get over the fact that her only daughter was really gone."

Isabella shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her name. She offered a sad smile to Adelina and placed a hand on hers. Dolores and Damian were paying rapt attention, drinking in every of his words like they were oxygen.

Mateo continued. "We decided to adopt a child the same age but Isabella here said she wanted a child who would have same features with ours. I tried to dissuade her but she was having none of it. After combing  through different orphanages, we found a girl who had exact features we needed, only that her eyes were green. Isabella intially refused saying the child must look exactly like the one she lost, but after a while of conviction, she gave in. We brought her home. That child was you, baby." He finished, staring intently at his daughter.

Isabella took Adelina's cold hands in her warm ones with a smile. "So we named you after her."

"Adopted?" It was Dolores' turn to be shocked. Little wonder why Adelina reminded her so much of her late best friend. Her parents had gone extra miles in finding a similar girl so they could get over their daughter's death. While it was not a harmful thought, it was going to look exploitative to Adelina.

The latter laughed sadly, after being in utter silence. "Is that why you both dumped me with my Noona and left? Because I didn't look exactly like Adelina?"

Mateo frowned at her choice of words. "We never abandoned you. Your Noona gave us details of everything you did and where you went. She made sure of that because we wanted to be actively involved in your life. Who gave you the idea that we abandoned you?"

"I'm 18, dad. I'm neither stupid nor blind to the fact that you both have been piling excuses upon excuses not to come and see me. Now you've explained everything, I've come to realize that you both never wanted to set eyes on me because I wasn't your daughter afterall. I was only a doppelganger used to help mom get over the demise of her beloved birth daughter."

Isabella gasped, "That was not what happened, Lina baby. I was going through severe depression when my daughter died, I was so overwhelmed by her death and didn't know if I was ever going to make it out alive but then we found you."

"That's a lie. Why did you both adopt me if you knew you weren't going to bother showing me the attention parents would show their child? Would you both have treated her the same way if she was still alive? Would you even have adopted me in the first place?" Angrily, she yanked her hands out of her mother's grip, tossed the napkin from her thighs to the table and attempted to walk out.

Dolores rose so fast, stretching out a hand to stop her. "Don't say that, Lina. If they didn't love you, you wouldn't even set eyes on them. You heard what they said. It might have been the right thing to do at the time but somehow, it ended up hurting you. I think they're sorry and are here to make amends."

"Yes, hermosa. We really are." Mateo stood up, moving closer to his daughter. "The main reason we traveled for the longest time was because we needed to get your mother treated and the doctors recommended her staying away from anything that could put a strain on her mental health. She was already psychologically scarred and was warned to stay away from all that would bring past hurt to her remembrance. She stubbornly refused their prescriptions. All she wanted to see and hold was not even Adelina, but you. Still, she had to regain wellness before seeing you."

Isabella rose from her seat as well, defying Adelina's defensive stance and drawing her into her arms. "My baby. You are my child and I didn't want to hurt you. I had to get treated while your dad did what he could without my presence at work. I missed your presence so much that it killed me to be away for such an awfully long time. Now, we're staying for good. We love you, Lina."

Adelina's eyes watered at the endearing words she had been longing to hear from them physically and not through the phone. Listening to Damian say those words to his daughter daily, invoked a feeling of suffocation within her as she suffered in silence. She always wished for something similar each time she cried herself to sleep but never thought it would be possible.

"I love you too, mama." She bawled out, collapsing into the welcoming embrace of her mother. She returned a bone crushing hug of her own while deeply inhaling the scent of the woman.

Mateo came up from behind them, wrapping his arms around his two most favorite women in his world. He rocked them, giving individual kisses on the heads of both.

There was a smile of satisfaction on Dolores' face as she wached everything play out beautifully. Things had finally been sorted out between the family of three and Adelina's parents were here to stay. She spared a look at her father whose eyes were still pinned on the small group huddled together. He surreptitiously tried to wipe a lone tear that had escaped from his eyes with his finger. However she interrupted, stretching the blue hanky she had been offered to him.

"I love you, amor." He stated, with a hand on hers.

She squeezed back with a wide grin. "I love you too, dad."

~~~{•}~~~

Where's my pack of tissues?
This is a sob chapter. I felt so much pity for Adelina while writing this. To be living far away from your parents for five years after you had been adopted?
Adelina is one of my strong characters who might or might not be having a spin off. (Depends on you guys actually)

Leave a vote if this was your best chapter yet
~~Chignature~~