Upon returning home from school, six-year-old Luke was brimming with enthusiasm, eager to tell his mother about discovering his lookalike sister at school.
“Mom,” Luke started, “I swear…”
“What did we say about swearing?” his mom, Amy, asked him.
“Mom,” he continued, “I’m telling you, Lilly is my twin sister!”
“Luke,” Amy responded with confusion, “You’re an only child, honey.”
“No, Mom! I’m serious. Lilly and I have the same birthday, and we look alike. The teachers think that we’re twins, too,” the boy insisted.
Luke spent the entire afternoon regaling stories about Lilly, detailing her preferences, beloved activities, and much more.
Despite Amy’s gentle reminders that Luke was her sole child and Lilly couldn’t possibly be his sibling, Luke fetched the class photograph from his room. Amy had glanced at this photo previously without really noticing the other children.
However, upon seeing Lilly, Amy was taken aback by the striking similarity she shared with Luke.
Realizing this might not just be a coincidence, Amy suggested to Luke the idea of inviting Lilly and her mother for a visit, leaving Luke absolutely thrilled.
“Do you think she’ll come?” Luke asked. “Like really come over?”
“I’ll speak to her mom tomorrow when I drop you off,” Amy smiled to her son.
When Jeff, Amy’s husband, came home later that evening, she didn’t bring up the incident, having completely forgotten about it due to the late hour.
The next morning, as she took Luke to school, Amy encountered Lilly’s mother, Penelope, and they decided to organize a playdate for the children.
“Lilly talks about Luke all the time, Amy,” Penelope said. “This will be great for them to spend time together outside of school.”
In the afternoon, Amy and Luke were waiting for his friend to come and baked some cookies. Jeff was home as well.
“What’s going on? We’re having people over?”
“Yes,” Amy said, but didn’t mention anything else.
Upon arriving, Penelope and Lilly were just about to step inside when Lilly caught sight of Jeff and excitedly ran to him, exclaiming, “Daddy!”
Jeff went pale and Luke said, “See, mom, I told you she was my sister.”
The room turned quiet as the three adults stared at one another.
“It was a long time ago, Amy,” Jeff started explaining. “Well, it was just before we found out that you were pregnant with Luke.”
Penelope stood quiet, it was obvious she knew Amy was Jeff’s wife when she agreed to take her daughter there.
“So, you knew?” Amy asked her husband. “The entire time, you knew?”
“I had to meet her,” Jeff said. “There was nothing else I could do.”
“I told Jeff to keep it a secret,” Penelope said. “I didn’t mind being a single mother to Lilly, and my family helped me whenever I needed them.”
“I never meant for any of this to happen,” Jeff said then.
“Why would you put the kids in the same school?” Amy asked. “Did you really think that their paths were not going to cross?”
Then Penelope started to talk, “Jeff didn’t know about the school. I enrolled Lilly in it recently, and anyway, Jeff knows the bare minimum about my daughter — it was what he wanted.”
