A man who desperately wanted a family discovered that he and his wife couldn’t get pregnant and didn’t want to adopt. However, everything changed when he got called to save someone dear to his heart.
“I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore. You’ve had several rounds of IVF that had wreaked havoc on Mrs. Gilmore’s body, and still, none of it worked. I’m a fertility doctor, but I suggest you both take some time, think about it, and look for other options. There are many ways to make a family,” Dr. Singer told Alex and Stacey, who were devastated.
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They left that fertility clinic in solemn shock and got into the car quietly. However, after driving for a few minutes, Stacey broke their silence.
“Alex, the doctor is right. There are other ways to make a family,” she started carefully. “Adoption is a great option. Blood and DNA don’t matter.”
“No,” Alex said, shaking his head. He was entirely against the idea. “I want a real family. It’s been my dream. I never had any of my own.”
“The person you loved most in the world besides me is Mrs. Collins. You think of her as your mother, and she’s not related to you. How can you say you don’t have a family?” Stacey countered, getting angry.
“It’s not the same.”
Alex was orphaned at a young age and bounced around from foster placement to foster placement. He hated it and promised himself to have a family in the future. Stacey knew this; she felt terrible and at fault that she couldn’t give him that dream.
“Please, Alex. We have to try some other things. Surrogacy is another option,” she continued, although she hated that idea.
“That’s not a great option either. Too expensive, and we’ve already spent way too much,” Alex refused again.
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Finally, Stacey lost her cool. “What else are we going to do? Adoption and surrogacy are our options!”
“I don’t know!” he shouted back, and they went back to awkward, uncomfortable silence. It did not get better.
***
“Alex, you know Stacey is right. Adoption will probably be amazing for you,” Mrs. Collin chided him gently. Alex went to see her a few days after seeing the fertility doctor and told her about the situation.
“I know, Mrs. Collins. But it was my dream,” he lamented, putting his head on his hand on the kitchen table. They were having some tea.
“Alex, listen to me. Dreams change, and sometimes, the result is even better than expected. When I became a teacher, I never expected to get so close with any of my students; yet, here you are. I think of you as a son. As my family. What about you?” Mrs. Collins questioned, raising one sardonic eyebrow.
“Please, Mrs. Collins. I love you. Yes, you’re the only mother I ever had, but this is… different,” Alex continued, shaking his head and feeling terrible.
“I know you’re sad, but are you willing to lose Stacey because of it? Because you’re not giving her many options,” his teacher added, gentling her tone.
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“No, I don’t want to lose her. But I’m not ready to consider the other options. There must be another way,” Alex said, and Mrs. Collins sighed. They changed the subject afterward.
***
A few days later, Alex got a call he never expected. Mrs. Collins’ house was on fire, and he made his buddies rush to the scene. The flames had overtaken the structure too quickly, and he got off the truck, wanting to run inside like a superhero.
“What are you doing?” his fellow firefighter, Marcus, stopped him.
“I have to get inside!” Alex said, his heart crawling up his throat with fear. He had been stoic and calm when he joined the fire department after training. All their dangerous and awful situations were a breeze for him. This was his calling. But this time… everything was different. This was Mrs. Collins’ house, and she was inside.
“You can’t. We have to think first.”
“Help! Help!” the sounds of a woman calling out resounded, and Alex wouldn’t listen to anyone. He rushed into the flames like a conquering hero, and it was like he couldn’t feel the heat. He ran to Mrs. Collins, covered her with his jacket, and went out.
“She needs a medic! Quickly!” he yelled at the ambulance, which had just arrived.
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“Alex, you have to go in. There’s a little boy inside. Tim. I was tutoring him. Please, he’s only eight!” Mrs. Collins wailed, her face distraught and covered in soot.
Alex’s eyebrows went up, and he looked back at the house.
“He was in the bathroom!” his teacher continued through her panic, and the firefighter rushed back inside. His colleagues were already using the hose and trying to contain things, but it was still dangerous to go inside. But he couldn’t let a kid die.
He ran to the house again, went to the only bathroom Mrs. Collins had, and heard the screams of the little child. He told him to step away from the door and crushed it in with his boot. The kid was scared, but he reached into his arms, and Alex got them out as quickly as he had the teacher. He went directly to the paramedics outside and let them handle the kid; then, he assisted his colleagues in controlling the fire.
Eventually, the fire was contained, but the house was almost completely destroyed.
“It doesn’t matter. All that’s important to me is right out here with me,” Mrs. Collins said when he told her it was unlikely that anything survived that fire. “Alex, this is Tim. I tutor him daily, and he sometimes just comes to have lunch with me after school.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tim,” Alex nodded at the kid, who looked up at him with his bright, adoring eyes.
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“Thank you, sir! You saved us! You walked through fire like a hero! How did you do that? I want to do that someday!” the kid was excited, and Alex laughed for the first time since he received the call. It was nice to know that the boy had not been traumatized.
“Well, you can join the force someday, Tim,” he said, smiling.
“YAY!”
Mrs. Collins pulled him to the side and revealed that Tim was in much the same situation as Alex when he was little. He was in a foster home that barely cared for him and had been trying to stay with Mrs. Collins for a while.
Alex frowned at his teacher but nodded. “It’s great that you do that for him. He’ll appreciate it.”
Mrs. Collins shook her head. “You’re not listening to me. I think of you as a son, but Tim is like a grandchild to me now. You both are my family, honey. Family is not blood. It’s not sharing DNA. It’s caring about each other and loving each other. Saving each other. Every day.”
Alex’s eyes showed all his pain. “You know what I want, Mrs. Collins.”
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“You wouldn’t have saved me the way you did if you didn’t love me like a mother, right? I heard colleagues saying that it was unsafe for you to rush in that way,” his teacher continued, raising her eyebrows as she always did. “You also rushed to save Tim because you love kids. You can love anyone as long as you open your heart. He needs someone – a couple, perhaps – who can open their hearts and love him like their own.”
The firefighter bit his lip and looked at Tim, who was enthusiastically talking to the other firefighters. His eyes returned to Mrs. Collins, and he grinned shyly.
***
A few months later…
It was Christmas day, and Alex sat at the dining room table to enjoy his wife’s fantastic dinner. But they were not the only ones present. Mrs. Collins was right there. Her house required serious repairs and would not be ready for a while. In the meantime, she moved in with Stacey and Alex.
And there was another special person with them: Tim. The kid couldn’t wait to dip into Stacey’s bowl of mashed potatoes and started munching away.
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“Wait, honey. Eat slowly, or you’ll choke,” his wife warned, laughing.
Mrs. Collins echoed the sentiment, but Alex laughed along. Tim only grinned and grabbed himself other things from the table. He loved Stacey’s cooking, but most of all, he loved being with them.
Alex and Stacey had talked after the fire, and they decided to become foster parents to Tim. However, they were completely different from what he had experienced before. They loved that kid dearly and were going to start the adoption process as soon as possible.
Tim changed their entire lives. Their home was always hectic, disastrous, loud, and full of toys now. He couldn’t have asked for more. He was happier than ever, and with Mrs. Collins there, it felt like he had a big family.
Stacey was also joyful, and Alex’s change of mind saved their marriage. Mrs. Collins had been right. Some dreams shifted, and this was even better than what he had ever wished for.
What can we learn from this story?
Family has nothing to do with blood. It’s all about love. Alex didn’t want anything but a bio-family, but Mrs. Collins showed him that family is more than DNA.
Sometimes, it takes a serious emergency to change your perspective. Alex changed his mind about the meaning of family after almost losing the woman he considered a mother.
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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a firefighter who saved and adopted an orphan, and 40 years later, he discovered his bio mother’s photo in his father’s room.
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