Her family.
Anyone who might know where she had gone.
No one had heard from her.
But when I called her college friend Sara, she hesitated before answering.
“She talked about feeling… trapped,” Sara admitted quietly over the phone. “Not by you, Ben, but by everything. The pregnancy, your mom. She told me once that Mandy said the twins would be better off without her.”
Those words felt like a knife twisting deeper into my chest.
“Why didn’t she tell me my mom was saying these things to her?”
“She was scared, Ben,” Sara said gently. “She thought Mandy might turn you against her. I told her to talk to you, but…” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I should’ve pushed harder.”
“Do you think she’s okay?”
“I hope so,” Sara replied softly. “Suzie’s stronger than she thinks. But Ben… keep looking for her.”
Weeks slowly turned into months.
For illustrative purposes only
One afternoon, while Callie and Jessica were napping, my phone buzzed.
It was a text message from an unknown number.
When I opened it, my breath caught in my throat.
It was a photo of Suzie holding the twins in the hospital.
Her face looked pale but peaceful.
Below the photo was a message.
“I wish I was the type of mother they deserve. I hope you forgive me.”
My heart raced as I immediately called the number.
But it didn’t go through.
I sent message after message.
None of them delivered.
It was like shouting into an empty void.
Still, the photo reignited something inside me.
Suzie was alive.
She was out there somewhere.
And part of her still longed for us.
Even if she felt she couldn’t come back.
I refused to give up.
A full year passed without any new clues.
The twins’ first birthday arrived.
It should have been a joyful celebration, but it felt bittersweet.
I had poured every ounce of myself into raising them.
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