Emma and James divorced when their daughter Lily turned two. James simply couldnt bear living with his wife anymore. She was always discontent, always angry. One moment she complained he didnt earn enough, the next that he was never home and didnt help with Lily at all.
James tried his best to please her, but nothing worked. Friends suggested Emma had postnatal depressionthat she ought to see a doctor or take medication. But James wasnt convinced. She hadnt been kind before the baby, and now it was as if shed lost her mind entirely.
He couldnt remember the last time hed seen Emma smile. Even when she was with Lily, her face was etched with irritation, making him wish he could snatch their daughter away and hide her somewhere safe.
Still, he gently suggested she see a therapist. The response was a torrent of fury.
“What, you think Im mad? You think Im hysterical, do you? How could I not be, with you around?”
After that, James had enough. He filed for divorce. Out of spite, Emma took Lily and moved to another town. She refused child support and didnt leave an address.
James searched for a while, then gave up. He loved Lily dearly, but the thought of facing Emma againof enduring her ragemade him accept the loss.
Emma, meanwhile, stewed in bitterness. She blamed James for everything, convinced hed left for another woman. That resentment soon poisoned her relationship with Lily.
She never hit her daughter, but Lily grew up steeped in negativity most people never experience.
There were no celebrations in their home. Lily only learned birthdays existed when she started nursery.
“Mum, guess what? Tommy had a birthday today, and everyone gave him presents! Will I get one too?”
“No. Its silly. Whats there to celebrate? Im the one who did all the work bringing you into the world. Dont ask againits a waste of money.”
They didnt celebrate Christmas either. Luckily, Father Christmas visited the nursery, so that was Lilys one taste of festivity. On Christmas Day itself, they ate plain food and went to bed as usual.
Emma couldnt stand laughterperhaps because shed forgotten how to laugh herself. When Lily giggled at cartoons, Emma would snap,
“Why are you cackling like that? Theres nothing funny!”
So Lily learned smiles were bad. Laughter was wrong. Being serious and gloomy, like Mum, was the only way.
Whether Emma had mental health issues, no one knew. She refused therapy, calling it a waste. She believed life wasnt for joy, and that cheerful people were just fools.
Lily tasted sweets for the first time at nursery during a birthday party. They were heavenly. That night, she dreamed of growing up and buying herself a whole box. The thought made her smilethough she quickly hid it.
Who knows how Lily would have turned out if shed stayed with Emma? Each year, her mother grew angrier. Neighbours avoided her; old ladies crossed the street, muttering about how no one could be so cruel.
Eventually, all that bitterness took its toll. Emma was diagnosed with cancer. She distrusted doctors, so by the time an ambulance took her to hospital, it was too late.
A neighbour took Lily in while Emma was away. Before leaving, Emma gave them Jamess name and the town he lived in. Even in her anger, she hadnt forgotten her daughter.
Emma never came back. Lily wasnt told immediatelyshe was too frightened to ask questions.
Social services tracked James down. By then, hed been remarried for six months. When they called, he told his wife, Sophie, he wouldnt abandon Lily. Hed been searching for her all along.
Sophie, kind-hearted, urged him to bring her home.
Lily, of course, didnt remember her father. She was terrified, certain life with him would be worse than with Mum.
James arrived with a giant teddy bear and a bag of sweets. Lily shrank back at firstbut the sight of the treats won her over. Father Christmas gave sweets at nursery, and he was good. Maybe this man was too?
While Lily examined her new toy, the neighbour filled James in.
“God rest her soul, but your ex was a piece of work. Never smiled, never said hello. Poor Lily was like a little ghostscared of her own shadow.”
Jamess heart ached. He should have fought harder to find her. His fear of Emma had cost his daughter years of happiness.
Once the paperwork and funeral were done, Lily went home with him.
“Your birthdays coming up,” he said gently. “What would you like?”
Lily blinked. “We dont do birthdays. Mum said they were silly.”
James stared. “Thats not true. Everyone deserves to celebrate.”
“Can I have a box of sweets, then?” she whispered.
His throat tightened. He could only nod.
Later, after Sophie put Lily to bed, James poured himself a whisky.
“Shed never had a birthday,” he choked out. “She asked for sweets. Just sweets. How could I let this happen?”
Sophie hugged him. “Dont blame yourself. Life punished Emma enough.”
“Im not blaming her. Im blaming me. I told myself they were fine. And now shes a child whos afraid to be happy.”
Sophie smiled. “Then well give her the best birthday ever. For all the ones she missed.”
That week, Lily adjusted to her new life.
What stunned her most was how much James and Sophie laughed. Shed thought adults forgot how.
And breakfast wasnt just bland porridgeSophie made pancakes, fruit, yoghurt.
But the biggest shock? Sweets were always in the house. “Just dont eat too many,” James warned with a grin.
On her birthday, Lily woke to a room full of balloons. She blew out candles on her cake, then they went to the fairground. She got seven presentsone for each missed year.
Children adapt quickly, especially to kindness. Within a month, Lily laughed freely, hugged them often. Mum had hated being touched.
She started school, her past fading. Sometimes she wondered what was real and what shed imagined. But she knew she was lucky.
A year later, she called Sophie “Mum” for the first time. Because, painful as it was, Sophie had been more of a mother than Emma ever was.
And in the end, Lily learned that love isnt just something youre givenits something you choose to give, no matter the past.
