A poor single man’s life takes an unexpected turn after a little orphan girl runs into him and calls him dad. After meeting her, he decides to quit his job and change his life completely.
“Sure, I’ll be there on time. Yes, thank you!” James replied and hung up the phone. He had applied to be an in-house volunteer at a foster group home and was finally accepted.
James, who was just 29 years old, had never considered starting a family. He always wished for one but quickly dismissed the idea, preferring to remain unmarried because his finances never encouraged him to consider starting a family.
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In his spare time, James liked helping the underprivileged and orphans as he had been in their shoes at one point and could connect better with them.
When he was eventually approved as a volunteer at the group home, he felt very satisfied. Though he always felt alone, being a volunteer at the group home came with the company of children, and James was very fond of children. Not to mention, he was a very kind man too.
One day, a little girl was brought in while James was working at the foster home. She was wearing two pigtails and a cute hair clip, and she hugged her teddy tightly as she got down from the car at the front gate.
James had overheard the foster carer talking about the girl, and he knew she was brought there because her single mother had died, leaving her an orphan. As she walked in, James could see her eyes were teary, and she was looking around, confused.
“But why would she call me dad? I don’t even know her!” James said desperately. “What happened to her?”
Still feeling bad for her, James returned to his other engagements that day. Suddenly, the girl came running up to him and began pulling his shirt.
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“Daddy, did you come for me? Are you going to take me home?” she asked, smiling through tears, and James was shocked. He’d never had a girlfriend, much less a child. Why was she calling him dad?
Trying his best to hide his shock, he smiled and knelt in front of her. “Hi, I’m James. You’re Layla, right? I’m sorry, sweetie, but I am not your daddy.”
The girl’s smile faded, and she started to cry. “But…you should be my daddy. Why are you lying to me?”
James didn’t know what to say. He really hadn’t met the girl before.
“Well, honey,” he finally said. “Maybe you mistook me for someone else. I am not your dad.”
But the girl refused to listen. “NO! You are daddy! Mr. Fluffy knows it too! You bought Mr. Fluffy for me! He’s my favorite toy!”
“But—” James didn’t get to finish as a voice suddenly cut him off.
“Layla, honey, go inside!” it said.
James looked up and saw the foster carer, Clara, who seemed very worried. “Layla, honey, how about you go in and freshen up?” she told the little girl. “You can talk to James later. Mr. Fluffy must be tired too.”
Layla was reluctant at first, but after Clara carefully consoled her, she agreed.
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When Layla was gone, Clara apologized to James. “I’m sorry. Things haven’t been easy for her.”
“But why would she call me dad? I don’t even know her. What happened to her?” James asked.
Clara sighed. “Her father wasn’t a good man. He abandoned her and her mother. She’s only six. After her mother died, Layla just couldn’t take it. She’s stressed and cries constantly, and hopes someone will come for her.
“But the thing is no one will. Layla’s mother never told her the truth about her father. She said he would come soon, and Layla just kept hoping for it. You are the third person today she called dad. She was very young when her father left, so she has a vague image of him in her mind. She’s currently undergoing therapy, and I hope she’ll recover soon.”
“That’s terrible. Is there no way we can contact her father?” James asked, worried.
Clara shook her head. “I don’t believe so. He hadn’t contacted them in years, and according to the paperwork, Layla’s mother had divorced him, and she had Layla’s legal custody. And Layla doesn’t have any relatives because her mother was also an orphan.”
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While James had never considered starting a family, something in his heart was ignited after seeing Layla, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her huge blue eyes staring at him and calling him dad.
Eventually, James developed a great bond with Layla, and one day, he asked her if she wanted him to be her father. “Would you be happy if I adopted you, Layla?” he asked, and she gave him a silly smile.
“You ARE my daddy! I’m very smart, and I know dads don’t adopt their children!”
Layla had always called James “daddy” from the day they met, even though he had told her he wasn’t her father. At one point, he just gave up and let her call him that. But because his finances were not in good shape, he knew he wouldn’t be able to adopt Layla.
So James made up his mind. He decided to leave his voluntary position and began looking for high-paying jobs. The whole process was nerve-wracking, but after several attempts, James was hired as a waiter. It wasn’t something huge, but it gave him hope that he could do better.
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While working as a waiter, James took up some online courses, started studying on his own, and decided to become a private tutor simultaneously. With two jobs, his income increased, but he still needed to do more. His motivation was little Layla, who would come and hug him every time he visited the foster home.
“When can we go home, daddy? I want to live with you!” she would ask hopefully.
“I assure you it will be soon, honey. Very soon.”
But it did not happen so soon. It took James a whole year to get a stable position at a private firm. His various jobs gave him a lot of exposure, so he was definitely smarter than most applicants and more experienced. Those qualities stood out during the interview, and he was hired.
After he started making good money, James applied for Layla’s adoption. Simultaneously, he happened to meet a woman named Amelia at his firm, and they fell in love at first sight.
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His sympathy for the underprivileged moved her as she had previously worked as a social worker too. Things quickly developed between them, and by the time James had officially adopted Layla, he had proposed to her.
“I can’t wait any longer, Amelia. It’s as if my dream of starting a family has finally come true! WILL YOU MARRY ME?” he asked.
“I’d love to be a part of OUR dream, James! It’s a yes!!”
Amelia accepted Layla just like she accepted James into her life and loved her like her own child. And having found what he had dreamed of, James realized he needed a powerful push to organize his life. For him, it started the day he crossed paths with Layla.
What can we learn from this story?
- You become a parent by heart, not by biology. While Layla’s biological dad never cared for her and left her, James decided to change his whole life just to have Layla as his daughter. He was a father to her in the real sense.
- Sometimes we need a little push to get our lives in order. James felt lonely without a family and tried to escape it by volunteering and spending time with children. When he met Layla, he realized that he longed for his own family and didn’t want to be alone, and this pushed him to work harder.
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