Man and Woman on a Blind Date Astonished to Find Their Kids are Mirror Images of Each Other – Story of the Day

Emily and Damon’s blind date takes an astonishing turn when the pair realize their sons look exactly alike. Desperate to uncover the truth behind this mystery, Damon heads out of town to confront his unstable ex-wife. Meanwhile, Emily discovers a letter containing a secret that could destroy her life.

Emily’s rainbow-colored clown wig bounced atop her head as she hurried up the steps to the cozy Italian restaurant. She was running late for her blind date with Damon and felt very frustrated about it. She tapped her foot as she joined the short queue in front of the hostess’s podium. Emily craned her neck to see past the tall man standing in front of her and scanned the dining area.

She and Damon had met online via an app for making new friends and had spent the past three months chatting to each other. They both were single parents and had, ironically, bonded over their mutual hesitation to rejoin the dating scene. However, the more time they spent chatting, the harder it became for both of them to deny that they had fallen in love.

This was supposed to be their first date and first time meeting each other. Although they’d spoken over the phone a couple of times, they’d never video-called. When Emily suggested they should at least exchange photos of themselves before meeting up, Damon had laughed and asked if they could instead have an old-school blind date.

“It will be fun,” he’d said in his smooth, deep voice. “I’ll wear a paper hat folded out of newspaper so you’ll have no problem picking me out of a crowd.”

Emily had giggled as she promised to wear a rainbow-colored clown wig. She’d regretted the decision later but decided to follow through all the same. She’d paired the fluffy monstrosity on her head with a classic little black dress and hoped she didn’t look too ridiculous.

A warm tingle filled Emily’s heart and spread through her body when she spotted the handsome man wearing a paper hat at a table in the corner. All her frustrations drifted away, and a wide smile spread across her face.

Emily left the queue and threaded her way through tables covered with red-checked tablecloths and decorated with candles. The soft hum of conversation and the clinking of cutlery were interrupted only by brief spates of laughter whenever somebody noticed her wig. Eventually, she reached Damon’s table and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Emily!” Damon rose to greet her. “I was starting to worry.”

Emily briefly shut her eyes to relish the tender kiss Damon pressed against her cheek and the feel of his warm, strong hand on her waist. After the traumatic loss of her husband several years earlier, she’d never thought she’d one day feel so exhilarated by another man’s touch.

“I’m so sorry, Damon,” she replied. “My son, Bradley, lost his cleats, and he needs them for soccer practice tomorrow, so we turned the whole house upside down searching for them, then my car wouldn’t start…” Emily sighed. “I guess it’s just been one of those days.”

“Well, I hope I can help you end the day on a good note.” Damon smiled and pulled out Emily’s chair for her.

“You already have.” Emily grinned as she once again took in Damon’s attractive body and knock-out smile. “I finally get to meet you in the flesh! It’s the most incredible feeling.”

“I feel the same way. I’ve got to admit, you are far more beautiful than I expected. It’s a little intimidating,” he replied with a shy smile.

Emily smirked at him over her shoulder as she took her seat. “I’m sure it’s just the clown wig.”

The flickering candle on their table cast a warm glow over them as Emily and Damon chatted. Although they’d only communicated via messages and phone calls prior to that evening, they were instantly comfortable with each other. After the waiter took their dinner orders, Damon smiled and reached across the table to hold Emily’s hand.

“I’ve got to admit, I was a little worried about meeting you in real life,” Damon said in a low voice. “We get on so well online and I thought maybe that won’t carry through to reality, but this is all going great so far… it feels like we’ve gone out to dinner a thousand times before.”

“You read my mind, Damon. I wish we’d decided to do this ages ago, but it’s always better to play it safe when kids are involved, right?” She shrugged one shoulder. “We both have to put our sons’ safety and wellbeing first.”

Damon grinned. “The price of being a parent, huh? Your soccer star is 14 now, right?”

Emily nodded. “Same age as yours, if I remember right. What sports does your son play?”

“None, believe it or not. He’d rather spend his time working on his art,” Jordan replied. “Let me show you.”

Jordan pulled out his phone. After scrolling briefly, he turned the screen to show Emily a photo of a teen boy standing beside a glorious abstract painting of a sunset. Emily's jaw dropped, but not because of the skillful blend of color and texture on the canvas. The boy in the photo looked exactly like her son, Bradley!

Emily’s gaze flashed from the phone screen to Damon as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. If it weren’t for the fact that Bradley had a small scar on his forehead and a more confident bearing, she would’ve thought Damon had edited a photo of her son into this image.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Emily frowned at Damon. She was beginning to wonder if he was some kind of creep.

Damon pulled back his phone. “What do you mean? My son likes to paint, and he’s very good at it, too.”

“But… I don’t understand. You never mentioned it, but did you also adopt your child?” Emily asked.

“I didn’t.” Damon frowned. “You’re saying some very strange things, Emily. Is everything okay?”

Emily couldn’t deny the genuine confusion on Damon’s face or the concern in his voice. She didn’t know what was going on here, but it was clearly not a trick. Her fingers shook as she lifted her purse onto the table. She removed her phone and found a photo of Bradley in his soccer uniform. She showed it to Damon.

“Notice anything strange?” She asked.

Damon gasped. “This is your son?”

“Our boys are mirror images of each other,” Emily replied. “Like long-lost twins! But how can that be possible?”

“When’s your son’s birthday?” Damon asked. He stared at the image on Emily’s phone screen as though he’d seen a ghost.

“April 16th,” Emily replied, the words hanging in the air.

“Same day as Jordan.” Damon leaned back and stared into the distance as he raised his hands to shield his face. “It can’t be…she never said anything about twins.”

“What does that mean?” Emily reached across the table. “Do you know something about this, Damon?”

Damon’s gaze locked on hers. His eyes were wide and held a haunted look that made the hair on the nape of Emily’s neck stand on end. This was the most bizarre event Emily had ever experienced, but there had to be a reasonable explanation!

“No, I’m as shocked by all of this as you are, but my ex-wife might know something.” Damon rose from his seat. “I’m sorry to cut our dinner short, Emily, but we have to get to the bottom of this.”

“And you think your ex can help with that?” Emily asked as she gazed up at him.

“She’s the only one who would know if we had twins.” Damon sighed. “I just wish I could guarantee that I’ll get a straight answer out of her.”

Damon leaned in to kiss Emily tenderly. “I’ll call you the minute I find out anything.”

Emily watched Damon hurry out of the restaurant, and a heavy feeling settled over her. Damon never spoke much about his ex-wife, but he’d said enough over the course of their text conversations for Emily to know that the woman had serious mental health problems.

Her gaze turned to the photo on her phone once more. Emily’s late husband, Jack, had handled all the details about Bradley’s adoption. She couldn’t remember if he’d mentioned anything about Bradley having a twin. Would information like that even be mentioned on the adoption papers if only one of the children had been given up?

It wouldn’t do any harm to check the papers and find out.

Emily headed home with a heavy heart. She’d been looking forward to meeting Damon all week and had even dared to daydream about them building a life together. Now, it seemed like all her bright and hopeful wishes for the future had shifted into dark uncertainty.

She pulled into the garage of her modest suburban home and remembered the day she’d first seen Bradley, the baby she’d longed for since she and Jack got married. Jack had gotten the call that a baby was available for them to adopt shortly before Emily was released from the center where she’d been recovering from knee surgery.

When Emily finally arrived home, she was greeted at the door by Jack and a baby boy swaddled in a dinosaur blanket. Her husband had been grinning from ear to ear, and the baby in his arms was the most beautiful human being she’d ever seen in her life.

“He’s an angel!” Emily had cooed over the little bundle. “Does he have a name?”

Jack had shaken his head. “I was waiting for you.”

Emily had smiled and kissed the baby on his forehead. “What about Bradley?”

That had been the happiest day of her life. She could never have imagined that less than a year later, she’d also experience the saddest day of her life.

Bradley was camped out in front of the TV when Emily entered the house.

“You’re home early, Mom,” Bradley remarked.

The photo of Damon’s son sprang from her memory as she looked at Bradley. The boy had to be her son’s twin. It was simply impossible for two people to look so alike. They even had a dimple in the same spot!

“Mom?” Bradley frowned at her and sat up straight. “What’s wrong? Did that Damon guy do something to hurt you? If he did—”

“No, honey.” Emily forced herself to smile and walked over to ruffle Bradley’s hair. “I’ve told you before, Damon is an absolute sweetheart. I’m home early because…because he wasn’t feeling well. It’s a disappointing way to end a date.”

“Are you sure that’s all?” Bradley studied her. “You seem upset.”

“Everything’s fine. Now, you should be getting to bed soon, shouldn’t you? It’s a school night.”

Bradley rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I just want to watch the end of this episode.”

Emily rushed upstairs and went straight to the desk in her bedroom. She unlocked the drawer where she kept all her important papers and started searching for Bradley’s adoption documents. She thought she must’ve missed them somehow when she reached the bottom of the drawer without finding anything, but a second search proved her wrong. The documents weren’t there at all.

Emily played with the golden locket she always wore and scanned her bedroom. She and Jack had always kept all their important paperwork right here. There was no other spot where it could be. She tried to remember where and when she’d last seen those papers and came to a startling realization.

Jack had never shown her the adoption papers. When she’d returned home from the hospital, she’d immediately gotten sucked into the demanding routines of caring for a newborn. She’d never thought about asking to see the paperwork, and Jack had never shown it to her on his own.

A sense of unease crawled across Emily’s skin. She tried to push it aside as she reasoned that, whether she’d seen the papers or not, they still had to be in this house somewhere. Since Jack had handled everything, there was only one place that might hold the answer.

Emily changed out of her expensive gown and heels and put on her oldest sweatshirt and shorts instead. She then grabbed a flashlight and headed straight up to the attic.

A cold weight settled over Emily as she rose to her feet and scanned the attic. The orange glow from her flashlight passed over several piles of cardboard boxes, a dusty collection of Bradley’s larger childhood toys, and the chest where she’d stored all of Jack’s things after he died.

She tiptoed across to the chest and knelt down in the dust before it. She set her flashlight down on a nearby box so the beam illuminated the chest and ran her fingers over the wood. A heavy sigh fell from her lips and sent a plume of dust into the air.

Jack’s passing had been sudden, unexpected, and devastating. One day, they’d been planning their first holiday as a family, and the next, she was getting a call from the police. Jack’s car had veered out of control on the highway and caused a major accident. Several people were injured, and Jack had died. She later found out he’d suffered a fatal brain aneurysm rupture while driving home. They hadn’t even known he’d had an aneurysm.

The whole experience had been very traumatic, and caring for a young child hadn’t given her much opportunity to heal. She’d enlisted her older brother’s help to pack up Jack’s things and put them in the attic in the days following the funeral and had tried to move with on her life.

But now, she needed to delve into the past to uncover the truth about her son’s adoption. Emily lifted the lid and pushed it open. Right on top was an A4-sized envelope with her name written on it in Jack’s handwriting. Her fingers shook, and tears prickled her eyes as she opened the envelope and removed the page inside.

‘Dear Emily,’ Jack had written, ‘I’ve been lying to you for almost a year…’

Damon tossed and turned all night long as he replayed the scene from the restaurant in his mind.

The next day, he saw Jordan off to school, then climbed into his car and started driving. He drove for hours before pulling up in front of a security gate set into a high wall. A sign on the wall listed a strict set of rules and stated that security guards were allowed to search any vehicle at their discretion.

Damon gave his name to the guard stationed in a booth at the gate and waited while he checked it against his list. After a quick inspection, the guard opened the gate, and Damon drove up to an imposing three-story building.

He signed in at the front desk and was buzzed through a mesh gate. An orderly escorted him to a plain but comfortable visitor’s lounge. Damon settled into a padded chair positioned near a small, round table in the center of the room. The only other people in the room, orderlies excluded, were an elderly woman gazing sadly at a middle-aged man busy with a coloring book and a couple crouched down to speak to a teen girl kneeling beneath their table.

Damon hadn’t been here in three years, but it was every bit as unsettling as he remembered. After a few minutes, he became aware of footsteps approaching him. He looked up and stared right into his ex-wife’s eyes.

“I told you not to come back here, Damon,” Naomi said.

“I know, but this is important. I need to ask you something about Jordan.”

Naomi smiled slightly. “My good son. Is he doing well?”

Damon nodded. “He recently won an art competition… Naomi, can you tell me what happened the night Jordan was born?”

Naomi frowned and lowered her head. Her gaze darted from side to side. “I already told you, Damon. The tall man told me I needed to leave, so I did. I don’t remember anything else.”

Damon chewed on his lower lip and stared across at Naomi. They’d met in college and married immediately after she graduated. Damon had still had a few years to go before completing his degree, but they’d moved in together, and they’d been happy. When Naomi fell pregnant shortly after Damon joined a prestigious firm, it seemed like life couldn’t get any more perfect.

The first signs that something was terribly wrong appeared a few weeks later. Naomi started getting terrible headaches and experiencing blurry vision. The doctor did some tests and told the couple Naomi had preeclampsia.

Naomi didn’t take the news well. Although her doctor assured her she’d be monitoring the pregnancy closely from then on to intervene at the first sign of trouble, Naomi wasn’t satisfied. She quit her job to stay home and rest, and then she quit her doctor. Damon didn’t understand her reasoning, but he didn’t want to stress her out either, so he went along with it.

As her pregnancy continued, Naomi grew increasingly paranoid and spoke constantly about a threat to their baby. Damon thought these were natural worries at first, considering her medical condition did pose a threat to their baby, but then the tall man entered the picture.

They’d been shopping for baby clothes when Naomi suddenly insisted they had to go home immediately because a tall man said she was in danger. She’d been standing at Damon’s side the entire time, and no man, tall or otherwise, had approached them. When he tried to talk some sense into Naomi, she’d accused him of being on ‘their’ side. Damon didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but his wife was in obvious distress, so they went home.

She started insisting on going to her check-ups alone soon afterward. Sometimes, Damon would get home from work and find her talking to herself, or she’d start rambling about things Damon couldn’t make head or tail out of. He’d eventually convinced her to see a psychologist to help her manage her stress.

Naomi’s psychologist later told Damon that the stress of having a complicated pregnancy had likely caused the onset of Naomi’s schizophrenia. It seemed she had a long history of it in her family but had never told him about it. He’d been rocked to the core by all this new information, but finally, things had made sense.

Those were some of the darkest days of Damon’s life. It seemed like nothing he did could ease Naomi’s suffering, and every time he tried, she accused him of something heinous. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, there wasn’t much they could do to treat Naomi’s schizophrenia and preeclampsia, and each condition seemed to make the other worse.

Damon had been counting down the days until Naomi gave birth. The thrill he should’ve felt about welcoming his child into the world was overshadowed by fear and worry about his wife. When there was little more than a month left, Naomi disappeared. He reported her missing to the cops, but it was like she’d vanished into thin air.

Nights turned into restless stretches of anxiety as he roamed the city, searching for any sign of her. The weight of uncertainty pressed on him, each passing day intensifying the gnawing worry that something dreadful had befallen Naomi. He canvassed hospitals, shelters, and every place they had once shared, desperately seeking a glimpse of the woman he loved.

He’d almost given up when he got a call from the police. A patrol officer had found Naomi in an alley. She’d gone into labor, and the police officer had rushed her to the closest hospital. Damon ran out of the house in his pajamas and drove there immediately.

Seeing Naomi lying in a hospital bed left Damon grappling with a mix of emotions—relief that she was alive, confusion about the circumstances, and the shock of becoming a father without witnessing the pivotal moment. The tiny cries of the newborn echoed in the sterile walls of the clinic, a poignant reminder of the complex and unexpected turns life had taken. And life had one more shock in store for him.

“I’m divorcing you,” Naomi had said. “I’ve already asked a lawyer to draw up the papers. I’m also giving up my parental rights.”

These thoughts of the past flooded Damon’s memory as he stared across at his ex-wife, picking at her cuticles. She’d made great progress in the institute. For a while, he’d even hoped they could get back together and pick up the life they’d built, but it was not to be. And if he wanted a chance at moving on with Emily, then he needed to know if Naomi had given birth to twins.

“I understand that you left because the tall man told you to, Naomi, but there’s something I must know.” Damon leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. “Did you give birth to twins?”

Naomi’s lip curled, and she shook her head. “No, no, there were no twins. There was my good son, Jordan, and there was a parasite trying to kill us both. The tall man pulled it out of me. I wanted to kill it, but he threw it away instead.”

An icy chill settled over Damon. “A parasite, Naomi?”

She frowned and averted her gaze. “That’s how I remember it. I tried to tell the doctor when she gave me my first ultrasound, but she…” Naomi broke off and shook her head. “It had the most evil face I’d ever seen, but she pretended she couldn’t see it. That’s when I knew she was one of them.”

Damon leaned back as the horror of what he’d just heard sank into him. “So, this parasite was inside your womb with Jordan? And the tall man pulled it out of you… did that happen before you got to the hospital?”

Naomi nodded. “He threw it into the dumpster, where it belonged.”

Emily sat at the kitchen table. She’d held herself together all through the morning routine of seeing Bradley off to school, but now, tears ran down her face as she read Jack’s letter again. She kept hoping she’d find something to let her know this was just a very bad joke, but it was not to be. Jack, her husband whom she’d loved with all her heart, had betrayed her trust and deceived her.

Dear Emily,

I’ve been lying to you for almost a year. I’ve let you believe we have a solid relationship and a bright future to share with little Bradley, but it’s simply not true. I have a ticking time bomb in my head waiting to kill me. It’s a cerebral aneurysm, it’s inoperable, and my doc says that it could burst at any time.

I should’ve told you the truth earlier, but I didn’t see any point in making you worry about something neither of us could change. Instead, I decided to make sure every day we spent together would be better than the last. I also promised myself I’d do everything possible to ensure you wouldn’t be alone after I die.

None of the adoption agencies I contacted approved our application. I was losing hope of ever finding a child for you when a miracle happened. I was headed home after meeting Michael for dinner when I heard a woman screaming. I followed the sound into an alley and found a woman giving birth. I helped her as best I could and eventually held her newborn in my arms. But when I offered the baby to her, she flipped out and said she was going to kill it.

I took the baby and called the police. I was going to hand the child over to the police, but when I looked down at his little face, I knew he would be perfect for you. I brought him home and convinced Michael to falsify the details on the adoption papers inside this envelope. They should pass a cursory inspection, but you should know that they won’t stand up in court.

I’m sorry I couldn’t do better for you, my darling Emily.

Emily clutched the letter to her chest and sobbed. Jack's secret, the deception about Bradley's adoption, the falsified paperwork, and the revelation that Jack had known he could die at any moment all collided in a whirlwind of emotions.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. The house felt suffocating, the air heavy with revelations and unspoken grief. With trembling hands, Emily carefully folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. Now, she finally had some answers, but she needed to tell Damon.

Emily reached for her phone for what felt like the twentieth time, dialed Damon’s number, and paused with her finger hovering over the call button. If she exposed the truth about how Jack found Bradley, her son’s legal standing could crumble. The weight of that potential loss pressed on her, a heavy burden she wasn't sure she could bear.

Emily was torn between the truth and the fear of the fallout. Damon deserved to know the truth if Bradley turned out to be his biological son, but the fear of losing Bradley held her back.

Nonetheless, she would have to do something. The seconds ticked by, each one amplifying the turmoil in her mind. Emily knew a decision loomed—one that could shatter the beautiful relationship she and Damon had so recently begun.

But Emily’s time to make her decision expired when her phone started ringing in her hand. It was Damon calling her.

Damon stepped out of the institute, the sterile scent lingering in his nostrils. His conversation with Naomi left him more confused than ever. The chilling details of her delusions about parasites and tall men haunted him, but amid the chaos, a realization pierced through the fog of uncertainty—Naomi had given birth to twins.

The revelation echoed in his mind as he walked briskly toward his car. His heart raced, mind spinning with the implications of this newfound truth. Naomi's fragmented memories might hold the key to understanding the mysterious connection between his and Emily’s sons.

Fishing his phone from his pocket, Damon dialed Emily's number.

"Hello?" Emily's voice, tinged with anxiety, answered.

"Emily, it's Damon. I’ve just finished speaking to my ex-wife.” Damon let out a heavy sigh as he climbed into his car and leaned back in the driver’s seat. “I never mentioned this before, but it’s important for you to know now. Naomi has schizophrenia. She said some strange things about the night Jordan was born, but I pieced together something crucial."

Emily let out a shaky sigh. “I also found something, Damon. Can you come to my house? We really need to discuss this in person.”

“Of course, Emily. I’ve got a long drive ahead of me, but send me your location and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Damon's car cut through the quiet night, the road bathed in the glow of dim streetlights. Thoughts of Naomi's revelations and the newfound truth about the twins churned in his mind as he navigated the route to Emily's house. The drive was a mix of anticipation and anxiety, the weight of the unspoken hanging heavy in the air.

Arriving at Emily's house, Damon parked the car, his gaze fixed on the inviting glow emanating from her living room window. He took a deep breath, gathering the courage to unravel the mysteries that had suddenly enveloped their lives.

Damon approached the door, his knuckles rapping against the wood. Emily opened it, her eyes reflecting a mixture of emotions. Without a word, he stepped inside, the door closing behind him.

They sat together on the living room sofa. Damon didn’t know where to start at first, but when he looked into Emily’s eyes, everything just poured out of him. He told her about the hell he’d lived through when Naomi’s mental illness emerged and the cryptic details she’d relayed about Jordan’s birth.

“I think she was carrying twins, but because of her sickness, she believed one of them was a parasite,” Damon said. “The tall man was one of her hallucinations, so all I can think of is that somehow, she put the baby into a dumpster. I guess someone found him there later. Jesus… it sounds so awful.”

Emily put an arm around Damon’s shoulders. “I don’t think the baby spent any time in a dumpster, actually.”

She removed Jack’s letter and gave it to Damon with shaking fingers. As he read it, tears flowed down her face.

“So, your husband was there?” Damon glanced at her as he held up the letter. “He…he saved my son.”

“Please, don’t take Bradley away from me.” Emily sniffed. “You have every right to, I know that, but that boy means everything to me. I can’t live without him.”

“Nobody’s going to take me away from you, Mom!”

Damon and Emily both looked up. Bradley was standing in the arched entrance to the living room with a thunderous expression on his face. He was holding Jack’s old hunting rifle in his arms.

“You hear me, mister?” Bradley glared at Damon. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care either. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Damon lowered the letter, his gaze shifting from the tear-streaked paper to Bradley, his son. He felt like he’d been hit by a truck as he stared at the boy, Jordan’s mirror image, who stood defiantly in the doorway. The weight of the rifle in the boy's arms added a layer of tension to the room.

"Bradley, it's not like that," Emily said, her voice a mixture of concern and reassurance.

"Don’t lie to me, Mom!" Bradley interrupted, his eyes fixed on Damon. “I heard you in the attic last night, I noticed you were upset this morning, and I heard you begging this guy not to take me away. I want him to know that I won’t be going anywhere with him, regardless.”

“I have no intention of taking you away, Bradley.” Damon raised his hands. “You clearly love your Mom very much, and I know she loves you too. I don’t want to break that apart.” He turned to look Emily in the eye. “I mean that, Emily. He’s your baby. I’m not going to take him from you.”

Emily threw her arms around Damon’s neck and sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back as she muttered ‘thank you’s against him. After a few minutes, she broke away with a grateful smile and rose to confront her son.

“Please, put the rifle down, Bradley,” Emily said. “I hate that you overheard so much of this conversation, but there’s nothing we can do to change that so, I need you to sit down so Damon and I can explain.”

“Damon?” Bradley’s eyebrows arched in shock, and he set the gun down against the wall. “The same Damon you went on a date with earlier?”

Emily and Damon looked at each other. It seemed impossible that their blind date had taken place only a few short hours ago. While Emily certainly had strong feelings for the man seated beside her on the sofa, so much had happened in such a short space of time that she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. She’d truly hoped their relationship could succeed, but with all the secrets they’d just uncovered, the future she’d hoped for now seemed uncertain.

“Yes, he’s the same guy I went on a date with earlier, but the information we need to share is not about our date.” Emily gestured to the armchair. “Please sit, Bradley.”

Bradley sat down, and Emily and Damon told him how they’d discovered that their sons looked alike. They then explained how they’d since discovered about how Naomi came to give birth in an alley and how it seemed like Jack found her there. By unspoken agreement, neither one mentioned that Naomi had thought he was a parasite.

“So,” Bradley said once they finished speaking, “you’re telling me that he’s my father, and I have a twin brother?”

“It seems like it,” Emily replied. “We should probably have a DNA test done to be certain, but that’s our understanding of the matter.”

“If all of that’s true, then why me?” Bradley stared grimly at Damon. “Why did your ex-wife give me up? Or did Dad steal me from her?” He glanced at Emily then. “Why did she keep my brother but not me?”

“Like I said, Naomi was very sick, Bradley, and she still is,” Damon replied. “She developed schizophrenia while she was pregnant. It made her hallucinate sometimes and, by the sounds of things, she was experiencing a particularly bad episode the day she ran off. The reason Jack ended up with you and not Jordan is…”

Damon looked at the tight set of Bradley’s jaw and the boy’s rapidly blinking eyes. It was clear he was trying to hold back tears. Damon could only imagine how devastated he felt after hearing all these secrets about his origins. He couldn’t bear to add to the pain he was feeling by telling him that his mother had thought he was an evil parasite.

“...because she was confused,” Damon continued. “She thought only one of her children lived and she asked Jack to take the other, you, away. From what your mother and I understand, he tried to make her see the truth, but she couldn’t see reason.”

Bradley frowned, but he nodded and seemed satisfied with the answer. Damon turned to Emily, and she offered him a small smile. He reached over and took her hand. Unexpected as this whole situation was, he was grateful neither one of them had to go through it alone.

“So, what happens now?” Bradley asked.

Damon squeezed Emily's hand, silently reassuring her as they faced Bradley's searching gaze.

"Now," Damon began, "we take it one step at a time. We can do a DNA test to confirm everything, and then we figure out how to move forward. I know this is sudden for all of us, but if the DNA test confirms our suspicions, then that makes us a family."

“It does, doesn’t it?” Emily gasped.

“This has turned out to be one heck of a first date, right?” Damon glanced at Emily with a slight smile.

Emily laughed, but it was a high-pitched, nervous laugh. “You can say that again!”

Damon looked at Bradley, his son. The young man's expression was a mix of curiosity, confusion, and something else Damon couldn't quite put his finger on. Bradley was grappling with a whirlwind of emotions, and Damon understood the weight of the revelation. The prospect of having a twin brother and a newfound father was a lot to absorb in one evening.

"I know this is a lot to take in, Bradley," Damon said, turning his attention to the young man. "We'll handle this together, as a family. Emily and I both want what's best for you, and we're here to support you through all of this."

Bradley nodded slowly, still processing the information. "I just... I need some time to think, you know?"

"Of course," Emily replied, her eyes filled with concern. "Take all the time you need, sweetheart. We're not rushing anything. This is going to be a journey that we’ll all need to walk together.”

As Bradley excused himself and headed upstairs, Emily turned to Damon, her expression a mix of gratitude and uncertainty. "What do we do next, Damon? How do we navigate all of this?"

Damon sighed, running a hand over his hair. "First, I’ll need to tell Jordan, but that can wait until morning. Then, we should get that DNA test done. It will provide the clarity we need. Once we have the results, we can decide how to approach the future, together." He met Emily's gaze, a reassuring glint in his eyes. "No matter what, we face it as a family."

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