I Became a Guardian for My Late Fiancée’s 10 Kids – Years Later, My Eldest Looked at Me and Said, ‘Dad, I’m Finally Ready to Tell You What Really Happened to Mom’

When she finally did, she said the same thing every time.

“I don’t remember, Dad.”

They searched for Calla for ten days.

We buried Calla without a body, and I was left with ten kids who needed me more than I knew.

***

“You’re staring at the peanut butter,” Mara said now.

“Am I?”

I looked down at the knife in my hand. “That’s never a good sign, huh?”

We buried Calla without a body.

She gave me a smile and reached past me for the bread. “You want me to finish those?”

“What I want,” I said, “is one normal morning before somebody sets a backpack on fire.”

From the hallway, Jason yelled, “That happened one time!”

“And it was enough,” I yelled back.

Mara shook her head, but there was something tired in her face that never used to be there.

People said I was insane for fighting for those kids in court. My brother said, “Loving them is one thing. Raising ten kids alone is another.”

“That happened one time!”