The Whispers

The neighbors had a reason to talk about Tatyana. The girl would not play with other kids of her age, nor would she mix well with her own family. At times, the people around would say that she doesn’t even resemble her parents. This was quite bizarre. And then one day Vera came to know about one such whisper.

Wrong Baby

One fine day, Vera was in the community park with Tatyana when she heard her neighbors passing odd glances at her and her daughter. She overheard them saying that it seems as if Vera had brought home someone else’s baby. Probably she was raising a wrong baby. People would even say that Tatyana is adopted and the family had been hiding it from everyone. Was it the case?

A Better Life

Vera could not handle such rumors. She was already disturbed with Tatyana’s attitude and behavior and all these rumors were making things even more difficult. She did not want that such talks disturb her daughter, and thus, she and Nikolay decided to shift from Moldova. And when they did so, a truth surfaced.

Leaving Moldova

Vera and Nikolay had made all the arrangements to shift to the United States in early 1999. Just a week prior to when they were to move into a new place, a woman from their neighborhood who was even a close friend to the family came in to speak with them. She told them that she had a piece of information that might be important for the family.

Miserable Child

The woman told the couple about the story of another baby who was residing in her sister’s neighbor’s place. That baby was born around the same time as Tatyana and even his condition was miserable. That baby too would cry often. Hearing about the similarities with that baby Vera and Nikolay somewhere panicked.

Something Shocking

While Vera and Nikolay were quite baffled on knowing the similar situation of another baby, what their neighbor said further, came as a blow to them. For instance, they wanted to ignore a particular fact but they couldn’t. What she said was something no parent would wish to hear.