My 18-year-old son Luke came home crying two days after moving in with his best friend, Ben.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, I need to confess something.\u201d<\/p>\n
He showed me a document he had found at Ben\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
I thought it might explain a problem between the boys.<\/p>\n
Instead, it opened a secret that had been buried for 18 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ben\u2019s mother finally admitted that Ben had been adopted.<\/p>\n But then we discovered something impossible.<\/p>\n The adoption records were connected to the hospital where I had given birth to Luke.<\/p>\n I had always believed my second baby had died.<\/p>\n But an old midwife remembered something completely different.<\/p>\n Both babies had been born alive.<\/strong><\/p>\n Then the hospital found an adoption document carrying my name\u2014but I had never signed it.<\/p>\n Suddenly, everything came rushing back.<\/p>\n My husband Mark had been terrified. We were nineteen, broke, and expecting twins.<\/p>\n After the birth, while I was heavily sedated, he told me one of our babies had died.<\/p>\n He never let me see the baby.<\/p>\n He had secretly arranged the adoption of my son and somehow put my name on the paperwork.<\/p>\n For 18 years, I believed my child was gone.<\/p>\n Then I looked at Ben.<\/p>\n The resemblance to Luke was undeniable.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you saying I\u2019m your son?\u201d Ben whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n But I wasn’t there to take him away from the woman who raised him.<\/p>\n \u201cI gave birth to you,\u201d I told him. \u201cDiane is your mom. You don’t have to choose between us.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben looked at Diane through tears.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if I want both of you?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I smiled through my tears.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you get both.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days earlier, I thought my son had simply moved out.<\/p>\n I never imagined that him moving in with his best friend would somehow bring my other son home.<\/strong> \u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My 18-year-old son Luke came home crying two days after moving in with his best friend, Ben. \u201cMom, I need to confess something.\u201d He showed me a document he had found at Ben\u2019s house. I thought it might explain a problem between the boys. Instead, it opened a secret that had been buried for 18…<\/p>\n