Mom attends son’s wedding, realizes bride is her daughter

She clasped the bride’s hands in her own and greeted her warmly. That was when she noticed the strange birthmark. Suddenly her stomach fell and her smile stiffened. Her heart thudded as she realized the familiarity of her daughter-in-law’s face.

Martha

64-year-old Martha Kenny was looking forward to her son, Mark’s wedding. She resides in the suburbs of Fargo, North Carolina. She hadn’t seen Mark since he relocated to New York. He had a high-powered, stressful job and couldn’t take time off from work to see her often. Mark had been living in New York for 6 months prior to calling her to inform her that he would be marrying his ideal woman. Martha was incredibly glad for him.

Son’s Wedding

Her son and his fiancée decided to get married in Fargo so that Martha would not have to take a flight to New York. They took a flight on the day of their wedding, excited and full of energy. Martha wore the new best dress. She hastened to the wedding location to welcome her son and daughter-to-be. It was Martha’s first time meeting with Holly. She spoke to her on the phone but never met her in person. She attended the wedding and hugged Mark. Then Holly walked up.

Something Is Off

With a smile and a honey-toned voice, Martha greeted Holly like family. But then she saw something extremely peculiar and it would bring her to a complete standstill. While Martha gripped her hands firmly, she saw a distinctive birthmark that seemed familiar. It was on the back of her hand, exactly as she recalled. It was so peculiarly shaped that one couldn’t help but observe. Her entire body stiffened. Her stomach sank. She appeared scared half to death. Holly nervously questioned her if something was wrong.

Familiarity

“Nothing’s wrong”, she hurried to say but everybody noticed on her face that there was something wrong. Her birthmark was the same as her biological daughter had prior to her disappearance. The sudden recollection of her long-absent daughter disturbed her. Martha glanced up at Holly and smiled. She truly looked at her this time. She looked deep into her eyes, searching. Could it be that this was her true daughter?

Suspicion

Martha attempted to rationalize with her racing heart. She attempted to think logically about it all, but she knew that she was being told something different by her intuition. She really felt that her son’s bride-to-be, Holly, was her own lost daughter. But she required proof. Before she could say anything and possibly sabotage the whole wedding, she had to be certain that her suspicions were valid. After all, this was her son’s joy she was going to destroy. She had no clue what everybody would be saying. Still, she needed to know.

The Parents

Martha nicely asked Holly if she could introduce them to her parents. If there was anyone who knew the reality, it would be her parents. Holly presented them before each other. Next, Martha couldn’t control herself any longer and requested Holly if she could talk to them privately. Martha didn’t know how to approach them for this. She could only think about how Holly’s parents would be surprised. Nevertheless, she was sure she had to inquire. Finally after all these years of being in the dark, she was desperate and tired of waiting.

The Secret

She did not have time to lose. Attempting to be as tactful as possible, she asked them if their daughter was adopted. Their faces immediately changed. They had never revealed this to anyone. They glanced at each other, silently deliberating whether or not to inform her. Martha pleaded but she wasn’t prepared for their response.

The Truth

Holly’s parents showed her that she was, indeed, adopted. But nobody knew yet. Not even her! They asked Martha why on earth she would ever ask them such a thing. But instead of responding, Martha begged them to tell her about how they adopted her and whether or not they knew her birth parents. The couple first glanced at one another before responding. You could tell they were concerned. They said they picked up a toddler off the street by herself. That was more than two decades ago. Nobody was searching for her so they took her in. They adopted her as their own daughter. They gave her an education and love and love. Martha was not believing what she had heard. She cried hysterically.

Missing Girl

The whole time Martha was frightened that her daughter had been kidnapped or worse. She actually blamed herself for many years. She never imagined that a nice family was taking care of her all this while. Holly’s parents explained that they had gone to the police and reported their missing daughter. Martha’s heart shattered. She saw that they could not see it’s the same girl from her statement. They did not even know someone was listening in. Interested in what they needed to talk about in secret, Holly had approached a group of friends nearby, so she could overhear their conversation.

The Revelation

They were speaking in whisper hush tones. “She doesn’t even realize she is adopted”, Holly overheard her mother mutter. “I believe she is my daughter”, she overheard Martha as she was sobbing. “I lost her more than two decades ago when I was traveling in Alabama and never managed to find her again”. “Oh my god”, Holly’s mom exclaimed.

The Shock

Holly’s head turned to them. She was stunned and looked at Martha. Her eyes became watery with tears. Holly slowly moved towards them. “Is this true?” she demanded her parents. They looked at her in shock. Martha was trembling and frantic. She never wanted her to hear about it like that. Holly’s parents said something. We picked you up one night walking down the street in a little town in Alabama. We attempted to look for your parents but we couldn’t find anyone. We couldn’t abandon you”, her mom sobbed. Holly looked at Martha in total bewilderment. Martha looked back. Everyone was crying and hugging very tightly.

The Embrace

Holly was the one to relieve the tension. Once the shock wore off, she cracked under pressure. She was initially tense but softened her entire being. She felt like she could believe Martha. She was warm inside. She truly is her mother! Two women hugged tearfully. But what about her son? Could the wedding proceed?

The Wedding Continues

Even though nobody expected it to happen, the reunion turned out to be a happy one after all. It was quite an unexpected twist of fate in the end. To everybody’s relief, the newlywed bride and groom did end up getting married. But how?

No Blood Relationship

Mark and Holly were not related by blood or genetics and were free to go ahead with their wedding. If they did, their romance would have been utterly illegal and strange. Actually, their marriage would have turned out to be invalid. But why were they not related?