My wife was gone when I went to get her and our twins from the maternity unit; there was just a note left.
As I drove to the hospital to pick up Lina and our twin children, I was ecstatic.
I had been getting ready for their return for days; I had picked up some balloons on the way, the infants’ room was ready, and a celebratory supper was already boiling.
But everything fell apart as soon as I got there.
Lina had left.
Our two young children were the only ones sleeping soundly, and there was a letter next to them.
I opened the note, my hands shaking.
“Goodbye. Be careful with them. Find out what your mother did to me.
I stared dumbfounded, unable to understand.
I glanced to the nurse, still in shock:
“Where is my wife?!”
After a moment of hesitation, she responded:
She departed this morning. You knew, she said.
However, I had no knowledge.
With my heart heavy and my mind full of questions, I carried the twins home.
Lina had appeared content during the pregnancy, or so I believed.
My mother was there when I got home, grinning and holding a casserole.
“Please allow me to see my granddaughters.”
Staring at her, I froze.
Mom, not just now. How did you treat Lina?
I went to the maternity ward to pick up my partner and our twins. They were all that remained. and a message.
Lina was no longer there. A terrible note in her place:
“Keep them safe. And find out what your mother did to me.
It was only a few sentences, but the effect was disastrous.
Just when they were about to begin the most beautiful chapter of their life, Marc thought this woman was happy, so how could she go without saying anything?
This was the start of Marc’s dual battle: taking care of two babies by himself while also figuring out the details of a long-forgotten family tragedy.
A mother’s secret with permanent repercussions
Marc gradually learns the truth, and it’s about his own mother, Élise.
She had never accepted Lina from the beginning. “Not good enough, too fragile,” she said.
Marc is stunned when he discovers a note from Élise to Lina in a drawer, pleading with her to leave since she would put the babies in danger.
A young mother who was already on edge was devastated by such remarks, which were said at the worst possible time.
The quiet following the escape
Marc has been dealing with diapers and sleepless nights for months. and isolation.
He searches for Lina and speaks with everyone he can, but she is nowhere to be found.
Before an anonymous note with a few lines of remorse and a picture of Lina in the hospital with the twins shows up on his phone one day.
She is still alive. But a long way off.
Days go by. Weeks later. Without their mother, the twins’ first birthday comes and goes.
Then there’s a knock on the door one winter evening.
The return of Lina
She is present. Unidentifiable. Standing, yet fragile.
She returns with devastating explanations: a profound, albeit unfounded, sense that she didn’t deserve her children; harsh remarks from her mother-in-law; and a terrible case of postpartum depression.
She left because she was afraid of becoming a bad mother, not because she was selfish.
Marc listens calmly. He extends his hand even though he doesn’t immediately attempt to comprehend everything.
Slowly, they start rebuilding together.
A slow but feasible route
Lina starts going to therapy. Marc regains his trust.
They retrain themselves as a couple and eventually as a family.
There are still scars.
However, Lou and Maël’s laughter serves as a constant reminder that love is a powerful healer.
This story isn’t flawless.
It’s a human tale of a terrible descent, an agonizing separation, and most importantly, a comeback.
Because even after quiet, there is always a way to make amends.
