A woman is stunned when she finds a carved arrow in the crib she bought for her unborn baby, and inside she finds a map that will lead her to a new life.
Gina Halloran was experiencing one of the darkest days of her life. Her mother had died three months earlier, and when she told her boyfriend she was pregnant, he told her he wasn’t ready to be a father. She was going to be a single mother like her mother.
He had suggested Gina terminate the pregnancy, but she had refused. Now she stood in front of a used furniture store, her hand pressed against her growing belly, staring at a crib, feeling more alone than she had ever felt in her life before. “I’m alone,” she whispered, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Gina fell in love with this pretty, old-fashioned crib | Source: Shutterstock.com
At that moment, she felt a small flutter in her stomach, a slow push against her hand, and she smiled. She wasn’t alone, and she must be thinking of her baby! Resolutely raising her head, she walked into the used furniture store.
“Hello Mr. Torrance,” she said with a smile, “Have you received any more cribs since I was last here?”
The store owner smiled back and gestured enthusiastically. “Yes! Come to the back. I received a beautiful crib yesterday. I’ve set it aside for you. I know you don’t like modern models!”
Gina followed the man and there, at the back of the store, was a wooden rocking cradle, delicately carved, like something out of a fairy tale. “Oh, it’s beautiful, Mr. Torrance!” she exclaimed, then her face fell. “But can I afford it?”
Gina’s mother had died, she was pregnant and alone | Source: Unsplash
A strange expression crossed Mr. Torrance’s face. For a moment, Gina wondered if he was as nice as he seemed, or if he was about to make an inappropriate request.
But Mr. Torrance’s smile was back. “My dear, you can have it for 50 dollars!”
Gina exclaimed. “Are you sure? But… The one in the display case is pine and costs $200…”
Mr. Torrance nodded. “Oh, I’ll let you have it for the price I paid, my dear, because I know it’s not easy being alone and expecting a baby. Just clean it properly, okay?”
Gina bought a crib from a secondhand furniture store | Source: Unsplash
So Gina went home delighted, and when Mr. Torrance’s employees delivered her crib that afternoon, she was thrilled. That evening, after dinner, she began cleaning the crib, removing the dust and lovingly oiling the dark wood.
It was while she was oiling the wood that she felt something strange under her fingers on the headboard. She bent down and saw a small arrow carefully carved into the headboard, where the mattress would hide it, an arrow pointing downwards,
Gina ran her hand under the crib and felt something, something crinkling under her fingers. Carefully, Gina turned the crib over. Under the crib was taped a very old envelope.
Gina found an old envelope taped under the crib | Source: Pexels
Gina opened the envelope and found two keys inside. And folded inside the envelope, Gina found a map of the city, and a red circle was carefully drawn over a particular house.
Turning the map over, she noticed words printed in bold: “I hope you enjoy. I wish you good luck, may fortune smile upon you.” A treasure map? Gina felt excitement fill her.
She could use some treasure! Gina had a job, but her boss had already told her she’d have to start looking for another one as soon as her baby was born. Gina looked at the map again. “I’m going!” she said to herself, “Right now!”
Grabbing her cell phone, Gina called an Uber and typed the street name and number into the map. Half an hour later, she stood outside the gates of an imposing Victorian mansion.
There was a house marked on the old map | Source: Pixabay
Gina took out one of the keys she had found in the envelope and approached the front door. The key slipped in easily and turned with a click. The door opened and Gina walked in.
She flipped the switch in the hall and light poured in from a magnificent antique chandelier. The house was magnificent! Gina, dazzled, wandered from room to room. The house needed a little cleaning, but it was incredible!
“Family is the greatest blessing.”
Gina climbed the ornate staircase and began exploring the top floor. There, in a room that was clearly a child’s bedroom, she was stunned to see a crib exactly like hers, and above it, a family portrait.
Gina looked up at the smiling faces of a man and a woman holding two little boys, as alike as two peas in a pod. “Twins!” she cried. “They had twins!” Kneeling down, she began to examine the second crib.
The key opened the door to an old Victorian mansion | Source: Unsplash
She blew away the dust and saw another arrow on the headboard, and this time, it was pointing upward. “Up?” she wondered aloud. “In the attic? The ceiling?” Looking up, she found herself staring at the portrait again.
Quick as a flash, Gina stood up and took down the old portrait. Behind it was a green iron safe with an ornate keyhole. Trembling, Gina took the second key and opened the heavy door.
Inside was a thick envelope and a packet of brown paper. Gina opened the envelope with trembling fingers. It contained the title deeds to the house, and in her name! She read the enclosed note:
“My dear Gina,” it reads, “Please restore the house and make it a happy home again. Keep the cribs and old photographs; they are precious family heirlooms and rightfully yours.”
Behind the family portrait, Gina found a safe | Source: Unsplash
“Mine by right?” Gina wondered aloud as she grabbed the heavy package. When she opened it, she was stunned to find wads of hundred-dollar bills, more money than she’d ever seen in her life.
She was rich, she had a house. Gina tenderly stroked her belly. “Someone loves us, baby, we’re not alone!” Gina was putting everything in the trunk when she saw the picture.
It’s an old-fashioned Polaroid, showing a boy and a girl, smiling broadly, arms around each other in front of a Ferris wheel. In her arms, the girl is holding a stuffed animal that Gina recognizes.
It was her mother’s teddy bear, and the smiling, joyful girl was her mother! Could the boy be her father? But how was all this possible? The old crib must have been meant for her and her alone, which meant Mr. Torrance was in on it.
In the trunk, Gina found money and the deeds to the house | Source: Unsplash
The next day, after depositing the money into her bank account, Gina went to talk to Mr. Torrance. At first, he wouldn’t tell her anything, but eventually, he admitted it. “A man came to my store, a private investigator, and told me to sell you the crib.” Mr. Torrance blushed and confessed, “He paid me $1,000…”
Gina asked Mr. Torrance for the detective’s business card, and the next day, she walked into his office and demanded to speak to the person who had hired him.
Three days later, Gina sits across from an older version of the boy in the photo. “I’m sorry, Gina,” he says sadly. “I loved your mother so much, but my parents wanted me to marry a rich girl.
“I was just 18, and when they found out we were in love, they sent me to France to study. I couldn’t refuse them anything. You see, my twin brother was dead, and I was all they had…”
Gina reunited with her long-lost father | Source: Unsplash
“My mother was 16,” Gina says, “Pregnant and alone!”
Gina’s father bowed his head. “I didn’t know about the baby, about you, until I got a letter from your mother six months ago. I lived in Europe, and after my parents died, I never came back to the States. I came back now, for you.”
Gina asked, “But why this mystery, why didn’t you call me?”
Gina’s father replied sadly, “I thought you wouldn’t want to see me, for abandoning you and your mother. I thought you would hate me…”
Gina used the cribs for her twins | Source: Unsplash
“I need you,” Gina said. “I don’t have anyone else. I think we need each other.” Over the next few months, Gina and her father got to know each other and became good friends.
At her next ultrasound, Gina received incredible news: she was having twins! She ended up using both cribs, and her father was reunited with his lost family through his two little boys.
What can we learn from this story?
- When we feel most alone, don’t despair, there is always someone looking out for us . Gina was alone and pregnant, but her father watched over her and helped her.
- Family is the greatest blessing . Gina found her father, and he gained not only a daughter, but also the family he had lost in his grandsons.
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This story is inspired by one of our readers’ stories and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to real names or places is purely coincidental. All images are used for illustrative purposes only. Share your story with us; it might just change someone’s life. If you’d like to share your story, email us at info@amomama.com .
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