Man Like Me

Penelope glanced at her wristwatch and sighed. It was time for her and Robert to go to a children institution for the third time that month. Their doctor had gotten them in contact with a social worker, who after interviewing them considered them fit to be adoptive parents. So the couple had been meeting children, doing activities with them and so on but Penelope felt uncomfortable. The children were adorable but most of them were orphans, traumatized and therefore they didn’t want to create bonds right away because they were afraid to get hurt or abandoned like before. Penelope and Robert understood this and they weren’t expecting to be accepted right away with open arms.

Seeing Robert play with the children always warmed Penelope’s heart. He had been born to be a father and, despite feeling uncomfortable, she always went to him just to see his eyes sparkle. What she didn’t know was that all those children’s unhappiness worried Robert. He would adopt every single one of them if he could and was afraid that he or Penelope could get too attached to a child and then have a tough adopting process. They had grown stronger during their honeymoon and during the following months but he wasn’t sure if he had the personal strength to endure a difficult process.

They spent the normal amount of time at the institution, Robert told a story and Penelope helped the children build different Lego figures. They had fun overall but when the social worker asked them if there had been a child who they had found ‘special’, they both replied no. Subconsciously there was a
child already on their minds: Nathan.

Later that day, they went to the hospital for an appointment since Penelope needed to be checked regularly. The appointment was quick because Penelope’s recovery was going according to plan and when they were stepping out towards the elevator, Penelope felt something tug on her long cardigan.

She looked down to find Nathan and she smiled immediately “Hello sweetheart.”

“Hello, nice lady.” He greeted with a big smile as he moved his hand up to greet Robert.

“Are you lost?” Robert inquired as the boy shook his head negatively.

“Mommy is just around the corner, with a doctor and she sent me to buy chocolate for myself.” He informed as the couple exchanged looks.

“Do you want company?” Penelope asked as Nathan nodded his head.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded at Robert. He nodded back and watched his wife leave with the child while he went to find Holly. It turned out that Holly was reaching her final stage and had to be admitted within a few days. Robert’s heart became even more broken and he knew that he had to discuss with Penelope about his wish to adopt Nathan.

On the other side, Penelope was really growing to love Nathan. Despite his mother’s condition and his awareness of it, he was bright and he had a peculiar sense of humor, which Penelope found curious. He ate his chocolate happily and told her that he had been more careful with his ball like she had advised. She smiled at that and that was when he opened up to her and told her that he knew that his mother was going to die.

“I’m scared.” He admitted, not facing Penelope’s face “Mommy is scared too, she doesn’t want to leave me but I know that it isn’t her fault.”

“Nathan,” Penelope said softly as she reached her hand to touch his “You won’t be alone sweetheart.”

“You promise?” He begged as he looked up with teary eyes.

“I promise.” Penelope replied promptly, the words escaping her mouth naturally because she felt them deep into her heart.

“With your heart?” He pressed as she nodded and he gave her a small smile. In all truth, he trusted her and not he was sure of why.

After that moment, Penelope took Nathan back and saw Holly again. The woman looked even sicker than the last time Penelope had seen her and it was clear that she was reaching her end.



Jude’s birthday was around the clock and instead of working that night, they were cooking in the kitchen for the surprise dinner they were throwing. There was flour, sugar, cinnamon, cookie shapes and dough everywhere. Penelope was laughing wholeheartedly at the mess in Robert’s hair and he was smirking from ear to ear as he plastered his hands in the flour and pressed them to her face laughing, she sneezed but before she could counter he caught her wrists and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. She smiled against his lips as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I love you.” He muttered against her lips as she smiled widely.

“I love you too.” She said softly as he smiled and tugged on her clothes to bring her close. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Robert pulled apart slightly to be able to look into her eyes while still holding her.

“Anything sweetheart.” He said as he slowly picked her up and sat her on the counter while he stood between her spread legs, his hands on her thighs.

“Well… I don’t know about you but the institution is not working for me.” Penelope started choosing her words carefully “And I think that I know why.”

“Why?” Robert asked as he started to consider that maybe Penelope had been thinking about the same as he all along.

“Well, there is already someone who I wish to adopt if you feel comfortable with the idea.” Penelope continued watching Robert’s reaction carefully and realizing that he had been thinking about the same.

“You want to adopt Nathan.” Robert stated, a small smile grew on his lips while Penelope nodded her head slowly and he sighed in relief hugging her tightly “This is why I love you.” He whispered against her hair.

“What do you mean?” She asked with clear confusion as she embraced him.

“We are in perfect sync.” He chuckled as tears started to grow in her eyes “From the moment I saw you with Nathan, I knew you had grown attached and, no matter who his mother is, I knew that he was going to be alone and I wished I had the power to change that. I immediately thought about adopting him and I had a feeling that you would not refuse.”

“Today, he opened up to me and revealed just how sad and worried he is. I promised that I would make everything alright for him but I can’t do it alone.” Penelope said, sniffling a bit as Robert hold her tighter, his hands soothing her as he pressed them to her back.

“We will make it alright for him. We just need to talk to Holly, have her agree and then we can be Nathan’s family.” Robert said confidently as Penelope apart. Tears stained her cheeks but she smiled honestly at him as she grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him for a tender kiss.



Penelope and Robert both stood nervously on their doorway, waiting for Jude to arrive with Holly and Nathan. They had invited them to their home so that Holly could see where they lived and they had the hopes that by seeing that they were stable, she could trust them to adopt her child. They arrived soon enough and whilst Holly was guided into the living room, Nathan was taken by Jude with play with Jarvis, who was in the garden eagerly waiting to waste his energy.

“I never expected for you to talk to me about this.” Holly said as she sat in front of Penelope and Robert, who were sitting practically glued to each other while holding hands discreetly.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Robert asked.

Penelope had barely spoken yet, she was just so nervous about Holly denying them that she preferred to be quiet and let Robert talk.

“I don’t know. I am your ex-wife Robert. Why would you want my child?” Holly questioned.

Penelope felt Robert tense up and take a bit longer to reply so she cleared her throat.

“We don’t wish to adopt Nathan because he is your child. Quite frankly, that doesn’t matter.” Penelope replied “We want to adopt Nathan because he has no one else and because going to an orphanage at his age, would be devastating and he would probably have a very tough time because couples want babies and that would only drive him into unhappiness. We can give him happiness, Holly. We desperately want to because he can bring us happiness as well.”

Holly observed Penelope closely and nodded her head “You sound like a mother.” She pointed out, her eyes becoming crystal with tears “Will you protect my child? Treat him as your own, despite his flaws? Despite my mistakes in the past? Can I truthfully trust you to be just and caring and nurturing? Nathan has been a beautiful son to me, he has taken more care of me than I of him and I need to make sure that he is left with a good life.”

Penelope nods her head without a second thought and then Holly turns to Robert.

“And can you fulfill the father-figure place he barely has a notion off? Can you show him that not all men are ‘villains’ like he used to call his own father?” She asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Robert nodded his head, seriously. He really did feel, deep within his heart, that this was the right decision to be taken. No matter his past with Holly, he was ready to love Nathan like if he was his own.

Holly, whose tears were overwhelming her, cried her eyes out as she came to terms with the fact that her death was upon her “We should call Nathan in and explain e-everything… I am going to be admitted tomorrow and I don’t know how long…” She interrupted herself with sobs as Robert and Penelope exchanged a glance, both of their hearts breaking at the clear despair of the woman in front of them.

After a moment, they called Nathan in and Holly asked him what he thought of having Penelope and Robert as his parents until he was 18. The boy erupted into tears as he hugged his mother, who re-started to cry herself. No clear response was given in that moment.



After a week in the hospital, Holly’s condition began to become more and more fragile. The doctors did nothing but give her painkillers and wait for her hour. When she saw Nathan she tried to seem bright but he knew and so he never wanted to leave his mother’s side.

Before the admission, Robert and Penelope had sighed a paper in agreement with Holly who changed her will in order for them to become Nathan’s legal and only tutors until he was a legal adult. Even though that was official, none of them was in a celebration mood. The times were heavy and sad for the boy they knew would need their love and they were patiently supporting him in this rough time while still going to the instituion sometimes to play with the children and give them financial support, because it fulfilled them as people.

One day as Nathan sat beside the bed reading ‘Peter Pan’ to his mother, the machines started beeping. Before Penelope or Robert could call a nurse, the boy had already thrown the book to the floor to hear the words his mother whispered, her final words. When the nurses arrived, there was nothing to be done and Holly was pronounced dead. Nathan still hold onto her hand for a while until he felt Penelope’s calm hand on his shoulder.

“Do I have to call you mom?” He asked sadly.

“Not unless you want to. You can call me Penelope, Peach, whatever you’d like.” Penelope replied as Robert joined Nathan on the other side.

The child did the same question towards Robert

"I'm just Robert or Rob. You ccan call me whatever you'd like." Robert reassured him as he ran his fingers through the child's thin hair.

Nathan slowly released his mother’s hand and turned up to face the two friendly faces. Even though his heart was broken and that he was sad, he knew that Penelope and Robert loved each other and that they had been waiting for him for a time now and that they would love him too.