When I opened it, a police officer stood on my porch.
“Mrs. Carter?” he asked.
“Yes?”
He handed me a folded note.
“This was left at the station for you,” he said. “Your children asked me to deliver it.”
My heart started racing.
I opened the note.
The first line made my hands go numb.
Mom, we’re sorry we made you wait.
I didn’t understand.
I stepped outside the house.
And then I saw headlights turning onto the street.
A car pulled into the driveway.
Mark stepped out.
Then another car arrived.
Jason.
Then Sarah.
Then the twins.
And finally Daniel and Emily.
Six familiar faces.
My six children.
“Happy birthday, Mom!” they shouted.
I burst into tears.
They ran up the walkway and wrapped me in the biggest hug I had felt in years.
“You said you couldn’t come,” I whispered.
Jason grinned.
“That was part of the surprise.”
Mark handed me an envelope.
Inside were documents.
A mortgage statement.
Balance: $0.00
“We paid off the house,” Sarah said softly.
“All six of us,” Emily added.
