“Breathe, breathe. It’s all going to be okay,” Thomas gently told his sister, marching alongside her while she was being carried to the operation room on a gurney.

Leah’s sweaty brows furrowed as she tried to take a deep breath. “You’re… You’re the best older brother I could ask God for, Thomas,” she whispered as they entered the OR.

Leah had gone into labor at only 36 weeks of pregnancy, and the doctors had suggested performing a C-section. But soon after delivering the first baby, Leah’s pulse began dropping, and her condition worsened…

“Leah, please stay with me! Nurse, what’s happening? Look at me, Leah! Look at me,” Thomas cried, his palms wrapped around his sister’s hand.

“Doctor Spellman, you need to leave, please,” Dr. Nichols said, escorting him outside. Then the doors of the OR were slammed shut.

Thomas sank onto one of the chairs in the waiting area, his tears not stopping. He could still smell his sister’s scent on his palms. He buried his face in his hands, hoping it would all be fine soon.

But when a doctor’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, he could tell something was not right. “Doctor…how…how’s Leah?” he asked, jumping to his feet.

“We’re sorry, Thomas,” Dr. Nichols said remorsefully. “We tried our best, but we couldn’t stop the bleeding. The children are safe and have been placed in the NICU.”

Thomas sank back onto the chair, unable to process the news of his sister’s death. Leah had been so excited to hold her little angels, cradle them, and give them only the best. How could God be so cruel and take her away so soon?

What am I going to do now?” Thomas thought disappointedly when a voice boomed in the hallway. “Where the hell is she?! She thought she could deliver the kids, and I wouldn’t know?”

Thomas’s rage knew no bounds when he saw his sister’s ex-boyfriend, Joe, storming into the hospital. “Where is your sister?” Joe growled.

Thomas grabbed the man’s collar and pinned him to the wall. “Now you’re interested in where she is, huh? Where were you when she spent a night on the streets because of a lowlife like you? And where were you, Joe, when she collapsed four hours ago? She’s dead! My sister…she didn’t even survive to see her kids!”

“Where are my children? I want to see them!” Joe screamed, yanking away Thomas’s arms.

“Don’t you even dare talk about them, Joe! Get out of my hospital, or I will call security!” Thomas warned him. “OUT!”

“I’m leaving now, but I’m going to get my children back, Thomas! You can’t take them away from me,” Joe shot back as he disappeared away from the hallway.

For the sake of his three little nephews, Thomas decided he couldn’t just sit and mourn his sister’s loss. He was all his nephews had, and he would do anything to ensure the children didn’t grow up under their alcoholic father’s care. So Thomas decided to adopt the triplets, and he fought for their custody in court.

“This is unfair, your honor!” Joe screamed on the witness stand, shedding fake tears. “I am the kids’ father. How would I survive without those little lives? They are Leah’s flesh and blood, MY flesh and blood, and they are all I have now!”

“Let me get something clear,” the judge told Joe. “You were not married to the children’s mother, Leah, nor did you support her financially while she was pregnant. Is that right?”

“Well, you’re not wrong, your Honor,” Joe sighed, lowering his head. “I work as a handyman and take up small gigs. I couldn’t afford to support her, and that’s the reason why we didn’t get married.”

“Pardon me, your honor, but my client has text messages and voice notes from his sister where she clearly states that Mr. Dawson is a heavy drinker,” said Thomas’s lawyer. “And she refused to marry him unless he entered a rehabilitation program.” The lawyer presented the evidence in court, convincing the judge that Joe was not fit to raise the children, and the court decided in favor of Thomas.

As Thomas walked out of the courtroom, he looked up at the bright skies, remembering his sister. “I had promised you I would do my best to help you. I hope I didn’t disappoint you, Leah,” he whispered with teary eyes.

Right then, Joe stormed out of the court and grabbed Thomas’s arm. “I’m the real father of the children, and I’m going to fight for them, Thomas. Don’t be too proud that you’ve won for now.”

Thomas pulled his arm from Joe’s grasp and glared at him. “That’s exactly why you’re not fit to become their father, Joe! You shouldn’t fight for the children but for the children’s sake!”

When Thomas returned home from the court, satisfied that Leah’s kids were safe with him, he saw his wife packing her bags.

“What’s going on, Susannah?” he asked, bewildered. “What’s with all the packing at this time?”

“I’m sorry, Thomas,” she huffed, zipping the last bag. “I’m not even sure if I want children at all, and here you have three at once. You won the case, didn’t you? Well, I thought it over, but I don’t think I want to spend the next few years of my life changing diapers. I didn’t sign up for this when I married you, Thomas. Sorry.”

And then Susannah was gone. Thomas looked around the house, and he still couldn’t believe he was left all alone to care for his nephews. He pulled out a bottle from the wine rack in frustration, but just as he tossed away the cork, his gaze was drawn to the screensaver on his phone.

His three little nephews were waiting for him. He couldn’t just drown in his sorrows and leave them to their fates.

“I promised Leah I would give them a good life. I can’t do this!” He returned the wine bottle to the rack and walked away.

Time flew by, and the triplets, Jayden, Noah, and Andy, were raised in the love and care of Thomas. Whether it was cleaning the boys’ poopy diapers or lulling them to sleep with his tragically unmelodic voice, Thomas loved each moment he spent with his nephews.

But their care also took a toll on his physical and mental health, and one day, Thomas collapsed at work. He dismissed it as a lack of sleep and left to pick up his nephews from kindergarten.

But as he arrived home, the sight of the man across from his house sent shivers down his spine. Joe stood there on the sidewalk, in front of Thomas’s house, after five long years.

“Kids, get inside. I’m gonna join you soon, okay?” Thomas smiled as the kids went in.

Then he approached Joe. “What the hell are you doing here?!” he snarled. “Have you been stalking us all along?”

“I’m here to take back what’s mine, Thomas. I’m here for my children!” he admitted brazenly.

“Your children?” Thomas scoffed. “Where were you all those five years when I was raising them? They were never yours, to begin with, Joe. You walked out on them when they weren’t even born, and now you’ve returned to claim them? They’re no longer your children. Get lost!”

“You’re wrong, Thomas,” Joe said confidently. “I worked hard for those five years so I could be financially stable to look after my children. I told you I wouldn’t give up, and it’s time the children went home with their biological father!”

“Oh really?” Thomas challenged him. “I bet the new car you’re driving around will convince the judge otherwise. Don’t waste your time!”

Thomas was confident that Joe wouldn’t be able to take the kids back, but a few months later, he received a court summons. Thomas’s heart dropped as he read it, but he still mustered courage and appeared at the court.

During the hearing, Joe’s lawyer summoned Thomas to the witness stand. “It has recently come to our attention that Dr. Spellman is on a very specific regimen of prescription medications,” Joe’s lawyer said. “After consulting a medical specialist, I’ve come to—”

“Objection, your honor!” Thomas’s lawyer cried, jumping to his feet.

“I will allow it since the guardian’s health directly impacts these proceedings,” the judge said.

“Thank you, your honor,” Joe’s lawyer continued, turning to face Thomas. “Is it true, Dr. Spellman, that you were diagnosed with a brain tumor, and the doctors can’t guarantee how long you will live? And that this particular combination of medications is used to treat a brain tumor?”

Thomas hung his head as he said, “Yes.” He was indeed diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor months ago and was taking medications to shrink the size and prevent seizures.

After listening to both parties, the judge looked at Thomas with sympathetic eyes and delivered the judgment.

“Considering the new circumstances, the court believes that it would be best for the children to be in the care of their biological father. Dr. Spellman, I wish you strength and good health, but if you truly love these children, you must understand that this is what’s best for them. Hence, I am awarding the custody of the children to their biological father. You have two weeks to prepare them.”

Thomas had seen it all coming the day he received the summons, but he wanted to fight for his nephews and for the sake of his promise to Leah.

As he packed his nephews’ bags, ready to bid them goodbye, Thomas’s chest felt hollow, as if a heart was no longer beating there. These children had been his reason to live.

“Uncle Thomas, we want to live with you! Please, Uncle Thomas,” the kids insisted.

“Boys,” Thomas said. “If you love Uncle Thomas, you know he would never choose something wrong for you. I want you to be happy, and Joe will keep you happy, boys. Will you please get your things to his car now?”

As the three little boys loaded their bags into Joe’s car, they didn’t even look at him. In fact, they turned around and ran and hugged Doctor Thomas’s leg.

“I love you, Uncle Thomas,” Jayden said in tears. “I…I don’t want to leave you!”

“We want to live with you, too!” Noah and Andy cried in unison.

“Hey, hey, guys,” Thomas crouched down to face the kids. “Didn’t we make a solid deal? I will come to see you on weekends, and we’re going to be good to Daddy Joe.”

Thomas wrapped the boys in a tight hug, swallowing his tears. “Now come on; Joe’s waiting,” he said, trying to pull away, but the children held onto him even tighter.

Joe had never liked Thomas. In fact, he would’ve done anything to have his kids back. But at that moment, something in his heart shifted. He looked at Thomas and the boys and couldn’t stop himself from joining them.

“You were right all along, Thomas,” he said, hugging them and shaking his head. “We should not fight for the children but for their sake.” After that, Joe helped Thomas carry the boys’ bags back into the house.