I Was About to Propose to Another Woman When Four Six-Year-Old Boys With My Face Led Me Back to the Family I Never Knew I Had.

I put my coat over the back of a chair and asked what would help.

She handed me the twins’—then corrected herself with a tired smile—the other boys’ backpacks and said, “Keep them fed.

I’ll handle Mason for now.”

For two hours I did exactly that.

I found a quiet corner for homework, bought water rather than another round of crackers, and returned to the examining room only when Mason asked for me.

He lay on a narrow bed with a temporary splint around his arm and looked embarrassed by the fuss.