Page 75 of Return to the Waratah Inn

He sighed. “I thought I’d be married with kids by now. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way for me. Still, I’m happy enough.”

“I’m sorry. I know what you mean. I thought I’d have that too.”

He looked at her with eyes full of understanding. “You didn’t marry?”

“No, never did. I fell in love of course—once, during the war. He was American, and his name was Ollie… Oliver… that’s who I wanted to name you after. But he was killed in battle in the final days of fighting. And then, later… with your…father.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’ve wondered about my father.”

“He was a musician named Luca Falco, an Italian who migrated here after the war. It makes sense that you didn’t find him since I never told the hospital his name.”

“What happened to him?” Allen asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He left us. That’s all I can tell you. He was upset that I was pregnant, and he left.”

“Did you love him?”

She nodded. “I did, at the time. But it was so long ago. Who can say?”

“I guess it was a scandal… you not marrying him.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“A huge scandal. I was arrested for moral danger and sent to a hospital with a refuge for single mothers.”

“Arrested?” He arched an eyebrow. “Wow.”

“Times have changed.”

“Apparently so,” he said. “And you told the audience that they said I was dead?”

“That’s right. Until today, I honestly thought I’d lost you all those years ago. I had no idea…”

He shook his head. “For most of my life, I believed you didn’t want me. That you’d given me up. It’s what my parents told me. I think it’s what they’d been led to believe by the adoption agency.”

“I’m sure they thought so,” Mima replied. “It was illegal, what they did. Even back then, you couldn’t take a baby forcibly from its mother’s arms. You couldn’t give him up for adoption without the mother signing the paperwork…” She paused, thinking. “But then, I suppose I did sign something. It must’ve been the adoption paperwork. They told me it was my discharge papers, and I was so distraught, I didn’t read through it.” Her jaw clenched. “Hindsight can be so clear while also cruel. If only I knew… I would’ve moved heaven and earth to get you back. And perhaps they knew that, which is why they said you’d passed. If they’d taken you by force, I would’ve fought them.”

“Then they changed the birth certificate so I couldn’t find you,” he said.

“And I couldn’t find you,” Mima replied. “Because I did look for that paperwork. I wanted to change your name to Oliver as a memorial. But I never could locate it.”

“Now you know why.” He pressed his fingers together. “I’m so glad I finally get to meet you and hear your side of the story. It’s really helped me to process the whole situation.” His eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“I’m glad I could do something, even if it’s not much after all these years,” Mima replied. “Why did you look for me?”

He straightened in his seat. “As they said on the show, my parents told me around eight years old that I was adopted, that you hadn’t wanted me, but that they chose to love me. And they were very good parents. I was a happy child. They’re still alive and living on the Sunshine Coast. But when I finished high school and came to Brisbane to study at university, I finally realised I could search for you without upsetting my parents. I was on my own, and they didn’t have to know about it.”

“Do they know you found me?”

He nodded. “They were in the audience today. That’s who I was speaking with after the show. They were really happy for me. Very emotional, of course.”

Mima felt the tears welling up again. “I’m so glad you had good parents. It’s such a relief to hear that. I hope I get to meet them.”

“They’d like that too,” he replied. “Anyway, I started looking for my birth certificate right away. I thought it would at least give me your name. But as I said earlier, I couldn’t find it. It took years before I finally gave up and called this show. Decades, actually. I went on with life, travelled, built a career, fell in love, got engaged. Then she cheated on me after eight years together, and we broke up. I haven’t really had another serious relationship since then.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, honey. I’m sure you’ll find love again.”

“Thanks. Anyway, when the show found you, they refused to tell me anything about you. Said I had to come on the episode to meet you, and so of course, I couldn’t refuse that.”

There was a buzz at the front door. He went to answer it and soon returned carrying a bag of Chinese takeaway containers. They set it all up on his glass dining room table, and Mima spooned some food onto her plate. They chatted about his life and Mima’s role at the inn. He told her about his parents and childhood, and she talked about the Summer sisters and her friends Edie, Paul and Jack. They murmured together for hours, laughed, cried, and ate far too much Chinese food.