I stared at her in disbelief. “Vanessa… these are your children.”

“They’ll be better off with you,” she replied flatly. “You don’t have much else going on anyway.”

Then she turned, got into her car, and drove away.

Just like that.

Jeffrey tugged at my sleeve and whispered, “Up?”

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around both boys.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, even though nothing about the situation felt okay.

From that moment forward, they became my responsibility.

Raising two toddlers at sixty-three was far from easy.

My savings disappeared quickly, so I returned to work. I worked long shifts at a small grocery store during the day and stayed up late in my kitchen experimenting with herbal tea blends.

Chamomile, mint, orange peel—simple mixtures at first.

A neighbor suggested selling them at the farmers’ market.

So I gave it a try.

The first weekend I earned forty-seven dollars.

A month later it was three hundred.

Slowly, my little project turned into something bigger. I sold tea blends every weekend until my hands trembled with exhaustion.

Within two years, I had an online store. People loved the flavors.

By the time the twins reached middle school, the business had grown far beyond what I ever imagined. There was a warehouse, employees, and deals with coffee shops across the state.