Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem



Elysia was deep into researching the plight of abducted children, her mind heavy with the gravity of their trauma, when her phone buzzed with a message from her daughter.

Just the day before, the police had issued a nationwide call for volunteers, particularly those skilled in psychology, to help these children recover from their deep-seated emotional wounds. As someone who had delved into child psychology, albeit without any formal qualifications, Elysia didn't hesitate to sign up.

But her lack of credentials raised questions. No sooner had her husband Tarquin left for work that morning than she received a call from the charity. They appreciated her willingness but had to tread carefully-unqualified enthusiasm, however well-intentioned, could backfire.

Elysia proposed a compromise; she'd start as an assistant to the counselors. Touched by her sincerity, the charity agreed and sent her the files on three children in need of support in Jindale City.

One story, in particular, struck a nerve: an eight-year-old boy, abducted two years back, now wheelchair-bound and barely able to communicate, his spirit crushed by the ordeal of having to beg for survival. The injustice of it all fueled Elysia's determination to protect her own children from such a fate.

It was in this mindset that she received the startling news about her daughter. Glancing at her phone, she expected nothing unusual, but the image that greeted her made her heart skip a beat-a sonogram of a woman deep into her pregnancy.

Confusion turned to shock as she focused on the details: Elysia, 23, 38 weeks pregnant, with quadruplets.

Quadruplets? How could that be?

Her mind raced back to the time she had her three sons, Elliot, Evan, and Elijah, and Emmett, the child she'd found and taken under her wing. Could it be that she was originally pregnant with quadruplets?

The revelation shook her to her core, especially as a follow-up video showed her in the hospital, the doctor marveling at the rarity of a quadruplet pregnancy-three boys and a girl.

A girl? The thought left her breathless.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

The video, a window to a day five years past when she'd fainted at work and been rushed to the hospital, revealed a truth she'd been unaware of: She'd been pregnant with quadruplets. The discovery, as astonishing as it was, filled her with a mix of emotions.

She pondered over the fate of the daughter she never knew she had, her resolve to keep her family safe now mixed with a longing to uncover the truth about her lost child.