Tears filled my eyes as I arranged the Mother’s Day flowers in a vase. It was March 2023, I didn’t have children of my own, but my younger siblings, then aged 20 and 18, had given me these, and a card thanking me for everything I’d done for them.
Gestures like this always made me smile while also making me feel sad for our real mum – Fiona, 59. Mum has always done her best to be a part of Ted and Kia’s lives, but a cruel disease meant I’d been forced to step into her shoes when they were very young and I was just a teenager. Though they feel like my own children, and I know they see me as a second mum, I’ve never wanted to replace our
