A businessman came to his wife’s grave — just to lay flowers and leave. But instead of silence… he saw something strange: a child was lying curled up on the tombstone

— Forgive me, Mommy… — whispered the boy, holding an old photo close to his chest.

Daniel frowned. A stranger at his wife’s grave?! He wanted to chase the boy away. But the child lifted his eyes — and said a sentence that shook Daniel to his core…

It was damp and cold, the evening wrapped the cemetery in fog. Everything there said: “Go away.” But Daniel came — as he did every February for the last five years.

He was about to leave when he noticed movement. Someone was at the grave.

A child, about six years old, was lying directly on the tombstone, wrapped in an old blanket. Asleep. Right on the stone.

Daniel approached, gravel crunching under his feet. Anger rose inside him: how dare someone settle in that place?

— Hey, get up! — he barked, but his voice trembled.

The boy startled and opened his eyes. His look was confused and scared.

— Sorry, Mommy… I didn’t mean to fall asleep here…

Daniel froze. Mommy?! He sharply glanced at the inscription — his wife’s name. Coincidence? Or… mockery?

— Where did you get that photo?! — he almost shouted, pointing at the picture.

The boy got scared but didn’t let go. Then he quietly said:

— She said you would find me… She promised.

Daniel’s vision blurred. Those words hit him harder than any accusation.

— Who are you?! — he breathed out.

The boy lowered his head. He didn’t answer. But there was something in his eyes that made the ground shake beneath Daniel’s feet.

❓What does this mean? Why does the child call her Mommy?

The answer — in the first comment below the photo

Daniel stood like stone. Everything inside him was turning upside down. The boy’s words echoed again and again:
“She said you would find me…”

Suddenly, he noticed — the child’s face was… familiar. The forehead, cheekbones, even the shape of the lips. Not a coincidence.

— How old are you? — he asked, trying to stay calm.

— Six… Almost seven, — the boy replied, not lifting his eyes.

Daniel suddenly sat on a nearby bench. He started counting… Six years. Just when Helena left…

Could she have… hidden it? Not told him?..

He looked at the photo. It was one of the old pictures he himself hadn’t seen in a long time. Where did the boy get it?!

— What’s your name?

— Theo. But Mommy sometimes called me Tem.

Daniel never chose that name. But it sounded oddly familiar. He suddenly remembered a letter where Helena joked:
“If we ever have a boy, I want to call him Tem.”

His heart tightened. He already knew the truth but was afraid to say it aloud.

— Where did you live before? Who took care of you?

— Aunt Sophie… She was from the orphanage. But she died. She said if anything happened to me — to come to the cemetery. To Mommy.

Daniel couldn’t hold back anymore. He stretched out his arms and gently hugged the boy. He tensed at first but then simply clung to him — as if he’d been waiting for this moment his whole life…

For five years, he had lived in emptiness, not knowing that somewhere in the same city, his son was growing up.