She held her hands out to me. Her arms were shaking. Her whole body was shaking. She smiled, chin trembling, her eyes exactly like mine.

Behind her stood a man with light brown hair. He was crying too. He sank to his knees and stared at me, his eyes wide and shiny with tears.

‘Polly? My sweet Poll?’ he said. He could barely control the tremors in his voice.

The policewoman smiled and stepped back.

I looked from the lady to the man. A memory stirred – a memory of the three of us playing in a carpet of sand somewhere warm and bright.

I stared at them. My MUMMY and DADDY.

Tears made me blind, but they were happy tears. The happiest tears in the world.

‘Mummy? Daddy?’

Without a second thought I tore off the blankets and threw myself into my mummy’s chest. Her arms wrapped around me and she held me and rocked me. She whispered my name over and over again. Her voice was so soft, so full of love. She kissed my cheek and stroked my hair and told me she loved me more than anything in the whole world and she would never let me go again. She felt and smelled so familiar it was like I’d known her all my life. I buried my nose in her shoulder and breathed her in.

Another pair of arms wrapped around me. These were firmer and stronger, and I knew they belonged to my daddy.

A light tapping sensation on my head made me look up and I found myself staring into the eyes of a little boy with blond hair.

Without letting go of me, my mummy said, ‘Polly, this is your little brother, Jake. Say hello to your big sister, please, Jake.’

The little boy patted my head again. He grinned at me revealing two missing teeth.

I smiled back. I couldn’t believe another dream had come true. I had a little brother. I was never going to feel alone again.

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I’m Jake. I like birds. Do you like birds?’

I looked down and grinned. In one hand he held a small, cuddly robin.

Keep Reading …

If you enjoyed Mother Loves Me, look out for the next thriller from Abby Davies …

A hidden community …

Thirty years ago, in the English countryside, a commune was set up. Led by Uncle Saviour, it was supposed to be a place of love, peace and harmony. But what started out as paradise turned into hell.

A shocking abduction …

Now, two young children have vanished from their home in the middle of the night. Their parents are frantic, the police are at a loss.

A twisting case …

DI Ottoline is leading the search – her only clue a mask found in the woods. Could the key lie in events that took place decades ago, when a dream of a new way of life became something far more sinister?