Julien’s truck moved slowly on the snowy road, and the snow and wind struck the windshield. The highway in front of me was peaceful and practically empty, and it looked like it was frozen in place. But it felt warm and pleasant inside the cab. When Julien spotted the picture of his wife, Élodie, hanging from the rearview mirror, he grinned. He was counting down the days until he could hug her again because Christmas was coming up soon.
He had pacified himself for over two months on the speck tide, and this semicolon was the last leg of his powers. He reached into the glove box and stared fondly at the tiny case holding a gold necklace he had carefully chosen for her. He smiled and pressed the throttle pedal, determined to finally go home.
Julien left his pickup at the truck stop and walked the rest of the way. The air was full with the festive spirit. We knew the streets were decked with garlands and mistletoe, the shop windows were lit up with holiday lights, and people smiled at each other as they walked past.
When he got to his building, he rang the doorbell a lot. Then he moved back behind the wall to hide and get ready to scare her.
But no one answered the door.
He felt a wave of worry wash over him. He reached into his pockets, found his keys, and quietly let himself in.
— “Hey? Élodie? It’s me! “Surprise, my love!” He yelled with joy.
Nothing is the best gift for the people you care about. The calm was like a slap to the heart.
Dust had built up on the furniture, which signified that no one had been there in days. He was a little worried. He hurried to the landline phone and noticed a note that someone had written by hand and folded.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” I knew I should have gotten more. I met someone new. I’m happy now. I hope you can be too. “Goodbye.”
Julien kept shouting “goodbye” out loud over and over again. He couldn’t contain his feelings, so he crushed the note in his hand and flung it at the wall. The shock hit him hard, like the ground had evaporated and left him with nothing but a hole.
He fell apart in the days that followed. When he drank instead of eating, he began to forget things. Sometimes, he thought he could see Élodie’s smile in the window. One night, he was sure he heard her calling, so he climbed to the ledge and almost fell from the fourth level.
Mr. Ferrand, his old neighbor, came just in time to keep him from losing himself completely.
— “It’s you, Mr. Ferrand…” Julien opened the door on Christmas morning and said something.
“Hey, I came to wish you a Merry Christmas,” the old man stated in a calm voice. “And it’s clear that you started celebrating a week ago…”
Julien talked to him and gave him a drink.
— “I loved her. I gave her everything. I gave her a steady life, travels, and gifts. I may not have been good enough. When I was a kid, I didn’t have a family. I don’t know how to love.
The best gifts for people you love
Family vacation packages
But Mr. Ferrand spoke in a calm voice:
– “Don’t torture yourself.” Julien, some people change their minds a lot. They promise to be with you forever, yet they change their minds right away. She left because she didn’t deserve you. “Be happy, not sad.”
Those statements hit him like a bolt of lightning.
— “Thanks… I’m going to go now. I have to drive.
That chat helped him more than any therapy ever could. Julien was already back on the road on Christmas night, moving far away to get away from the past. Some people were giving gifts to their relatives.
He was back in town two weeks later on a very cold January morning. A road sign said there was a gas station just a few kilometers ahead, and his truck was almost out of gas.
He drove there to get gas and warm up a bit.
But just as he was ready to open the door, it flew open. An employee cried out, clearly angry, and was only wearing a T-shirt even though it was cold outside.
— “Sir! Thank god you got here! “Please help me right away!”
Julien moved back because the door banged his forehead and scared him.
“You almost knocked me out… And now you want help?
But as soon as he stepped inside, he stopped.
A woman who was pregnant on the floor screamed in pain, curled up, and her face was twisted in pain. The scene was beautiful and surprising. Julien didn’t need to know why. This woman was going to birth a baby right here in the middle of nowhere.
And what he was about to find out about her would shock him even more…
A Cold Night and an Unexpected Meeting
Julien had been driving for hours that night, getting lost in the miles that went by on the snowy road. He was tired, but he was eager to visit his family for Christmas. He never believed that his last trip to a quiet gas station would change everything.
Family vacation deals
When he got there, a worried young worker ran up to him.
— “Sir! Please help me! A woman who is pregnant is in distress, and emergency services won’t reach there in time!
Without thinking twice, Julien rushed inside and immediately saw that things were worse than he had feared. The young woman looked afraid and confused. She was weak and in a lot of pain. As he put her in his truck, she whispered, her eyes far away:
— “Marc? You’re still here?”
At first, Julien was astonished, but then he assumed it was just a hallucination brought on by pain. But what he would learn soon would change everything for him.
Words, a Similarity, and New Information
Julien went back to the hospital the next day because his old neighbor, Mr. Ferrand, told him to. A nurse there, who appeared shocked, thought the patient was Claire’s husband.
— “You got here…” “Come meet your son; he’s waiting for you.”
Julien, who was astonished, walked up to the room. Claire looked at him for a long time and then said again in a shaky voice:
— “Marc? Is that you… “I thought you were dead.”
Julien was astonished and tried to calm her down, but Claire was sure that this was her husband Marc, who had gone missing in a peculiar way years before.
A Look That Is Very Similar?
Julien wanted answers, so he began to dig into it. He went to the school where he had grown up, and what he learned verified his biggest fears: Julien had a twin brother named Marc, who he had never known existed. When they were born, the two had to live apart because there wasn’t enough place in foster homes.
A truck driver saves a pregnant woman, but he is appalled to learn where she lives.
The past comes back, and the truth comes out.
The shock wasn’t done yet. Claire reported that Marc died while fishing with a “friend” named Luc, who used to be in the army with Marc. After the disaster, Luc began to harass Claire and threaten to take her away by force. She ended up at the gas station where Julien saved her by chance when she was running away.
Julien took Claire home because he was determined to find out the truth. When he came in, a picture on the wall confirmed his fear: it was Marc, his twin brother.
At that moment, there was a lot of noise at the door. It was Luc.
Julien was brave for a bit and hid, pretending to be Marc. Luc’s eyes filled with fear right away when he realized he had been lied to. Julien used the chance to record Luc’s confession. Because of those recordings and the testimony of fisherman Julien had found, Luc was found guilty and sentenced to twelve years in prison for his actions.
A New Family for the Holidays
Claire started to put her life back together when Luc went to jail. Julien, who had found more than just a shocking resemblance—he had found a new family—helped her restart the garage that Marc used to run.
Packages for family vacations
A few months later, on Christmas Eve, they got married under a sky full with stars. Claire’s son, little Léo, laughed and played with the Christmas decorations. Julien’s eyes sparkled as he thought he had found more than just a home; he had found a family.
Family vacation packages
They raised a glass to the new life they had built together at the home of their old neighbor, Mr. Ferrand, to celebrate their new happiness.
Sometimes the coldest routes lead to the best shocks.