Boy Runs into Huge Box on Doorstep in the Winter Cold, Hears Loud Cry from Inside — Story of the Day

A little boy stops in his tracks when he answers the doorbell and discovers a box on the doorstep with a crying baby inside – but who had mercilessly abandoned the child out there in the cold, let alone in a box?

When Kevin Anderson turned 6, he asked his parents to give him something that left them awestruck. “Mommy! Daddy!” he said. “Do you promise me that you will get me what I want for my birthday?”

“Sure, honey,” his mother, Caroline, said. “What exactly do you want?”

“Well, I think I know it,” his father, Andrew, guessed. “Isn’t it the latest Transformers collection? I know Kevin wants that!”

“No, Daddy!” Kevin giggled. “I want a little baby! Paul told me that when his sister was born, his parents said she was a gift from God. Can you please ask God to give me a little sister too? Even a little brother is okay.”

His parents exchanged a quick look, their faces flushed with embarrassment. Caroline and Andrew had decided to expand their family once they had a larger house, but when Kevin suggested having a younger sibling, they couldn’t help but smile shyly at the boy. “All right, Kevin,” his father said. “You know there is a way by which God can answer your wishes.”

“Really?”

“Yes, honey. All you need to do is write a letter to him. Maybe ask Santa for a little help? He’s quite close with God.”

To little Kevin, it sounded pretty convincing, and he was relieved that his father’s idea would work. So that year, at Christmas, Kevin wrote his first letter to Santa to help him convince God to send him a little sister or brother soon. Little did the boy know that God would answer his prayers far too soon…

Kevin wrote a letter to Santa to ask for a sibling | Photo: Pexels

Kevin wrote a letter to Santa to ask for a sibling | Photo: Pexels

One wintry evening, Kevin was about to leave the house to play with his friends when his doorbell rang. “Andrew, could you please check who’s there?” Caroline asked from the kitchen where she was baking cookies.

Andrew, who was busy looking for something in his closet, asked Kevin to check the door. “Kevin, can you please check the door, honey? Daddy will be there in a minute.”

“Okay, daddy,” the boy replied, running to the door, but when he answered it, he was baffled. There wasn’t anyone standing at their doorstep, but there was a huge brown box. He tried lifting it to bring it inside, but as he shook it a little, a loud crying sound came from within it.

Kevin took a step back from the box, terrified, but the crying continued. When he finally opened it, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a baby inside, wrapped in a thin rag.

He dashed to his parents with the baby in his arms. “Mommy! Daddy! God answered my prayer! Look, it’s a baby.”

Kevin found a baby inside a box | Photo: Pexels

Kevin found a baby inside a box | Photo: Pexels

Having just entered the living room, Andrew froze in place when he saw the child in Kevin’s arms. Caroline, too, wondered about the crying sound from the living room and gasped when she arrived and saw Kevin holding a baby.

“Where did you find the baby, honey?” she asked, worried.

“There was a box on our doorstep, mommy. I am so happy that God sent me a sibling! Yay!”

Andrew took the baby from Kevin and rushed to the door, where the box was lying. He looked around to see if the person who’d left the box and the baby was still there. But all he saw was thick snow that had enclosed the entire area.

“There’s no one there,” he said when he returned. “What should we do now?”

Caroline took the baby in her arms, and as she rocked the child to stop the crying, she sensed the little one was running a temperature. “Honey,” she told Andrew. “I think we should take the child to a hospital. We need to get the baby checked.”

With that, Andrew and Caroline decided to visit the hospital and asked their neighbor, Mrs. Clemmens, to look after Kevin while they were away.

Caroline noticed the baby was running a temperature | Photo: Pexels

Caroline noticed the baby was running a temperature | Photo: Pexels

The doctors said the baby had a fever because of being left in the cold, and they would keep her under observation for a while. “Your daughter will be here for a while, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Before we admit her, please complete the formalities at the reception desk.”

Andrew and Caroline looked at each other. They couldn’t just write it in the form that they were the child’s parents. They needed to inform the cops about it, so they did. The CPS and police were informed, and it was decided that after the baby girl was discharged, she would be placed in the hospital’s orphanage while the cops searched for her parents.

Back at home, Andrew and Caroline had to lie to Kevin that the baby was sick and would be hospitalized for a long time. However, after nearly a month passed with no news of anyone showing up as the baby’s parents, she was officially admitted to the orphanage. And it was at that point that Andrew and Caroline considered adopting her.

They decided to embrace her and raise her as her own and thought that Kevin would love to have her as a younger sibling. So they filed for her adoption, and two months later, when it was finalized and the baby came home, Andrew and Caroline felt like their family was finally complete.

But everything changed one fateful afternoon when a woman appeared on Andrew and Caroline’s doorstep, claiming to be the baby’s biological mother…

Caroline and Andrew adopted the baby | Photo: Pexels

Caroline and Andrew adopted the baby | Photo: Pexels

One year later…

“Hi there, lady, my name is Laura. And the baby you’re holding in your arms is my daughter. I shouldn’t have left her in that stupid box! Give her back,” the woman said rudely as Caroline answered the door. Her demeanor was stiff and stern, and her tone was anything but sweet. Caroline was taken aback by her sight, to say the least.

“What? What did you just say? Your daughter?!” A fit of sudden anger gripped Caroline. “She’s mine, and I’m not going to give her to you! We officially adopted her a year ago, and you have no legal right to her!”

Laura smirked. “We’ll see about that in court, lady! Here,” she said, handing Caroline a document. “I’ve filed for custody of my daughter, and I’ll get her back at any cost! After all, I am the biological mother,” she said before walking away.

That night, Caroline and Andrew were very worried. The first court hearing was a week later, and they had no idea what would happen. What if they lost? What if their daughter was taken away? They knew the chances of that happening were minimal, but they were scared.

Laura challenged Caroline for the baby's custody | Photo: Pexels

Laura challenged Caroline for the baby’s custody | Photo: Pexels

Thankfully, after hearing from both parties, the judge ruled in Andrew and Caroline’s favor. Laura’s parental rights were terminated because she abandoned her child a year ago and never bothered to look after her, and if she wanted them restored, she would have to adhere to a specific timeframe as described by the law and provide additional proof that she could care for her child better than her adoptive parents.

Laura knew she couldn’t do that. She lived in a small house and had very little money. After her husband had died, she decided to abandon the baby on the Andersons’ doorstep and focus on her new boyfriend.

However, when she discovered that her late husband had left all of his money to their daughter rather than her, she left her boyfriend so that she wouldn’t have to share all of the money and decided to take her daughter back. But it was too late. She was merely a waitress at a pub, and her living conditions would never persuade the court that she was capable of caring for her child.

So, in the end, Andrew and Caroline won the case. And years later, they also bought a new house and welcomed another beautiful baby girl. Kevin was overjoyed when he found out he had another younger sister.

What can we learn from this story?

  • Love is what makes a family and not necessarily biology. Andrew and Caroline adopted Laura’s child and raised her as their own.
  • Greed will lead you nowhere. Laura first abandoned her baby to enjoy life with her new boyfriend, and later, to obtain all of her husband’s money, she left her boyfriend. In the end, she ended up with nothing.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young widow who heard her late husband knock from inside his coffin at his funeral.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life.

I Discovered My Husband Mocks Me in Front of His Friends & I Taught Him a Lesson He’ll Never Forget

I’m a full-time mom. About a year ago, I left my job to take care of our three-year-old daughter, who is autistic and requires a lot of support. Lately, I’ve noticed that my usually feminist husband has been criticizing me in a group chat.

Transitioning into the role of a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) wasn’t something I had envisioned for myself. I used to thrive in the fast-paced world of marketing, surrounded by campaigns and fueled by brainstorming sessions over coffee. But all that changed a little over a year ago when my husband, Jake, and I made a significant decision. Our daughter, Lily, who is three and autistic, needed more attention than what her daycare could provide. Her needs are complex, requiring constant care and support, and it became clear that one of us had to be with her full-time.

I won’t sugarcoat it — leaving my career behind was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made. I miss the freedom of earning my own income and the satisfaction of a job well done. But here I am now, spending my days planning meals, cooking, and baking. I’ve found joy in these tasks, and experimenting in the kitchen has become my new creative outlet.

Our backyard has turned into a small garden oasis under my care, and I take care of most of the household chores. Jake does his fair share too; he’s actively involved in chores and parenting whenever he’s at home. We’ve always considered ourselves equals, rejecting traditional gender roles, or so I thought until last week.

It was a regular Thursday, and I was tidying up Jake’s home office while he was at work. It’s filled with tech gadgets and piles of paperwork, typical for someone in software development. His computer screen caught my eye — it was still on, casting a soft glow in the dim room. He usually left it on by accident, but what I saw next wasn’t accidental at all.

His Twitter feed was open, and I froze when I saw the hashtag #tradwife attached to a tweet. Confusion washed over me as I read the post. It glorified the joys of having a traditional wife who embraces her domestic duties. Attached was a photo of me, taking a batch of cookies out of the oven, looking every bit like a 1950s housewife. My stomach churned as I scrolled through more posts. There I was again, tending to the garden and reading to Lily, our faces thankfully obscured.

This was Jake’s account, and he had been crafting a whole narrative about our life that was far from reality. He portrayed me as a woman who relished her role as a homemaker, willingly sacrificing her career for aprons and storybooks. The truth of our situation — that this arrangement was a necessity for our daughter’s well-being — was nowhere to be seen.

I felt betrayed. Here was the man I’d loved and trusted for over a decade, sharing our life with strangers under a false pretense that felt foreign to me. It wasn’t just the lies about our relationship dynamics that hurt — it was also the realization that he was using these glimpses of our life to bolster some online persona.

I shut the computer down, my hands trembling with a mix of anger and bewilderment. All day, I grappled with my emotions, trying to comprehend why Jake would do this. Was he dissatisfied with our situation? Did he resent my decision to stay home? Or was it something deeper, a shift in how he perceived me now that I wasn’t contributing financially?

The rest of the day passed in a blur. His posts kept replaying in my mind, and eventually, I couldn’t ignore them any longer. I decided to call him and address everything head-on.

“Jake, we need to talk,” I finally said, trying to keep my voice steady.

He answered, sounding concerned. “What’s wrong?”

I took a deep breath, the weight of my discovery weighing heavily on me. “I saw your Twitter today…”

His expression fell, and he let out a long sigh, indicating he knew exactly what this conversation was about to entail. He started to respond, but I interrupted him.

“Calm down,” he said, dismissing it as “just harmless posting.” That was the final straw. I told him I wanted a divorce, called him out for his deceit, and ended the call.

Jake rushed home immediately. We argued, but with Lily’s strict schedule, I couldn’t let the conflict drag on. He pleaded with me to have a proper conversation after putting Lily to bed. Reluctantly, I agreed. That night, he showed me his phone, revealing that he had deleted the Twitter account. But the damage was already done.

A week passed, and my anger hadn’t subsided. This wasn’t a simple misunderstanding. It was a breach of trust. Jake attempted to explain, claiming it started as a joke, but he got carried away with the attention it garnered. But excuses weren’t enough.

Motivated by a mix of hurt and the need for justice, I decided to expose him. I took screenshots of his tweets and shared them on my Facebook page. I wanted our friends and family to know the truth. My post was straightforward: “Your husband belittles you in front of his friends behind your back. Sound familiar?”

The response was immediate. Our relatives were shocked, and the comments poured in. Jake was inundated with messages and calls. He left work early once more to beg for my forgiveness. He knelt, tears in his eyes, pleading that it was all just a “silly game.”

But I couldn’t let it go. The trust that bound us together was broken. It wasn’t just about a few misguided posts; it was about the respect and understanding we were supposed to have for each other. I told him I needed time and space to think and heal. I moved out with Lily to another apartment.

For six months, Jake begged for forgiveness. He sent messages, left voicemails, and made small gestures to show he was sorry. But sorry wasn’t enough. I told him that if he truly wanted to make amends, we needed to start anew. In my eyes, we were strangers now, and he had to court me like he did years ago when we first met.

So, we began again, slowly. We went on dates, starting with coffee and progressing to dinners. We talked a lot — about everything except the past. It was like rediscovering ourselves individually and as a couple. Jake was patient, perhaps realizing this was his last chance to salvage our once-loving relationship.

As I sit here now, reflecting on the past year, I realize how much I’ve changed. This betrayal forced me to reevaluate not only my marriage but also myself and my needs. I’ve learned that forgiveness isn’t just about accepting an apology; it’s about feeling secure and valued again. It’s a gradual process, one that we’re both committed to, step by step.

What would you have done if you were in my shoes? Share your thoughts on Facebook.

Related Posts

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*