Page 22 of Make Me Fool You
“Right. Well, anyway. She said they haven’t been able to locate any living family so far. So I thought if you were okay with it, I’d check and see if it’s alright with her. If we looked into adopting him. If he doesn’t have any family,” I say quickly.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He hangs up and I smile at the phone.
I can feel it. This is right. This is what we’re meant to do. Adrian needs a family and heaven knows, we’ve got so much love to give.
I whistle and walk down to the examining room where he is. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask the worker, nodding to Cindy to keep an eye on Adrian.
“My husband is on his way here. We’ve been thinking about adoption. If you can’t find a home for Adrian, we’d like to see if we’re a good fit for him.”
She smiles and says, “I thought you were thinking about something. I’ve got a good feeling about this. But we’ll get things going on our end. I’ll give you a list of things you need to do. And you should get an attorney to help you go through the process.”
“No problem. My husband has a friend who is an attorney.”
“Good, good.”
Warmth radiates across my back and I turn to smile at James who runs up to me. He kisses my cheek. “What changed your mind?” he whispers.
“Wait until you meet him and you’ll see.”
And he peeks in the door. “Is he alright? What’s wrong with his arm?”
I glance at the paperwork. “It looks like it’s just a sprain. Otherwise just some bumps and bruises.”
“This is Miss Carroll. She’s a social worker with the county. This is my husband James. He’s an EMT with the Ridge City fire department.”
“A doctor and a firefighter. Wow! This might be the easiest adoption I’ve ever handled. But that’s if he doesn’t have any family,” she warns.
I grasp James’s hand tightly. “We understand. I’m not going to get my hopes up until we know for sure.”
James shoots me a skeptical look. He knows I’m already all in.
“Let me get Adrian taken care of and then I’ll check in with you later.”
Miss Carroll nods and I walk in the door to get Adrian ready for discharge.
He’s still a little wide-eyed but he seems more settled and he answers my questions calmly if a little quietly.
And I can feel myself falling under his spell. He’s such a smart, sweet boy.
* * *
It takes a little longer than we hoped. Adrian did not have any family members. But we had so much to take care of. Classes to take and papers to sign. And a sweet little boy to get to know better.
But that Christmas we finally get the gift we’ve always wanted.
A bright-eyed little boy smiling as he opens presents that we’ve stacked up under a gigantic Christmas tree brimming with lights and ornaments.
Our baby is home and my heart overflows with love as I hug James and watch the giggling little boy that I’ve come to know and love.
“I love you, James.”
“I love you too, baby girl.”
Peace, hope and joy swell in my heart. Our lives are finally perfect. I’ve got what I always wanted, the man I love and a family to raise and take care of.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
My head cocks and I can’t stop the smirk on my face. Unless we find a little girl to add to our family!