“Can you love a child that you didn’t give birth to?” I counter.
“Yes.” Her answer is immediate and firm.
“Then yeah, baby. I’m sure about the adoption.”
“Then so am I.” She leans up, and I drop my head to kiss her, thanking God we jumped that hurdle.
5
July
I feel Wes wrap his hand around mine and squeeze his fingers as the phone between us rings. Nervous butterflies fill my stomach, unsure what’s about to happen but hoping it’s something good. Late last night, we got an e-mail from our contact at the adoption agency asking us to call them in the morning, and as soon as I saw the message, I grabbed Wes so we could make the call.
“Hello, this is Dana.” Our agent comes on the line, and I look at my husband.
“Hi, Dana. It’s July and Wes. We got your e-mail,” I say quietly.
“Oh good. I wanted to call you last night but knew it was late.”
“You can call us at any time,” Wes tells her, and I rest my temple on his shoulder.
“Thanks for that, and the reason I wanted to talk to you today is we’ve had an emergency come up. A family that was chosen to adopt called me yesterday to let me know they don’t think they’re ready to move forward in the process, which happens sometimes. It’s not a bad thing that they are strong enough to admit this, but the birth parents who chose them are just about ready to give birth. And after some searching, they came across your profile on the website and would like to talk to you two, if you are open to that.”
“When you say they’re just about ready to give birth, what do you mean?” Wes asks the same question I was thinking. We haven’t been with our agency for very long, and we were told when we started this process that everything could take a year or even longer.
“She’s due to give birth at the beginning of next month, but she has three children already and had her last two babies early.”
The beginning of next month. I shake my head, knowing that’s in just three weeks.
“She has three babies?” I ask just for confirmation.
“Yes, she and her husband have three children together already,” she replies, sounding somber.
“Are they sure about adoption?” Wes asks, letting my hand go so he can wrap his arm around my shoulders.
“Like any adoption, things are not final until they are final. She or her husband might change their mind at any point, but I can tell you I’ve spoken to them almost every day for the last few months and neither of them have once wavered in their decision.” I hear her pull in a breath. “I understand this is a lot to process, and I don’t want to add more stress to an already stressful situation, but the truth is she could give birth any day now, so I need to know how you both feel about moving forward.”
“Can we put you on hold on for a second so we can talk?” Wes asks.
“Absolutely, take as long as you need.”
“Thanks.” He mutes the call then drops his arm away from my shoulders and turns to look at me. “What do you think?”
“I think I’m nervous, especially since she has kids with her husband already, but if they’re looking into adoption, then they’re doing it for a reason.”
“I think you’re right, baby.”
“What do you think?” I ask as he takes my hands in his.
“I think that if this is meant to be, then it will. And I think if she chose us out of all the other profiles that are on the site, we should really think about that.”
“I think you’re right,” I whisper again in agreement as nervous excitement fills the pit of my belly.
“Let’s agree to speak with her and her husband then decide where we go from there.”
“Okay,” I concur once more, and he leans in, touching his lips to mine, and when he pulls away, our eyes lock. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’m going to be.” He picks up the phone and unmutes the call. “Dana, we’d like to move forward with a phone call with them,” he says.