The Story of How We Became Six (Part Five)

I will never forget the night of May 17, 2003. We were celebrating the wedding of one of my husband's cousins at the Ranch in Waimanalo. People were dancing and having a good time and I was sitting outside the large white tent talking story with Lyn.

Lyn's husband and my husband are not only cousins, they are best of friends. Over the years, Lyn and I have gotten very close and both she and her husband have been very supportive of us and our pregnancy issues. When they got pregnant with their first child, they were very sensitive about how we would take it.

Back to that night. Lyn asked me how things were going. "So, what's up with the whole adoption stuff?" she said. My reply, "I dunno". "I 'm not holding my breath. When it happens, it happens."

By then, I had partly given up. It had been over 4 months since our home had been licensed and there hadn't been a single call for placement. Truthfully, I stopped thinking about it daily and I was just living my life as a childless married person.

That was a Saturday evening.

Monday morning, I showed up to work as usual. I went about my daily routine and seemed to be having a normal day. Nothing overly exciting. I went to lunch and returned to see the message light on my phone blinking. Normally, I would have waited a little while before checking it but for some reason, I decided to retrieve the messages.

"Hi, this is ______ from Child and Family Services. We have a child that is being released from the hospital tomorrow and we need to know if you are willing to take her in. Please call me back as soon as possible. " Holy you know what!

I immediately called my husband and told him about the call. Then, I called the Social Worker back and got a little more information. She was born on Saturday (the 17th), she tested positive for ice, and a few other details. Yes, we will take her. What do I need to do?

I left work immediately and so did my husband. We met at home and were in complete shock. The social worker came to the house that afternoon to give us paperwork and a little more information. It was amazing yet unbelievable. Is this really happening? Will she be with us forever? Are we ready? What do we need? So much was going through our heads. Joy. Fear. Excitement. Panic.

Of course, one of the first calls I made was to Lyn. "You are not going to believe this." She was in as much shock as I was. Here we were, the day the baby was born talking about it and low and behold...

We, along with Lyn and her husband, ended up at Walmart that evening buying the essentials. She gave me "been there, done that" advice and steered me to the things I would absolutely need. She also offered up her old stuff to tide us over.

That night, we laid in bed pinching ourselves and also telling each other to "Go to sleep," because it might be the last good night sleep for a long time. Tuesday couldn't come quicker.