PART 3
Bringing Eli home changed everything.
Our house had never been so loud.
There were bottles on the kitchen counter, baby blankets everywhere, and our older kids constantly arguing over who got to hold him next.
But underneath all that excitement was fear.
Eli had been through more in his first few days of life than most people experience in years.
We didn’t know what the next few months would look like.
We only knew we wanted him to feel safe.
Every night, I checked on him before going to bed.
I’d stand beside his crib and watch his chest rise and fall.
Sometimes I’d reach down and touch his little hand.
“You’re home,” I’d whisper.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore.”
6
The legal process took longer than we expected.
There were interviews.
Home visits.
Background checks.
More paperwork than I thought was humanly possible.
And then came the hardest part.
The possibility that everything could still change.
Someone from the agency reminded us that until the adoption was finalized, we had to be prepared for uncertainty.
I nodded.
But inside, I was terrified.
How could we possibly give this baby our whole heart and still pretend there was a chance we’d have to let him go?
Then something happened that made everything feel real.
One morning, Eli woke up smiling.
Not the little expression newborns sometimes make in their sleep.
A real smile.
He looked directly at me.
I picked him up.
“Did you just smile at Mommy?”
He did it again.
I started laughing.
Then crying.
Mark came running into the room.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“He smiled.”
Mark stared at Eli.
“Well, obviously. Look at you.”
I laughed through my tears.
Our children heard the commotion and came running.
Within seconds, everyone was gathered around the crib.
That tiny smile somehow changed the atmosphere in our entire house.
He wasn’t just a baby we’d been asked to care for.
He was becoming part of us.
Then the court date finally arrived.
We dressed Eli in a tiny outfit we’d bought months earlier.
Our entire family came with us.
I held him while the judge reviewed the paperwork.
Then the judge looked at us.
“Are you certain you want to make this child a permanent member of your family?”
I looked at Mark.
Then at our children.
Then down at Eli.
There was no hesitation.
“Yes.”
The judge smiled.
“Then congratulations.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Mark wrapped his arms around me.
Our kids started cheering.
And I finally allowed myself to believe it.
Eli wasn’t going anywhere.
He was ours.
Forever.
