Footprints of a Family, our second adoption journey, part 14

this journey begins here

Tuesday morning we awoke bright and early and went to the hospital. Laura was in good spirits and Michael was doing very well. We spent the morning visiting and enjoying Michael. We had numerous visitors, including our attorney and agency social worker. Dave and I also had the pleasure of meeting Laura's extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were having a marvelous time until the phone calls began.





The phone calls were from Michael's birthfather's mother and family. They started in Laura's room and they were not congratulatory or positive in any way. After numerous inflammatory calls, we stopped answering the phone. The calls then went to the nurse's station. The accused us of numerous, erroneous, and downright ludicrous things. The were under the assumption that we were wealthy and we were paying Laura for this precious baby. The nurses were wonderful and amazing. They fielded these horrendous calls with poise and professionalism. They protected us from this hostility, even when the calls became more and more frequent, and more inflammatory. We knew what was happening outside of the hospital room, but we were also cocooned in the safety of the hospital room. Deep down, we were not concerned with our physical safety, but our emotional and mental safety was threatened. The birthfather still had not signed his papers, and as delusional as he was, he still had rights. He did not want the baby, but he wanted his share of the "profits". If only he knew that the only "profits" Laura recieved was a broken heart, a peaceful one, but still a bit broken.





The day was passing and eventually the phone calls stopped. The visitors trickled away and it was soon discharge time. Laura and Michael were going home....Michael with us, and Laura with her mother. Laura wanted to make the occasion a special one. Her grandmother, Michael's birth great grandmother who shares his birthday, handmade baby gowns for Michael. Laura and I dressed him in one of the gowns and wrapped him in a blanket Laura bought for him. Laura and her mother carried this precious bundle to the hospital chapel. We followed.





In the chapel Laura had a special "handing over ceremony". She placed her son in our arms and told us she was giving him to us so he could have the life she felt she was unable to provide for him. She was trusting us to love him and raise him into a healthy and happy man.





We held Michael in our arms and thanked Laura for her selflessness and promised to love and nurture Michael. I looked in her eyes and saw her love for him and us and hoped I could live up to her expectations. At that moment I saw into her soul, what a beautiful site.





Laura, her mother, Dave and I hugged and cried and hugged and cried more. We then went back to Laura's room and we gathered up Michael's belongings. Dave and I left the hospital with our son, in our hearts we were carrying Laura also.





We went to our hotel room and prepared for our first night with our son. We called my parents immediately so Cassie could talk to her new brother. Our attorney estimated that we would be going home by the weekend.....it was Tuesday night....just a few more days....we hoped...





to be continued.....