How we started our family - Part IV

We hadn't yet felt the warm summer wind in Atlanta when we were served another surprise. The airline lost one of our bags. The bag had Aline's favourite dress. The dress she planned to wear the first time we picked up the baby was now missing.

We had a tight schedule so instead of waiting for the airline to figure their shit out, we left our coordinates in hopes to see the bag in the coming days. We didn't realize that we would never see the contents of that bag again.

Off to Chattanooga we went. Three hours in a blue Chevy Impala. I already felt like a dad. Only dad's drive Impalas, right?

Once in Chattanooga, instead of rushing to the hospital, we went out to eat. Outback Steakhouse is one of my favourite restaurants and we found one near our hotel. We took one last meal as a family of two. Admittedly, we didn't dilly dally. We were too damned excited.

We trekked to Erlanger Medical Center where we were to meet our baby for the very first time. The nurses were awesome. They brought us into an examination room and told us to wait. They would bring the baby to us. What seemed like an hour, was really only a few minutes. In those minutes, we talked quickly about the things we had been through. We talked about our dream coming true. It was hard to believe we had finally achieved our goal. It was like we had just won a championship. A championship that no one was competing with us, but we were competing with and against ourselves.

Three nurses walked in carrying a little girl. She was so small. We both started to cry. I was standing behind Aline. With tears rolling down my face, I whispered into her ear, "Remember what we said, it's not if we'll have a baby, it's when. Today is the when. Today is the when." I repeated "Today is the when" about five times just to remind myself that this was not a dream.

The love a parent has for a child is immediate. Whether the child is a biological birth or not, I can assure you the moment I saw this little baby, I fell in love with her. The nurses wheeled Aline out in a wheelchair, just like they would do with any new mommy. It was a nice touch!

We were informed that evening that the birth mother wanted to meet us before signing the legal guardianship with the judge. We agreed to meet at an Applebee's two days later. Worried was now the emotion. This was the interview. If we failed, she could take her baby back. We had talked to her on the phone but this time it was in person.

When the time came to meet there was nothing we could do but put on our best interview face. She had to like us. What we didn't realize at the time was that she already liked us. She chose us. The baby almost slept the whole time at dinner. We had put her car seat next to her birth mom. We sat on the opposite side of the table. As she started to wake up, she heard the sound of her birth mother's voice. She hadn't heard this familiar voice for two days. Softly, the birth mother whispered, "Hello Mama". Immediately, the baby opened her eyes and looked directly into the eyes of the person who had cared for her, nurtured her, and created her.

Aline and I both saw it. This untouchable, unexplainable, desirable look of pure love. We could see the eternal bond between mother and child. We were going to break that. Aline ran to the bathroom. I sat there, with tears rolling down my cheeks again. We both got hold of our emotions as the birth mother was laughing at us. She was awesome. She cared so much about her baby, that she gave her away in order to give her a better life. I will always be grateful to this woman.

Wanna talk laws of attraction? The birth mother told us that when she chose us she only knew our first names. Once full disclosure was given, she found out that our last name was the same as her mother's. Our baby would have the same last name as her biological grandmother.

The next day was easy peasy. As most times with worry, we did it for nothing. The birth mother did not change her mind. The judge's son played professional football in Ottawa. The lawyers were sympathetic. Every body did as they were supposed to. We now had legal guardianship of our little girl. The adoption process would take another 6 months, but we could do that back home.