It was everything Kelly had been waiting for. Little did Kelly know she was about to learn an important lesson.
The call they had been waiting for finally came. Kelly saw the text light up her phone, "there's a baby boy." She was in the middle of a client meeting, and it was the first day she hadn't been waiting by the phone in the past three months. By the time the meeting was over, she headed to the hospital with her partner, who had fielded the phone call, to pick up their three-week-old son.
They went into the hospital with an empty baby carrier and came out 45 minutes later with their son, Zak. He was tiny, born 5 weeks early and furry all over. When they picked him up, he turned into a jumble of legs every time and even though he had a rough start in the NICU for those first few weeks, he was healthy from then on out and exactly who she was looking for. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't always easy. There were still middle of the night wake up calls for both and him. Since he was so tiny, he was on a strict feeding schedule to get his weight up. But he was a easy baby, and they were ready for him. He slid right into their life and then when everything felt complete, the anxiety began.
Every night she laid awake, wondering if someone was going to take her baby away. Each day she grew closer to him and the thought of losing him weighed heavier. The whole adoption process is a gamble, it does not always work out. They learned that the hard way before they met Zak. Sometimes families change their minds, sometimes unexpected things happen. There were a couple of scares when their situation changed, and she thought they might really lose him. Those were the scariest days of her life. She could not imagine her life without him in it.
Their house turned into a circus as soon as they brought him home, they were constantly welcoming increased people into their home. There were social workers, adoption agency representatives, and court checks on ever-shifting schedules. Not a week went by without someone reminding her that she was only his foster mom, he could still be taken away.
For two years things continued like that until one day when they were in front of a new judge and expected another delay in proceedings, there was no delay! They proceeded to the next stage of adoption and 8 months later he officially became a member of the family.
She always wanted to be a mom. Some of her fondest memories growing up are with her grandma, the time they spent together just the two of them, she lived in a house in their backyard, so she saw her every day. And her mom was there for every field trip and moment she needed her at school. They had family dinner every night and she wanted to give all that love and support to her own child and continue the pattern. All the worry, the stress, it was all worth it because she learned that the best things in life are worth fighting
