Page 78 of I Found You
I tried to calm my breathing, deep breath in, and exhale slowly. I wasn’t ready. We’d just found a rhythm. Jane was going to start daycare. We had everything set up for her. She even had her own room at Charlie’s. We knew it was only temporary. I knew this was going to happen. But I wasn’t ready to face it yet. I wanted to throw my phone in the ocean. If I couldn’t have this conversation, then they couldn’t take Jane away from us.
But that wasn’t how this went. I knew what this was when I’d agreed to it in the first place. I knew even better the second time around, after already losing her once. At least this time, Wyatt was with me. He would hear the news and have his time to process and say goodbye, unlike last time.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Although it’s sad, I think it probably is for the best, but Angie has agreed to TPR,” Kara said, expectancy in her voice,but I didn’t know for what.
“What does that mean? What is TPR?”
“Termination of Parental Rights. Essentially, she is putting Jane up for adoption. And since this isn’t being initiated by us but rather by the parent, I am hoping we can get a hearing scheduled with the court in about six months.”
I reached for Wyatt, unsure if my legs were going to give out on me. Blood rushed to my head; it was all I could hear. Kara was still talking, but I missed what she said and asked her to repeat it.
“Angela is no longer interested or willing to care for her. As her foster parent, you are the first person we reach out to in this circumstance to see if you are interested in pursuing adopting her before we seek alternate permanent placements.”
Tears leaked from my eyes. I was trying to hold back as much as possible because I knew that if I let go of the hold on my emotions, it was not going to be pretty or in any way conducive to having a conversation.
Needing to clarify, I asked, “Adoption? So we can keep her? Permanently?”
“That’s right. If you are interested. I’m not pressuring you to make a decision today. There is still a while to go through the process of terminating the parental rights, but I wanted to make you aware of the situation. Just think on it, and let—”
I didn’t even let her finish that thought. “Yes. I want to adopt her. I want to keep her. Where do I sign?”
Kara laughed. “I thought that might be your answer. Like I said, this may take some time going through the processes, but I am so glad to hear that Jane will have a permanent home with you.”
“Thank you, Kara. Thank you so much for letting meknow. Just let me know what the next steps are.”
After disconnecting with Kara, I looked at a teary Wyatt and broke down in a full-body sob, clinging to his chest.
“She’s yours, doll,” Wyatt said, his hand stroking my hair. “She’s going to be all yours, and no one will be able to take her away.”
That night, lying in bed with Wyatt, my head resting on his pec, I ran my fingers through the short hairs on his chest, my mind spinning.
“You keep that up and I’ll be ready for round three in no time,” he mumbled.
“Can I ask you something?” I whispered.
“Anything. Always.”
“Do you…” I paused. “I need you to be honest with me… do you want to adopt Jane together?”
Wyatt’s hands stopped roaming my back. I could feel his breath hitch, his heart rate go up.
“Seriously?”
“I know we haven’t been together very long. And this is what I signed up for. I didn’t even ask you when Kara mentioned it today. I know that this is what I want. And I know you love her too. But don’t feel like that means you need to take responsibility for her as a parent. As a father. If you don’t want to, that’s perfectly fine. And if you want to think it over, we have time.”
“Maeve. Maeve. Breathe.” He rolled out from under me and turned to face me. Lying side by side, he reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear, his gaze roaming my face. “Are you serious though? Because if you are, then yes. Yes. I would absolutely adopt the shit of that little girl.”
My laugh started small, but then I thought about how crazyit was that we’d ended up here. Maeve Graham and Wyatt Wilder, adopting a little girl together. Building a real family together. Suddenly, I couldn’t catch my breath, my laughs turning into something hysterical. Wyatt startled for a second before a fit of laughter took over him too. Before we knew it, we were both crying from laughing so hard, overcome with happiness. Wyatt wrapped his arms around me and spun me around so my body lay on top of his. I shifted my legs to straddle him and pressed a kiss to his chest. Wyatt’s large hands gripped my waist, his thumbs swiping across my rib cage. The laughter in his eyes turned to heat as I shifted and rubbed against him.
“Round three it is,” he growled as he took my nipple in his mouth.
My head fell back, but before we could continue, I gasped, “Wait!”
He pulled himself back from me, his eyes searching my face to see what was wrong. Then he heard it too. In all of the emotions and events that evening, I forgot to turn the baby monitor on, but she was clearly awake now.
“Maybe she’ll just go back to sleep,” Wyatt said with false optimism. “Ugh, you go down and get her. I’ll be there in a minute and will make her a bottle.” He flopped back onto the bed and looked at the space where our bodies were pressed together. “Maybe two minutes,” he groaned.
