Adoption Journey PART IV

So, after I left you hanging yesterday, I'll get right to the "rest of the story."
I spoke to the mom on a Wednesday morning, who said she, in fact, did place the baby for adoption with an agency. This agency placed him in a "safe home" for the next seven days until her "waiting" period expired.
And...she told me that if Ronnie and I wanted the baby, she would call and tell them that she had changed her mind and wanted him back. This was my reply...."Call who you've gotta call!" I told her I would sign out her daughter and we'd be there to pick her up soon.
I called Big Daddy and said, "Guess what? You're gonna be a daddy TODAY!!" Silence...complete and utter silence was all I heard. He works for the NC Department of Transportation and he was out on a paving job. Part of his job is to take inmates out for "work release" during the day. He had a full crew of guys that day. After I explained to him what had just happened during the last 30 minutes and that no, I was not playing a cruel joke, I asked him to meet me at home in about an hour.
Then I called my parents. I couldn't even talk without sobbing! Mama was home, but since daddy owns a grading company, he was out working. She said she would get in touch with him and for us not to leave them. They wanted to go too!
So I signed out "Annie" after talking to my principal and making sure it was ok with him for me to leave. He is a preacher part-time, and all he could do was tear up and tell me to go and that he'd be praying for me! He was yelling, "Hallelujah and Praise God" as we were going to get in the car. As I was walking through the parking lot, Big Daddy rode past the school in his big giant dump truck. He stopped in the middle of the road, and I ran to meet him. The inmates started cheering and clapping as I got to the truck and planted the biggest and bestest kiss he's ever gotten from me, right smack on his mouth! They had tears in their eyes too! This I'll never forget....these were prisoners and their hearts were softened and their spirits were lifted at God's WORK in our lives!
I drove through the Wendy's drive-thru and bought "Annie" some lunch and we headed off to get her mom. Then, I drove home to meet Big Daddy who had already showered and was waiting on the back steps of The Doublewide on me. After picking him up, we all headed to my parents house. "Annie" and her mom rode with me, and Big Daddy rode with my parents. We had us a little caravan for the 2.5 hour drive to go pick up our son. On the way up there, I had the opportunity to talk to the mom and the sister about the whole process. It was exciting and I was such in a state of shock.
When we did arrive at the adoption agency, I had to act like I was just a friend of hers. I couldn't be "excited" and cry all over this precious little miracle gift from God in front of the employees of the agency. She handed him over to me, in his carrier, while she went in and did the paperwork tha she had to do.
After she finished all of that, we drove to Bojangles and ate lunch. This was the first time I got to grab him up and squish him to my chest and love him. It is truly amazing how God gives us adoptive mamas the same kind of love that a mama who gave birth to a child gets. There is no way to describe it. He was sooo tiny and our hearts were sooo full!
On the way up there and on the way home, my cell phone was NON-STOP! As my middle school students say, "It was off the chain!"
I dropped "Annie" and her mom off. They were piling my car up with stuff! A bassinet, clothes, diapers, a new crib matress, formula from the hospital, etc. I had no idea what to do with everything. Please remember that we didn't have a STITCH of clothing, not one diaper, not one toy, not ANYTHING in preparation for a baby as we only found out that morning.
When pulled in my driveway, there was a "It's a Boy!" balloon tied to a post in my front yard. IT was a Wednesday night, so as soon as church was over, we had MORE visitors. There were so many people in and out of the house, we lost count. By the end of the night my dining room table was full, my kitchen table was full, and we were still pinching ourselves over and over.
Here's another thing: My two cousins came over and straightened up our bedroom. They put the bassinett together and had it all ready. As we laid our heads on our pillow, they had taken two sheets of paper off of a notepad and put one on Big Daddy's pillow that said, "Robbie's Daddy" and one on my pillow that said, "Robbie's Mama." We both cried and thanked God once more for answering our prayers.
The next day, we went with the birthmom to our lawyer. She had to sign over custody to us, and a new 7 day "waiting time" began on Thursday. Now, we had to go through waiting to make sure she couldn't "change her mind" on giving him to us.
You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?
The following Sunday we took him to church. We were so proud to show him off and brag on what God had done for us. We were totally on Cloud 9!
Then Tuesday afternoon, we got a phone call. The Caller ID said it was our lawyer's office.
The birthmom was there, and she had told them that she had changed her mind. Her 7 days was over on Wednesday, technically, so we thought we were almost done. As we loaded Robbie into his car carrier, I could barely see through my tears to put him in the car and drive to the lawyer's office.
I'll be back tomorrow for the conclusion!
Ain't it funny how God gives me these places to stop typing so that I can stretch the story out for 5 days?
Have a great afternoon!
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