Part III of Our Adoption Journey

Hey Y'all! Before I get into Part III, I just want to thank all of you for your comments and prayers and encouragment! Where were y'all when we were going through all of that? (Joking)
So, I believe I left you with the last adoption possibility that fell through--the one where the 17 year old girl thought she was pregnant, but actually wasn't.
Well....since I had told EVERYONE, including my students, I had a lot of people to tell that it didn't go through. This happened during the early spring of 2006.
Before I took this position teaching Home Ec, I taught 7th grade math and science. In one of my classes was a really sweet student named, "Annie". (Name has obviously been changed).
Annie was in the "smart class" and was really quiet. She came from a single parent home and her mom worked all of the time just to provide and make ends meet. In the fall, at the end of the first 9 week grading period, our school system has "Parent Conference Days." This day is for parents of your students to sign up for a 15 minute slot to meet with the core (main subject area) teachers and discuss the report card and any other concerns the teachers or parents may have. At Annie's parent conference, her mom came in and looked irritated and worn out. I just chalked it up to her having a long day at work and being ill because we were behind schedule with our conferences. At that time I taught with a man. He had stepped out for some reason, and she began to confide in me that she just found out she was pregnant. The daughter didn't know yet, neither did the boyfriend. As she teared up, my heart went out to her. She was 37, a single mom, and was getting ready to have to start all over again.
I told her that I would pray for her and that if there was anything else I could do, not to hesitate to call me or let me know.
A few weeks later, my cousin who also taught Annie in another class saw Annie and her mom in Wal-Mart. They were looking at wedding bands and were excited.
Next thing I know, the baby arrived. He was 4 months early only weighing 1 pound and 14 ounces. He was born here but had to be airlifted to a larger hospital. He was placed in the NICU and was holding on for his life. His mom and sister appeared to be doing ok, but they were stressed with worry.
Fast forward about 3-4 months later. It's the last week of school for the students. I'm with my class in our computer lab at school, doing some type of test required by our school system on the computer.
My cousin, one of "Annie's" other teachers, came into the lab and told me she needed to talk to me.
After the conversation, here's what I knew. The baby came home from the hospital on Monday. He was almost 4 months old. Mom was too sick to watch him, so he spent the night with one of her friends. The next day, Tuesday, she spoke with her case worker from DSS and decided that she would put him up for adoption. They contacted an agency, and he was delivered to them on Tuesday. That night was the band concert and "Annie" didn't show up. She wasn't at the concert to play because after school she disc0vered her mom had put her baby brother up for adoption and he was gone. As you can imagine, she was distraught and was unable to play her instrument in the concert.
So, when my cousin was on the phone with the mom, she said to her..."I wish I would have known you were going to put him up for adoption. Michelle and Ronnie would have loved to have adopted him." Her reply was, "Well...I thought of them, but I also thought they were adopting soon since that 17 year old girl was pregnant." After telling her that the girl wasn't pregnant, and that everything had fallen through with us again, the mom told my cousin to have me call her ASAP.
I couldn't run fast enough to the phone. DO YOU HEAR ME???? I was so excited and don't even remember how I got to the phone. My cousin stayed with my students in the computer lab, and I made the call.
She said that indeed she had put him up for adoption. That he was about 2 hours away in a "safe house" with an adoption agency. These homes are where they keep children and infants until the "waiting period" expires. I'm not sure if waiting period is what it's called, but basically mom has seven days to change her mind. They will not place a child in a home without those days expiring because that's the law....
So I called her. Basically she said that she had 7 days to change her mind and that if Ronnie and I wanted to adopt him, she would call and tell them that she's changed her mind, and we could go get him right then....
I hate to leave you here, but school is out and I have to get to the bandroom to teach two piano lessons back to back.