Lottery (27 page)

“All Justin and I feel is that we’ll know when we find him or her,” Jenee commented.

“I’ll give you a brief tour, and then take you to the nursery.” Rhoni stopped at the first door they came to and peeked inside. “Our special needs children go to school here at the institute. This is our classroom for two-, three-, and four-year-olds.”

Ling had warned Jenee and Justin to prepare themselves for what they were going to see. She watched the expression on their faces as they viewed the many children using walkers, their legs struggling to move. Justin patted Jenee’s shoulder lovingly when he noticed toddlers with cleft palates or missing limbs.

“Do people just bring children here if they don’t want them?” Justin asked.

“Sometimes,” Rhoni replied. “We’ve found babies left in dumpsters, at our front door, in churches, and sometimes the mother just leaves the hospital without her baby.”

“How could any parent do that?” Jenee asked. “Just leave their child?”

“There are strict rules in China about having children,” Rhoni offered. “Many babies are taken away if a couple doesn’t qualify financially.”

Ling noticed that Jenee’s eyes were locked on a dark-haired child in a walker. His legs looked emaciated, his feet turned inward.

Rhoni turned and started down the hall.

“Wait,” Jenee said. “That little boy.” She nodded at the child. “The one in the walker over there.” She glanced at Rhoni, and then back at the infant. “Do you know anything about him?”

“Elijah.” Rhoni smiled. “He’s a little character. Always smiling.” Rhoni’s eyes lit up as she gazed at the child.

“His legs,” Jenee said, “they’re so tiny.”

“Yes.” Rhoni nodded, her expression turning somber. “Elijah was found on the streets. He was only a few days old. Both his legs were broken in several places.” She shook her head with a compassionate expression on her face. “It took several operations before he could even move them.” Rhoni smiled. “But as you can see, he’s a fighter.”

“Elijah?” Jenee looked to Ling. “Is that a Chinese name?”

“Hey,” Ling said, “who can go wrong with a Biblical name, right?”

“His name was pinned to the blanket we found him wrapped in,” Rhoni told them.

“Will he ever be able to walk?” Jenee asked.

“We won’t know for a while,” Rhoni answered. “He’s in the walker to build the strength in his legs and, as you can see, he gets around pretty well. The next step will be braces to make sure his bones are growing straight.”

“Was he born that way?” Justin asked, and put his hand on Jenee’s back.

Rhoni shrugged her shoulders. “It could have been that he was delivered by someone who didn’t know what they were doing. He was very tiny when we got him. He was a preemie, we know that. Maybe the mother self-induced labor and he wasn’t quite developed, we just don’t know.”

Ling had no idea what it would have been like to live in Shanghai. What if her mother had lived here? What if Ling had been taken from her family? She’d not only been lucky, but blessed that her grandparents had brought Mei to America.

When Rhoni opened the door to the nursery, a bevy of caretakers wearing yellow smocks were scurrying from child to child. Babies were standing up or lying down in the row after row of cribs. Workers sat rocking infants or trying to calm crying babies.

“There’s so many,” Jenee commented.

Ling glanced around the room, her heart breaking for each child.

“This is going to be difficult,” Jenee said to Ling when they took a bathroom break. “I want them all.”

“I know. But like you said, you’ll know when you meet him or her.”

It was almost five p.m. when they stood by the doorway of a large cafeteria. Helpers held plates for preschoolers, who stood in line at a buffet that offered everything from egg rolls to Kung Pao Chicken to pizza, along with an array of vegetables and desserts. A priest sat with teenagers at one of the large round tables.

“The kids all look so happy,” Justin commented over the loud buzz of chatter.

“The institute is a model orphanage,” Rhoni said.

“I’m going outside to get some air,” Caleb said, standing behind Ling. “Justin, you want to join me?”

Justin nodded. “Sure.”

Caleb leaned over and pecked Ling on her forehead. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

“Come on.” Ling took Jenee’s hand. “Let’s go find your child.”

“Wait,” Jenee said, gazing into Ling’s eyes. “I want to see Elijah again.”

Ling smiled. She’d had a feeling the moment Jenee saw him that there was a connection.

Ling turned to Rhoni. “Do you know where Elijah is?”

“The little ones eat earlier.” Rhoni turned and started back down the hall. “He’ll be in with the children listening to a story before bedtime. Follow me.”

Ling watched Jenee’s face when she spotted the toddler in his walker surrounded by a bevy of children. A smile on his cherubic face, Elijah was listening intently to the book being read in Chinese.

“You want to go sit with him?” Rhoni whispered.

Jenee nodded, not taking her eyes from the dark haired boy.

Ling watched Jenee slowly work her way through the children and then sat down crossed-legged next to him.

“How old is he?” Ling whispered to Rhoni.

“Almost two.”

After the caretaker closed the book, music began to play, and the children began to sing. “Yī shǎn, yī shǎn, liàng jīng jīng, mǎn tiān dōu, shì xiǎo xīngxing.”

Ling remembered her mother singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to her in Mandarin when she was growing up. She leaned against the doorway and began to sing quietly with the children. When the worker began animating the action with the lyrics, the children’s innocent faces lit up.

Ling had never felt so much love in one place. If a child in China had to be an orphan, this was the place to be.

She glanced at Jenee, who now had Elijah on her lap. Both of them looked happy and content.

“I’ll be right back,” Ling told Rhoni. She made her way down the hall and opened the door to the nursery.

Strolling along the lines of cribs, she stopped when she saw a baby lying on her back, her tiny fingers grasping a stuffed bunny. The little girl looked up into Ling’s eyes and grinned a toothless smile. Ling leaned over the metal bed and caressed her plump pink cheek with the tip of her index finger. “Hello, baby,” Ling cooed, admiring the baby’s dark almond shaped eyes and her fine dark that hair stood out like a baby chicken. “What’s your name?”

“Ahna,” someone answered and Ling turned and saw a young woman behind her. “In English her name would be Anna, but here it’s pronounced Awna. She came to us about a month ago. She’s half Chinese, half Caucasian.”

“Like I am.” Ling looked back down at Ahna. “She’s beautiful. How old is she?”

“She’s small for her age. She he was born in April, so almost four months old.”

“Can I hold her?” Ling asked.

“Of course.”

Ling put her hands behind the baby’s back and shoulders, and slowly lifted her from the crib. Although Ahna was petite, she was strong. Her dainty fingers grabbed for Ling’s hair. Ling squished her cheek into her soft cheek, smelling the sweet fragrance of baby powder.

After a few minutes, knowing Caleb would be looking for her, she laid the baby back in her crib. Ahna’s lower lip began to pucker as she stared up at Ling.

“I’ll be back, sweetie.” Ling patted her tiny arm. “I promise.”

It was after nine when the two couples sat at a table in the Kobachi restaurant that was in their hotel. The spotless stainless
steel kitchen was open to the intimate casual dining room. Ling knew that an authentic Japanese restaurant probably wouldn’t be something Justin and Jenee could experience in Kansas.

“I found Jenee with Elijah,” Justin said, looking at his wife.

“Jenee was quite taken with him,” Ling said.

“I was, too,” Justin said. “He’s such a little trooper.”

“We would like to spend some time with him tomorrow,” Jenee said and glanced at Justin. “I think we’ve found Baileigh’s little brother.”

“We know it’s going to take a lot of time, patience, and doctor’s appointments to get his legs moving,” Justin told Ling and Caleb. “But we’ll do it. If anyone can help Elijah, Jenee and I can.”

“If he never walks, he’s perfect the way he is,” Jenee added.

“He’s a beautiful child,” Ling said. “And seems so happy.”

“I know this is weird, but I think I dreamt about him,” Jenee said, blinking back tears. “I really think it was Elijah in my dreams.”

Of all the couples who’d applied to adopt, God had a hand in choosing this couple. Ling reached out for Jenee’s hand. “Elijah will be a lucky little boy to have you two as his parents.”

Caleb wrapped an arm around Ling’s shoulder and pulled her close.

“Just tell us when we can take our boy home.” Justin eyes misted over.

“It will take some time,” Ling told them. “I’m hoping in a couple of months, as you’re already been approved. Now it’s just a matter of putting everything together. Adopting a special needs child will take more paperwork. They’ll want to know there’s a plan in place to help Elijah.”

Caleb held out his hand to Justin. “Congratulations buddy.”

“There are no words that could thank you guys enough,” Justin said, shaking Caleb’s hand.

Caleb opened the door to their suite and Ling stepped inside. She flicked on the light, but Caleb turned it off. “How ‘bout we just enjoy the view?”

The view of the river, and what looked like a million twinkling lights, was not only calming, but romantic.

Ling slumped down on the bed. “I’m so happy for Jenee and Justin.”

Caleb sat down beside her. “I’m proud of you.”

“For?”

“For taking so much time to find the right adoptive parents. For doing something important.” He leaned over and kissed her.

“Couldn’t have done this without you.” Ling stood and took her suitcase into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she scooted in bed next to Caleb. She turned on her side, pulling the soft white sheet up around her. Lights filtered through the silk curtains, casting a glow over Caleb’s face. His eyes were clear and his face had lost the puffiness. She’d also noticed that he’d cut down on his drinking. Ling hadn’t forgotten about the receipt from the hotel, but with Caleb’s father on his deathbed, she wasn’t going to press him. “I want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” Caleb leaned his head back in the pillow.

“I … I met someone today.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Someone? Should I be jealous?”

She smiled. “Not unless you’re envious of a baby.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I know we talked about this and I said I wouldn’t get attached, but …”

“But?”

“She’s so beautiful, Caleb.”

“Ling,” he said sternly, “you can’t just fall in love with a baby every time we bring a couple here.”

“Ahna’s different.”

Caleb sandwiched his hand between his head and pillow. “They’re all different.”

“She’s half Chinese, half Caucasian, and so tiny. And her eyes … she has an old soul.”

“You know I don’t buy into that stuff.”

“Will you just meet her?” Ling gazed into his eyes.

Caleb blew out a slow breath. “I don’t want to be the bad guy. I thought we discussed—”

“Just meet her.” She paused. “For me.”

“What about our own kids? You still want them, right?”

“At least a half dozen.” She leaned over and kissed him.

Lying in his arms, she silently prayed he would fall in love with Ahna the way she had. She couldn’t get the child’s beautiful face out of her mind. God forbid if something happened to their marriage, but if it did, she would raise Ahna alone.

The next morning while Justin and Jenee met with the director at the institute to finalize paperwork, Ling took Caleb by the hand. “Come on.”

Caleb pulled away. “I don’t know.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I don’t know the first thing about being a father.” He leaned against the wall in the hallway. “What if I’m the same kind of dad my father was?”

She walked to him and laid her palms on his chest. “You won’t be.” She took him by the hand again and tugged. “Just meet her.”

The nursery was in full swing, with volunteers busy feeding babies their breakfasts, while other workers bathed or dressed infants. Caleb followed Ling to the crib and found Ahna was
gone. Ling looked around and found an older woman rocking her. She noticed the baby’s tiny fingers were wrapped daintily around her bottle.