Unforgettable You (31 page)

“Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Coffin,” Joey calls back, and then he breaks away and runs back to us. He leans in conspiratorially, pulls the dog tags out of his shirt, and whispers, “Thanks. I’ll never lose them. I’m keeping them foorr-EHHH-verrrrr.” Then he skips back to the waiting social worker and heads out the door.

Sheila and I sit, shell-shocked, and try to pull our thoughts together. Finally, I manage, “Well? What do you think?”

Her eyes meet mine and they’re filled with tears as she smiles. “I think we just said a temporary goodbye to our kids.”

About that time, the social worker reenters the room with Amy in tow, and I take Sheila’s hand and squeeze it. “So how do you feel it went?” She and Amy pull out one of the little chairs and sit down across the table from us, and it hits me how silly we all look on the tiny furniture.

“I felt like it went very, very well. They’re great kids. And I think they liked us. Honey, don’t you think so?”

Sheila sniffs hard and smiles.” Yeah, I think they did. I know I liked them a lot. They’re adorable and so smart.”

The social worker nods and grins at both of us. “We’ll schedule a home study in one week. Before you leave today, I’ll give you a sheet of what we’ll be looking at so you can be in compliance. If that goes well, we’ll arrange for some home visits, one a week for six weeks, and maybe even visits with them at the facilities where they’re staying in between the home visits. After that, there’ll be a couple of overnight stays and then we’ll make a determination for fostering. In the meantime, get an attorney lined up and start the adoption process. Hopefully, by the time you’re ready for the overnight stays, we’ll have parental termination and if all goes well, you’ll transition directly into the adoption process and it’ll be short and sweet. And if at any time along the way you have any questions or concerns, just call your adoption agent or your assigned social worker and talk to one or both of them. Your social worker will be meeting with you in the next few days before the home study to make sure you understand the process and know what to expect along the way.” She finally stops and takes a breath. “Any questions?”

I summon up my courage. “Yeah. How often does this go wrong? I don’t mean with the kids; I mean with the process, a monkey wrench in the works, whatever?”

Amy smiles. “Most of the time, by the time a couple’s decided to come in and meet a child or children, they pretty well know what they want. So rarely does anything go wrong. Usually if it does, it’s something to do with the birth parents and has nothing to do with the kids or the potential adoptive parents. So take a deep breath, both of you – this should go through just fine.”

They both see us out and we walk hand in hand to the car. Once we’re in and finally alone, I turn to Sheila. “And you’re sure this is what you want?”

She nods. “Absolutely. You?”

“No question in my mind.”

“Moving forward?”

I finally let loose the tears I’ve been holding in for the last hour. “Yep. Moving forward.”

With her hands wrapped around the back of my neck, she pulls me into her and we press our foreheads together. Then that sweet voice I love so much whispers to me, “Congratulations, Mr. Cothran. I think we’re parents.”

My heart is so full that I think it’ll burst. A home. A family. A woman by my side for the rest of my life. What more could I ever want?

Not one damn thing. Steffen Cothran’s got it all.

“H
ey! Every one of you! Get in here and get cleaned up for lunch!” All five of them rush the door. McKenna, Joey, and Morris try to come through at the same time and find themselves wedged in the doorway, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Hey, I can’t get in!” Rachel yells from outside. The two of them finally pop through the doorway and she yells in, “Finally! I don’t wanna miss lunch!”

“You’re not going to miss lunch. I’d never let that happen!” I grab her up and turn her upside down to hear her giggle, and she shrieks with laughter.

“Oh, no!” Joey walks straight up to me and looks up into my face, his new glasses cockeyed. “Auntie Trish made lima beans. Do I have to eat them?”

I’m trying to look serious. “No. You don’t have to eat them, but you
do
have to try them.”

“Oh, man! No fair!” He hangs his head and I laugh at him.

“Yes, fair. She cooked, you eat.”

Sheila’s wrangling everyone into their seats when Hailee asks, “Uncle Steffen, I’m supposed to do a class project on how math works in the real world. Could I come to the bank sometime and take a tour? Or just look around? Maybe talk to one of the tellers or something?”

“I’ll do you one better than that. We’re open on Saturday mornings until noon. I don’t have to work then, but I can go in this Saturday and take you with me if you’d like. You can stay the whole time, sit at a window with one of the tellers, look at the computer system, all of that, and I’ll show you how we balance the drawers at the end of the day and all of the reporting we do to the Federal Reserve. Interested?”

“Yes! Oh, thank you!” She pops up from her seat, runs around the table, and gives me a big hug.

I give her a kiss on the cheek. “Happy to help.” And I laugh when she kisses me back, but it’s almost shallow because of the storm that I’m sure is brewing.

We’re almost finished with lunch when the doorbell rings. Clint takes a swipe at his face with his napkin and says, “I’ll get it.” I know what’s about to happen; we’ve all been on pins and needles about this, and we’re about to see how it works out. I hear voices in the front hallway, hear the door closing, and I look at Sheila and Trish. They both shoot me nervous smiles until I hear footsteps behind me. Then Morris looks up from his plate and cries out, “Mom!”

I turn and there’s Adele. And she’s not the Adele I knew. She’s gaunt, her hair is scraggly, and her skin is an ashy color. She just generally looks unwell, not the sultry, sexy, voluptuous woman who tried to get every man in her area code to fuck her. When Morris runs into her arms, he almost knocks her down. I watch the two of them as she smiles and talks to him, his excited chatter drowning out her voice. She turns toward me and I just nod. “Adele.”

“Steffen. Good to see you.” Morris takes her by the hand and leads her toward the den, jabbering a mile a minute.

“She okay?” I ask Clint.

“She’s had the flu for the past week, but they said she was well enough to come over. I don’t know. She doesn’t look too good.”

“My thoughts exactly. But she seems to be behaving herself.”

He drags a biscuit across his plate through some cheese sauce before he takes a bite. “She’s been going to counseling at the detention facility and they say she’s doing very well with that. The times I’ve talked to her she’s been very civil and polite, almost friendly even. I think she’s getting herself straightened out.”

“’Bout time.” One by one, the rest of the kids ask to be excused to go back outside, and their moms nod and send them out the door.

Morris reappears in the kitchen. “Dad, can I go back outside?”

Clint shoots him a surprised stare. “Don’t you want to visit with your mom?”

He shrugs. “Uh, I’ve been visiting with her. I want to play with everybody else. Can I, please?”

Clint sighs and shrugs back. “That’s ‘may I.’ Sure. Go on. And on your way out, ask her to come in here with us.”

“Okay. Hey, Uncle Steffen, your back yard is awesome!”

“Thanks, buddy. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” It’s the first time we’ve had everyone to the new house, and I’m enjoying how everyone else is enjoying it. Morris scoots out of the room and in just a minute or two, Adele comes dragging in. She stops, looks at all of us, and asks, “May I sit down?”

Clint stands and holds a chair for her. I can see that shocks her, but she nods and sits, and he helps her scoot her chair up. “Would you like something, Adele? We’ve got plenty of food left, and there’s sweet tea and soft drinks and all of that,” Sheila offers.

“Oh, I don’t want to be any bother.” I can tell she’s sincere, and it floors me.

“No bother at all! Ham, biscuits, lima beans, corn, and I think there’s some broccoli and cheese sauce left. Anything on the list you don’t want? Oh, and a small salad maybe?”

“No, that all sounds fine – great, in fact. And thanks for being so warm and welcoming.”

“You’re more than welcome.” My gracious wife scurries about filling a plate, then sets it, the salad, and a variety of dressings on the table for Adele to choose from. “Drink?”

“Sweet tea?”

“Coming right up,” Trish calls out and grabs a glass, fills it with ice, and pours it.

After the first couple of bites, Adele looks around the table at us, and then her glance lands on me. “Steffen, you seem happy.”

“I am.”

“Good. You deserve to have a nice home and a good family. The kids are very cute, and so polite and well-behaved.”

“I can thank Sheila for that. She’s got way more patience with them than I do,” I smile, then look across the table at my wife.

“Oh, don’t let him fool you. He’s an incredible dad. Just amazing.”

Adele stares at her plate, her face sad. “I knew he would be. That’s why I brought Morris to him.” She looks up at Clint. “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done and for what I’ve put you through, you and your wife.” Then she looks at Trish and says, “You’re a very nice person and you’ve been very good to my son. I want to thank you for doing a better job than I could ever do.”

Trish smiles back, but her eyes are sad. “Thanks, but he’s no trouble. He’s a great little guy and a joy to be around. You obviously did something right while you were raising him.”

“Thanks, but I don’t deserve that.” She stops, and I can tell there’s something going on inside her head, some kind of battle being fought. Finally, she says, “Um, my therapist said I should talk to all of you the first chance I got. And I guess that’s now.” We all wait expectantly, unsure if we should stick it out or run for the hills. “So I’ve been thinking.” She glances from Clint to Trish and back to Clint. “I’ve made a decision. Unless you don’t want him, I’d like for Morris to stay with the two of you and his sisters. He seems happy with all of you and I don’t want to disrupt that and set him back. He deserves to have a good home, and you guys seem to be able to give him that.”

“Thanks.” Clint nods but doesn’t smile. “He’s a great kid and we’re going to love having him here permanently. But you’ll be welcome to visit with him. We can set something up, no problem.”

“That’s very nice of you. You don’t have to do that, but I’m thankful that you will. I love him and I’d like to stay in touch with him, but I want him to have a better life than I can offer him.”

“Thank you for putting him first. I’m sure when he’s grown he’ll thank you,” Trish offers.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better.” I think she’s finished, but she turns her attention to me. “Steffen, I just want you to know that I’m sorry for what I put you through. I’m especially sorry for driving a wedge between the two of you.” She turns to Sheila, and Sheila closes her eyes and nods. “And Sheila, I heard about what happened to you at that . . . well, what happened to you. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t done what I did, so that’s my fault. And I’m so, so sorry. You just have no idea.”

“No, Adele. I’m a grown woman. I chose what I did, and it was my fault. If I hadn’t . . .”

“No. If I hadn’t come there and torn your lives apart, that never would’ve happened. So I’m sorry for it, so sorry. You’re okay, right?”

“Oh, yes! I’m fine. No permanent harm done. So for whatever part you played in all of that, I forgive you. Steffen played a role in all of that too, and I’ve forgiven him. It’s all behind us and we’re just moving forward, not dwelling on the past. You should too.”

“That’s hard to do when thinking about the past is all you’ve got. It’s not like I’ve got lots of fun activities or social options in there. But I made my bed, so I have to lie in it.” To my surprise, she turns back to me. “Clint told me about Maggie. I’m so sorry. She was a very nice lady and I know you miss her. She was lucky to have you as a son. You were always so good to her.”

That’s a shocker. She always seemed to hate my mother, but then, she hated everybody. “Thanks, Adele. Yeah, it was an awful way to go, but in the end she had so much morphine in her that she didn’t suffer. But thanks. I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome.” She looks up at the clock, then back around the table. “Well, I think I’ve only got about thirty more minutes before I have to go. I think I’ll go out into the yard and try to spend some time with Morris. He’s so excited to be here and enjoy himself that he’s really not interested in me.” The little smile she manages is fake, and I know she’s hurt by his apathy, but he’s a kid, trying to have fun and fit in with his new family and surroundings. Clint and I both stand as she rises and heads out the back door. Sitting back down, we both look at each other and at the two women there sharing our lives.

“I think she was sincere,” Trish offers.

I nod gently. “As sincere as I’ve ever seen her. I actually feel sorry for her. I think she’s broken.”