I didn’t realize at that moment that I wasn’t ready to hear it, especially with my birthday looming so close and after all the years of dedication I had given her and her brother.
***
Many years ago, my husband Kevin and I decided to have children and tried to conceive for a long time. Sadly, nothing happened, and my heart broke every day, mainly because I felt inadequate. I knew it wasn’t solely my fault because Kevin also had fertility issues, but it plagued my mind terribly.
We were almost 40 years when we started the application process for adoption, and surprisingly, a pregnant teenager picked us out of all the other younger candidates. We were ecstatic and open to sharing everything about her kid with her, but she decided a closed adoption would be the best option for her, and we had to support her.
MMy hands trembled as I held my phone through Emily’s silence. For some reason, my senses tingled. Something had happened. She was too quiet. My daughter never behaved this way.
But she shocked us again after discovering she had twins, a boy and a girl. We took them both without a second thought, named them Emily and Ethan, and raised them as best we could.
In our 40s, Kevin and I were solid financially. We had started a business together, which didn’t need much attention by the time the kids came around, so we had tons of time for our babies. It was perfect.
Yes, we were older, and it was hard some days, especially when we barely got any sleep. But it was so worth it. I would never change it, and Kevin felt the same way.
Some days, we just held our sleeping babies in our living room, listening to their steady breaths, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. “Madeleine, this is the best decision we ever made. I would do anything for these babies,” Kevin told me back then, and all I could do was smile at my dear husband because love was bursting from my chest.
The kids grew up beautifully. They were twins but couldn’t have been more different. Kevin always dreamed of playing baseball with his son, but Emily was the one into sports. She was good at everything that required a ball and eventually joined the basketball team at her school, winning high school championships left and right. Later, her talent earned her a full scholarship to UCLA, which wasn’t far from our home in Pasadena.
Meanwhile, Ethan was a complete brain. He received straight As in all subjects, but math was his strongest skill. He competed in mathletes and chess tournaments, and thanks to his grades, he got into Stanford University. That one was a bit far for my liking, especially after caring for them for so long. But you have to let your kids fly away, right?
