Finalization

It’s coming soon — We have our court date.

We know what we’re going to wear to court, presents for the girls, Toby, Aimee, and Robyn have been procured and/or fashioned, the after-party is mostly planned… pretty much all that’s left to do is show up at court and party afterwards.

It’s simultaneously exciting and anti-climactic — in that moment in the courtroom, everything changes, but nothing is really going to change. They will get new names, new birth certificates, and social workers will forever be removed from their lives. But they don’t know their old names, they don’t remember their old families, and they’ve been with us for as long as they can remember. They are currently legal orphans, but in that moment will become our legal daughters, no different than Toby is my legal son and Aimee is my legal daughter.

But don’t tell the girls that. They don’t know they are orphans. Last week, Aimee said something about how “Lucy and Katie are going to be adopted.” Lucy looked to me and said, non-chalantly and certainly without a full understanding, “No, Daddy, I’m already adopted.” Legal status be damned, these girls have been home since the day they moved in.

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