The First Hello

A beautiful, tall, slender woman answered the door and introduced herself as Michelle, Bailey's mother.   She couldn't say much else before we were malled be three big, loving dogs who could clearly smell our dog Charlie on us. Michelle was working on pulling them away, though we didn't mind them at all, when Bailey came in. I had looked at her pictures a billion times on Facebook but she was even more gorgeous in person. She had a tiny little baby bump that was so cute on her small frame. We all hugged, met her two little sisters and headed to the couch to get to know each other. Let's be honest, the situation itself is not an every day kind of situation and it could have very easily been an awkward one. Surprisingly it wasn't. I mean this was obviously uncharted territory on both our ends and it wasn't like any of us knew exactly what we were doing, but we hit it off really well and felt good  and comfortable throughout the night. Bailey's dad came home with her little brother shortly after and they joined us on the couches.

We sat chatting for a long time, telling them about ourselves and answering all of their questions they had. The main thing we wanted to ensure was that we were totally ourselves, not trying to impress or hide anything, so that Bailey could actually get to know us and make a decision based off of that. We felt the importance of finding a good, TRUE fit for both parties. Honestly, I was totally blown away by Bailey could see that Jason felt the same.

After a long time chatting we all went to dinner together, though we sat with Bailey and her parents at one table while the kids sat at a separate table nearby. Bailey drove with us to the restaurant and it was the only time that we had alone with her. During that short drive she told us about the birth father and how it only happened once and he was not in the picture. She told us that she loved this baby already so much and wanted it to have two parents, which is why she had chosen to place it for adoption.

At dinner we exchanged more questions and when we were all out of things to ask, we started to joke around and the kids joined us again. We went for frozen yogurt after and continued to laugh and share jokes and stories. As I watched Bailey's eight year old sister quote something funny she saw in a movie, I realized that I was starting to feel a deep love for Bailey and her family, which I knew put me in an emotional danger zone. What if she didn't choose us? What if we had this amazing night getting to know her and her family and she decided to go with someone else? Or worse, what if she did choose us and then down the road changed her mind?

It was getting late and we needed to go, though I could have stayed another five hours. Jason and I hugged each one of them, ending with Bailey, and I felt like we were saying goodnight to friends we had known for years. I wondered if that was just me. What did Bailey think of us? What did her family think? How would we know what comes next or if she was interested in us? I had to ask because I knew it was going to drive me mad if I didn't know. I took a deep breath and then nervously asked, "So, are you looking at any other families?" Her reply melted my heart and kept me smiling for days! She said, "No, not really, and now I really don't feel the need to look at anyone else." Her voice kept replaying those words in my mind the whole drive home. Was this really happening? Was she saying that she chose US??

That's exactly what she was saying! She chose us!! It's all I could think about. I was going to become a mom and Jason was finally going to get to become a daddy!!! But she wasn't due until June 28th, which was five months away. Five months is a long time for changes to occur, and I was so scared that this was going to be taken away from me. Changes definitely occurred!