Adopted

They went to the local clinic and luckily Mary and her sister Nora worked there. Maybe it was fate, luck or some type of divine intervention, but we don't know why they ended up there. Jeff you were born first and weighed less than five pounds. Then Sandi was born and weighed barely over two pounds. You were both put in an incubator.

Your mother, June stayed one night in the clinic. Your father, Charles stayed at a nearby motel. The next day the doctor who delivered both of you said you both, especially Sandi needed to be transferred to a major hospital. The nearest one was nearly forty miles away.

The following day they were going to take you kids and drive to the hospital. The doctor told them that it would more than likely kill Sandi. So your parents took off and said they would go to the hospital and make plans to have the babies transferred.

They were both killed in a truck - car accident on one of the hilly curves. Mary and Nora got word from the sheriff's department and then I heard from Mary about you two kids and that she had been told your parents died.

Before I go any further I need to tell you about Mary and Nora. Everything we told you about her husband being killed and her being pregnant was true. What we didn't tell you was that a couple of weeks before you kids were born she found out her baby was dead and would be stillborn.

According to Nora, her sister, she was a near basket case. First losing her husband and now knowing her baby would be stillborn. When she heard that your parents were killed she was overly distraught knowing you kids would probably be put in child services custody. Mary induced her labor so she could have her baby.

Back here at home your Aunt Emma went into shock when she heard about the death of her sister and brother-in-law. She was also wondering what might happen to you kids. Our doctor told her to stay in bed for a couple of days and gave her some sedatives. I told her I would go and take care of the funeral arrangements and see what was happing with the kids.

I explained to the sheriff's department who I was and gave him the name of the funeral home which would take care of your parents' remains. I then went to the clinic and talked with Mary. She told me that children's services had called and said they would be there the next day to claim the kids.

It was now night time and the clinic was closed but Mary and Nora stayed there, mainly to watch over the babies. After inducing labor Mary lay there in pain giving birth to a stillborn baby. It was a girl.

It was then that Mary and Norma decided to switch babies. We all knew it wasn't right but the state was going to take the babies away in the morning and they would have more than likely have been split up anyway.

Mary's little girl was under three pounds and with my consent we switched the babies. Nora called the children's services even though it was the middle of the night and told them the one baby had died. They told her they would be there the next day to claim the remains and to take Jeff with them.

Mary was holding you Sandi and asked me to drive her to a hospital. It was a small hospital just fifteen miles away. I did so and she was admitted and so was Sandi. No one had any reason to believe that Sandi wasn't a newborn still being so small.

I stayed the night with Mary and made sure all the paperwork was made out and the birth information correct only being two days late. The following morning I was at the clinic when the children's services physician came in. Nora already had Jeff ready to be transferred.

I told the physician who I was and asked if I could have the baby's remains sent to the funeral home to be buried with her parents. He wasn't a bad sort and made a call and got it okayed. He told me what hospital he was transferring Jeff too, which was in Columbus, over seventy miles away. I had to wonder if Sandi would have survived the trip.

I told him I would keep in touch with him. He gave me his card and a card of children's services so I could get in touch with them also.

"So you're not my mother?" asked Sandi to Mary. Both had tears in their eyes.

She may not be your birth mother but she is the mother that saw that you got all the love and care that kept you alive. When you were admitted the doctors only gave you a fifty-fifty chance of making it. Mary, your mother stayed at the hospital day and night watching over you, holding you and helping to feed you.

She took a leave of absence from the clinic to be with you. She got a few extra privileges since she was a nurse. It wasn't until you finally got up to five pounds that the doctors considered you out of the danger zone. They actually said that they thought it was the love and prayers of a mother for her daughter that pulled you through.

Mary and Sandi were both crying when Sandi got up and went and hugged her mother.

Sandi, you know the rest of the story. Five years later your mom married Ed Wilcox and he adopted you. I stopped by about once a year just to see you and Mary. You are part of a great family. No one knows the true story about you except your mom, your Aunt Nora and me.

Ok Jeff, let's talk about you. When I got back home I talked with your Aunt Emma. I told her that you were transferred to Columbus and that your twin sister died. I explained that I had the remains transferred to our local funeral home where we had services. It was a closed casket for all three.

Your aunt was worried about who might adopt you. She asked me if I thought we could, even though we haven't had any little kids around for years and were about to have grand children.

She hounded me till I contacted children services and we became your guardians. Your aunt didn't want you to go through life with no family. For years you called us mom and dad till you became a teenager. Then for some reason you started calling us Aunt Emma and Uncle Joe. We always left it up to you.

****

"Why didn't you adopt me Uncle Joe?" I asked.

"Because you were already family and we were your guardians. The only thing that would have changed is your last name and you were probably much safer with your own."

"Mom, what was my name before you changed it?" asked Sandi.

"It was Sandra Lynn, but I changed it to Sandi June in honor of your mother." They both started crying again.

"Uncle Joe, doesn't Aunt Emma know anything about Sandi?" I asked.

"Just that she was the daughter of an old friend. Now if you two stay together she can call her Aunt Emma and me Uncle Joe. I think we would both like that."

"But, you said she is my twin sister. Uncle Joe, I still love her and want to marry her if she will still have me."

"Of course I love you, you crazy lug; more than ever. Mom, Uncle Joe, do you see any problems with us getting married?" asked Sandi.

"The main problems would be kids and you said you already told Jeff that you are unable to have any more," said Mary.

"Look, I love Sandi. Kids or no kids, I still love her. Besides we will have a beautiful daughter who I intend to adopt. Also we will have a special relationship that no other husband and wife have."

"What is that?" asked Mary.

"If my wife should ever need a body part like a kidney, or a part of my lung or even a blood transfusion, I can give it to her. Not many husbands can say that."

"Let's hope that it never happens," said Sandi. "Besides that works both ways."

"Mrs. Wilcox, are you alright then with having me as a son-in-law? I promise I'll be the best husband and father you could want for your daughter. I would like to have your blessing to marry her."

"Jeff, I've liked you since the first time I saw you with Sandi. I was worried about the relationship for obvious reasons. Once she told me things were getting serious between you two and that she loved you I worried even more, that's when I called Joe and he suggested we have this meeting. Yes Jeff, you and Sandi have my blessing and I know you'll have her father's as well."

Sandi and I were happy, we got her mom's and our uncle's blessing. The four of us made a pact that no one else would ever know. There was no reason that anyone else needed to know. Of course Sandi's Aunt Nora knew but we weren't even letting her know that we knew. She had already kept it a secret for over twenty-five years.

Over the next week Sandi and her mom had talks and discussed any questions that Sandi had. It was quite a trauma for Sandi to find out her mom was not her birth mother. She told me how hard it must have been for her mother losing her unborn child and her husband in the same year.

Sandi said she knows what her mother did wasn't right, but under the circumstances, she understood. She remembered what she went through with Trina. She was also happy that her mom convinced her not to have an abortion. She couldn't imagine life without her daughter Trina.

I had a talk with my uncle Joe. I asked him if he knew anything about the birth father of Trina. Sandi had told me that she believed he had taken a video of her during her college days and was worried that he might use it against her.

Uncle Joe just said, "Jeff, he is no longer a threat and the video was found and destroyed. The asshole made a mistake when he messed with my family and Sandi is my niece and always will be."

****

Sandy and I attended the Thanksgiving dinner together. Mary and her husband plus their other kids also attended the dinner. After everyone was seated Uncle Joe said grace and before anyone got up he told them that I had an announcement to make.

"Everyone, this won't take long. Sandi and I will be getting married on New Year's Eve. Everyone here is invited. We'll let you all know the particulars in the coming weeks. Just leave that day open if you plan on attending."

You would have thought the Cleveland Browns had just won the super bowl with all the cheering and noise. During dinner and afterwards, everyone came up to congratulate us. The look on Aunt Emma's face was one of total joy. She hugged and kissed Sandi until Sandi was crying.

"I liked you from the first time I saw you. You belong in this family." She had no idea how true this was.

"You can call me Aunt Emma or mom, I don't care as long as Trina calls me Grandma," said my aunt.

The time flew by and the wedding was great. Everyone from Thanksgiving dinner plus a lot of the people we worked with attended. Sandi's boss and even his son Randy showed up. Jody told Sandi she was one lucky woman. That made me feel pretty good.

None of my old flames were invited. The last thing I needed was for Sandi to know more of my past than she already did. Missy came but we were just good friends, never intimate even though she knew more about me than most anyone.

"Boy I missed on this one. My physic powers aren't what they used to be. I do see happiness in your life. I'm really happy for you meeting your soul mate. You two seem to have so much in common it's almost eerie." She hugged both Sandi and me and went to enjoy the party.

Sandi's father and siblings were happy for us to. Her youngest brother was now eighteen and her sister who babysat for her was twenty.

We lived in Sandi's apartment for about a year before looking for a place of our own. Life couldn't be any better. We made love at least three times a week and other times just cuddled up on the couch and watched TV together with Trina playing on the floor in front of us. Her adoption went through without a problem. She has been calling me daddy ever since we announced our engagement on Thanksgiving day.

Epilogue:

We'd been married for about three years and everything was fine. One day we heard that there had been an accident on the freeway. It was a single mother and her three year old twins, a boy and a girl. The mother died on the way to the hospital. The children were hurt but not seriously. We called Uncle Joe and he told us he would see what he could find out. This accident with the twins really hit home with us.

Uncle Joe said children's services would be taking the children. The girl's parents had disowned her and there was no mention of a father.

Sandi looked at me and was crying. I know how she felt because that was close to what happened to us.

"We can't let them get separated Jeff. We have to do something," said Sandy.

I knew what she meant. The only thing we could do was try to adopt them.

I made a call back to Uncle Joe and asked him to see if we could be the twin's foster parents. He had the connections to get things done.

A week later the shy little boy and girl were at our house. Trina acted like she was their big sister and they followed her everywhere. After three months we put in the adoption papers.

We are now the proud family of five - Sandi, me, Trina, and our twins, Erin and Andy.

*

Life is good.

Thank you for reading my story

Comments are welcome and appreciated

DG Hear