Third Time's The Charm

Chapter 6

"Can we have a minute, please?" Maya said.

"Of course, take your time. Come on Ezra. Let's give the ladies a chance to talk," said Sister Linda as she took Ezra's hand, guiding him out of the room and closing the door.

"So? What do you think?" I asked Maya with an enthusiastic smile on my face. There was a moment of silence as Maya contemplated what she wanted to say next. I tried my best to try and decipher what she was thinking but I had no luck. I could tell that the gears in her head were turning but couldn't make out exactly what she was thinking.

"Maya, if you're not sure, we don't have to do this. I don't want you to commit to something that you don't want because you don't want to hurt my feelings," I told her.

"No, Carina it's not that. I promise. I just, he's perfect! But what about the other boys? Shouldn't we give them a chance at least? Like, imagine what it would feel like to watch someone get picked over you without even having the chance to advocate for yourself," she had brought up a good point. I couldn't imagine how many times these kids had experienced something like that.

"I get it Maya. Trust me I do and I've thought about it, but in the end we still have to pick one person. We can't take all of them home," I said, placing my hand under her chin and bringing her face up to look at me, "but don't you think it might make it just a bit easier on them if we call it a day? Instead of having them meet us only to have their hopes crushed later?"

"God, why are you smart?" Maya responded with a teary smile.

"Let's go talk to Sister Linda," I said, placing a small kiss on Maya's lips.

I opened the door and saw that Sister Linda was sitting on a bench next to Ezra at the end of the hall. I watched the interaction closely, it was so sweet and innocent. We made our way over to them, "have you ladies decided?" spoke the headmaster.

"Yes, I think we have," I responded.

"Perfect, Ezra I think the group is in the playroom watching a movie, why don't you go join them?" Ezra waved goodbye and made his way back to the playroom.

"Let's make our way back to my office. We can discuss everything there," she said with a smile. We walked back down the long corridors to her office. This was it. We were about to start the process to hopefully take our child home.

Maya and I took a seat on the chairs in front of her desk. Maya once again sensed my anxiousness and took my hand in hers, rubbing her thumb along the back of it. Sister Linda poured herself a cup of tea, offering us some before taking a seat behind her desk.

"I see that you have an unusual connection with Ezra, so I would completely understand if you would rather not meet the rest of the boys," the headmaster said as she brought the cup of tea up to her lips.

"You're right. Both my wife and I think that Ezra would be a perfect fit in our home, and simply because of the way he was introduced into our lives I think it is meant to be, " I said with the utmost confidence.

" I completely agree. Like most kids in the system, Ezra has a particularly difficult background. Fortunately for him, he came to us at only a month old, so we were able to give him the intervention he required before it took too much of a toll. Ezra was a voluntary surrender and the mother has chosen to remain anonymous; therefore he doesn't know anything about her and it shall remain that way until the age of eighteen," she explained, "should everything work out for your adoption, you will be provided with a file further explaining his background and any special needs that he may have."

"Okay, and how exactly will this work?" asked Maya.

"Typically we start with some outings here and there. Maybe take him home for the weekend. Just to allow both parent and child to get a feel for each other in a different environment. As we all know a child becomes a totally different person outside of the home so we like to give prospective parents sort of a trial period, in the best interest of the child of course," explained Sister Linda.