Justifer: From the beginning

I Believe in Miracles - Pt. II

Jen paced back and forth nervously, waiting for Justin to get home. She heard his car pull into the driveway and ran to meet him at the door.

Justin burst through the door and almost ran into her. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Oh God, is it my family? Is it your family? Tell me what happened!"

Justin's face was a web of worry as he tried to find the right question to ask.

Jen stood wide-eyed, still wearing her bathrobe and clutching her phone in front of her with both hands. Justin couldn't tell whether it was fear or excitement that he was seeing in those beautiful eyes until he noticed that their color. Silvery blue. That was excitement.

"What happened?" he asked more calmly.

"She called Justin. She called me..." Jen checked her phone for the time, "...eleven minutes ago."

"Who called you?"

"Leslie Waters, the adoption agent who visited the house last week; she called me."

Justin felt like his heart had stopped beating. 'It couldn't be. Could it?' he thought to himself.

"What?? What'd she say?" He didn't take another breath until she answered.

"There's a baby. There's a baby for us." she whispered, looking down at the phone in disbelief. "I don't know how but it's happening."

Justin stared at her in disbelief. He heard what Jen said but he was afraid that his mind was playing tricks on him. He had to hear it again.

"One more time Jen. What exactly did she say?" he asked, speaking slowly as if he were speaking to a frightened child.

Jen tried to slow down. Her voice was still barely audible as she explained the situation.

"There's a baby boy. He's almost 2 years old. They found him outside an abandoned church and they've had trouble placing him because they don't have any history on his parents or his genetics or medical background and they want to consider us. Leslie said she really had a great feeling about us when she came to visit and she really hopes that this will work out."

Jen turned her eyes to his. His expression was one of wonder, worry and confusion. She could tell that he was still processing the information and she waited quietly, allowing him time to think. She thought about what she would do if Justin decided that he didn't want to try for this baby. She was pretty sure it would break her heart and she would have to try really hard and find a way to accept it.

Justin stared at her. His mind was going a mile a minute. He was beyond happy but ... was he ready? Leslie had told them that it would be at least a year before they'd even find a child. He thought they would have had more time! He looked at Jen's face and saw so much hope there. His doubts began to lessen.

"Okay, let's talk about this." he finally said.

This was too important for them to be impulsive, he thought. This was their future and it meant a lifetime commitment for the both of them. He knew that his sweet Jen lead with her heart and, as her partner, it was up to him to lead with his head.

Justin took Jen's hand and led her to the doors leading out to the terrace. He sat her on a chaise and then straddled it, sitting so that they were face-to-face.

They spoke for a long time, discussing all the points they could come up with. So much about their lives would change in a very short amount of time. They weren't even married yet. They talked about the fact that they had no family or medical history on this little boy. The house wasn't child-ready. They both had work lined up for the immediate future, etc. In the end, they had exhausted all arguments. There was only one question left.

"Last one." Justin said looking at Jen. He was trying hard to keep his own excitement in check but he had to stay rational. He took both of Jen's hands in his and looked deep into her eyes.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

"I know I'm ready. Justin, you know that I've wanted this for so long." Jen touched his face with her fingertips, tracing the strong lines of his cheekbones and jaw. She leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly before she continued.

"Okay, so this little guy's timing may not be exactly what we planned but I feel like this might be part of a different plan; one that we can't control, y'know? I think this is meant to be. The question now is ... are you ready?"

Justin smiled tenderly at Jen, cupping her face in his large hands and wiping her tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

"Baby, I've thought about this ever since we got together. I've had dreams about little Jens and Justins with their mom's smarts and compassion."

Jen melted. "And their dad's sweet nature and curious mind." She added.

"This feels right sweetheart. It really does." he said.

"So .. have we made our decision?" she asked, hands clasped tight.

"Let's go for it. Let's let Leslie know that we want to bring our son home."

Jen threw herself into Justin's arms and they held each other as they both cried tears of joy and hope. They whispered words of love to each other until the tears subsided and they made the call to Leslie. She let them know that it would likely be a few months before everything would finally be in place but she was confident that there would be no issues.

Her last words to them before they ended the call were "You two should probably start thinking about a name."

Miracle #1.