The Adoption - Until I Find You Again // Book Three

Part Six

Justin Withers looked like Albert Finney, the guy who played Daddy Warbucks in the movie version of Annie.  He was intimidating in that respect as well.  I suddenly felt like I was sitting in the boss's office after getting caught taking too many sick days.

He didn't say anything for the first few minutes we were in the room after introducing himself. He was reading.  I hoped he was reading our file but I wasn't sure.  Emily nervously fidgeted in the chair next to me.  I reached over and threaded my fingers through hers, giving her a look of reassurance.  I knew how she felt, I was on edge as well.

I jumped slightly when Justin sighed.  He looked up at me, his brown eyes piercing into mine.  I held my breath when he opened his mouth to speak,

"I've been doing this a long time.  I've run into a lot of situations that were..."  He smirked, "Not ideal.  One of the parents has a record.  Someone had a drug problem."  He folded his hands over the manila folder on his desk, "But that all pales in comparison to two people in a committed relationship but not married when it comes to adoption."

Emily's eyes dropped and I knew she was holding back tears.  I wanted to protest.  Protest?  Shit.  I wanted to stand up, stomp my feet, fold my arms over my chest and whine until someone agreed that this was unfair.  Emily and I weren't legally married but we were in every other sense.  We were committed to each other.  We already had two kids.  And Jesus Christ it was 2017 not 1955. 

I sat forward,

"But-"

Justin held his hand up before I could continue,

"I believe in being honest with my clients.  I believe in letting you know exactly what you're up against.  Because the adoption rules have relaxed a bit here, other countries have yet to catch up."  He smirked again, "That's where I come in."

Emily lifted her eyes to look at me and then at him,

"Your...your clients?"  She asked softly.

His smirk formed into a smile,

"You seem shocked."

Emily looked over at me and then at him again, her hand squeezed mine a little tighter,

"I mean...I just didn't-"  She stopped, "The director of the orphanage was very honest with us about the fact that we have a lot of strikes against us."

Justin nodded, his smile disappearing as he leaned forward to tap his phone,

"Anna, get me Dr. Parmley's people on the phone.  We need to sit down and discuss how to handle this with the Ghanaian government.  I need Robert and Millie in here to start writing up some briefs and doing some interviews.  And I need Angelo researching past adoption cases with Ghana."  He barked into the phone, hanging up the moment Anna confirmed she heard him. 

He looked up at Emily and I,

"Next step is to submit a Dossier to the Department of Social Welfare.  That's when things will get dicey because the court will want to see that you are a stable couple despite the fact that you're not married.  And the court is who gives final approval.  However, if the government can..."  He stopped, "Persuade...things could swing to our side."

I was struggling to keep up with him.  I was so ecstatic that he was taking us on as clients that I didn't care what else we had to do.  This was a huge win for us and judging by the look on Em's face, she thought so too.

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Lucy ran into the kitchen to grab the bread I'd just sliced off the counter.  Dinner was almost ready.  Once Emily and I had returned from Justin's office, we decided to have a nice family dinner and then put the kids to bed early so we could celebrate with some adult activities.