Today was finally the day that we would go to the courthouse and Ryland would officially adopt me.
I got dressed in a light pink dress that was tighter at the top and more flowy at the bottom, and it had like tan buttons going down it. Then I put on some tan heels, they were only about an inch tall and had a strap going around my ankle. I brushed out my hair and put on a little bit of make up. I grabbed my phone and went downstairs.
Dad and Ryland both had on khaki pants (Rylands were tan and dads were black) and button up shirts.
"Are you guys excited?" Dad asked as we sat around the breakfast table.
"Yeah." Ryland and I said at the same time.
"I'm excited." Morgan said, she was coming too.
We finished breakfast and all piled in the G. The car ride was filled with a mixture of music- Britney, Ariana, Billie, and One Direction by choice of Morgan and I.
The courthouse wasn't super busy, but we still had to wait around 15 minutes before we could enter the courtroom.
My attorney was there, so we greeted her as we walked into the waiting area.
When we walked in, it was the same judge that had finalized my adoption with dad.
"Bentley, Shane!" He said as we walked in, "Good to see you two well."
I liked this court so much better than the one I had last been in. This when was friendly, happy, and casual.
Dad had to speak first on the stand. Judge Bennett swore him in and then made him set.
"Do you believe that Mr. Adams is fit to be a parental figure for your daughter?" He asked.
"Yeah, I do." Dad smiled at us.
"Over the course of your time with Mr. Adams, do you believe that they have formed a parent/child relationship?"
"Yes."
"You understand that in the event of a break up or divorce, that Mr. Adams would still have legal custody and parental rights of your daughter."
Dad paused for a second, "Yes."
"Ok, thank you Mr. Yaw, you may sit." The judge dismissed him and called Ryland up next.
They swore him in and then began
"Do you believe that you have a parent/child relationship with Bentley?"
"Yes."
"You understand that by doing this you assume all legal and financial responsibility of this child?"
"Yes." The judge nodded, but continued asking questions more out of curiosity I think.
"How did you and Mr. Yaw meet?" He asked, setting aside his paper work.
"We met on a dating app, but we had already had mutual friends." Ryland laughed. "It was about a year ish after Shane had already adopted her."
The judge dismissed him and called me up next.
"Hello, Bentley. Good to see you happy and healthy." He smiled.
"Hi, thank you it's good to see you too." We then continued with the normal procedure.
"Do you wish to be adopted by Mr. Adams?"
"Yes." I answered.
"Alright, now who's with you today?" He referenced Morgan.
"That's Rylands sister. She's with us a lot." I explained, and laughed.
"What school do you go to now, I assume you've been doing online school with recent events though of course."
"Yeah, we had to do online school for the rest of last year, they haven't made a choice about this coming year though." It was summer and they still hadn't said. "But I go to Valley View School."
"Private school?" He questioned and I nodded. "Who's helped you more with online school?"
"Ryland." I said, making myself, dad, Ryland, and Morgan laugh.
"Alright." The judge laughed as well and dismissed me, then called my attorney.
He asked her the same basic questions he asked dad and Ryland, if they thought that this would be beneficial to me and what not.
Then the judge announced that he would sign the papers to finalize everything. Ryland gave me a hug, and dad was crying a little bit.
After it was done, we all got to take pictures with the judge and everything, and catch up with him a little bit more. He had been a big part of my adoption with dad, but that adoption also had a lot more hearings than this one did.
When we left the building, I officially had 2 sides of my birth certificate filled.
