Touching
🤧
‘What are ya’ll doing here?’ She had a peculiar look on her face. ‘We have something to tell you.’ ‘If you’re pregnant or dropping out of school, you might as well leave now! GET OUT!’
“I heard the words ‘Oh crap!’ We shockingly stared at the pregnancy test. ‘What do I do?!,’ I asked. ‘You have to tell your mom.’ My mom was a ‘no nonsense’ woman. Everyone knew she was NOT to be played with. I had to tell her in public. We showed up, unannounced, at her job.”
‘Did I love you enough today?,’ I wondered as I drove you to school through tears of frustration.. I catch a glimpse of you staring at me in the rear view.’
“I want to rewind the day and tell you how good you did. I will ALWAYS be here. Rooting for you. Lifting you up. You are, and always will be, the greatest thing I have ever done.”
‘You catch this baby, or I will.’ My son’s father fainted. He woke up, saw our newborn, then left to smoke. He returned smelling of cheap beer and cigarettes.’
“‘I’m taking our son,’ he said. It was snowing and he was wasted. ‘He will not take my child like this.’ My grandmother walked in from church. ‘Take my son and lock yourself in your room!,’ I screamed. He got in his car and sped off, fish-tailing down the snow-covered road. Hours later, he returned.”
‘She could not have been more perfect. When she died unexpectedly 2 months later, I thought my heart stopped with hers.’
“Three months after my love proposed to me, I found a lump. I was told I was ‘lucky’ because I had the ‘good kind’ of cancer. It was a hugely insensitive thing to say. My friends were buying homes, getting promotions, having children – and I’m the ‘lucky’ one?”
‘Shonna, someone was in an accident. It looks like his motorcycle.’ I was holding our daughter. ‘I’M GOING TO DROP HER.’ I tumbled outside, listening for sirens.’
“He gave us forehead kisses. ‘Byeee Charlotte, daddy loves you,’ and backed out of the driveway. My phone rang. I remember answering to hear concern on the other end. ‘What’s Brandon doing?,’ they asked. ‘Oh, he’s out on a bike ride!’ There was a long pause.”
‘What happened to your arm?’ I tried to hide it during the interview, but they kept staring. Later, I got a call from my case worker. ‘Discontinue your application. Give up.’
“My suspicions turned out to be true. ‘Ms. Graham, are you able to take a 6-month-old baby?’ I rushed home and waited. Then I saw a car, circling and looking lost with a baby in the back. They hesitated to hand me my baby, like she was unsure how I would hold him.”
‘My girlfriend of 9 months was pregnant. ‘I need to tell you something.’ I opened it, saw pink and cried. My relationship was beyond repair. I had to leave, I had to be a single dad.’
“My heart was thumping. ‘Yeah, we are having a baby too.’ Nobody spoke. Everyone looked at each other dumbfounded. Finally, my sister broke the painful silence. ‘Are you serious?,’ she asked. I was serious. Everyone knew my relationship was vulnerable.”
‘Hey Dad, I want to raise your son. I want him as my own,’ I insanely told my dying father. ‘I didn’t want to put that burden on you,’ he said. He died just 18 hours later.’
“‘Adopt him. You’re supposed to be his mom. You’re the one. Tell your dad. Tell him now.’ My dad visited me in dream. I was standing in a white room. He walked towards me holding a baby wrapped in a light blue blanket. He handed him over, smiled and kissed the baby’s head. When I woke up, I knew.”
‘I needed to tell, in case I went ‘missing.’ I was terrified. ‘You’ve been talking again, haven’t you?’ I ran into the bathroom. ‘Mom, please come.’ It was now or never. It HAD to happen NOW!’
“I snuck my younger children out. My 10-year-old and I grabbed the only belongings I had hidden. As we walked quietly to the door, his music stopped! I whispered, ‘FREEZE, DONT MOVE.’ With tears in my eyes I thought this was it, he knew I was escaping. ‘Run, run now!’”
‘Mom, can I go to his wake? I want to say thank you to him for his kindness. He made me feel like I belong.’
“‘Mom, Ryan was not at school again today,’ he said to me. ‘Why is Ryan not coming to afterschool activities?’ I explained he was fighting cancer, and was sometimes in the hospital for treatment. He spent so much time in the hospital, he didn’t get to be a kid. I told my son, ‘Do something about it.'”