“I held her hand and supported her as she bravely brought her daughter into the world. I didn’t know what to say throughout her labor. I just remember repeating, ‘You’re doing so good. Just breathe. You got this.’ There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.”
‘Before our wedding, we were in a serious motorcycle accident. I was laying on the road waiting for first responders. ‘We can always adopt. We will have children someday, no matter what.’
‘I was going to donate to her fund, but I found out her parents are lesbian. Sorry.’ My wife received this horrible message. We were so hurt.’
“We got a 3D ultrasound to find out the sex. It’s a GIRL! I bought hair bows and tutus. We were beyond excited. She was born perfect and healthy. No one knew she was hiding a secret illness. After realizing our sick child has two mommies, she couldn’t donate.”
‘I cheated on you with a woman I met at the gym. She has a daughter, and I’m her father. She’ll be 1-year-old in a few days.’ My mind went blank. ‘Did she know you were married?,’ I asked.’
“If you had told me 4 years ago I would be sitting in a waiting room with my husband, his affair partner, and her mother, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am. I’ll never forget what happened next.”
‘There’s no way this is happening, we’re about to build a family. I found a cigarette carton full of empty little bags. They would flip my world upside down.’
“They were right. I was having a baby by a raging addict. I dealt with my possessions being stolen or sold, even our new baby gifts pawned, my hard-earned money taken from me, lies upon lies.”
‘I called that hotel room and heard his voice. And then heard HER voice in the background. That was the day I broke. How do you live with someone not know who they truly are? Was I blind?’
“When I saw the credit card charges to a hotel in a town 1,000 miles from where he was supposed to be, that was when I felt the knife in my gut – but somehow I still thought, maybe it was a mistake. Did someone open a card under his name?”
‘We were literally one in a million. Identical twins with Down syndrome happens once out of every million pregnancies! We had been chosen for this task.’
“The ultrasound technician laughed. ‘What is it?,’ we said. She looked at us. ‘There are two in there!’ I immediately cracked up laughing. Rayni looked like she had seen a ghost! ‘Are you serious?’”
‘Momma, can you please call the judge? He’s moving too slow. Does he know I need you to be my momma? I’ll tell him. I need to be adopted. I can’t wait anymore.’ My boys waited 3 long years.’
“We started making visits with his siblings. This one forever changed my life. I felt a little tug on my shirt. He said, ‘Are you Jeremy’s mom?’ I said, ‘Yeah buddy, I am.’ And then his crushing response was, ‘Will you be my mom too?’ I cried. I hugged him. I was speechless.”
‘I was released from the hospital. I went to my mom’s. She’s a chronic relapsing alcoholic. We went to lunch. I ordered what I referred to as ‘my last beer.’ Not even half believing that was true.’
“We started going on Wednesday nights because they served $.25 cent beers on tap. We always requested a specific server, Jeff, because he always took special care of my daughter, Maggie. It slowly turned into flirting. 6 weeks later, I moved in with him.”
‘My doctor held my hand and started, ‘Tami…’ In that moment, I knew. I couldn’t breathe because I knew. Or at least I thought I did. My heart exploded with relief!’
“We were walking out of the house when a feather floated right in front of us. As we sat enjoying our morning coffee, another tiny feather made an appearance. On the drive home, I kept thinking … two feathers … what does that mean? But I had a hunch. I went straight to the bathroom and found a pregnancy test.”
‘What if this guy just wants a green card?’ We had only 90 days to get married. We both questioned what we had gotten ourselves into. I’d be marrying a man who has never met my family.’
“I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, moved out of my apartment and awaited the adventure of a lifetime. When I saw first him, I felt my heart skip. Our story is a wild one.”
