“I met my adoptive dad while my bio dad and mom were still together. He was my uncle’s best friend. At 18, I made a board that asked, ‘Will you adopt me?’ He hugged me and cried. ‘Let’s get the paperwork started,’ he said without hesitation.”
‘Why do my kids not want to talk to me?’ My mom replied, ‘You don’t have anything to do with them, why would they?’ 18-year-old adopted by uncle’s best friend, the ‘most selfless’ man she knows
‘Jeremy had no intention of having more children or getting married again. We tied the knot, and started the process of reversing his vasectomy. My first thought was, ‘Here we go.’
“I told Jeremy, ‘I just don’t feel right.’ He took me to the ER. I had a bad feeling. ‘I’m sorry, but you are normal, so we really have no answers.’ I remember asking him, ’Do you even care?'”
‘He wanted me to get a second opinion. ‘Is it a boy or a girl?,’ I frantically asked. ‘Are you sure you want to know?’ ‘Yes, please tell me.’ ‘A boy, it’s a boy.’ Things like this don’t happen to people my age.’
“When our oldest son saw him, fear set in. He was scared. He loved him dearly, but seeing my son afraid of his baby brother is something I’ll never forget.”
‘They ran towards him. ‘Daddy, are you gonna die?’ Deployment was 10 months. We planned a surprise. I never mentioned it. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.’
“He told me he was scheduled to return home five months early. I was excited but if you know the military things are always changing. We told our boys we were going to the airport to pick up my sister. He planned it all out.”
‘Oh my Gosh, she’s a baby. ‘I’m saying yes,’ I typed to him in Afghanistan. ‘Say yes,’ he responded simultaneously. ‘We’ll take her!’ I nearly shouted into the phone.’
“‘Dad has to move to Colorado,’ I told our sons. ‘He doesn’t have a choice’ ‘We’re not leaving her, right?,’ Aidan interrupted, his tone laced with terror. ‘We can’t just leave her!’ His voice was sandpaper rough, speaking the words I couldn’t. ‘We…we might have to make a tough decision.’ ‘I know,’ I whispered.”
‘Take a pregnancy test, crazy!,’ my sister said. My husband was out of town. He thought I was pulling a prank. We were SHOCKED. I was mind blown to see that positive! I WAS PREGNANT!’
“Jared and I met in the Army. For me, it was love at first sight. We started trying to have children right after we got married. At first, it was just fun. Then I started to get sick.”
‘It was midnight and everyone was asleep. I texted my friend, ‘Come quick! I need you. Lots of blood.’ I prayed she’d wake to the sound of her phone.’
“On a whim, I decided to download a dating app. I came across a man who was in the Army. I knew he was ‘the one’ the moment I saw his photo. At first sight, I was in love. Something I had never felt before.”
‘I kept my pregnancy a secret. I knew coming home from the war would be tough, but I expected him to be a better father. He started drinking and blaming me.’
“I was working full time, coming home to a 2-year-old, while his dad played video games. My initial thought was ‘How??’ I saved the test to show their father. But that never happened. So I sent him a message. Straight to the point. ‘I’m pregnant.’ He packed all of his stuff, and was just gone.”
‘I love you, and I’m home.’ He wrapped me in a warm embrace. We had a fairy tale image of what our life would be. The next year was a whirlwind of emotions.’
“We lived off ramen noodles and ham sandwiches. We slept in forty-five minute increments. ‘I miss us,’ he said. The spark of our honeymoon years quickly faded, and life together felt more like survival.”
‘My husband and I decided during his deployment we would try to get pregnant as soon as he got home. I got pregnant the first try. But, I wasn’t supposed to mother this baby.’
“It was hell. My doctor removed it and sent me on my way. And then I was alone.”
