Chapter 6 Forever a David #2
Somewhere, a brother might still be searching.
She couldn't celebrate their absence.
"What happens now?"
"The court is prepared to move Tan into a longer-term placement while the case continues."
Eva gripped the counter.
"Does he have to leave us?"
"No."
She exhaled.
Anna continued.
"Actually, I wanted to know whether you and Terrence are willing to become his permanent foster placement."
Eva looked at her husband.
Terrence had already stood.
He couldn't hear Anna, but he could read Eva's expression.
She covered the phone.
"They want to know if we'll keep him long-term."
Terrence frowned.
"Why is that even a question?"
Eva smiled.
"That's what I thought."
She returned to the call.
"Yes."
Anna laughed.
"I haven't even explained everything."
"Explain it while I'm saying yes."
Terrence grinned.
Anna's voice softened.
"I had a feeling."
That evening, Terrence and Eva waited until Travis and Ella were asleep before speaking with Tan.
He sat between them on the couch watching a cartoon.
Terrence lowered the volume.
"Buddy?"
Tan looked over.
"We need to talk."
Immediately, fear entered his eyes.
Terrence noticed.
Children in the system learned quickly that adults saying we need to talk often meant another move.
Tan hugged Panda.
"I be good."
Eva's heart broke.
"What?"
"I be good."
"Oh, baby."
She moved closer.
"You haven't done anything wrong."
"I clean room."
"We know."
"I don't break bowl."
Terrence's jaw tightened at the reminder of the Hendersons.
"Tan, look at me."
Slowly, the boy did.
"Nobody is sending you away."
Tan stared.
"Nobody?"
"No."
Terrence smiled.
"Anna asked if we'd like you to stay here."
"How long?"
Eva answered.
"As long as you need us."
Tan looked between them.
"Till Mama come?"
The question hurt.
But Eva smiled.
"If your mama is found and it's safe for you to be with her, we'll help you through that."
Terrence nodded.
"And if that doesn't happen, we'll still be here."
Tan's eyes filled with uncertainty.
"Forever?"
Terrence took his little hand.
"If that's what God has planned for us, I'd be honored."
Tan didn't fully understand.
But he understood stay.
He climbed into Terrence's lap and wrapped both arms around his neck.
"Stay."
Terrence held him.
"We're staying."
Eva wrapped her arms around both of them.
For several minutes, the three remained that way.
No legal document had changed.
No judge had ruled.
But something deeper was taking root.
Months became a year.
Tan started kindergarten.
On the first morning, he wore a blue backpack almost as large as he was.
Eva took approximately thirty photographs.
"Mama, enough!"
The word came naturally.
Everyone froze.
Tan froze too.
Eva's phone slowly lowered.
"What did you call me?"
His cheeks turned pink.
"Mama."
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
Tan looked worried.
"You mad?"
Eva dropped to her knees.
"Mad?"
She pulled him into her arms.
"No, baby."
She kissed both his cheeks.
"You can call me anything you feel comfortable calling me."
He smiled.
"Mama."
Eva cried harder.
Terrence stood behind them trying not to become emotional.
Gloria wasn't even pretending.
She stood near the doorway openly crying.
Harold handed her a tissue.
"You're gonna flood the house."
"Be quiet, Harold."
Travis groaned.
"We're gonna be late!"
Everyone laughed.
Terrence crouched in front of Tan.
"What about me?"
Eva immediately smacked Terrence's shoulder.
"Don't pressure him."
"I'm joking."
Tan stared at him.
For months, he had called him Officer Dad.
Sometimes Terrence.
Sometimes simply Dad when he forgot to think about it.
Tan smiled mischievously.
"Police Daddy."
Everyone exploded with laughter.
Terrence put a hand over his chest.
"I can live with that."
The adoption conversation didn't begin until much later.
Nearly two years after Tan first entered their home, Anna arrived one Sunday afternoon carrying a folder.
Tan was seven.
Travis was eight.
Ella was six.
The three children were outside arguing over whether a basketball had gone out of bounds.
"It did!" Travis shouted.
"Didn't!" Tan yelled back.
Ella stood between them with both hands on her hips.
"I saw it!"
Terrence watched through the window.
"Which one?"
"Tan."
"Then it's probably true."
Eva laughed.
"You know Travis cheats."
"I know my son."
Anna smiled.
"All three of them."
Terrence looked at her.
"Yeah."
"All three."
Her expression changed.
"That's actually why I'm here."
She opened the folder.
"The court has moved Tan's case toward permanency."
Eva sat down.
"What does that mean?"
"It means reunification efforts have been exhausted."
Silence fell.
"No biological parent or qualified relative has been located despite extended searches."
Terrence felt conflicting emotions.
Relief.
Sadness.
Anger.
Hope.
All at once.
Anna continued.
"The county can begin looking for an adoptive placement."
Eva stared at her.
Anna smiled.
"Unless he already has one."
Terrence looked at his wife.
Eva covered her mouth.
"Are you asking us..."
"I'm asking whether you'd like to petition to adopt Tan."
Eva started crying before Anna finished the sentence.
Terrence leaned forward.
"What do we have to do?"
Anna laughed.
"I knew you'd say that."
They didn't tell Tan immediately.
Not because they wanted to keep secrets.
Because Terrence believed the decision should include him.
A week later, he took Tan fishing with Harold.
The three sat beside a quiet lake early Saturday morning.
Tan wore an oversized fishing vest Harold had bought him.
"You got something!" Harold shouted.
Tan jerked the pole.
"I do!"
"Reel!"
Terrence laughed as Tan struggled.
"Don't let him take your pole."
After a fierce battle with what Tan was convinced had to be a shark, he pulled a tiny bluegill from the water.
Tan stared at it.
"That's it?"
Harold nearly fell out of his chair laughing.
"Boy, the way you were fighting, I thought you hooked Moby Dick."
"Who's Moby Dick?"
"Ask your father."
Tan turned toward Terrence.
"Dad?"
Terrence stopped.
No Officer.
No Police Daddy.
Just Dad.
Tan didn't seem to realize what he'd said.
"Who's Moby Dick?"
Terrence's throat tightened.
Harold noticed.
His smile softened.
Terrence cleared his throat.
"Big whale."
"Like really big?"
"Really big."
"Can we catch one?"
"Not in this lake."
Tan nodded seriously.
"Okay."
He returned his attention to the fish.
Harold leaned toward his son.
Quietly, he said,
"You heard him."
Terrence nodded.
"I heard."
Harold smiled.
"Congratulations, Dad."
Terrence blinked away the moisture gathering in his eyes.
That afternoon, Terrence sat with Tan beneath the large tree in their backyard.
"You know how you came to live with us?"
Tan nodded.
"Miss Anna brought me."
"Right."
"And you know we've been trying to find your first family?"
Tan looked down.
"Yeah."
Terrence hated seeing disappointment in his eyes.
"We haven't stopped caring about them."
"Okay."
"But sometimes families are built in different ways."
Tan listened.
Terrence took a breath.
"Your mama gave you life."
"Your biological family is part of who you are."
"Nothing will ever erase that."
Tan touched his jade pendant.
Terrence smiled.
"And nobody in this family will ever ask you to forget them."
Tan's fingers remained around the pendant.
"But Eva and I..."
He paused.
"...we love you."
Tan looked up.
"I love you too."
Terrence smiled.
"That's good, because I was hoping you'd say that."
Tan laughed.
Terrence continued.
"Miss Anna told us we might be able to adopt you."
Tan frowned.
"What that mean?"
"It means we'd become your parents legally."
"You're already my parents."
Terrence's heart nearly stopped.
Tan looked genuinely confused.
Terrence laughed softly.
"You're right."
"But adoption would mean nobody could move you somewhere else."
Tan's expression changed.
"Never?"
"Never."
"I stay here?"
"Yes."
"With Travis?"
"Yes."
"And Ella?"
"Unfortunately."
Tan laughed.
"And Grandma?"
"She's probably going to feed you until you're forty."
"And Grandpa?"
"Yep."
Tan became quiet.
"And you?"
Terrence looked directly at him.
"Especially me."
Tan launched himself into Terrence's arms.
"Yes!"
Terrence laughed and caught him.
"So that's a yes?"
"Yes!"
"You're sure?"
"I already David!"
Terrence squeezed him tightly.
"You certainly are."
The adoption hearing arrived six months later.
The courthouse hallway filled with Davids.
Gloria wore her best church dress.
Harold wore a suit Tan had never seen before.
Travis complained about his tie.
Ella wore a yellow dress and carried flowers she'd insisted were for Tan.
Eva had spent half the morning crying.
Terrence wasn't doing much better.
Anna met them outside the courtroom.
"You ready?"
Tan wore a small navy suit.
His jade pendant remained visible above his white shirt.
Terrence had deliberately left it that way.
Two families.
One child.
Neither erased.
Inside the courtroom, the judge reviewed the case.
She spoke about permanency.
Responsibility.
Commitment.
Then she looked at Terrence and Eva.
"Mr. and Mrs. David, do you understand that adoption creates a permanent legal parent-child relationship?"
"We do," Terrence answered.
"And you accept all responsibilities for Tan Lee as though he were born to you?"
Eva reached for Tan's hand.
"With all our hearts."
The judge smiled.
She looked at Tan.
"And young man, I understand you're seven years old."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Do you understand why we're here?"
Tan nodded.
"They wanna make official what we already know."
The courtroom erupted in soft laughter.
The judge smiled wider.
"And what's that?"
Tan looked at Terrence.
Then Eva.
Then Travis and Ella.
Then his grandparents.
"They my family."