Page 48 of Only Time Will Tell

“Come on, Maxy boy,” she called to our two-year-old fawn boxer we’d adopted from Northwest Boxer Rescue last summer.

Maxy sidled up beside her, bathing her in doggie kisses while his nub ran wildly behind him. Her laughter made the dog drool I was constantly cleaning up worthwhile.

As I finished drying the Seattle rain from Maxy’s coat, Alex came back in. “Come on, you two, Sydney’s in labor.”

“We’re coming, Papa,” Marley told him.

He scooped her up in his arms, blowing raspberries on her tummy, and the sound of her laughter echoed through the house. How I thought for a single moment I didn’t want children was beyond me. Marley was one of the best things that ever happened to us.

“Alex, why don’t you put her coat on while I finish up with Maxy,” I asked, tossing the wet towels into the washing machine.

“Come on, baby girl. Grandma and Grandpa are going to beat us there if we don’t hurry,” Alex told her.

“Wait, Papa, I need to get Tigger. He wants to meet Austin too.” She headed up to her room, returning with her favorite stuffie.

We spent the first year after our honeymoon remodeling the house. Once we decided to start a family of our own I wanted everything to be perfect for the little one.

Shortly after we adopted our sweet Marley Anne. She was our second anniversary gift to each other. We chose to have our second child via a surrogate named Sydney Crawford. Alex insisted we use my sperm, so I’d no longer be the last of my bloodline. He had no idea how much that meant to me. He always put my thoughts and feelings first.

We followed Sydney’s pregnancy like hawks, taking her to every appointment she had, and found out we were having a boy at her three-month ultrasound. And now, Austin Lee was coming into the world today at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, and we couldn’t be happier. Marley has been asking for him daily since she saw his sonogram pictures. We let her choose what color to paint his room and what theme to decorate it in. She picked a light, baby blue and, of course, Pooh and friends for the décor. Marley was so excited each time we went shopping for something new for little Austin. And his room was perfect, filled with love.

Marley didn’t have a great start to life. She was born to a mother who was an addict, but somehow our little princess survived the first two years of her life on the streets. When her mother passed away from a heroin overdose, she became a ward of the state. Luckily, our adoption case manager worked alongside child protective services and told us about her right away. We’d already completed the necessary paperwork months before and sat on the list waiting for a toddler. When we first met her, it was love at first sight. She was frail and thin, malnourished and undersized for a two-year-old, and skittish. All we wanted to do was hug her and take away the pain we saw behind her big brown eyes.

Little by little, she came around, and every day I was thankful I’d decided to stay home full time. The more we worked with her, the more she came out of her shell. We’d never know what she experienced while living on the streets with her mother. She barely spoke when she came to us and what few words she said you couldn’t quite understand. Now, at the age of four, she was more than ready to start kindergarten in the fall as she’d be five in June. She knew her ABCs and could write her name and count to twenty without stumbling. Marley was truly a remarkable child.

As we pulled into the parking garage at the hospital, we spotted Mom and Dad at the same time Marley sang, “Daddy! Papa! There’s Grandma and Grandpa.”

We had barely parked before Mom opened the back door and whisked her granddaughter out of the car seat and into her arms. “Are you ready to meet your baby brother, sweet girl?”

“Yes.” She turned to Alex. “Papa, did you bring Pooh for him?”

“Silly girl, of course I did. He’s in the diaper bag.” He patted the bag on his shoulder. She had us put it in the bag the day she picked it out.

We stopped at the gift shop to get Sydney a bouquet of flowers before taking the elevator up to the maternity ward. After checking in, we were guided to the waiting room and informed she was still in labor. Three hours later, a nurse appeared.

“DuBois-Travers family?” she asked.

Everyone stood. “That’s us,” Alex told her.

“Would you like to meet your son?” She smiled, and we nodded. “Follow me.”

She took us to the glass window that divided the nursery from the hallway and pointed. “Second row, third one in. Alex and Charlie, if you will both come with me, we’ll get you suited up, so you can hold your son.”

We handed the diaper bag and flowers to Dad, following closely behind the nurse through a set of doors. After washing and gowning up, we were taken to our son. She picked him up and placed him in my arms..

“He’s beautiful,” Alex said, wiping the tears from my face before they landed on the blanket our son was swaddled in.

“Yes, yes he is. Hello, Austin Lee, we’re your daddies.” Unfocused eyes stared blankly back at me, but he didn’t cry.

“How’s Sydney doing?” Alex asked the nurse.

“She’s resting now. Ten hours of labor will drain you. Austin was eight pounds, four ounces, and is twenty-two inches long. You have a very healthy boy there. The doctors will monitor his vitals tonight, and you’ll be able to take him home in the morning,” she told us while tending to another crying newborn.

“He’s a blondie, just like you, Charlie. I hope he has your curls,” Alex said, skimming his fingertips along the baby’s head. “Walk him over to the glass so everyone can see him.”

We walked the few steps to the front where Marley had her tiny face pushed up against the glass. Mom was crying, and Dad was close to the same. Our little family had grown leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. No longer did I feel alone or unloved. Not that Alex ever made me feel that way, but not having my own family around left me with an empty feeling. A feeling that had long since left me, as my heart was filled with a love that sated me like no other.

After Alex took his turn holding Austin, we handed him back to the nurse for his feeding before going to see Sydney. She was still sleeping, so we left the flowers on her bedside table, but as we were leaving, she woke. We both hugged and kissed her telling her what a great job she did and let her know he was perfect. She thanked us, too, as our financial contribution for her surrogacy helped make her dreams come true as well.