Chapter Text
I never made it that far in my previous adoption attempts, but I understood that there was paperwork to be filled out, and the prospective parents and child go to a court hearing where a judge approves the adoption and signs a decree of adoption.
This can be done on an individual basis, but sometimes they have these adoption ceremony days where a whole bunch of families have their adoptions done all at once. It's more convenient, I suppose, than trying to schedule individual hearings for each family, and it's also a more fun, festive event for the kids. The media is invited, and maybe the local tv station runs a feel-good segment on it. It's good PR, and hopefully encourages more people to consider adopting or fostering. The thought made me a little nervous, but the news crew would probably focus on the cute little kids rather than me anyway.
Since I was already eighteen, I wasn't sure that I would be allowed to take part in the event, but Joellen assured me it was fine. Even if it hadn't been, I'm sure she would have pulled strings somehow to get me in. I had resisted being adopted for about a decade, and now that I had changed my mind, she was determined to get it done, come hell or high water.
We were allowed to invite family and friends to the ceremony, so Kira and Sean were attending, and even Zola had asked to come, so Joellen arranged to pick her up and bring her to the courthouse. The only person missing was Terry Johnson, and that was because he was a dog not a person, and only service dogs were allowed in the courthouse. I didn't think that "sleep aid" qualified him as an official service dog, so we'd left him behind at home.
My extended family was treating this like a celebration. I was wearing a new dress that Francine had bought me for the event, and Sean gave me a little bouquet of wildflowers. Kira presented me with a basket of beautiful homemade cookies in the shapes of trees and little dogs that looked just like Terry Johnson, all artfully iced. And Zola had drawn a picture of me and Francine and Terry Johnson.
"Do you like it?" she asked eagerly.
"It's beautiful," I said, bending down to give her a hug, blinking back tears because I didn't want to smear the makeup that Kira had helped me put on. "Here, have a Terry Johnson," I said, handing her a cookie.
Joellen gave me a biography of John Muir and hugged me tightly, saying, "I'm so happy for you, Muir. And I'm so proud of the person you've grown up to be."
"Thank you," I said. "That's in large part due to you. But please stop before you really make me cry."
She released me and laughed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. To give myself time to regain my composure, I sniffed at the flowers.
"You know, I almost feel like I'm getting married," I said.
"Well, you kind of are," Sean pointed out. "You and Francine are choosing to commit to each other and become a family."
There were a dozen families adopting about twenty kids--some were adopting more than one. One family was adopting four siblings, and another was adopting two unrelated kids they had been fostering. Most of them were babies and toddlers, though there were some ranging in age from five to fourteen, not counting me. They and their families all seemed happy and excited to be there.
There was a festive atmosphere: there were balloons for the kids, and even the judge was wearing a party hat, tall and striped, looking like it had come out of the pages of Cat in the Hat.
One by one, the families went before the judge, declared their intention to adopt the kids, and the judge signed and stamped the decree with a flourish and declared them adopted.
Finally it was my turn, and Francine and I stepped forward. It should be no big deal; I was already living with Francine and this was just formalizing things. Nothing would really change except for a piece of paper saying that I was legally her daughter.
Except that I found it was a big deal to me. My throat suddenly felt dry, and I clutched my bouquet tightly, nearly crushing the poor flowers.
Francine took my free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and I relaxed slightly. The judge smiled at us kindly and asked Francine a few routine questions about whether she wanted to adopt me and make me a permanent part of her family, to which the answer was obviously yes.
"And Muiriel, do you wish to be adopted by Francine and become her daughter?" the judge asked.
"I do," I replied, repressing a sudden urge to giggle, thinking that this did indeed feel like a wedding ceremony.
"Then I find it in your best interest today that this adoption be granted," the judge said as he signed and stamped the decree. To Francine, he said, "From this day forward, Muiriel is yours to have. Congratulations to you both."
I managed to hold back my laughter until we'd made it back to my waiting friends and Kira said, "I now pronounce you mother and daughter!" And then I really did lose it and burst into laughter.
Fortunately, the other families were laughing and talking and hugging each other, so no one seemed to think we were being weird.
I managed to skirt the reporters and tv cameras, which as I predicted, were concentrating on the younger kids, and also on the heartwarming story of the four siblings, who had initially been sent to separate foster homes, but were eventually reunited with their new parents who wanted to keep the family together.
I didn't mind. I was happy to let them have the attention, and happy also that they'd found their forever homes, just as I had even though I'd never expected to.
The courthouse staff were handing out balloons to all the adoptees. "Oh, it's okay," I said to the smiling lady who offered me a bright red balloon. "Save them for the little kids."
"Are you sure?" the woman asked. "There's plenty to go around."
"Go ahead and take one, Muir," Zola urged. "It's your special day, after all."
So I took the balloon and felt strangely cheered by it, my spirits as light as the balloon floating on the end of its string.
Joellen had to take Zola back home, so we hugged and said goodbye, crying a little. Then Francine, Kira, Sean, and I headed to a restaurant to have a celebratory lunch.
"Oh hey, Muiriel," a surprised voice said, and I turned to see one of my classmates from college walking past us on the sidewalk.
"Hi," I said. To the others, I said, "This is Christine, from my English class at school. Christine, these are my friends Kira and Sean, and..."
I hesitated. Christine and I were casual-friendly, as in we talked about our homework assignments and had grabbed coffee together before or after class a few times. But we weren't close enough that I'd talked about my foster child background or my adoption with her.
"This is my mom, Francine," I finished. It felt weird to say it, but it also felt good at the same time, and I felt a smile spreading across my face.
"It's nice to meet you," Christine said politely. She glanced at my balloon and said, "Is it your birthday today or something?"
"Something like that," I replied. Not my birthday, exactly, but the start of a new life, so close enough.
Christine looked a little confused but smiled and said, "Well, you guys look like you're celebrating, so I won't keep you any longer. See you in class."
We waved goodbye, and she continued on her way. I was about to do the same when I saw tears in Francine's eyes. "Are you okay?" I asked anxiously.
"You called me your mom," she said.
"Well...you are now, aren't you?" I replied, starting to tear up myself. "As of today."
She hugged me fiercely and we both wept while Kira and Sean smiled at us, looking kind of teary-eyed themselves, and I didn't care at all about the people passing by who were giving us strange looks. Because it had taken eighteen years, but I had finally found my home and my family.