Chapter One

The news drifted down to the emergency room on a slow night. There was a two-year-old girl upstairs in need of a home. Dr. Drew Alister was present to hear it. A feeling came over him that this child needed him and his family. He had to dismiss it for a short time to focus on the night's work but after that he wasn't waiting long to find out more.

Autumn Meadow Moore's life had been a struggle literally from her first breath. She had been born with pulmonary hypertension and Pernicious Anemia. She had been in the foster care system all her life. Her parents and relatives believing she was more a burden than a blessing even if she received a double lung transplant. Her parents, Drew would soon learn were both eastern European adoptees. A factor that could explain one of the child's medical conditions. Pernicious Anemia was common in people of eastern European decent. Though neither parent had the condition, the gene could have been passed on to Autumn. Neither had health issues but the time spent rundown orphanages had damaged both to the extent bonding was impossible, even with their baby. The newborn's ill health confirming that for them.

Both parents were highly intelligent despite their beginnings. The mother was said to be completely against alcohol and stated she had never drank in her life because it caused her to be more depressed. She knew what alcohol could do to the baby now, even if she didn't in childhood. But she had seen the effects in others who were in the orphanage with her before the birthmother was adopted at age six. She didn't wanted it for the baby she carried, no matter what. Both birth parents at least, wanted a "clean slate" for the baby girl, their reason for placing the child for adoption. With little chance of the baby being adopted quickly through an agency or so they were told, the couple placed the baby, now named Autumn for adoption through the state believing she would be adopted within months.

If she lived that long.

Four months ago, Autumn had received a life-saving lung transplant. By all reports she was physically doing well now. The transplant occurred in Houston where she was born. Autumn had been in San Antonio for two weeks for an observation period and to get know a cousin of her father's who was supposed to take custody but had a change of heart. That change had been brief and the reason she was still at San Antonio Memorial.

Her immune system was too still fragile for anything but a specialized placement. None were available in the near future. Autumn had no other place to go. This tugged at Drew's heart and he hadn't even seen the girl. The slow night gave Drew enough time to call Rick and talk to both him and Brianna. It had been just a year since they became a family but Brianna was already telling them she wanted them to help more children like her who had next to no chance of being adopted because of their health. When the teen heard about Autumn she immediately wanted to meet her. Drew was able to get Autumn's doctor of record to give him the name of the toddler's case worker. It was none other than Nina Alvarez. The woman who had helped them with Brianna's adoption. When he spoke to her, Nina said she thought about calling about Autumn, he and Rick were qualified to look after the tot. But since it hadn't been that long since Brianna's adoption she decided against it. Drew told her his family's progress over the year and desire to meet Autumn from everyone. Nina agreed. "But," she said, "Autumn has seen many doctors as you can imagine. She gets anxious when she says another one she doesn't know. I can get you guys together in the morning. Around ten. You should be in your street clothes so you don't scare her."

Drew told her that wasn't a problem. Nina also told Drew that Autumn was still wore diapers; with her medical issues and lack of a family, toilet-training wasn't exactly on the top of the list of important things. Drew didn't doubt that. He and Rick could handle diapers for as long as needed. If they got to adopt Autumn, her adjusting to a new family would take priority over potty-training. Drew did reveal this bit of information to Rick when he called to tell him of the meeting they would let Brianna skip morning classes for.

Changing diapers are supposed to scare us off? Please. Rick had replied. For some people this might be an issue because Autumn had just turned two, the standard age for potty-training. But Autumn's circumstances were different from the normal toddler. She needed to know safety and trust before she could make steps forward in her development. Autumn's speech was very behind because of time she was on a ventilator before and after her transplant. In the right home, she would thrive. Drew and Rick believed that home could be with them. They would have to prove it however.

When the three entered Autumn's room Nina was already there. She had explained to the child that a family with two daddies and another girl wanted her to go home with them. No one was sure how much Autumn understood. Drew heard his husband's breath catch in his throat when they saw the girl. Her huge cobalt blue eyes stood out over her curly black hair that was in styled in a pixie-cut. She looked at the trio curiously and pointed to Drew then to Rick saying "Dada?" each time. In that instant Drew realized Rick would probably be the one to help Autumn bond with them. He didn't mind. He had been the one their oldest had connected with first. Maybe his husband's singing talent with nursery rhymes would help Autumn ease into her new home. Brianna had already planned a room with a zoo theme with giraffes, elephants, lions and monkeys on the walls. She and Drew's sister, Claudia would put the room together and shop for clothes and toys. Autumn would sleep in a regular bed with a rail. Autumn would be discharged the following week when everything was ready and approved. Until then Rick would spend visiting hours with her every day after he dropped Brianna off at school. Drew would visit her when he could at night and before his shift.

They could soon be a family of four.