A different story with Brianna and Jorja. I made up their original last name.
The paperwork was done and approved. The classes were completed. Drew and Rick were ready to be parents. Their hope was to adopt a child from the broken foster care system, they weren't sure how long the wait for that child or perhaps a sibling group would be placed with them. The fact that they were willing to take siblings put them in a minority apparently. It was barely two months after that when Drew called from the hospital. A caseworker had approached him with the case of two sisters who were right there in San Antonio Memorial. Rick wasn't working that night so he came to the hospital to speak with the woman while Drew returned to his shift. Drew would talk to the caseworker and Rick more in the morning.
The couple was told the eight-year-old girl named Brianna had been in the system in her entire life. Brianna Hynes was also dealt the cruel hand of suffering from Cystic Fibrosis. Her only stroke of luck so far was while near death she had received a double lung transplant. At the same time, Brianna's half-sister who was born three months premature was cleared to be released from the hospital. So far the baby girl had avoided any of the problems babies born at the same gestation experienced except for one. The baby named Jorja was profoundly deaf. In a few months, if Jorja didn't experience any further complications after leaving the hospital-and once she was adopted, Jorja could receive dual cochlear implants to enable her to hear and speak like everyone else.
Did they want to meet the older girl?
Drew and Rick certainly did. They had to stay mum about Jorja. Brianna knew about her baby sister, had seen photos of her but they hadn't met yet. Their first meeting was scheduled for the next day. The couple could be there if they so desired.
Brianna Hynes was a tiny blonde-haired, blue-eyed tiny girl with dimples and an impish grin. She looked more like a six-year-old than an eight-year-old. She was behind in her growth and physical development because her Cystic Fibrosis interfered with her body's ability to absorb nutrients though a cocktail of medications helped. More drugs were added to the regiment with her new lungs. The three connected immediately. Something that visibly surprised the caseworker. When the couple told her they wanted to be her "forever parents" the first thing Brianna said was "what about Jorja? She's my baby sister. We need to be together. Can she come too?"
Drew told her that Jorja was absolutely coming to live with them too. He apologized for not mentioning Jorja.
"I get to meet her tomorrow!" Brianna said excitedly. She reached for a photo on her tray and passed it to Rick. "That's her. I can't believe how tiny she is!"
Jorja was indeed tiny, more like a newborn than a three-month-old baby. Jorja was barely over one pound when she was born, hence why she was just five pounds, about the size of the average newborn now. Though the children were cleared to be discharged their doctors agreed to keep them in the hospital a week longer until the couple could set up a Narnia theme bedroom for Brianna and the nursery for Jorja. Temporary placement would be too stressful.
Jorja had the same big blue eyes as her sister but her hair was brown. He might have seen his share of babies, even premature ones but except for the sweet noises she made Jorja reminded Drew of one of those reborn dolls. When both children were resting the caseworker called them into the hall. She had one more question. Whoever was going to look after the children when the two worked was going to have to be interviewed.
Rick told her that was already done. There was no nanny or babysitter.
"I'm handing in my resignation with SWAT this afternoon," he said.
It was always the plan that Rick be the stay-at-home dad if they started a family. With two special-needs children it was especially important.
With the help of their friends, their home was ready for their foster children to come home five days later. In those days Brianna, who preferred to be called "Bri" started to call the men "daddy." They were treating Jorja just like a child who could hear. If all went well soon she would. With Brianna not allowed to return to school for the remainder of the year and she had missed several months, she would have to repeat the third grade. The bonus was that she could focus on bonding with her new parents. How many homes Brianna had been in her short life her foster parents weren't sure. They didn't push Brianna. All she told them so far was some people were nice, others weren't as nice and some stays were longer than other ones. And she hadn't been in many homes with a dad, either. She was very excited to have two now.