"Mr. And Mrs. Davis, Mr. Anderson will see you now." the receptionist announced as Roger and Ashley stood up to enter the office.
"Roger, Ashley hi. Thank you for coming in. I really appreciate it. Why don't you two have a seat and we can talk about a few things?" Mr. Anderson said shaking their hand as he led them to two chairs in front of a long desk. "Everything seems to be in order. I spoke to your friends and family and it seems they all speak very highly of you. I also spoke to Ms. Stevenson and I have her report here. She is very much in favor of you two being placed with a baby as soon as possible. That's great news." he told them as they smiled.
"Thank you." Roger said holding Ashley's hand.
"Well as you know, we have many HIV positive baby's both male and female that need good homes. We can show you some pictures and you can pick from them. These children have been on HIV meds since being found, so they are in excellent health." he told them rifling through his files to gather up the ones he wanted to show them.
"We don't have a preference. We are prepared for either a boy or a girl." Roger stressed smiling at Mr. Anderson.
"I understand that, Roger. I'm just going to ask you to look through these files and just let me know which baby appeals to you." he said handing them a stack of folders.
"Do you think we can have some time with them? Please." Ashley asked as Roger took the folders.
"Sure. Take all the time you need. I know this is a big decision. I've narrowed it down to the children that most resemble you two so that it will be an easy transition." he told them as he got up. "You can use my office as long as you need to. Just let Julia know when you're ready and she'll come find me." he told them smiling at them.
"Thank you so much Mr. Anderson." Roger said standing up to shake his hand.
"No problem, Roger." he said before leaving the room.
"So what do you wanna do?" Roger asked looking over at Ashley.
"I don't know. I know the first baby I see, I'm going to want. Maybe you should just pick a random folder and that baby we'll pick." she told him rubbing her hands together.
"Are you sure that's the best thing to do, Baby? I mean, shouldn't we look at each baby?" he asked as she stood up.
"Honey, if we were having this baby biologically, we wouldn't have a say in what it looks like or what it'll be. So why should it be any different with this?" she asked walking around nervously.
"OK Ash, calm down. I'm the dad. I'm supposed to be the one pacing around nervously." he joked to lighten her mood.
"I'm sorry, Honey. I'm just really nervous." she said trying to laugh.
"Ash, everything is gonna be OK. We're almost there. Just a couple of more steps and we'll be parents." he told her putting the folders down and holding her in his arms.
"I know. I'm sorry. Let's find a baby." she told him smiling up at him.
"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." she told him leaning up to kiss him.
"I love you, Ash Baby." he told her caressing her hair.
"I love you so much, Roger." she told him resting her head on his chest.
"I know, Baby." he said kissing her head before they sat down. "How are we gonna do this?" he asked.
"Eeny meeny miney moe?" she told him laughing.
"Then eeny meeny miney moe it is." he told her laughing back as they spread the folders out on the desk and did eeny meeny miney moe.
"OK that one." she said pointing at a folder.
"OK let's see the baby lucky enough to get you as a mommy." Roger told her smiling as he opened the folder. "Oh Ash, he's beautiful." he said looking at the picture.
"He?" she said smiling at him.
"Yeah a boy." he told her smiling up at her as she leaned towards him to see the picture.
"Roger, look at him. He's got green eyes, just like you." she said taking the picture.
"And beautiful blond hair like you." he said putting his arm around her.
"You too." she told him smiling at him.
"Yeah Ash Baby, like me." he laughed leaning over to kiss her.
"How old is he? What's his prognosis?" she asked as Roger picked up his folder.
"He's 6 months old, his t-cell count is very high and his viral load is extremely low. He's perfect." he told her as they got tears in their eyes.
"OK, so this is our son?" she asked smiling up at him.
"Yes this is our son." he told her leaning over to kiss her head. "I'm gonna go tell the receptionist that we found our baby." he told her smiling at her. "I love you, Ash." he whispered in her ear.
"You better. I'm the mother of your son." she laughed still holding the picture in her hand.
"I hear you two have made your choice." Mr. Anderson said smiling as he re entered the office.
"Yes, we have picked him." Roger told him handing him the folder.
"So eeny meeny miney moe?" he said as Roger and Ashley laughed.
"Are we that transparent?" Ashley asked laughing at him.
"I figured the first baby you looked at would be your baby." he told them making notes in the baby's folder.
"We didn't want to have to choose. It would have been too hard." Ashley told him still holding the picture in her hand.
"I understand that. Does your son have a name yet?" Mr. Anderson asked as Roger and Ashley looked at one another.
"Roger Matthew. After his father." Ashley told him smiling up at Roger.
"That sounds like a strong name for a little boy. Would you like to meet him?" Mr. Anderson asked smiling at them.
"We can meet him today?" Roger asked putting his arms around Ashley.
"Yes. Do you have time today?" he asked smiling at them.
"Yes, yes of course we do." Ashley answered excitedly.
"Just give me a second and I'll set it up." he told them smiling as he picked up the phone.
"We're gonna meet our son today, Roger." Ashley said as tears came to her eyes.
"Yes we are Baby." he told her kissing her head.