Adoption
Amy held the wailing infant in her lap. She was crying her head off and Amy had no idea what to do or say.
'Baby, please don't cry. Here, you want applesauce?' she asked. The baby just cried further. 'Do you wanna play with your toys? Do you wanna go outside?' Amy asked as she carried the girl and stood up.
'Mommy!' the girl cried.
'Oh, sweetie, I'm right here, Mommy's here,' Amy said.
The baby stopped crying all of a sudden. Amy heaved a sigh of relief. But then the girl turned to look at her mother. 'You're not my mommy,' she said slowly.
Amy was taken aback. She didn't expect to hear those words from the mouth of a one-year old. 'Wh-what? Baby, I'm here,' Amy said.
'No,' the baby said, 'you're just my adopted mother.'
The words echoed over and over in Amy's head and the next thing she knew was Jake holding her while she was crying. She'd had a nightmare.
'Ames, babe, it was a nightmare,' Jake said while stroking her hair. Amy held on to Jake tighter as she cried into his shirt. 'It's okay, it's okay,' he comforted. They stayed like that for some time until Jake spoke again, 'You want to talk about it?'
Amy slowly nodded as she composed herself. 'Okay,' she said while drying her eyes for the final time, 'tomorrow's the day we can bring Liz home. I mean, she officially becomes our daughter from tomorrow.'
'Yeah,' Jake said with a smile.
'I know we've wanted this for so long but – '
'You don't wanna go through with it?' Jake asked worried.
'No, I do, I do,' Amy reassured him. 'I just,' she sighed, 'I mean we're not really her parents. What if she doesn't accept us to be her parents? What is she doesn't accept the four of us as her family?'
Jake pulled her closer to him. 'Oh, Amy,' he said, 'Look, she's just a year old. She's not gonna question her identity.'
Amy pulled away. 'Of course I know that,' she half-screamed. 'But as she grows up, I'll have to tell her eventually. I mean, how do I do that?' she asked him while resting her head on her shoulder.
The room was silent as Amy waited for Jake to say something and Jake thought about what Amy had asked. 'Ames,' Jake started, 'you remember how I was scared I wouldn't know how to teach our sons how to tie their shoes? Or how I'd teach them to read clocks? Or how I'd break them the news that Santa Claus isn't real?'
'Yeah…' said Amy, unsure of where this was getting to.
'Do you remember what you told me?'
'I told you that you'd figure it all out as time goes on.'
'That's right, and you'll figure this out too. Plus – '
'Jake, this is way more serious and sensitive than any of those,' she interjected him.
'Ames, let me finish,' he said. 'You said something else as well. Do you remember that?' he asked her.
Amy thought for some time and it finally hit her. 'That we're in this together and that I had your back every step of the way,' she said softly.
'That's right. You told me how I wouldnot be the one to teach our kids how to tie their shoes or teach them how to read clocks or break the news about Santa – you told me that we would teach them all of that together. And later, you're not gonna be telling Liz that she was adopted, we are.'
Amy smiled. She loved Jake so much for so many reasons and he further proved her point at this moment. The two kissed each other softly. But Amy still had one question. 'Hey, I have one more question,' she told him.
'What is it?' he asked.
'Well, you know how, on Friends, Chandler accidentally told that kid he was adopted?'
'Yeah?'
'Well, what if one our friends makes the same mistake with Liz?'
'Amy, we're cops. If anyone makes that mistake, we can shoot them,' he joked.
Amy laughed softly. Another she loved about him was that he always made her laugh, even in the worst situations. They shared another kissed. 'I love you,' she told him.
'I love you too,' he replied back.
The next day, Jake and Amy brought Liz home. Mac and Harry were excited at the fact that they had a baby sister now. They even helped Amy in whatever way they could even though one was five and the other was two. As the two boys fawned over the newest addition to the family, Amy remembered the conversation she had with her husband last night. But she realized something now which neither of them had said or even thought about yesterday. Jake and Amy weren't the only two who were in this together, even their children were. After all, they were a family.