Six weeks had passed. In some ways the time had gone by quickly seeing as how graduation was just around the corner, but then again it seemed to go by so slowly. Julie was starting to cope with the adoption. Well meaning that there were fewer nights of waking up and crying herself to sleep. But she still thought about him every day. Especially when she would see Portman in the hall ways at school or in class. When ever she looked at him it was all she could to keep from bursting into tears.
He'd been speaking to Julie a little more in the last few weeks. He acted as if nothing had happened. It was like they had never stopped talking or dating. Portman acted as though the last nine months never happened. He told Julie all about his athlethtic scholarship. A four year scholarship at that. But he still never mentioned the pregnancy or the baby.
This day Julie was at her locker putting some things away and cleaning out the things she no longer needed. Portman walked by her and gave a 'cat whistle' "Looking good Cat Lady!!" This wasn't the first time he had made comments like that, but any other time Julie would have just ignored them, but lately she just couldn't ignore them. It upset her that he could act like that. Julie clenched her teeth and slammed her locker shut. "How can he be so heartless?" She fought back her emotions and went back to her room.
Julie went to her room and turned on the stereo. She sat down at her desk and picked up an envelope with a college application inside. She had several that she had yet to fill out. Most of them were for schools in Minnesota, but there was one for a community college back in Maine. She didn't know at the time what had possessed her to consider that school. "What did I do? Where do I go?" she thought. Then not feeling in the mood to fill out any applications now she got up from her desk and walked across the room. She stopped in front of the full length mirror.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had lost almost all of the weight from the pregnancy, that was true. She placed her hands on her stomach. She suddenly became aware of the song on the radio. "…And I don't want to hold you back. I just want to watch you grow. You're the one who taught me you don't have to look behind." Carole King's Child of Mine echoed through Julie's room. "Child of mine….." She closed her eyes and knew she what she had to do. It so clear to her now. "The times that you were born in may not have been the best." Julie turned the stereo off and picked up the phone. "Thank you Carole King."
Julie called her parents first. She was going to fill out that application for the community college and go back home to Maine, but if everything went as she planned she wouldn't be going home alone. She'd be returning with her son.
Julie waited impatiently for someone to pick up the phone. She was about to hang up when her mother finally picked up. "Hello. Gaffney residence." Julie bit her lip and nervously spoke. "Hi mom…" Janet Gaffney's voice brightened up when she heard her daughter's voice, but she detected something in her voice. "Julie honey is everything all right?" There was a long period of silence before Julie spoke again. "Not really mom. I'm miserable. I feel so empty and alone and I miss him terribly." Janet sighed. "Julie, why do you miss him? What has he done for you? Why honey are you so miserable?" Julie was confused until she realized her mother thought she was talking about Portman.
"Mom! I'm not talking about Portman." She did miss him after all he was her first true love. "You're not. Then what are you talking about?" Julie sighed in annoyance. "Mom…I'm talking about Coby. I miss him. I don't think I did the right thing by giving him up. I feel in my heart that it was not the right thing to do after all." Julie bit her lip as another moment silence fell in the conversation. "Julie dear, what are you saying. That you now you don't want to go through with this? Isn't it a little now?" She had a point, but Julie hoped that the fact that she had not signed any finalizing papers yet would work in her favor. "Yes, mom that's what I'm saying. I want to try and get him back. Before it's finalized."
"Julie honey. Are you really sure about this?" Janet Gaffney asked with a hope that she wasn't . "Mom yes, I want my son. Please will you and dad help me get him back?" she pleaded. Janet didn't think Julie was making a very good decision deciding now that she wanted to raise this baby, but being a mother herself and knowing her daughter she knew this was what Julie wanted, and she would try to do everything she could to make her daughter happy again. Even if she did think it was a bad idea. "Okay Julie I'll talk to your father and see what can be done about stopping the adoption."
Julie beamed and said a silent prayer of thanks. "Thank you so much mom. I love you!" Julie hung up the phone feeling better about her decision to try and get Coby back then she had about her original decision to give Coby up in the first place. Now she had to see if getting him back would be possible, but first she had a couple more thing to do. She needed to contact the agency in charge of the adoption, and she felt like she should tell Portman. She knew he probably wouldn't care, but Julie was going to go tell Portman her plans may be he would have a change heart and decide that he wanted to have some part in this child's life.
She went to his dorm hoping to catch him there. She knocked on the door and took a step back. She stuffed her hands in her back pockets and looked at the floor. Portman opened the door surprised to see Julie standing there. "Hey…uh Julie. What are you doing here? Miss me that much?" He smirked. Julie stood tall and confident. She took a breath and looked straight at Portman. "No, I'm not here because I missed you." she shot back at him. Portman looked surprised at her little snap. Julie took her hands out of her pockets and folded her arms, still looking straight at Portman. "Dean, I thought I'd tell you face to face that I'm leaving. I'm going back to Maine, and I'm also going to try and get our son back." Dean was stunned, but he showed no signs of any emotions. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at Julie with an expressionless face. "Like I care where you go…..do whatever you want concerning that kid, but don't expect me to help. This was your choice Jules." He walked back into his room and slammed the door.
"Okay, well that went slightly better than expected." Julie glanced at the door once more before turning to leave. When she turned her back on that door she never looked back.
Portman sat on his bed and turned the stereo up. He sighed and looked at his desk where a team picture sat. He reached over and picked it up. He stared at the picture concentrating on Julie. He had to admit she was a tough girl to put with him. "Too bad we couldn't have made Jules. But we just want different things life. I want to go on have a Pro Hockey career, and you…" He was still shocked by the latest news. "And you want to give it all up for some kid." He sat the picture back down and laid down on the bed. "Son?" a small and faint smile tugged at his lips.
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Julie convinced her parents to help her get Coby back. But it took a couple of days for them to fly out from Maine. They insisted Julie hire a lawyer. Just to be on the safe side. You don't know how hard and complicated this process may become. Even after her parents arrived and they had hired a lawyer it was still going to be awhile before any decision was made. They had to go to the adoption agency, and they even had to go before a judge. Which was one of the most intimidating experiences in Julie's life.
Julie and her parents walked into the Judges chambers and sat down. He was already in the room sitting behind a large oak desk. He looked at them as they took their seats. "Good morning." The Gaffney family smiled and greeted the judge as well. "Good morning to you." The judge looked at some paper that were laying on his desk then he looked back at them. "I see that you are trying to stop the adoption of one Coby Michael …." he looked back at the paper. "I see that the adoptive parents have not yet given the child their last name. I'm assuming this is the biological fathers name on the birth certificate." Julie shrugged. She had assumed that the family had had a certificate made indicating them as Coby parents rather than having the birth certificate indicating the biological parents. "Uh…yes sir that would be the father's name."
"Ms. Gaffney, why do you wish to stop this adoption from becoming finalized?" The judge took his glasses off and laid them on the desk. He clasped his hands together sitting them on the desk in front of him. Julie felt her own hands get clammy and sweaty with nervousness. "Why? Because I can not part with him. I have realized that I love this child with all my heart and I want to be the one to raise him. I want to be there to witness all the first in his life. I want to watch him grow into adult." The judge nodded. "How do you think you can raise a child as a single teenager mother? Do you not think that allowing those who can raise him is what is best?"
Julie swallowed a lump in her throat. "I'm going to go back to Maine and live with my parents until I can get a place of my own. I plan on going to a community college part time. Then hopefully in a year or two I can go to school full time. I plan on being there for my son. He is my top priority. As for the adoptive family. They seem like wonderful people. If I did not believe in my heart that I could raise my son, then I would love for them to raise him. But I believe it is best for Coby to be with me." Judge nodded, but did not say much of anything.
They spent two hours talking with the judge. That was just there visit. He still had to meet with the adoptive parents as well. "Thank you all for stopping by. I still need to meet with the family who has had the child for the last six weeks. I will try and have a decision in a few weeks, but I may need to meet with all of you again."