Thank you for reviewing my first two chapters of this story. I know I have updated a lot and added a new story today but I had to. I don't know exactly when I will be online again after this weekend. Hurricane Frances is still a minor threat to the north Florida area.
The New Addition
Well, it has been two years since I last wrote an article. I know you have been wondering about the outcome of my final question. The magazine has received a ton of fan mail about it ever since. I thank you for taking such a great interest in our lives. Enough pleasantries, let's get to the real article.
For those of you who are lost, let me catch you up. I am Marco Del Rossi-Michalchuk and am a journalist. My husband is Dylan Michalchuk, star forward on the Mighty Ducks. I asked him if he would like to adopt a child in an article. This is where I left off.
Dylan read the article and looked shocked. He was actually speechless for over half an hour. He just sat in his chair and reread the article, kind of like he could not believe what he had read, like he imagined it. When his speech seemed to return, he asked if I was serious. I looked at him like he was nuts. This is not something you ask lightly, especially in print in a worldwide magazine. I told him it was not a joke and I would love to be a parent with him. He said he would love to adopt a child with me. I was ecstatic, that is an understatement but it is the only word I can think of right now. We went to a reputable adoption agency to see about adopting. They were extremely rude to us, seems they don't like the idea of servicing a gay couple. We were a little disappointed and disillusioned when we arrived home. How could anyone turn away a loving, stable couple with more money than we need when there are so many children waiting to be adopted? We sat in tense silence for about an hour and then I got up to search the internet for alternate options for adoption. We found that with a lawyer we could forgo the adoption agency. We could go straight to the orphanages and the Department of Children and Family to see about adoption. We set out to find the best adoption lawyer in California. We also looked for one in Canada but it did not seem feasible at the time. California was a little more open to gay couples and adoption than Canada. We went to an orphanage near Anaheim and spoke to the director. He led us around the place to see what we were to be dealing with and showed us the kids that were ready to be adopted. I know it sounds like we were at a pet store looking at puppies or something but it was a little more diplomatic. There weren't any cages. That was a joke okay. No anti humane letters please. Dylan and I realized that we had not even thought about if we wanted an infant or an older child, or even a boy or girl. As we spoke to the director, he explained a few things to us that we would have never even thought to consider. He said that boys were less likely to be adopted and the older the children got the percentage of adoption dropped drastically. Dylan and I went home that night to discuss everything that had transpired. We decided that we wanted a boy and maybe we could adopt someone a little older. We had already had our share of infants with the twins and an older cousin for them could be interesting.
We went to the lawyer's office to get some paperwork in order before returning to the orphanage. There is a huge amount of background checks and filing and general papers that need to be filled out to even get the okay that we can adopt. I suppose that is good because I wouldn't want a criminal trying to adopt a helpless child. So we got our background checks cleared and our financial records back and approved. We were finally on our way to actually adopting a child. We went back to the orphanage and spoke once again to the director. He seemed genuinely surprised that we were looking to adopt a boy between the ages of seven and twelve. We wanted him older than Cris and Caitlyn but not so old that he would not relate to them. We wanted one big, happy family. I know it sounds corny, but it was a dream come true. The director had a boy in mind after we told him what we were interested in adopting. Once again, sorry about the pet shop feel to this but this is the way it went. He brought this boy up to meet us. He was ten and absolutely cute. He has short brown hair, bright blue eyes and a hockey player's build. I fell in love instantly, in a fatherly way, just so you don't get any weird ideas. Dylan was enamored of him as well, I could tell. His name is Andrew. He seemed to be okay with the fact that we are gay. He agreed to the adoption as long as we were serious. We told him we were extremely serious and wanted him to be our son. It took about a month to get all the paperwork done and the adoption to finalize. In that time, we got to spend some time with Andrew in various settings. He went to one of Dylan's hockey games and one of my book signings. We showed him as much of our lives as we could before it was final and he could not back out. We wanted him to be comfortable with us and us with him. He is a great kid and took this all in stride. We finally got to bring him home. It was a very happy day for everyone.
This was the first time Andrew had a room to himself. He was allowed to pick out the paint, furniture, and decorations that he wanted to go in there. To Dylan's amazement, he chose hockey. I was not that surprised after seeing him at the game a few weeks ago. He was so excited to be adopted by a real hockey star, he said it was a dream come true for him. The whole family came over for dinner that night to welcome our new addition into the family. He seemed a little skittish since we are one loud bunch but he soon warmed up to everyone. He took a rather natural big brother role to the twins. We figured he was one of the oldest at the orphanage and probably looked after the younger kids anyway. He fit in with the family well and seemed to open up a little at a time to them and us. He was going to be okay.
That was two years ago, and Andrew is a precocious twelve-year-old now. He is getting interested in girls and less intimidated by the older boys. He has been playing hockey on the junior league team and was just promoted to captain for next year. He beat out a few boys who were older, but he had better skills on the ice. It helps that he practices with his dad almost every night. Some of the people at school have given him a hard time about having two dads but quickly shut up once they found out his dads are famous. He still does not have a problem with having gay parents; in fact he seems proud of it. He loves to bring his friends over and show us off. It could be that we are famous and hockey is still Canada's national sport, or it could be that we are laid back parents. His girlfriend, yes he has a girlfriend now, thinks it is neat that we are gay. She said she never met anyone before us that were gay. I give her fashion advice too. Dylan is beside himself that his little boy has a girlfriend. He tried to sit him down and give him the birds and bees talk. Tried being the operative word, it did not go well at all. Andrew was laughing so hard at Dylan that I could not help but rescue the conversation. Andrew is a smart, well-adjusted kid. We could not have asked for a better son. Dylan is over-protective; I am a little to relaxed to make up for Dylan. We seem to balance each other out nicely.
I know we are doing a good job raising Andrew. All of his teachers love him and tell us how wonderful he is to have in class. His friends are great too. Most parents and adults love Andrew. He does not do drugs, doesn't drink, is on the honor roll, and cleans up after himself. He is doing great and we are lucky to have him. Dylan still gets a little wacky when he notices that Andrew is growing into a young man. He is still getting a little crazy about Cris and Caitlyn too. I am working on him though. He will mellow out in time for playoffs, I promise. Another championship season ahead for the Mighty Ducks.
I hope you enjoyed another look into the life of Dylan Michalchuk. He is now a wonderful friend, great older brother, excellent father and most of all my husband and best friend. He is an awesome hockey player but all of you know that. Dylan is the greatest. I just thought you all should know that yet again.
With enough fan mail, I may write again in a few years about what happens next.
Marco Del Rossi-Michalchuk
A/N: Please review. You know you want to, I am still in the habit of giving out Italian food....