At the end of the week, the entire gang gathered in a closed family courtroom. The same judge who had approved Ruthie's and Peter's divorce to expedite his marriage to Felicity, was now considering a single matter - the adoption of Rita Morin by Ruthie and Hope.
The judge had no doubt about the parenting abilities of Ruthie, being a mother of four with another on the way. He also had no doubt that, despite Hope's difficult childhood, she would be a good mother to the son she was carrying. But he was a bit concerned about the rush to adopt Rita.
"I'm worried," he said, "that there has been so little time between Rita's father's death and now. I realize she was molested by her father and she wants to put that behind her as quickly as possible, but this is really fast. Normally, an adoption process takes between twelve and eighteen months, even if the child is willing to be adopted right away. So Rita ... tell me, why is this so important to you?"
"I need a safe home, Your Honor," said Rita. "And I have one with Ruthie and Hope. I also have access to extended families on both sides, plus another pastoral family, who believes that children are the most important thing. And ... it helps that my potential mothers, like me, are lesbians."
"Well, that's another concern I have," said the judge. "You have a lot of courage coming out at such a young age, and I respect you for that. I'm not homophobic, not by any means; and the state has indicated they have no problems with the Reverends Camden, even if their normal preference is for a child to be placed with a mother and a father. Don't you want to have brothers and sisters at some point?"
"Well, Ruthie has four children plus another on the way, as you know - so I'm going to have brothers and sisters. Besides, these ladies are pregnant," said Rita, 'yes, by sperm donors; but it's not like they went to a bank. They sought out their donors and the donors were more than willing to participate. So I will have surrogate fathers who will also take part in my rearing. That's important to me, too. And oh yeah, Peter and Felicity ... they're like stepparents to me. So I have it all."
"Last thing, because I don't want to drag this out ..." The judge paused, then said, "You know being who you are, you're bound to get bullied a lot in school. Are you sure you can trust these women to stand up for you, even though they are who they are?"
"They aren't in the closet, Your Honor. They'd stand up for anyone who is gay, lesbian or transgendered. They are already helping an older friend of mine who is the last."
"Anyone else here want to add something?"
"Yes,' said Ashleigh. She and Samantha looked at each other. "Since Rita became part of our lives ... well, she has been since she's part of the church pastoral team, has been for some time, we've had nothing but respect and admiration for her. Even before we knew she was a lesbian, her devotion to God has easily matched that of my sister and me. We can't imagine life without her. And we can't wait to be her aunts, any more than Ruthie's siblings and their spouses. And our sisters-in-law, they're good women. We love having them part of our lives, and the fact we're all pregnant at the same time has been a comfort. Just as important, Rita has four - no, wait, six siblings with three more on the way, plus three cousins, our babies. She knows how to be a babysitter, and she's an all around cool girl!"
"And her relationship with Rhiannon Parker?"
"What can I say?" said Rhiannon. "I love her, and she loves me. And we've talked about the future too ... a future as full members of the pastoral team, not just Sunday school teachers. I'm going to be a minister, and Rita has everything what it takes to be one too. She has a support team unlike any other. There's no need to wait."
"Well normally," said the judge, "I would order that the applicants be foster parents for the normal waiting period. But since there appear to be no moral impediments to this ... I'm willing to sign off on this." He put his signature on the adoption papers, then handed them over to the lawyers so Ruthie and Hope could add their names - Hope crossing off "Father" and handwriting "Mother" in its place then initialing it. The document was then given to Rita to sign.
"What, I get to sign this?" she said in surprise.
"You're old enough to make your own decisions, so yes," said the judge.
With tears running down her face, Rita smiled and signed the document "Rita Beaulieu Camden."
"It's my mother's name," she said when she was asked about the middle name.
"So you're French-Canadian, on both sides?" asked Felicity.
"Yeah, but as of today, I'm one hundred percent Camden. I can't believe we did it!" She hugged her new mothers. "Thank you, Hope and Ruthie. I promise I'll never let you down."
"Don't make a promise you can't keep," said Hope, "but if you stumble, we'll help you back up. That is a promise we can keep."
The judge adjourned the session. Rita got up, ran over to Rhiannon, and kissed her.
"I'm so proud of you," said Rhiannon. "Now I can say I really got your back, and you mine."
The gang left the courtroom to have a celebratory dinner at the Wilkinsons, then got back down to business, planning Sunday's service.