Chapter 268:

Lisa helped get the children cleaned up from lunch and the three youngest in for their naps, feeding Jessica before she laid her down. She was just coming downstairs when Carlos and Vicki came into the house.

They had agreed to take Brenda, Carlos and Vicki on a tour of the music building. That would give them their privacy and they would not be interupted while they spoke.

Without the children in attendance, the tour through the rehearsal rooms went quickly but the sound and recording booths were the ones that both Carlos and Vicki were excited about. Both of the Marin's and Seb spent a while playing with the knobs on the sound board and testing the mics in the recording booth, treating Lisa and Brenda to some music

It was only after they had moved into the theater that Brenda brought up the reason for her visit to Carlos and Vicki. She told them what she had already told Lisa and Seb and watched their faces for a reaction.

Seb spoke for both he and Lisa when he told them that if they still wanted to try to adopt Amelia, they were in agreement.

Both Carlos and Vicki were obviously very emotional as they heard the good news. Vicki's lip was quivering as if she was trying to restrain from crying and Carlos had tears in his eyes and a huge smile on his face.

"Are you sure, Lisa?" Vicki asked. "We love Amelia, but we would never want this to come between us.

"No, we have known from the first day that you both wanted to adopt her. We'll still get to see her and love her even when she's with you. Now we just need to pray that the rest of the red tape is handled so that you can take her."

"Brenda, how long do you think it will be before we know anything?" Carlos asked.

Not too long, I hope. The paperwork you have submitted has already been accepted. They have exhausted their search for any relatives in Mexico. We just need final approval for the international adoption."

Carlos slipped into Spanish as he lifted his wife off of her feet and spun her around in circles, rejoicing that they would soon be parents again, this time to a beautiful little girl.

"I think that you should all sit down together with Amelia and see how she feels about this. I've seen her with you but she has also gotten comfortable at Seb and Lisa's." Brenda suggested.

"Alright, we'll do that right now." Carlos said with definite purpose in his step as they headed back to the house. His hand wrapped around Vicki's and she laughed at his eagerness. He was almost dragging her along with him in his haste to speak to Amelia.

Brenda was invited to remain and sit in on their talk with Amelia. They thought it would be good to have an unbiased and expert eye to keep an eye on Amelia and try to watch for any signs that she was becoming distressed. The child had been through so much upheaval and abandonment and no one wanted her to feel as if Seb and Lisa were two more people throwing her away like some unwanted garbage.

They had all tried to understand the probable desperation her parents had felt, being in a new country with no means of supporting themselves or their child. But none of them could imagine leaving any child alone in the woods to fend for themselves, especially one as young as Amelia, possibly being abducted by unscrupulous people or attacked by any of the wild creatures that called the park their home. Amelia was indeed fortunate that she had been discovered by the kind family that had come upon the crying child before any real harm had been done to her.

Mary and Debbie were asked to keep the other children, including Carlito, occupied while they spoke with Amelia.

Amelia was ushered into the library and they all sat on the sofas. Amelia quickly got a worried look upon her face.

"It's alright, Sweetheart. We just want to talk to you." Lisa tried to assure her.

She continued to look around at the faces of the adults in the room, not looking all that convinced.

"Would you mind if I spoke to her first?" Seb asked Carlos and Vicki.

"Of course not." Vicki answered and Carlos shook his head in agreement.

Seb knelt on the floor in front of Amelia and took her little hands in his.

"Amelia.... we have been so happy to have you here with us. You are a very special little girl and we want you to be happy. We all love you very much."

Amelia surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him, causing his eyes to tear up. He held her close for a moment and then he sat back on his heels and kissed her cheek before sliding her back onto the seat. When he sat next to Lisa, she put her arm around his waist and kissed his cheek as Carlos and Vicki took the space on the floor in front of Amelia that Seb had just vacated.

Amelia blinked her big brown eyes as she looked at Carlos and Vicki, still not completely sure that she wasn't in trouble.

As if on cue, Carlos and Vicki each took one of her hands in theirs before Carlos spoke to her, mostly sticking to English for the benefit of the others in the room..He stroked her hair and smiled softly at her, trying to set her at ease.

"Amelia, mi pequena amour, we....Vicki and I.... we would like to ask you......would you like to live with us and be our little girl? We would be your new Mama and Papa and Carlito would be your little brother. What do you think of that?"

"I can live with you until mi Mama and mi Papa come back for me." she said hopefully and smiling, thankful that she seemed not to be in trouble after all.

Vicki looked to Brenda, hoping to get some guidance on how to deal with Amelia's statement.

Brenda thought it best for now to just address Amelia's living situation and let her sessions with the therapist address the issue of her abandonment by her birth parents. She pulled Carlos and Vicki aside, telling them this and also telling them that since Amelia seemed not to be upset by the thought of going with them, that she had gotten clearance for them to have Amelia on overnights several times a week to help her adjust to yet another change in her short life.

They were both thrilled with the prospect of being able to actually begin home visits.

"Amelia, would you like to come and spend the night with us?"

"The little girl's head quickly bobbed up and down. "Si Por Favor. That will be fun. May I help to put Carlito to bed like we help to put Lauren and Jessica to bed?"

"You sure can. I will enjoy having someone to help me." Vicki told her.

Once that was settled, Brenda went on to tell them that when the adoption was finalized, only then would Amelia be able to obtain a passport. Until then, she would not be allowed to leave the country.

Vicki assured them all that whatever it took to make Amelia theirs forever, she would do it, including to keep her career on hold. So until all of the issues surrounding Amelia were finalized, she would stay here and become the mother that Amelia needed.

After Brenda had Carlos and Vicki sign some papers that would give them the ability to have partial custody and visitations with Amelia, Brenda left and Lisa and Vicki went upstairs to pack some of Amelia's clothes for them to keep at the condo. When approval for the adoption was finished, then they would move the rest of her things.

*

After one of Dan's many doctor's appointments, he and Marie had gone to Dan's office for the first time since his heart attack. He had gone to pick up the last of his personal belongings from his desk and some certificates and photos that were hanging on the walls.

It was a hard thing for Marie to watch him as he slowly moved around the room. She could see how difficult this was for him. He had worked so hard all of his life and to all of a sudden have to stop like this was a huge adjustment for him.

"Mr. Huggins, Some of your things were boxed up already for your protection. We knew it would be a while before you came in to get them. I have the box out here when you're ready to go."

"Thank you Lea. I appreciate that." he said as he took the last picture frame off of the wall.

As they walked out of the doorway to Dan's office, he turned one last time to look inside of his office and Marie heard the long sigh that escaped him as he turned to go. She held him around his waist, giving him a squeeze and he returned the hug with a half hearted smile.

"We'll be okay Sweetheart." she said to him as she pushed the mail cart that held all of his belongings.

"I know. It is just going to take some getting used to. I can't imagine never going back."

"Just think of all of the time we can spend together now. For a long time we've said that we needed to find more time to do things for ourselves."

"I think you'll be sick of me hanging around before too long."

"That'll never happen. Besides, we have our children and Grandchildren to spend time with as well and now we both have the time for it. Those kids will grow so quickly and then they'll be gone to live their own lives. I, for one, am going to enjoy them while they are young enough to want to spend time with us old folks."

"Who are you calling old, Woman?" he said getting a bit of his smile back that Marie loved so much.

Marie didn't want Dan's trip to the office to be the ending of their day and knew if they went and visited with Alex and Aaron that it would put an entirely different feeling to the evening.

When Mom and Dad pulled in the driveway, Urs was just getting off of the telephone after speaking to Mami. She called or they called her several days a week or they would get on the computer so she could actually see them and especially Aaron.
Of course she always said that it looked like he had grown an inch in the last week, which was a bit of an exaggeration, but he was growing nicely.

"Hi kids. Is it alright if we invite ourselves for dinner?"

"Of course it is. I've certainly dropped in on you enough times." Alex told her mother.

After Dan was seated on the sofa, Urs handed Aaron to him. The baby immediately looked up into his Grandpa's eyes. Aaron was very aware of the people in his world now and especially his family, he was showing signs of recognition on his face.

He started gurgling and kicking his feet, which for them was always a happy thing, even if Aaron was actually fussing, because the more Aaron used his legs the stronger they would become and remain as long as he exersized them regularly.

"Hello little man. Grandpa is so happy to see you. Did you have your nap?"

Aaron might not have understood everything Dan was saying to him but he was definitely listening and Dan was rewarded with a huge smile and some more gurgling, as if Aaron was answering him.

"Tell your Grandpa that you did have your nap and then played in the bathtub for quite a while.... He loves it Dad. His arms and legs are already splashing around and he even squealed once when he got really excited. .....Have you talked to Lisa today?" Alex asked them.

"Not today, why? Has something happened?" Mom asked, not sure if she was ready for any other bad news if that was what was going on.

"Brenda came by and it looks like Carlos and Vicki will be adopting Amelia soon. She actually left with them a while ago to spend her first night with them."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that Carlos and Vicki love her but she already seemed a part of our family."

"I know Honey. I feel the same way but we knew from the bginning that she would either be going back to Mexico or adopted by Carlos and Vicki if they could get approved for the international adoption. She'll come for visits."

"I know you're right. How does Lisa feel about it? Is she alright?" Marie asked Alex.

"She knows she'll miss Amelia but as Dad said, we'll get to see her. She did say that unless there is an emergency placement, that she doesn't want to search for any more children for a while. Their family needs time to adjust and become accustomed to their home and each other and some of the children may have trouble with Amelia leaving. They've all been having their sessions with the Psycologist and seem to be doing well according to the doctor."

Talk turned to the new furniture that they had finally gotten for their formal dining room. It was a large French double pedestal table with three removable sections. For now, it had all three sections inserted. Alex liked seeing it all set up but if they should need some extra floor space, they could remove some sections and store them out of the way.

The set also included a sideboard with a lovely mirror and a china cabinet with the top area lighted to show off the most prized pieces of your china.

The set originally included four side chairs and two arm chairs but they had added another six side chairs too have an even dozen for entertaining. There was plenty of wall space around the room to set the extra chairs when they were not in use and the table had been shortened.

A primarily light colored Oriental rug placed under the table and off setting the darker finish of the dining set, finished off the room nicely.

Of course Alex insisted that they had to eat in here for the first night that it was here.

Mom helped her finish fixing dinner while the guys kept Aaron amused. Alex and Marie kept peeking in at them to be sure they had Aaron under control, but it was Aaron that had the guys under control.

He was just beginning to laugh and was quite amused by his Papi and Grandpa's silly faces and the noises they were making.

Marie studied the relaxed but tired face of her husband as she drove them home after dinner. He was tired but she felt like it had been a good decision to go tonight. He seemed, at least on the surface to have gotten past the rough patch he'd had at the office earlier in the day. It would take time to get totally used to being retired. She'd just have to keep both his mind and as much as he was allowed, his body, occupied so that he wouldn't feel as if his life was over.

Over the next several months, they would be celebrating the holidays, so hopefully that would help, at least partially, to fill up the void he was feeling.