"No."
Every time I tried to leave, panic would flash across her face.
She looked at me like I'd just suggested something insane. "You're single, you work night shifts, and you're barely out of school yourself."
"I know."
"This isn't a babysitting gig," she said carefully.
"I know that too." I just couldn't watch a little girl who'd already lost everything get carried away by more strangers.
She made me sign some forms right there in the hospital hallway before she'd let Avery leave with me.
I just couldn't watch a little girl
who'd already lost everything
get carried away by
more strangers.
One night became a week. A week turned into months of paperwork, background checks, home visits, and parenting classes I squeezed between 12-hour shifts.
The first time Avery called me "Daddy," we were in the cereal aisle at the grocery store.
"Daddy, can we get the one with the dinosaurs?" She froze immediately, like she'd said something forbidden.
I crouched down to her eye level. "You can call me that if you want to, sweetheart."
She froze immediately, like she'd said something
forbidden.
Her face crumbled, relief and grief mixing together, and she nodded.
So yeah. I adopted her. Made it official six months later.
I built my entire life around that kid. In the real, exhausting, beautiful way where you're heating up chicken nuggets at midnight and making sure her favorite stuffed rabbit was always within reach when nightmares came.
I switched to a steadier schedule at the hospital. Started a college fund the minute I could afford it. We weren't rich… not even close. But Avery never had to wonder if there'd be food on the table or if someone would show up for her school events.
I showed up. Every single time.
