Gold Petals || Dave East (Book 2)

Chapter 21: Inner Truth

Dave

Bernice and I sat in the office of the adoption agency waiting for someone to come talk to us. She finally entered the room sitting across from us. She grabbed some papers looking up at us then smiled. "I didn't know you guys were expecting. Well, congratulations! Let me say that before we begin."

"Thank you," Bernice and I said in unison.

"Okay, first thing's first to know about the finalization of adopting Malachi. The hearing will be as scheduled on December 19th. Both of you will need to be present along with your adoption attorney. Malachi's maternal grandmother will also need to be present and Malachi. She has to relinquish her rights over to you guys because essentially she has legal guardianship over him after his mother's passing. You will then have the option to have his last name changed to yours because legally you are his parents. Some things to consider though...Since you guys are having more children I think you should, so he doesn't feel sort of left out as he gets older." She handed us a packet. "Any questions pertaining to that?"

"I do. Could we possibly change his middle name to his last name then have him take my last name? If that makes since. Like, right now his name is Malachi David Carter." Malik and I were so close he made Malachi's middle name my name. "Could we change it to Malachi Carter Brewster? I don't want to just get rid of his father's name."

"Of course! You can name him whatever you want actually. Just tell them the day of. Next thing is the topic of adoption with the child. Of course he's too young to know what's going on now. As he gets older he might begin to call you mommy and daddy. Let him. Of course we don't want him to forget about his parents. As he grows up still tell him about his parents. But if he ever calls either of you that simply let him. In his eyes you are his parents."

"But won't that confuse him? Letting him call us mom and dad, but telling him about his real parents." Bernice said.

"As he gets older he'll understand. Growing up you guys will be the only thing he knows as parents. What does he call you guys now?"

"D and B or BB."

"Okay, that's fine because he's two. Once he's been in your household longer he'll shift into calling you mom and dad. He'll probably call Bernice mom first because he actually knew his mother. Since he never met his father he'll either have to be taught to say that or get it from somewhere. When he's older he'll understand you guys aren't his real parents. He'll have a hard time processing it. He might even stop calling you guys mom and dad, but by your first name's. Let him, so he can process this. Eventually he'll go back to calling you guys mom and dad. Just don't lie to him about his real parents, especially since they're deceased. You probably won't do that anyway because he's a relative. Other than that your trial is in a month, so good luck! It was great working with you guys!"

She stood up shaking our hands then we left. As we drove home I thought. "I hope as Malachi grows up he doesn't feel different from our other kids because he's not ours."

"He shouldn't as long as we treat him the same. It's crazy to think our first child will be adopted."

We both smiled, "That is, huh? Honestly I'm glad we're doing this. I have been from the beginning. I'm glad I'm going through it with you and doing this with you. It's one thing for him to be attached to me, but seeing how attached he is to you makes me really happy. I remember when you didn't like kids."