MANNY©

Chapter 27

It was a few weeks after everyone settled into their new homes before Tyler and Rachael did the paperwork and met with their caseworker who showed them pictures of babies and kids up for adoption.  They slowly flipped through the many photos until Tyler paused to look at one picture. It was of three little children. The information under the picture said the oldest boy was 3 years, 2 months old, and the other two where his fraternal twin siblings, who were 1 year, 2 months old. 

The oldest was a problem child who witnessed their mom do drugs and always have a lot of men around. He saw too much at an early age and it made him act up. The caseworker explained the children's lives as Rachael and Tyler held each other hands. The twins were fathered by two different men that the mother had sex with at the same time. She didn't manage to keep herself clean with them and they were born with symptoms of withdrawal from the drugs in their system. It made them difficult to deal with as their mother continued to get her high after birth.

Amazingly she stayed under the radar barely raising them and taking care of them without social services catching on. But then again they lived in a bad part of town where no one cared. That is until the mom mistook an undercover cop who was on a stake-out with a few other policemen.  She stepped up to him while pushing a shopping cart up. She glanced around giving a shifty look before batting her blue eyes asking for a lick of drugs. If they did, she could pay them with what she had in the basket. The cop eyed her suspiciously then noticed the blanket covering the cart moved some.

She wanted to score about three thousand dollars of ICE in exchange for everything in the shopping cart. The worker told the couple that Ice was methamphetamine its smoked form. The cop gave a signal to one of his partners nearby who whispered a call to one of their backups in one of several police cars nearby.  They watched and filmed her tell the cop that she had her payment right in the basket.

She removed the cover and the man's eyes went wide with disgust. In the cart were two white kids and one black kid. The other cop signal the car to come now as he gave the code needed. Soon the car came zooming around as the main cop had to drop his cover and handcuff her. He placed the kids in his car as his partners kept up their appearance by assuming the position until both cars left with her and the kids.

They found out at the station through DNA that all three kids were hers. She instantly lost all her rights and was placed in jail for ten years for trying to sell her kids for drugs. There was no other family and no man came forward to claim the kids after they had been in foster care for a year.

The oldest child was always angry and fighting, except with his siblings. He loved them so much and they loved him. Whenever someone tried to separate them because they only wanted the babies, the babies wouldn't eat and always cry.  And the oldest child would lash out ten times worst because he wasn't with his siblings.

Social services had no choice but to keep them together and pray that someone had enough patience and love to handle them all. Once she finished explaining their sad story, Tyler and   Rachael's eyes flooded with tears. "We'll take them." A voice said behind them. They all turned to see Maddy stand near the living room entrance, shedding tears of her own. "If anyone can love them like they need to be loved it's my mama and my daddy," Maddy said. "They have given me and Kal all the love in the world. So, we have plenty more to give them."

The case worked looked amazed at the little girl before turning back to Tyler and Rachael. "She's right. We want them. We want them here with us." Tyler said with Rachael nodding in agreement, still crying.  A week later, once the paperwork went through and was approved, the three little ones were dropped off and settled in. Rachael and Tyler changed their names to give them a fresh start. They named the oldest boy was named Micah. The boy twin was named Mackenzie and his twin sister was named Morgan. Tyler and Rachael took one look at the sleeping siblings and happily got prepared for a long battle.