It was the morning we had been waiting 1 year, 10 months and 10 days for ~ Maggie's adoption day.
We didn't sleep much the night before ~ too excited, nervous, anxious, happy.
We were up and ready to head out to the Montgomery County Courthouse. Even left the house a little earlier than expected.
Sure glad we did.
"Momma, my seatbelt too tight." "You're ok, Maggie" (of course, nothing has been adjusted or changed in her straps in the carseat) After about 5 minutes of this continuing conversation, we pull over, I adjust the straps and we get back on the road. All is well in the world. Until.
"Momma, gotta go potty." And when she says it, she means it. Pull over again at Jack in the Box where Maggie thinks we're stopping for food and has a meltdown because she wants to go potty. Thankfully she made it to the potty in time and then of course, wanted fry fries at 8:30 in the morning.
Then we hit the morning traffic. No one is moving. Are you kidding me?!
Why is it that when you really have to be somewhere at a certain time, that every possible delay comes your way.
I'm not quite sure how we got to the courthouse by 9am ~ well, I do know but we won't go there.
No parking. Unload the car. Drive a few blocks, find side street. Park. Walk the few blocks knowing that everyone is waiting on us. Whew. Got in to courthouse right at 9am. Thanks to the Houston heat and humidity, I was not looking nearly as good as I was an hour ago. Oh well...we move on.
We hang out in the hallway until our attorney comes out to greet us. We had only spoken on the phone and communicated through email, but I knew what he looked like (thanks Facebook!). We shook hands and he took us back to a conference room to go over some paperwork, sign some documents and brief us on what would happen in the courtroom.
Our attorney was great. He's adopted 5 of his 6 children through CPS and now only does adoption legal work. He loved Maggie and was quite entertaining to her, as Momma & Daddy did their thing.
We go out to the courtroom and meet up with our CPS caseworker, our agency caseworker and our CASA worker. The courtroom is not that big ~ nothing like what you see on Law & Order ~ but it was packed. Filled to capacity. However, there was just enough room left on the very front row for us to sit.
All rise.
"Momma, why is everyone standing?" Snickering is heard through the courtroom. Oh the joys of a child :)
The judge sits down and announces that there is a very full docket today of family matters, including 3 adoptions and she'd like to get those done so that the families can get out of her and celebrate. We were all happy to hear that.
The judge calls up our attorney and they announce "Thompson case" up first. YIPPEE!
The 3 of us approach the bench, along with our attorney and our 3 caseworkers. We raise our right hand. Maggie joins in. :) We take our oath and our attorney proceeds to ask us a bunch of questions that he had already told us to say "yes sir" to. He asks me first, then Michael. Then he proceeds to ask each caseworker who they are, what agency they are with and if they are absolutely sure that this adoption is in the best interest of the child. They all strongly agreed with the statement.
Meanwhile, while this is all going on, Maggie is getting a little restless. I know ~ surprise! So I place her up on the counter of the judge's desk. At first, I wondered if I had just made a huge mistake, not knowing how the judge would react, but I had a very squeamish little girl and felt it was better to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission and be denied the request. The judge looked at Maggie and smiled. Interacting with her quietly and through gesturing. Maggie was quite intrigued with the Judge's desk and EVERYTHING on it. She was touching EVERYTHING. Then she found a treasure ~ a small bottle of lotion. Immediately I think ~ oh no....this is not going to end well. The judge asked Maggie if she'd like to have some, as Maggie grabs it from her desk. Maggie very gently says "yes, please." (whew - that was good!) Maggie then opens the bottle, and proceeds to say "Hi Lady...would you like some lotion? I put it on you." The judge just smiled and said no thank you. (whew #2)
Attorney finishes the questioning. The judge reads through the statement of adoption. More legal mumbo-jumbo. And then she says...
"It is now hereby ordered that XXX be now known as Maggie Joy Thompson and her parents are now known as MJT and CJT. This adoption is now complete."
Clapping erupted throughout the courtroom. Tears barely contained in my eyes. But I held it together....for the time being.
The judge invited us up to take a picture with her. We joined her up on the stage. "Maggie, may I hold you in my lap in my chair?" to which Maggie replied, "no thank you." (whew #3) The judge then invited me to sit her chair and hold Maggie for the pictures. The judge thanked us for what we did and for changing Maggie's life. She shook our hands. I then asked Maggie to give the judge back her lotion. Maggie said, "but Momma, I really need it." The judge sweetly told Maggie that she could keep it. Maggie said, "thank you nice lady. I really need it." (whew #4) and with that, we left the courtroom.
As soon as the doors closed behind us, the flood gates opened. I lost it. Completely. Bawling like a baby. Maggie kept saying "what's wrong, Momma. Gonna be ok?" I told her I was just so happy.
It was just a release of everything. A relief. Pure joy.
The whole experience lasted all but 10 minutes. But it was the end of a 3 years, 4 months and 2 days journey. That's a pretty long time in my book.
We hung around so that we could get our certified copies of the adoption decree and enjoyed visiting with our 3 caseworkers for the last time.
We told them how much we appreciated all that they did to help us. We truly were blessed with some amazing people on our journey. I'm not sure what we would've done without them. And as much as we liked them, we were more than happy to say goodbye. The feeling was mutual.
It's all very surreal. Even still today. The adoption hearing was never about whether or not I was Maggie's mother. I was her momma the moment I laid eyes on her. It was about being able to let go of the past and move on and just be a family of 3, versus a part of a larger entity called the State of Texas.
We arrived that morning as 3 separate entities according in the eyes of the State of Texas. We left as a family of 3. Best 10 minutes of my life so far.
