Chapter 12 - My Parents Had Signed The Papers—Margaret Had Not Forced Their Hands
I wanted Grandma to be responsible for everything.
It would have made loving Mom easier.
The records would not let me.
Mom and Dad had both signed the final adoption consent.
Their attorneys had explained it.
There had been waiting periods.
Counseling.
Opportunities to reconsider.
Mom had been medically stable by then.
Emotionally fragile, yes.
Legally incapable, no.
Dad had signed too.
That was important.
Grandma pressured them.
Framed choices.
Paid bills.
Controlled information.
But she did not forge signatures.
Did not steal Lily.
Did not secretly complete an adoption behind their backs.
My parents made the final decision.
Mom told me:
“I need you to know that because blaming Margaret for all of it would be another lie.”
I hated hearing it.
But I respected her for saying it.
Dad was gone.
He could not explain himself.
Among his papers we found one journal entry written three weeks before the adoption finalized.
If we bring Lily home because we can’t bear losing her, are we doing it for her or for us? If we let her stay because we’re scared, is that love or cowardice? I don’t know anymore.
There was no triumphant answer.
Just a young father drowning inside an impossible decision.
I stopped imagining a single villainous moment.
There had been dozens of moments.
May you like
Each small enough to justify.
Together they changed four lives.
