Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [45]
“No!” Bob’s response was loud and instantaneous. “No.”
“Bob, listen, if you and Merrily are going to have a chance at adopting Axel yourselves, you have to do this.”
“No.”
Merrily’s eyes had gone wild. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but his reaction told her they were in danger of losing their son.
“The state will send a social worker to collect Axel. The courts have appointed what’s called a guardian ad litem. That’s generally another attorney whose job is to look after the child’s best interests. Basically, you have a strong case. Axel loves you and Merrily, and if he’s bonded to you, the courts should be willing to consider you as adoptive parents.”
Buffalo Bob sat down, his knees too weak to hold him upright. “How…long?”
“How long would Axel be away from you?”
“Yes.” His voice shook with the depth of his emotion. This shouldn’t be happening. He’d hoped it could all be resolved without Axel’s being taken from them. More than hoped, he’d counted on it.
“I can’t answer that,” Doug told him quietly. “It could be a matter of weeks, but it might take several months.”
“Tell me!” Merrily demanded, grabbing Bob’s arm. “They want to take him away, don’t they?”
He nodded, then gestured for silence.
“It’s up to you,” Doug told him. “I haven’t given the authorities any information that would lead them to you, but I don’t think continued secrecy is what you want. You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t want to clean up this mess with Axel, and make everything legal and above-board. You said it yourself. You’re tired of constantly worrying about being found out.”
“Either we face it now or we face it later.” Bob repeated his own words, although the conviction had gone flat.
“Exactly.”
Doug made it sound easy. Made disclosure sound like the only choice they had. If that was the case, then why did his heart feel as though it was being ripped from his chest? If that was the case, why was his wife sobbing at his side?
“The decision is yours.”
Bob put down the phone. He looked to Merrily and held open his arms and she came to him. As he held her tight, she stared up at him expectantly, silently begging him not to let them take her baby.
“We have to hand him over until the adoption can be completed,” he told her.
Merrily bit down on her lip so hard, blood oozed from between her teeth. “He doesn’t know any mother but me.”
“He isn’t going to forget us.”
“But…”
“We have to do this.”
Merrily closed her eyes and slowly nodded, sobs shaking her shoulders almost uncontrollably.
“Tell them where we are,” Bob whispered into the phone. His resolve was stronger now than ever. It wouldn’t be long before they had their son back, before he and Merrily were Axel’s legal parents. The interim, the weeks or months without him, would be hard on them both, but that couldn’t be avoided.
The state of California scheduled a social worker to pick up Axel two days before Christmas. Doug had tried to talk the authorities into waiting until after the holidays, but his request was denied. Buffalo Bob and Merrily had no choice but to relinquish their son.
Merrily had barely spoken to Bob in days. On the morning of December twenty-third, she silently, dutifully, packed Axel’s clothes and toys.
Bob got up early that day, unable to sleep. He found it impossible to stay in one place for long. The flight was supposed to land in Grand Forks at noon, which meant that Beth Graham would arrive between one and two. Maddy McKenna, Hassie and Pastor Dawson arrived at 12:30, hoping to provide comfort and support, but no one seemed to have much to say.
Bob saw the rental car the minute it pulled into town. “She’s here,” he told Merrily. A few moments later, an older woman walked into the restaurant. She stood at the entrance in her inadequate trench coat, her shoes wet with snow. Despite her obvious discomfort, she had a kind face and her expression was sympathetic.
At the sight of her, Merrily’s eyes welled with fresh tears. Bob reached for Axel. “How’s