My heart broke. “Mad at you? Why would you think that?”
She looked down at her hands. “I must’ve been bad. That’s why she didn’t want me anymore.”
I gently lifted her chin. “Lily, listen to me. You did nothing wrong. Nothing. Sometimes, grown-ups make mistakes. Big mistakes. But this wasn’t your fault.”
She searched my eyes for the truth. “Promise?”
“I promise. And I promise something else, too. If you come live with me, I will never, ever leave you. No matter what.”
“Never?” she asked, her voice small but hopeful.
“Never, ever, ever. That’s what family means. Real family.”
Three months later, Lily officially came home. The adoption process was long, but in the end, I proved I would be the mother she deserved.
The day I signed the final papers, my husband Alex was by my side, along with my parents. When the judge declared us officially a family, Lily threw her arms around my neck. “We did it, Mommy!” she cried.
MOMMY. The word I had waited so long to hear from the child who had always held a piece of my heart.
Lily turned six last week. Her birthday was filled with laughter, friends, and the love of a family who fought for her. In her eyes, I could see everything that she needed—safety, love, and a place to call home.
Erin may have abandoned Lily, but Lily found her way to me. Sometimes, the family you fight for becomes the one you were always meant to have.