Emory

 

I want to cry for Marcus’ loss, I know it has to be eating at him that he didn’t know or keep in contact with his friend. It’s just like high school, you have your friends while you’re there, but then you go to college and lose contact with those you thought you’d be friends with forever. Forever…the meaning should be meant for what it is, but it’s only just that, a word everyone uses as a filler when they think they know the true meaning of it. I told Marcus we’re forever, but what I mean is that no matter what happens between us, he will hold my heart in his hands until my last day. I firmly believe I will grow old and gray with this man, but life is a finicky bitch, you never know what type of curve ball it will throw you from one day to the next. Nothing is set in stone, but you keep going and put one foot in front of the other.

“Well,” Miss Tyson says, “everything is in order whenever you two are ready to take Shyann home, I’m sorry for being the bearer of such bad news.”

“Thank you, it’s just a lot of information to process,” Marcus says to her.

“We appreciate everything you’ve done to help us out here, Miss Tyson,” I say standing up to shake her hand.

“You’re most welcome,” she says returning the gesture. “Good luck to you,” she says gathering her things. “I’ll stop by for a home visit sometime next week.”

“Sounds good, thank you…again.” She nods her head and walks out the door.

I look over at Shyann who is still fast asleep and has this cute little snore when she breathes in. Marcus walks Miss Tyson out the door, while he is away, I look down at Shyann and make her a silent promise, “We’ll always take care of you,” and then to her parents I say, “we’ll always tell her about you, and I promise you that we’ll love her as our own.” When Marcus comes back into the room, I notice he has a stack of papers in his hands.

“What’s that?” I ask him.

“A copy of the papers I signed overseas. The ones where I agreed to take on Shyann if anything was to happen to either of them. I can’t believe this is Sheridan’s baby,” Marcus says.

“You’ll have to tell us stories about him. Did you know her mother as well?”

“No, other than via Skype calls. She had a bubbly personality though, I remember that. This is so fucked up, I can’t believe they’re both gone.”

“Their bodies may be gone, but they aren’t. Their hearts and souls live within her. It makes me happy that they trusted you enough with her to have you sign those papers, otherwise, this transition may have been harder than what it will end up being. We need to get with a lawyer, Marcus. Make sure everything is as it should be.” I want to make sure we have our ‘T’s’ crossed and ‘I’s’ dotted.

“I’ll call a lawyer once we get her home,” he tells me.

Then, we take out the clothes we brought with her and get her changed. Once she’s changed and awake, the duty nurse for the day comes in, “Are you two ready to take this precious little girl home?”

“We are,” I tell her, barely able to hold in my excitement.

“I’ve got her discharge paperwork here—do you need anything before you go?”

“We didn’t know what kind of formula she was on, so we didn’t buy any. I need to know what brand she takes so we can grab some on the way home,” I tell her.

“Oh, I can get you a can from our supply to help you through the night. What about diapers and wipes?” she asks us, I look at Marcus to see him roll his eyes.

“We have all of that, we went to the bulk store.”

“That place is fabulous, it’s twice the diapers for half the money, good choice.” I turn around and stick my tongue out at Marcus, causing him to laugh. I’m happy to hear him laugh, he’s been sullen since he got the news of Shyann’s parentage. Which is to be expected, but I want him to enjoy the day we bring her home too.

“Well, let me go grab that and a wheelchair and we’ll get you guys home,” the nurse says cheerfully.

“I’ll go grab the truck and pull it around to the front, baby. I’ll go ahead and take whatever she has here down with me,” Marcus says gathering things. He grabs the open package of diapers, wipes and diaper rash ointment and places them in the bag we had with us that had her clothes in them. He gathers the balloons, flowers and stuffed animals that my family had brought up here for her stay and walks out the door. I’m worried about him and what he’s going through, emotionally.

The nurse walks back in with the wheelchair, “Okay, let’s get you sitting down so we can put Shyann in your lap for the journey down.” As soon as we’re settled, she hands me the papers and unlocks the wheels and we’re off. I’m anxious and excited to start this new chapter in our lives.