run into her again.
âO f course I remember you, Mr. Lundberg,â Mrs. Burchell, the caseworker from New Life Adoption Agency, assured him over the telephone. âItâs good to hear from you again.â
Andrew rolled the mechanical pencil between his palms, praying he was doing the right thing. âIâd like to know how difficult it would be for my wife and me to resubmit our application.â He leaned against the back of his chair. Leah had been on his mind all day and he was worried about her.
It was so unfair that they couldnât have children. What troubled him most was that there didnât seem to be any physical reason. Theyâd spent years, and thousands of dollars, working with fertility specialists. Leahâs life was governed by that ridiculous book she kept. He swore sheâd documented her temperature every morning for the last seven years.
Perhaps if theyâd been able to pinpoint the problem as his, Leah might have been able to accept their situation.
âI have your file right here,â the caseworker went on to say. âI know you and your wife were terribly disappointed when Melinda Phillips decided to rescind the adoption of her infant son. It doesnât happen often, but unfortunately these girls do change their minds.â
âI understand,â Andrew said, not wanting to rehash the details. Having the birth mother change her mind had been much harder on Leah than on him. Theyâd gone to the hospital, their hearts filled with joy, only to return empty-handed an hour later. Afterward Leah had sat for hours alone in the nursery theyâd so lovingly prepared. Nothing Andrew could say reached her. Heâd been disappointed too and for a while thereâd been a strain between them. Then one day he returned home from the office and discovered that Leah had dismantled the nursery. She calmly announced that sheâd withdrawn their application from New Life and that theyâd simply wait for her to become pregnant and bear a child of their own. She refused to subject them to that kind of torment again.
âIâll be happy to resubmit your names,â Mrs. Burchell said, âbut I must warn you there are fewer babies available for adoption now than before.â
âHow long would you predict?â
The caseworker hesitated. âI canât really say. Itâs different with every couple.â
âWhat about the Watcombs?â Andrew asked. âWe went through the orientation classes with them three years ago.â
âAh, yes, the Watcombs. Jessie and Ken, am I right?â
âYes. Has their adoption gone through?â
âNot yet, but weâre hopeful weâll have an infant for them soon.â
Andrewâs hopes plummeted. The Watcombs were special people and he couldnât imagine any young mother not choosing them to rear her child.
âYou were in the same orientation class as the Sterlings, werenât you?â
Andrew allowed the name to filter through his mind. âHe was a fireman as I recall.â
âThatâs the couple. They adopted a baby girl last October.â
âThatâs wonderful.â
âI thought youâd be pleased.â
He was, of course, but a small part of him couldnât help being envious. Leah desperately wanted a child, and in an effort to reassure her heâd downplayed his own desire for a family. He loved his wife and would give anything for them to have a child.
âDo you still want me to resubmit your name?â Mrs. Burchell asked after a momentâs silence.
âPlease,â he said, his hand tightening around the receiver. If it took another five years or more, then that was just how long theyâd need to wait. That he was doing this behind Leahâs back didnât sit well with him, but some action needed to be taken, and this seemed the most logical choice. If they were chosen by a birth mother again, then
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