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voice became harsher. “But don’t
misunderstand me. I’ll fight for Jake with everything I have. If we
can’t work together, I’ll ask to have my case transferred to
someone else.”
    What an easy out. She could call Brett back
and tell him he would be better off working with someone
else.
     
    Brett lifted Jake from the car seat and
boosted him to his hip. Jake protested, chattering something in
Korean, then saying, “Me big, walk.”
    Brett chuckled. “Okay, okay, but you have to
hold my hand tightly. The cars drive along here pretty fast.” He
made a whooshing sound to emphasize his point, prompting a giggle
from Jake. Brett gave him a hug, breathing in Jake’s baby scent. No
doubt about it, the kid was taking over his life. He gripped Jake
tighter as if that action could block out all possibilities of
losing him.
    “Down, Unca,” Jake shouted directly in his
ear.
    Brett put Jake down and smiled at him. Taking
the boy’s hand, he headed across the street to the row house
Thayer’s had recently acquired as a residence for some of the older
teens under their care. At Jake’s toddling pace the walk across the
street took twice as long as it would have taken Brett
alone.
    “This is it, Bud.” Brett pointed to a brown
brick house.
    “Unca fiss?” Jake asked.
    “Yep, we’re going to fix it up.”
    The house looked solid enough from the
outside, but Brett knew it needed complete renovation inside.
That’s what had brought him and Jake here, bright and early on a
Saturday morning. International Families United, a group of
families in the area that had adopted Korean and Chinese children
through Thayer, had organized a family workday to help with the
reconstruction.
    Brett took a deep breath and pulled open the
heavy oak door. He wasn’t hot on belonging to organizations, but he
wanted Jake to have ties to his Korean heritage. He hoped
continuing contact with other Asian children would help Jake to
develop a good sense of self and feel good about his being
different from the other children in their small
community.
    And, while he might be new at this
parenting stuff, he knew about home repairs. Over the years, he,
Kate, and their mother had completely redone the farmhouse Mom had
inherited from Grandpa, the house where he and Jake now lived. He
smiled remembering those family projects. Grandpa in his wheelchair
giving instructions on the early projects, Mom with her
handy Readers’ Digest home repairs book talking them through later projects, after
Grandpa was gone. Brett had agreed to lend a hand today, with the
unconscious hope of creating similar memories for Jake.
    Brett and Jake stepped into the foyer of the
house. A tug on his hand and the smell of fresh paint brought Brett
back to the present.
    “Unca, Unca see.” Jake pointed at a group of
people already busy working in the adjoining room.
    “I see. They’re painting the walls blue. Let’s
get your coat and hat off and we’ll see if we can help.” Brett bent
to unzip Jake’s jacket.
    “See Boo,” Jake said.
    “Yep, blue.”
    “See Boo,” Jake insisted, pointing
determinedly. Brett squatted and observed the room from Jake’s
perspective, but he still couldn’t figure out what had the little
guy so excited. Jake continued to point and talk, alternating
between Korean and English and punctuating every couple of words
with “Boo.” Understanding any two-year old’s speech was hard
enough, let alone one who used two languages interchangeably as
Jake did.
    Brett managed to slip off Jake’s coat and hat
and started to remove his own leather jacket. Jake took off like a
shot, running into the next room as fast as his chubby little legs
would carry him. Brett quickly caught up with him at the base of a
stepladder.
    “See, Boo. Hi Boo,” Jake called.
    Brett followed Jake’s gaze up the ladder,
taking in a pair of legs and a nicely rounded behind. Here was a
woman made to wear black leggings. Interested to see if the face
matched the legs,