# 50: UNPREPARED! (and pissed off too)

PAGE # 50

Saturday

12/17/11
Approximately 10:00 am

"We should probably go to Babies "R" Us soon," I suggested. 

Tom shook his head.  "She's going to keep the baby." 

"But what if she doesn't?  We need to be prepared!"

A mixture of frustration and anxiety stormed inside me.  We could be bringing a baby home in a day or so, and we had no baby supplies.  Instead of being out shopping, we were lounging at Tom's brother's house.  

Tom didn't budge.  He rested upon the sofa, watching Sara chase after her 4 year-old cousin Max.

"Seriously babe," I said to him.  "We have like three newborn outfits and nothing else."

Sam, my brother-in-law, was listening to our debate.  

"Dude, you guys have a 2 year-old!  Where's all her baby stuff?"

"Gone," I said.

"Gone!" Sam's eyebrows shot up.  "We still have all of Max's stuff saved."  

 A voice from the kitchen chimed in:

"All saved in bins and labeled by size."

This voice belonged to Sam's wife, Diana.

"We have everything," she added.

"We gave our stuff away," I explained.

Sara and Max were running circles around the coffee table.  They were the only ones apparently not interested in our unbelievable lack of newborn paraphernalia.  

"Actually, I did keep some of Sara's outfits.  The ones she wore in the NICU.  The ones that have meaning to us."

I had given away the rest of Sara's baby wardrobe, and also all the baby gear:  car seats, strollers, baby toys, etc.  What was the point of cluttering up our limited storage space?  I certainly hadn't anticipated the arrival of a newborn anytime soon.  Remember--we hadn't even signed up to adopt a baby!  And we certainly were not having any unprotected sex.  Our two kids are FOURTEEN years apart!  Who would've thought we might actually need that stuff a mere two years after Sara's birth?

"I don't think you guys should buy anything," Diana advised.  You don't even know about the birth father yet."

"That's true, but even foster parents need baby supplies."

"But you guys are not foster parents.  You're adopting."

"Technically, we're foster parents if we take the baby home.  No adoption is final right away.  It takes months.  And if the birth father contests the adoption, then the baby goes back to Kendra.  So, technically, yes--we are foster parents for now."

My sister-in-law looked more confused than a toddler lost in a corn maze.

"But foster parents don't have to pay money!  They get paid by the state to be foster parents."

"That's true in some cases, yes, but this baby is not in the system.  This is a private fost-adopt situation."

I was getting agitated.  I needed to go buy baby stuff.

"Tom, seriously, we need to go to the store.  Like now." 

"Okay.  Okay," Tom finally stood up.  "Come on Sara," he reached toward our daughter.  "We need to say bye-bye now."

But before our toddler could protest, Tom's cell phone rang.  It was Shelley, the adoption attorney.  

"Now?" Tom spoke into the phone.  "Okay, we're coming now," he told Shelley. 

"We need to go to the hospital immediately.  They're discharging Kendra soon. We need to pick up the baby."

"Right now?  Are you sure?" I asked.

"Right now," Tom reiterated.

"But she just had the baby yesterday!  They're discharging her already?" 

"Apparently, yes." 

"Okay.  Okay," I was thinking out loud.  "I'll bring the newborn clothes I do have.  We'll just have to go buy the rest of the stuff later."

Tom hurried to put Sara's shoes on.

"Shit!" I exclaimed.  "We need a car seat!  We can't take the baby home without a car seat!" 

"I already texted Jim.  He said we could borrow one of theirs." 

"Okay.  Good."

Tom carried Sara out the door.  I was right behind him, but Diana stopped me:

"I still don't think you should buy anything new if you don't even know if you're going to be able to keep her yet.  I mean, what if you end up having to give her back to Kendra?"

"Then Kendra will get her baby back along with a whole bunch of baby gifts!  Seriously, Diana, the last thing on my mind right now is money!  The poor baby!  The least we can do is give her a good beginning.  We're going to be foster parents for right now."

"But can you do this?  Can you really be a foster parent?  Can you really do this?" 

"I'm about to pick up a baby from the hospital, so yes, it seems that I can."  

I left without saying goodbye.  I probably slammed the door too.

To Be Continued...