The Earring

Book 5 Part 5

"Possibilities?" Teresa said. "No guarantees, though."

"No guarantees," Aaron agreed.

"Right now, adoption sounds like the best plan to me," Jacob said. He looked over at Teresa. "Do you still agree?"

"Probably. I asked my friend with the baby to let me babysit her kid to get an idea of what it's like. I kept the baby over a weekend so they could have some couple's time. She's right. It's pretty frustrating when the kid is crying at 2AM. Then you can't catch up on your sleep because the kid's awake. I know it's supposed to be different if it's your own flesh and blood, but..." Her voiced trailed off, and she shrugged. "I think we need to meet with the couple and the lawyer before we make a decision, though."

Faith's cell rang. She glanced at the caller ID.

"Speak of the devil," she said. "Hey, Wade. What did you find out? Tomorrow night?" She looked at Teresa and Jacob. "They're right here. I'll ask them and call you right back." She snapped the phone shut.

"Tomorrow." Teresa sounded hesitant. "Don't you have a game, Jacob?"

"Yeah," he said. "But the JV plays first. Our game doesn't start until 7:30. I'll tell the coach that I won't be there for warm up. And if I miss part of the game, I'll just miss it. This is more important. How early can they meet us?"

Relief washed over Teresa's face. Her eyes shone.

"He just got some love points," Faith thought as she dialed Wade's number.

"What's the earliest they can meet?" she asked. "Jacob has a ballgame. He's willing to be late if necessary, but the earlier the better."

She hung up again. "He's going to check," she said.

While they waited, Faith got everyone some tea and cookies.

It turns out that both couples could be there by 5:30. The men were basketball fans and perfectly understood the need for an early meeting.

With that settled, Aaron brought up telling the parents.

"The more people who know, the greater the chance that your parents will hear about this by some other means," he said.

"Is your Dad a high school basketball fan?" Faith asked Teresa.

"Nope. He'll be parked in front of the TV."

"We could talk to him while the game's in progress," Faith said. "That is – if you like what you hear."

"And I'll tell my parents as soon as the game is over," Jacob added.

"That might be pushing it," Aaron said. "If we meet with the couples at 5:30, the two of you won't have much time to talk before the game and make an informed decision."

"We've already pretty much decided," Jacob answered. "After we did our research, Teresa and I talked. Abortion is out. Keeping the baby is not the best thing for the kid. That only leaves adoption."

"The only thing we're not sure about is whether I should go to a home or try to stay here," Teresa said. "I guess our parents' reactions will pretty much make that decision for us."

"We want her to stay," Jacob added. "I want to be there for her during the pregnancy and be part of the adoption process. If I'm going to give up my child, I want him to know that it was because I loved him not because I abandoned him and Teresa."

Aaron and Faith agreed to meet the kids at the church at 5PM.

"We can have a prayer together before we go," Aaron said. "We can go in my car to the meeting. We'll drop Jacob back at the church afterwards, and then Faith and I'll go to Teresa's house with her."