Little blessings are welcome surprises. Our blessing came a couple of months ago when via a messenger one cool evening in October. Philip and I were on our way to do a little shopping when we got a phone call stating that a messenger had rang our doorbell regarding Philip's daughter. We automatically thought Kendall. We got the phone number of the messenger and called immediately. He had not gotten to far away from the house and arranged to meet us close by. Image our surprise when he handed papers to Philip indicating that A he has a 3 1/2 year old daughter in Florida, and B that her mother was unable to care for her and that she signed a Termination of Parental Rights and surrendered Alannah to the state of Florida for adoption. I am not sure how to describe the feelings that we felt, but we both exploded into tears. Who was this little girl, was she really Philip's daughter, how can we hug her!!? We had to set up a paternity test which we coordinated with the social worker to have done in Jacksonville on 11/24. Alannah's test was done on 11/30. The foster parents had petitioned to adopt Alannah and raise her as their own. We went back to Jacksonville for the hearing on 12/6 that was set to determine Alannah's future, the case was continued to 1/19 pending paternity test results. We met with the foster parents after court. We spoke with the foster parents for about 2 hours following court and shared stories and pictures, and got to know one another. They surely has predisposed ideas about who this "possible biologic father" was, and were relieved to find out that Philip was nothing like the person they had imagined he would be. They were pleased at the type of people that Philip and I were since they had been prepared for the worst, and instead found themselves talking to normal people who were surprised by every aspect of this situation. The foster parents were wonderful people who we found out had been there for Alannah off and on since she was 8 months old. These wonderful people had given Alannah nurturing to undo the negative environment she had experienced in the care of her biological mother. (someone Philip knew for about a month and a half 4 years ago). Thanks to these amazing people Alannah had a stable sense of well-being, where she previously had anger, fear and disregard. As foster parents they were exemplary, and we could not have asked for more wonderful people to have influenced this little girls little life. I say all of this because despite scientific/medical "proof" that Alannah was in fact Philips daughter, we fell in love and became attached to Alannah instantly the second we learned of her. We agreed that we would meet at a restaurant and have the opportunity to see Alannah but not talk to her, since paternity had not been established and we did not want to confuse Alannah. This was one of the most excruciating thing we have ever done. To see this warm, bright, beautiful little girl and not be able to hug her and talk to her was painful to say the least. However it did further solidify our belief that Alannah was Philip's daughter as there were strong resemblances. Even the foster parents who have know Alannah for most of her life, had to admit after meeting Philip that they definitely saw Philip in Alannah. So now the hard part, waiting. We all waited and waited and waited and waited some more. Over a month went by including Christmas, and New Years with no news. Finally Philip got "the call" on January 3rd at about 4:30 in the afternoon. The social worker called and said that the results were in.... 99.99% positive that Philip was Alannah's daddy. We happened to be at the Apple store surrounded by over 100 people, but we both burst into tears, finally an answer. While we were ecstatic we knew that Philip would have to call the foster parents and confirm with them that he would be seeking the opportunity that he and Alannah had not yet had, the opportunity to be a family. The news had to have broken the foster parents hearts and that is something we wish we could have avoided, but there is no way to avoid this, so we can only try to show the deepest level of gratitude for the love and stability they gave Alannah, in the time that Philip did not know she existed. So now here we are, we go back to court next Wednesday, and start the process of getting to know Alannah, and building a bond. Alannah will be 4 soon and it will take several months, but hopefully by summertime Alannah will be with her daddy permanently.
This is truly a story of little blessings.
