On June 9, I had back pains. When I was about to get up to get water while I was studying for the finals, which is in a few days, I noticed my water broke.
"Stephanie, get Dad. My water just broke," I said.
That was when we rushed to the hospital. I called the adoption agency to tell them. They will inform the adoptive couple right away.
At the hospital, Samuel was by my side the whole time. They told me that I wasn't ready to push yet. I was about 5 diameters and I have to be 10 in order to push. They told me I was going to have a healthy child. I felt glad about that part. The adoptive couple was in the waiting room. They figured to give us some privacy for the time being.
Two hours later, the doctors told me it was time. That was when I gave birth to a girl. She was 8 pounds and 5 ounces. It felt good to hear her cry. I decided to call her Patricia to keep my grandmother in my memories. The doctor brought her out to the adoptive couple and they were happy.
"Meet your daughter," said the doctor.
"She's so pretty," said Mrs. Tuner.
"Our daughter will be happy to meet her new baby sister," said Mr. Turner.
"Have you decided on names?" asked the doctor. "Rebecca named her Patricia, after her grandmother. She said you can stick with that name or change to whatever you want."
"Okay," said Mrs. Turner.
Two days later, I was released from the hospital. I went to the adoption center to sign the final papers so Patricia can be with her adoptive couple. Samuel already signed it yesterday. They told me the couple kept the name, but replaced the first name to Nichole and kept Patricia as her middle name.
"I don't mind. I told them they can keep the name or change it if they wanted to," I said.
My life has been changed since after the adoption. I started bowling club again for fun. I spent two months in Bahamas with my mother. Stephanie was with me. On top of that, I learned I passed all of my finals. I felt great. I wrote a letter to Patricia to tell her she will always be in my thoughts and did what was best for her. They have that on from my file so Patricia can read it when she turns 18 when she's ready to look me up.
In fact, the Turners asked me if I would like to be the part of their extended family. I wasn't sure that was a good idea. I don't want to disrupt her life. I made a decision not to be the part of it. I wanted to forget everything. I have no regrets on giving her up to a good home. Dad, Stephanie, and Samuel agreed on my decision.
They also asked Samuel to be the extended family, but he turned them down, too. There were times I kept wondering about her, but I reminded myself I made the best decision for us. The adoption agency kept me in touch for a while to make sure I was doing okay. I liked that idea.
A few months later, after I started 10th grade, Albert asked Mom to marry him and she accepted it. Melissa was thrilled to be my stepsister. It's amazing that I'd have two stepsisters now. They got married before I turned 16. Albert had to buy a bigger house for me, Melissa, and Stephanie to visit him and Mom on weekends. Their house was a very good size. That was better than Mom's small house that had three rooms. Stephanie and I helped her to move all of our stuff to the new house. Stephanie and I decided to decorate the new room the way we had it before. In fact, the new room is big enough to have three beds, so we have two bunk beds. Melissa wanted to be with us, so her father agreed to let her do that. We had no problems sharing that room on weekends or holidays.
I had my driver's license before Christmas. Dad helped me save money to buy a car. In fact, he surprised me with a brand new car for Christmas.
"Really? I thought I saw three cars," I said.
"The one behind mine is yours. Our driveway is big enough to have three cars," said Dad.
"Wow, thanks, Dad," I said as I hugged him excitedly.
The only trouble about adoption is that I still think about Patricia sometimes. I almost cried around her first birthday. The specialist told me those feelings are normal. That helped me feel better. The sadness didn't stop me from telling myself that I still have no regrets about it and Patricia has a nice life. Samuel agrees with me that she's in a nice loving home. We're still together.
Two years later, we both got accepted into colleges of our choice. I did choose to study to be therapist like I wanted to do. I stayed with my girls instead of using the dorm rooms. Samuel wants to be a doctor.
A few years later, we both graduated and went on to get our master's degrees. Unfortunately, my father passed away when he had his third heart attack after we got married.
But my mom and I are still close. I still love my stepparents who care about me. I love my two stepsisters.
I live in California again. I'm glad I'm in my old hometown.
Now, we felt we were ready to have children since we got settled in. We have three kids, Samuel, Jr., Robert, & Mary Jane, and we are one happy family. I wanted to keep my best friend alive. I still miss her every day. I also miss my father, that's I named my second son after him to keep him in my memories.