June 2011
Life was pretty great in the Honeycutt-Boyd household. Six months after bringing Lyla home to Pittsburgh, her adoption was finalized by the state, giving Emmett full legal custody of the beautiful baby girl. Drew then filed for second-parent adoption, which was soon granted thereafter. The two fathers were greatly enjoying raising their little Lyla Mae Boyd together as a family.
Daphne had gotten married shortly after Lyla's first birthday. The ceremony and reception were held at Britin and the plans and catering were of course handled by Emmett's Fabulous Festivities. Daphne, who looked like a beautiful princess in a white satin Vera Wang gown, had chosen Justin to be her Best Man along with her sister Delia and Justin's sister Molly as bridesmaids. Emmett and Drew sat together in the audience during the ceremony with Drew holding baby Lyla in his lap. Emmett being Emmett cried throughout, especially during the vows. Drew blinked back tears as Daphne and Curtis said "I do." While they were happy for their friend, they were sad for themselves, since it was uncertain as to whether they would ever be legally permitted to get married in their home state.
When Lyla was two and almost potty trained, Drew was about to begin his third season as a radio announcer for Pitt's football team along with working as a coaching assistant. He also did guest announcing for the Ironmen's televised home games once in awhile. Emmett's Fabulous Festivities was busier than ever, with Emmett doubling the size of his staff and making three of his employees partners in the company, including Head Chef Darren a.k.a. Shanda Leer, since coming back from Pakistan. He reduced the number of parties he worked so he could spend more time at home with Drew and Lyla. Drew's mother, Debbie, or one of their many friends babysat for them when they were both busy or needed an evening out.
Drew and Emmett decided that they wanted to add to their family. As much as he adored his daughter, Emmett knew that Drew wanted a son to share his love of sports and other manly interests.
"We should probably call Beena and ask what needs to be done," Drew told his partner.
"No need, our angel is due to visit her niece soon," the happy father answered. "She hasn't been here for almost a month; she must be very busy. I'm surprised Lyla hasn't started bugging me about her. She sure loves her Auntie Bee."
Beena called the next morning wanting to come by for a visit. When the doorbell rang just before lunchtime, Emmett picked his daughter up and carried her over to the security monitor screen by the front door.
Lyla looked at the monitor and started squealing excitedly. "Daddy, Auntie Bee's here. Open, open!"
Emmett opened the door for Beena, who took her favorite little girl into her arms.
"Hello, my beautiful princess," Beena said as she held Lyla.
She gave Emmett a kiss on his cheek before following him over to the couch, sitting Lyla in her lap.
"I spoke with Aunt Mala the other day and she loves the pictures you sent her of Lyla. I think it's so sweet of you to send pictures and let them know how she's doing, they really appreciate it. Also, Dr. Patel said that he knew your love could save Lyla, and he wanted you to know that you and Drew are amazing fathers."
Emmett teared up thinking about how important the Baqai family and Dr. Patel were in helping them to get their precious daughter.
"Drew and I really appreciate what all of them did for us and we want them to see what their efforts have done. We're actually thinking of adopting another child. We'd like to get a boy from South Korea, since we know that there are so many orphaned children in that region."
Beena smiled, happy to hear that the men wanted to expand their family. "It should be quicker to get approved by the state this time, since you've been approved once before. I can put in recent reports of how things are with Lyla since I'm here often, even if it is just to visit with the little princess as a friend. We actually have a caseworker at our office whose parents are Korean immigrants, and she has placed Korean children with a few local families."
"See, I knew it was a good idea to stay friends with you," Emmett said with a smile.
Beena laughed. "I know that a lot of the application process with South Korean adoption agencies can be done over the internet, so you won't need to go and spend months over there before bringing home a child. Unfortunately, it can take a while to get approved to adopt and be matched with a child before you're able to go. Unlike when you first got Lyla, you won't be able to get a newborn from South Korea; the youngest child you'd get would probably be about six months old, since orphans are usually placed with foster families in hopes of matching the baby with a local adoptive family. They don't grant as many international adoptions as they used to."
"Yeah, I read somewhere that they're going to be tightening their adoption laws soon, so we want to get the process started before then," Emmett said.
"You'll need to go through the application process with the state as you did previously, which will take a couple of months. It will be a bit different this time, since you won't be required to go through the new parent classes and you already have one adopted child in your home. There will be a focus on how adding a second child may affect Lyla, as well as taking your experience as a parent so far into account. I'm assuming that you'll be the one applying again?"
"Yes, Drew and I decided that I'll file as a single parent again. I just wish that we could apply as a couple, so that he won't have to adopt as a second parent later," Emmett admitted sadly. "We always intended on both of us having parental rights to our children, but I know it bums him out that we can't apply together from the get-go."
"Well, maybe one day people will finally realize that good parents come in a variety of packages, even two men or two women."
After having a nice lunch, Beena took her little princess to her room to play before having to go back to the office. Lyla loved spending girl time with her Auntie Bee.
Emmett was approved by the state to adopt a second child two months later. He received a call the following day from Beena's coworker, Jayoung Pak, asking if she could come to the house to discuss the prospective South Korean adoption. He asked her to come over in the afternoon when Lyla would be napping so that they would be able to talk without interruption.
Jayoung was right on time, and Emmett opened the door before she had a chance to ring the bell. They sat down in the living room and Emmett brought out some hors d'oeuvres he had made.
"Beena said I would enjoy coming here, and she was right," Jayoung commented as she tasted Emmett's crostinis. "According to Beena, you and your partner have done an amazing job with Lyla. She just loves coming here to visit and always brings pictures back to the office with her. Any child would be lucky to be included in your family."
Emmett beamed. "Thank you."
"The process of adopting from South Korea is very different than when you adopted from Pakistan," Jayoung began to explain as she opened up her laptop. "Nearly everything can be done over the computer beforehand, including registering with adoption agencies and selecting a child. Most people pick two or three children that they would like to see when they get to South Korea. Once you are approved by the local government to adopt, you will go to South Korea, visit with the children you have chosen, and make your final decision. You will probably only need to be in the country for a week or two at the most; that time will be spent getting the child's final paperwork in order so that you can bring him home with you to the states."
Emmett nodded, very happy to hear that he and Drew wouldn't have to spend much time away from home, especially when they had Lyla to take care of. "Beena explained some things with me already. I do like the fact that it will be done faster than it was with Lyla; Drew and I were in Pakistan for three months before we could bring her home. How do we get started on this?"
"I need to get you registered with our partner agency in South Korea, and then we wait for approval. In the meantime, you will need to get a lawyer over there; I know of one who lives in Seoul. When you get the approval, you will be sent a list of available children with their pictures, birth dates, and anything else that is known about the child. Some of them may be in orphanages while other will be in foster homes. You pick out a few and then arrangements are made for you to go meet them. I don't want you to stress, but I must warn you that they are not very fast about approvals; many adoptive parents take at least a year to get approved. The good news is that once you are approved, you may be able to find a child very quickly."
Emmett and Jayoung spoke a while longer before Emmett began to walk the lady to the door.
"Thank you for coming, and please keep me informed about how things are going," he said while shaking Jayoung's hand.
"I will. As I said, you and your partner seem to be wonderful parents. I'm very happy to help you expand your family."
Lyla came toddling down the stairs and into the foyer after waking up from her nap.
"Are you the lady who's going to help me get a little brother?" she asked Jayoung.
"I sure am going to try," Jayoung replied, impressed with how well the adorable little girl spoke at her age.
"Good, because Papa needs a boy to play with," Lyla said with a smile. "I don't like football. They get too dirty and I don't like dirt."
***************
August 2012
It was a Tuesday evening and the Honeycutt-Boyd family was watching The Little Mermaid when the doorbell rang. Drew and Emmett looked at each other curiously, since they weren't expecting anyone. Emmett got up to answer the door.
Standing on the porch was a very excited Jayoung, who had become close with Emmett and Drew over the past year as they waited for their approval to adopt their second child.
"Sorry, I couldn't wait till morning to come by," she said with a big smile.
Drew and Lyla had joined them in the foyer just as Jayoung announced, "You've finally been approved to adopt from South Korea!"
Drew was so excited that he picked up the petite woman and spun her around. "Yes, finally!"
Although he knew that it would take many months, Emmett had been growing more discouraged about getting approved for another child as the months had gone by. He bent down to pick up his daughter, and Lyla threw her arms around her father's neck and kissed him on his cheek.
"See Daddy, I told you that you just have to believe. Now Papa will have a boy to play boy stuff with and I'll have a baby brother! I'm so happy."
Emmett looked at his little girl with tears flowing down his face. "I'm happy too, Sweetie."
Once the initial excitement had passed, Jayoung took out her laptop and put in the code that would show them a list of available baby boys. Looking through the pictures, they all had their favorites. Lyla liked one baby in particular, one of the youngest on the list who had just turned six months old.
"Look at this one," she said as she pointed at the screen. "He's smiling and has happy eyes."
"Okay Princess, but remember that we need to pick a few more, in case this one isn't still available when Daddy and I go to South Korea," Drew reminded his daughter. "He may already be adopted by the time we get there. There are lots of other families who want babies, too."
They always tried to explain things to her in terms that her three year-old brain would understand.
Lyla nodded. "Okay Papa, but you and Daddy should go right away so that maybe we can get the happy one."
After making appointments to visit three children in Seoul that they were interested in, including the "happy one" that Lyla picked out, Drew made plane reservations for himself and Emmett to go to get their second child, leaving in two weeks. All three babies they had chosen to look at would all be at least six months old and able to be adopted.
Lyla would stay with her Auntie Bee for the week that Emmett and Drew would be gone. Beena had been wanting to take a vacation and this gave her the perfect reason to do it. Beena loved being with her little "niece", and she planned to take her on some day trips and just generally have a great time with the darling little girl.