Angie and Dub got here about four on Friday afternoon. I’ve honestly never seen him more excited. He was running around the house laughing and playing with the dogs who were barking like crazy… and it went on and on… and he was trying to tell David and me everything that had happened in the past week all at once… and we were laughing and he kept jumping into our arms and hugging us. It was just nuts. When things settled down a little, he said, “We brought pizza!” and started pulling us by the hands. He dragged us out to the car and we found a whole bunch of Pizza House boxes full of pizza. Angie laughed and told us Dub had talked his grandparents (Donnie’s Dad and Mom) into taking him to Pizza House for lunch on Thursday. When they ordered, Dub told them “Need to take some home for my dads.” So they ordered two large carry-out pizzas. But Dub said, “What about Mom?” So they ordered one for Angie and one for Dub and told him he could have a pizza party when he got home. He thought about it and said, “Need some for Unca Keon and Unca Rick, too.” So, they had lunch at Pizza House and ended up with six large pizzas for Dub to bring home for a pizza party. Angie said Mick and Annie (his grandparents) thought Dub’s concern for his dads and Mom and uncles was about the cutest thing they’d ever seen. Dub wanted to know if we could “ask Unca Keon and Unca Rick over for the pizza party Friday evening,” so we did. We had a great time with Dub bringing the guys up-to-date on everything that had been going on in his busy little life… and we managed to finish off a huge salad, a couple of bottles of wine and four of the six pizzas.
After Rick and Keon went home… and Dub went to bed, Angie said she needed to talk to us. So, we opened another bottle of wine and sat down with her in the living room. She said that she was concerned about what would happen to Dub if something should happen to her. She said that having lost Donnie and her Dad in just a few months made her realize how important it is for Dub to have stability in his life. Mick and Annie (Donnie’s parents) had told her they were also concerned. They all agreed this was the best place for Dub to grow up… with people who love him. They’re afraid that if anything should happen to Angie, Dub might not end up living with David and me. They said that (living in Missouri) they’re afraid the courts might not let us continue to raise him. Angie teared up a little and finally asked if we would be willing to adopt Dub. David and I were just stunned. And finally said, “Of course we want to adopt him,” and we talked and hugged and cried a little… and finally called it a night.
Long story short, on Saturday morning, David called our attorney and told him we needed his help because Angie had to fly out on Sunday and we wanted to get something done about Dub before she left. We then dropped Dub off at Keon and Rick’s and went to meet with the attorney. We had a long discussion, filled out a ton of papers, and he made a video of Angie talking about Dub and why she wanted David and me to adopt him. There’ll be lots more paperwork and some hurdles to jump, but it’s going to happen.
So that’s it. It’s not official – and won’t be for another 6 or 7 months, at least – but we’re adopting Dub. We haven’t told him yet… and don’t plan to until we’re ready to finalize things. I don’t think it’ll probably ever quiet down around here. I don’t guess that’s a bad thing 🙂