Maphada's birth parents are both living. She had already been living at the orphanage for 3 1/2 years when I met her, and she didn't really know or have a relationship with her Haitian mama and papa. Nalique's mother died in June of 2012. She had a really high fever and died in a matter of 48 hours. Can you imagine? His father did everything in his power to take care of his son on his own for 3 months, but he couldn't work to earn money for food and stay with Nalique as well. With no family to help him, he made a gut-wrenching decision. After listening to Nalique cry out in hunger, after seeing his body begin to waste away, he made a decision that I cannot even begin to fathom making myself. He decided to take his son to an orphanage where he could rest in the knowledge that he would be fed. Diaper bag in hand, he brought his baby boy to perfect strangers, assured himself he would be taken care of, and walked away. I arrived the very next day. And a few days after that, Papa Nalique came back to check on his son and relinquish his rights to the orphanage. It was a day I will never forget, and a day I am determined to help Nalique to remember. It was so bittersweet. He was smiling so big and was so happy to see how well his son was doing in just a matter of days. He held him so tight and began to nuzzle his neck and coo at him. Soon we found ourselves sitting together on a rock wall, me fighting tears, him whispering Nalique's name over and over and over again. It was the most precious, heartbreaking thing ever. The ideas I had upon initially meeting Nalique seemed absolutely ludicrous. He didn't need me. He needed his Papa. But that wasn't entirely up to me...
A day or two later I took one last look at Nalique all snuggled in his crib, hugged my Maphada goodbye, and left the orphanage. What happened over the next few weeks was nothing short of miraculous. Papa Nalique shared with Amber that he really wanted his son to have a "mother's touch". He communicated to Jude that he would like for him to be adopted. After witnessing the love he had for him firsthand I still couldn't quite see or wrap my heart around the idea of adopting him. Besides, there were lots of changes taking place with Haitian adoptions, and there were deadlines for submitting paperwork under the old process that we couldn't possibly meet, so we tabled the idea. A few days later I was on facebook. Imagine that! I read that the deadline for submitting paperwork under the old guidelines had been extended until October 31st. Could it be? Was it possible that we could compile an entire dossier in a matter of weeks, get it legalized and submitted on time? It didn't seem possible, but as long as that window of opportunity was open, Chris and I prayerfully decided to walk through it. I ran like a crazy woman getting new translations, new reference letters, new bank statements, you name it and had everything ready to go in less than two weeks. London and I made a flying trip to Austin to get all the documents certified, then we sent it all off to Miami to be legalized by the Haitian Consulate. At some point during that time we were told that our attorney was using our old dossier, so I had rushed around for no reason, but either way, we weren't going to complain. Our dossier was submitted to IBESR on October 31st, with one hour to spare!!!
On our trip to bring Maphada home I had the bittersweet privilege of seeing Papa Nalique three separate times. The first time I ran into him was at the market. It left me absolutely breathless. So many things I wanted to say...but I couldn't breathe! He was happy to see me, but it all felt so very awkward. I was really thankful when he showed up at the orphanage a week later and I was able to speak somewhat intelligently with him. My heart was still so heavy regarding his circumstances. So much loss, so many ashes piled up around him, and we get all the beauty? It's not fair. At all. We talked through a translator for a bit and he assured me that he wanted me to be his son's mother. Again, can you imagine? What an honor, so incredibly undeserved, to have this man tell me such a thing...
And now here we are, his adoption moving at lightening speed. All the signs have said go. All the lights have been green. Yet here I sit, heavyhearted for the father and mother who gave Nalique life and I wonder how in the world I will adequately teach him how to live it? Why did he choose me? And most importantly, how do I honor this father who has entrusted us with so much??? For now, I honor him with one word..."our"...because Nalique is not mine. He is not Chris'. When I say "our", I am including Luckner Joseph and Manoucheka Gerome, Nalique's first Mama and Papa. And once he is home, I will continue to honor them by being the best mother I can possibly be to our precious son, Nalique Joseph Hutton, and I will make absolutely certain Nalique always knows how much he was loved and cherished in their hearts, as well as ours. I will always tell him the story of how I sat on a rock wall next to his papa, listening as he whispered his love over him...
