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\u201cI will care for him,\u201d Micah declared. \u201cHe can stay with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the system had its own way of doing things. The caseworker, though kind, spoke with firm finality\u2014Zayden would be placed with a temporary foster family while long-term arrangements were made.<\/p>\n
Micah was devastated. He begged. He tried to reason. He cried himself to sleep night after night. Yet the room at the end of the hall stayed empty.<\/p>\n
What Micah didn\u2019t know was that behind the scenes, we were doing everything we could. There were interviews to complete, background checks to pass, parenting classes to attend, and paperwork that seemed endless. Late-night phone calls, early morning emails\u2014it consumed us. But we didn\u2019t tell Micah, afraid it might all fall through and break his heart again.<\/p>\n
Then, after months of waiting, we called him outside.<\/p>\n
He grumbled like any 9-year-old would, dragging his feet behind me and my husband. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
We simply pointed toward the driveway.<\/p>\n
Standing there, clutching the same teddy bear, was Zayden.<\/p>\n