JSM - Edition Two

L ove I s T hicker T han B lood - continued

Barbara got up extra early and jumped straight onto the computer. She looked on multiple adoption websites in many different countries before making up her mind to adopt a child from Russia. A Russian child would be an exciting addition to the family she thought. She learnt all she could about Russian adoptions. Barbara read to herself ‘The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a contract preventing United States families to adopt Russian children’. Would that apply to Australians? She wondered if it did. She scrolled down a bit more to find that the Prime Minister removed this restriction. She also read ‘Foster children and adopted children are less likely to graduate because they have been through so many changes.’ Maybe that could be why Buddy never graduated she thought. In Russia they also have places called baby houses where young orphans stay until the age of three. However, she agreed with Gary that they would get an older child, so she would need to visit a proper orphanage. None of the Russian adoption websites stood out to her until she came across St. Stephen’s Orphanage for Girls. She didn’t know why it stood out to her, it just did. She didn’t want to waste any time, so she booked an appointment for Tuesday. All they needed to do was pack and fly to Russia and choose a girl that would give them a new beginning. “Gary, I’ve got good news,” said Barbara tapping Gary repeatedly, getting louder and louder each time. “What is it?” he finally said. “We’re going to RUSSIA!!” she screamed pulling Gary out of bed. “Why?” Gary moaned still half asleep. “We are adopting a girl,” Barbara stated. “Shouldn’t we talk about this a bit more before making any life changing decisions?” he said following Barbara into the kitchen. “I thought we had decided last night,” replied Barbara. “We are going to pick her up from Russia on Tuesday.” “Tuesday! We are going half way across the world to adopt a child in three days!” Gary stammered.

“I thought you wanted a girl,” Barbara said, walking into the kitchen. “Barbara wait. I do, I just needed a moment to take it in,” he corrected. “Good, because we better start packing,” Barbara said grabbing a suitcase. Chapter Four: Russia

“ Vy mozhete pokinut’ samolet pryamo seychas. Blagodarim Vas za letuchey rossiyskogo vozdukha, kotoryy my nadeyemsya uvidet’ vas snova v sleduyushchiy raz.” The captain said through the loud speaker.

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JSM Edition Two