“How often do adoptive parents walk out and have the birth parents cause trouble?” The elevator door opened and he let them get off first and showed them to a room down the hall. When they were inside, he closed the door. “Mrs. Colton, I can’t give you a 100 percent guarantee. But working with the agency the past few years and seeing how thorough they are, I would be very surprised—” he paused—“no, I would be shocked if anything happened with your son.”

The way he said it, how sure he was, comforted her. And when he said “your son,” her heart skipped a beat. Susan glanced at Jimmy, who raised his eyebrows and smiled, his dimples showing again.

The door opened and a nurse walked in cradling an infant. He was bundled in a blanket and wore a striped knit cap that fit perfectly over his head. The nurse handed him to Susan and all she could do was look in his face.

“He feels perfect,” she said, her voice trembling. She stroked his head and when she choked the same words out again, the nurse put a hand on her shoulder.

“Do you want to hold him?” she said to Jimmy after a few minutes.

“I like watching you hold him,” Jimmy said.

Jennifer came into the room and Susan looked up. “Is there something wrong?”

“The only thing wrong is that it’s getting late and you two have a long drive ahead,” Jennifer said.

“Is there anything else we need to do?” Jimmy said. “Sign any more papers?”

Jennifer looked at Scott and they both shrugged.

“You’re good to go,” Scott said.

“Wait, what’s his name?” Jennifer said. “The birth mom wanted to know.”

“His name is David James,” Susan said. “And tell her we can’t thank her enough for this gift.”

Susan held David out as Jimmy wrapped him in the yellow blanket they had brought and they walked downstairs. When they made it into the cool December night, Susan looked up. The sky had opened a shower of perfect snowflakes, as if welcoming their son into the world.

Susan lifted a hand to feel the flakes as they fell and it felt like a moment of pure praise for God’s answer to her prayers. Jimmy kept David’s head shielded from the snowflakes with a hand. Then they walked to the car with their son.

Melissa stood at the window, the blinds open, and watched the snow fall on the parking lot. The way it fluttered to the ground past the lights below looked pretty, but she felt separated from the world now, like her reason for living had been stolen.

She watched people scurrying along the sidewalk in the snow and wondered if the parents were there. Would they drive back to Louisiana tonight or get a hotel? She didn’t know and never would.