David paced nervously up and down the hospital waiting room. His brother Jack said, “Calm down, Dave! You’d think no one ever had a baby before!”

David smiled. “I know,” he said. “I’m just so nervous! I’ve always wanted to be a father!”

Jack grinned and patted his brother on the back. “Get ready to be a daddy, my man!” It was then that the doctor walked in and headed for David. There was something in his expression that killed all laughter, and David just knew.

It was, the doctor said, one of those one-in-a-million flukes, a rare mischance but it had cost Rita and their baby their lives. David listened to him very calmly and nodded in all the right places.

He didn’t even cry, but when he tried to take a step, his knees just folded. A weeping Jack had to hold up his brother and carry him home as if he were a child.

Days later, after Rita and their baby were buried, and everyone but Dave seemed ready to forget, he woke to a silent house. He reached out to Rita’s side of the bed. Empty.

Parents will make the most heartbreaking decisions for their children’s welfare.

He got up and walked down the corridor to the nursery and turned on the pretty nightlight that cast soft pastel stars up onto the ceiling. He and Rita had decorated that room as much with pain as with dreams. It was all gone.

Dave sat in the rocking chair Rita had insisted was a must-have and cried. His heart and his house were empty, his dreams were gone. He wanted to tear that nursery apart and negate that emptiness.

Suddenly, a thought invaded his mind. “You can’t fill a hole with anger, only with love.” Who said that? Dave wondered. He’d heard that somewhere, sometime. Now, maybe that idea might save his life.

Dave contacted social services and inquired about adopting or fostering a child. At first, the social worker was hesitant. “We don’t usually give children to single parents,” she said. “Though it IS becoming more common.”

“I have a good life,” Dave said. “I have a lot to give a child, especially love. My wife and I dreamed of being parents — I want to make that dream come true.”

The social worker picked up a file with lots of colored stickers on it. “Would you consider a special needs child?” she asked.

Dave shrugged. “All children are special, they all have needs,” he said quietly. “We never know what God might send us. I’ll take the child who needs me.”

Of course, Dave had to go through a lot of interviews and had to do some parenting workshops, but eventually, the big day came. They told him he had a son.

“We have a little boy who has been through three different foster families,” the social worker said. “His name is Sam, and he is two years old. He has Down syndrome…”

“Where is he?” asked Dave.

“Sam has some health issues you should be aware of,” the social worker said.

“I’ll take him to the pediatrician,” Dave said. “Whatever he needs, he’ll get.”

When Dave saw Sam, it was love at first sight. Sam was the cutest baby he’d ever seen!

At first, Sam was shy, but when he realized how much Dave loved him, and how caring he was, he slowly came out of his shell. Dave couldn’t understand how anyone could not want such an adorable child!

Of course, it took Sam a little longer to reach his milestones, and the doctor said they would have to watch his heart, but in almost every way, he was perfect!