This has been willed where what is willed must be.
SIXTEEN YEARS AGO
Vancouver, British Columbia
“He’s an artist, a pioneer:
We’ve got to have some music on the new frontier….”
The music of Nightfly came over the speakers of the Dodge Neon as it rolled up on Granville Street. Two well-dressed individuals were in the car, with one of them fidgeting ever so slightly.
“What if they turn us down, Sky?” the woman next to him said nervously. She was dressed in a blouse and skirt, trying to look as natural as possible without looking too ostentatious. She had green hair and in a short, pixyish hairstyle that brought out her yellow eyes. “I hope they won’t.”
“They won’t turn us down, Lo, I promise.” The man had sky-blue and white hair in a short cut, with his gray eyes covered by eyeglasses. “You’ll be great – and we’ve wanted this for the longest time,” he said as he pulled up in front of the New Futures Foundation building. “Plus, they need you.”
“Who needs me?”
Everblue Sky smiled at his wife Lotus Garden as they both got out of the car. “Whoever it is we choose, love. Whoever it is.”
As Sky opened the door for his wife, the receptionist greeted them. “Dr. Sky? Mrs. Garden? Welcome to New Futures. If you’ll come right this way, I’ll have you meet with our main counselor, Dr. Greater North.”
“Sure, lead the way,” Sky said to the woman, giving his wife a comforting look. So far, so good.
Greater North looked across the desk at them. “I must admit this is unusual. While the Government of British Columbia appreciates your desire to foster a child with the intent to adopt, we usually have Canadian families do the fostering.”
Lotus spoke up. “Dr. North, with all due respect, I am Canadian – grew up in Burnaby. And my family has been a fixture in the community for decades.”
“Yes, I’m quite aware; I had to look up your records as part of the process. I am curious, however, how a restauranteur and an American diplomat got together.”
Sky laughed. “College. Lo and I attended a year as exchange students overseas in Paris at the Sorbonne. I was studying economics; she was in the culinary school. We ended up living in the same apartment building and it just clicked. So surprise to both of us when we found out that we were both attending the same university normally as well. We moved in together, then got married when we graduated.”
“And my congratulations to you both; I’m sure that given your individual disciplines, it has not been easy to reconcile your professional lives with your personal ones.”
“You’d be surprised at how many people would jump to hire a classically-trained chef,” Lotus said with a smile, “and it helps as well that my family’s restaurants here in Vancouver are world famous.”
“I will admit that my career in the Foreign Service has presented some challenges for us, but given her own career, she’s been able to make a name for herself in some of the restaurants of some of the finest places in the world.” He put an arm around Lotus. “Lo is probably on speed dial for most of the world’s famous chefs. I doubt many can say that.”
“Indeed. You’re cultured, diverse – Mrs. Garden is of Chinese ethnicity, while I understand you’re Hispanic, Dr. Sky?”
“Half and half. My mother’s Hispanic; my father is typical Midwestern stock – Scandinavian sorts, I guess,” Sky explained.
“Well, that works as well. You both speak a few languages, and you’re well-off. And while we admittedly have never had a foreign adoption before, I’ve spoken to a few people from the Ministry and they are willing to give whatever aid they can. However, due to potential conflicts of interest, the provincial government will not be able to furnish you with the typical stipend we give foster families. I trust that will not be a problem?”
“Not at all,” Lotus answered.
“Also, one last thing: while I know you two asked for a single child, either a boy or a girl, we cannot accommodate that request at this time. However, if you are willing, I have a case that needs urgent placement, and you two look like very qualified candidates.”
Both Sky and Lotus looked at each other with hope, and then turned those eager smiles onto Dr. North. “In for a penny, in for a pound, Doctor,” Sky said, while Lotus merely nodded.
“Good.” He reached into his drawer, pulling out a folder. “About two days ago, Vancouver Police found a pair of people, both in their early twenties, and both apparently Chinese nationals – allegedly they were illegal immigrants, with almost no documentation whatsoever. While that in itself is problematic, it was exacerbated by the fact that they were discovered dead – both of drug overdose. Moreover, they left three girls behind – fraternal triplets, no more than a week old at the most.
“We’ve discussed this with the Chinese consulate, and with what little documents were provided, it seems Beijing cannot find any matches to the deceased. As a result, they concur that the children were likely born here in Vancouver and as a result are Canadian citizens. However, they did request that we settle them with a Chinese-Canadian family if at all possible. And as you point out, Mrs. Garden, you are such a person.”
A curious look came over Lotus’ face. She was more than ready to be a mother, and she’d always wanted more than one child, especially a girl. More than one at once, however, was going to be a challenge. “Sky?”
“I’m okay with this, Lo,” he told her. “Just makes for a bigger family, is all.” He turned to Dr. North. “Would you tell us more, please?”
Dr. North handed them the folder. “As we said before, there was little documentation for the adults – and none for the children. As a result, the police officer who found them named the three.” The adoption counselor chuckled. “He named them Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.”
Sky blinked. “As in The Dazzlings? The 60s girl group?”
“One and the same; I was informed that Officer Blueline is a huge fan, apparently,” he said with a smile. “In any case, there were no indicators of birth order, so we’re assuming age based on naming order. The Ministry has issued birth certificates based on the day that they were found by the police, as they are too young to get a definitive answer via DNA testing.” He pulled picture out of the folder, the image showing a cute-as-a-button newborn with burgundy-colored eyes and a tuft of orange hair that poised to curl. “That would make Adagio here the oldest, followed by Aria and then Sonata.” Two more pictures were produced, and both girls had violet eyes, with Aria having violet hair and Sonata light blue.
Lotus fell in love instantly. “Doctor, when can we meet our girls?” she said, making it clear that she would accept them.
“They will be out of the hospital tomorrow. Given their parents’ deaths, we had to check to see if there were any latent drugs in their system. Sadly, too many children are born addicted to drugs because their mother abused them during pregnancy,” Dr. North said in a sad voice, but then perked up. “We will see that they are well-cared for before we turn over custody, and I can tell you both will give them the finest care afterwards.”
“You can bet we will,” Sky said with confidence.
“You know, Lo, I really hate you,” Lotus’ sister-in-law Twilight Velvet said in jest. “I had a baby the hard way. You’re just being a lazy ass.” Lotus of course knew Velvet was joking, as she’d gone to the child psychologist for advice on adopting when they discovered that Lotus was barren.
“Yeah, well, I remember when you had Shining, and I thought, ‘Naah, no thanks.’ So for you to do it again?”
“Call me a sucker for punishment. Little Twily is just worth it, though, so much so that I’ll probably have another. I will definitely wait until Shiny’s in high school, however. Give some spacing between whale periods.”
“Yeah, well, look at it this time,” Lotus mused. “At least you only have to buy for one. We have to buy for three.”
“That’s certainly going to be a challenge. Are you ready for that?”
“As much as we can be. Sky’s out right now with my father getting two extra cribs and what we need. Mom and my brother are getting the bedroom ready – you won’t believe how much English and Mandarin things my parents have bought. I suspect Mom wants to make them into the next generation of family members ready to take over the business.”
“Is that even going to be possible? I thought you and Sky were getting ready to move to Washington next year?”
“Yes, but we’ll manage. The guys in Sky’s office are already putting together the paperwork so that we can bring them once we move. And the Canadian government says so long as I’m still Canadian – which last time I checked, I was – we’re filling the agreement that the adoption agency made with the Chinese consulate. So we should be good to go there.”
“Well, I think I need to get going. I hear the baby, which means it’s feeding time.”
“Not sure I envy you on that or not, Vel.”
“Hey, at least I have someone to have a pity party with – my sister-in-law gave birth to her daughter last month down in LA. They’re planning to move here in August, so we can complain about getting old and fat together. Plus, Twily will have someone to play with when she gets older.”
“That’s good. I’ll let you go so you can feed the beast. Give our love to Night for us. Bye!” Hanging up the phone, Lotus heard the approach of a truck. She looked out the window to see an IKEA vehicle pull up, with her father’s truck behind it.
“Well, I think we got enough stuff,” Sky told her as the IKEA workers started to offload the needed baby gear. “And if not, we can always get more. After all, our girls must have the best, right?” He reached over and hugged his wife. “Tomorrow it all starts.”