Three Cheers

Once Gerard walked through the door, Busy ran to him, "Daddy!"

It could've only been him.

"Aw, I missed you, baby B!" I heard Gerard; I saw him pick her up as soon as I walked in.

"I miss you daddy! Guess what!" Busy spoke a mile a minute.

"What?" Gerard grinned; he looked at me and came over to me, dropping his bag.

"We gots a baby! We gots a baby!" she sang happily.

Gerard's jaw slacked when he heard. He looked at me then back at Busy; "A baby?"

I nodded when his eyes fixed on me, "Rita Wells called me," I said softly, "We got matched with a baby girl."

Gerard looked shocked, "What?" he spoke in disbelief.

"Baby! We gots a baby, daddy!" Busy cried.

"Yeah," I bit at my lip, "We can go get her either now or tomorrow."

Gerard hiked up Busy on his hip, "Let's go now. We've been waiting forever!"

I couldn't believe this was real, "I think I need you to pinch me, Gerard."

He laughed, "If I do, you'll pinch me back."

I smiled, "So?"

"I'm not gonna pinch you."

"I do it!" Busy exclaimed.

Gerard shook his head, "No one is pinching anyone," he kissed her cheek, "Are you ready to be a big sister, Biz?"

"What's that?" she asked as Gerard set her down.

"How Uncle Mikey is my little brother," Gerard began, "Our new baby will be your little sister."

She grinned, "I can't wait! I want baby now!"

"Go put your shoes on," I told her, "We can go get the baby." I kissed her cheek.

"Okay! Okay!"


Gerard and I signed the adoption papers quickly, with Busy in Gerard's lap. My stomach was in tight knots as we met with the social workers. The mother of the baby girl wanted it to be a closed adoption; she is a young girl, but we didn't meet her.

I felt sadden for her, but I knew that having her little girl would make everything better. We could give her baby everything she couldn't. I only hoped that things would be smooth sailing while raising her.

The woman I had talked to on the phone, Rita, led Gerard, Busy and I into the small nursery at the agency. Gerard held Busy while I would hold the baby; whom we still hadn't decided to name yet. One of the social workers, another woman, had a pink bundle in her arms as she approached us where we had sat.

"This is your new baby," she said to me with a smile, "She's a cutie."

My stomach tensed tighter as I took the small sleeping baby from her. I held the baby, my baby, in my arms and moved the blanket from her face. I couldn't breathe when I saw her, out of fear and nervousness; she was so beautiful; she slept peacefully with a pacifier in her mouth.

"She's 6 weeks old, her birthday is November 25th." Rita explained, "All she needs is a name."

"Mama lemme see!" Busy whined, "I wanna see."

Gerard let her down; Busy came over and leaned over my lap. I couldn't keep my eyes off of our new baby. "She's pretty." Busy whispered.

"Yeah, she is, huh?" I looked at Busy, "What should we name her?"

Busy hummed, "Thor! We call her Thor!"

Gerard laughed softly, as did I, "B, we can't call her Thor. That's a boy name."

She frowned, "So?"

"How about Thora?" Rita joined in.

We call looked at her, Busy nodded, "Yes! Yes, Thora! Thora!"

Gerard looked at me, and I bit at my lip, "It is cute. Thora Way."

Gerard shrugged, "I did want to call our baby Autumn..."

"How about Autumn Thora Way?" I suggested to him.

Gerard smiled, "Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Come see her, Gee," I held the baby towards him, "She's beautiful."

Gerard scooted his chair closer to us and his face broke out into a grin when he saw the baby; Thora. I held her out to him, he exhaled softly as he took her from me, holding her delicately. 

"She's so cute," he said softly, "Hi Thora."

"Can I hold her, mama?" Busy asked as I set her on my lap.

"At home, okay?"

She nodded, while looking over at baby Thora and Gerard, "I can't wait to show Happy."


"Sit still," Gerard said to Busy as she sat on my lap, "Hold her gently."

"I will," Busy said excitedly, "I wanna hold Thora!"

Gerard had the baby, he set her in Busy's arms, while I guided her. Busy looked at Thora, cradling her in her small arms, "Hi Baby Thora." she whispered; the baby was still snoozing, but would be awakening soon.

"You got her, B?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yes. She's small, mama."

"Yeah, you were small too."

"I still small, but not like Thora." she looked up at me, "I like her."

"She likes you too, Biz." Gerard took a picture of them with his new camera.

"Where Happy?" Busy asked, "I wan' him to see."

"I'll get him," Gerard said, "Grandpa and Grandma should be coming with Elsa soon, too."

"Ooh! I wan' show them our baby!" 

Busy spoke a little too loudly and woke Thora up. She made a face, opened her eyes and started to cry. Busy gasped; "Oh, no! I broke her! I broke Thora!"

I shook my head as Busy started to tear up, "You didn't break Thora, B." I took the baby from her, "You just surprised her."

Once I had Thora, Busy moved and sat beside me, "I sorry, Thora! I sorry!"

I patted Thora's back and she started to calm down, "I think I may need to change her."

"Mama, she okay?" Busy bit her lip.

"She's fine," I told her, "Let me check her diaper."

"You sure?" Busy asked just as Gerard would.

"Yes, I'm sure, baby." I kissed her head.

Gerard came in just then with Happy, "What's going on?"

"I broke Thora!" Busy exclaimed.

Gerard raised a brow while I unwrapped her tiny blanket, "What?"

"She's okay. She just surprised the baby."

Gerard sighed happily, "Oh," he came over and picked up Busy, "Thora is fine, baby girl. Let mama handle it, she knows all about babies."

Busy nodded, "'Kay."

I checked the baby's diaper and saw she was wet; "I'm going to change her, alright, then you can show Happy our baby." I got up and cradled the baby as she looked around.

Busy smiled, "'Kay, mama."

Gerard kissed her cheek, "Feel better?"

Busy hummed, "Uh huh."

"After everyone meets Thora, we can go to the store and buy her presents for Christmas, okay?" Gerard coaxed her.

Busy nodded vigorously, "Yes! I wrap them too, daddy?"

Gerard nodded, following me to our bedroom to change the baby, "Yep."

It was all exciting; even if we didn't have all the necessary baby stuff, we still had time to fill it with things for Thora. We were all happy about this. Thora made everything so much happier.