Richard thought of Anne.
He thought of the emptiness.
“I’m counting on it,” he said.
The courtroom went quiet.
Gloria Parker watched him closely.
When the judge finally signed the papers, Richard didn’t cheer. He didn’t smile big. He just sat there, stunned, like someone had handed him a mountain and said, Carry this with your bare hands.
Outside the courthouse, Gloria handed him the official adoption documents.
“You did it,” she said.
Richard looked down at the papers. His name. Nine lines under it.
Nine daughters.
He exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for years. “Now I just have to keep them alive.”
Gloria’s mouth twitched. “Start with one bottle at a time,” she said.
That first night at home was chaos.
Nine cries, overlapping. Nine bottles warming. Nine tiny mouths that didn’t care about his exhaustion.
Mrs. Johnson arrived at 2 a.m. with her hair wrapped in a scarf and her sleeves rolled up.
“Sit,” she ordered.
Richard collapsed onto a chair, eyes burning.
Mrs. Johnson moved through the nursery like she owned it. She checked diapers, adjusted blankets, hummed under her breath.
“What are their names?” she asked.
Richard blinked. “They don’t… they don’t have official names yet.”
Mrs. Johnson stopped and looked at him. “Then give them some,” she said. “A baby deserves a name.”
Richard swallowed hard. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a small notebook—Anne’s notebook, the one she kept by her bed.
Inside were lists: grocery lists, reminders, little sketches… and one page labeled Baby Names.
Anne had written nine names beneath it—names she loved, names she’d imagined calling down a hallway.
Richard’s hands trembled as he read them aloud.
“Hope,” he whispered. “Faith. Joy. Grace. Mercy. Patience. Charity. Honor. Serenity.”
Mrs. Johnson’s eyes softened. “Those are strong names,” she said.
Richard’s voice cracked. “They were Anne’s.”
Mrs. Johnson nodded slowly. “Then Anne’s love still lives,” she said. “Right here.”
One by one, Richard leaned over each crib and whispered the name like a promise.
“Hope.”
“Faith.”
“Joy.”
“Grace.”
“Mercy.”
“Patience.”
“Charity.”
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