Vinnie pulled a file out of the open leather briefcase sitting on the floor at his feet. He set the file down on the table and opened it.
“I will be fifty-five years old this year, way too old to be the father of an infant, let alone twins. And while I am working on getting out of the life I have lived for the last forty years, my world is no place to raise a child. Your world, however…”
My jaw dropped when Vinnie handed over the stack of papers from the file.
“I’d like you and Sal to adopt the twins.”
“Us?” I gasped.
Sal and I had talked about having kids, and just recently, too, but I wasn’t sure I ever truly believed it would happen.
“You are both loving, caring people, with a strong moral and ethical code that I want ingrained into the twins. I know if you raised them, they would never fall into my way of life. And living here”—Vinnie glanced around the great room—“they would be safe.”
“Vinnie, I don’t know…I don’t know what to say.” I glanced at the man sitting next to me, saying nothing. “Sal?”
“What would be your involvement?” Sal asked.
“The adoption would be legal.” Vinnie nodded to the papers I held in my hands. “I had my lawyer go over these. For all intents and purposes, you would be the parents. I wouldn’t even be mentioned in any final paperwork except for signing my rights away to you two. Your names would be on the birth certificates.”
“Even though gay marriage is now legal and we are married, it’s still hard for gay people to adopt,” Sal pointed out.
“As the only living parent, I have full parental rights. I’ve already signed the adoption papers. All it would take is for you two sign them and then have a judge sign off on them. Once they are filed with the court, the twins would legally be yours.”
“What about home visits and such?” Sal asked.
I wished he would shut up.
Vinnie shook his head. “This is a private adoption. There’s no need for home visits.”
“And after the adoption?”
Vinnie sighed as he clasped his hands together. “I was never supposed to be their father. I was just the sperm donor. Don’t get me wrong; I care about the twins. They are all I have left of Isabella, but I can’t be their father.”
“So, if we did this, you’d still want to see the girls?” Sal asked.
“I wouldn’t interfere in how you raised them, but I’d like to be an uncle or close family friend.” Vinnie swallowed hard, giving testament to how nervous he was. “I’d like to watch them grow up, see them thrive. I’d like to know that they are happy. Isabella would have wanted that.”
I glanced down at the papers in my hand. They were indeed adoption papers. Everything had been filled out. The only thing needed was mine and Sal’s signatures. There were even little yellow Post-it notes next to where we were supposed to sign.
“Isabella Rosita Vella?” I asked as I glanced up. “Was that her name?”
Vinnie nodded.
“And the twins?” I asked. “What are their names?”
“Sophia and Maria, but they are young. You can change their names if you wish. They held no deep meaning to Isabella. She just liked how they sounded when she heard them on the television after the twins were born and she couldn’t think of any others.”
I glanced at Sal. “What do you think?”
“An infant is a lot of work, Lany. Two even more so. I’m not sure we’re ready for something like this.”
I wasn’t sure we were either, but the idea was growing on me. The thought of completing our family with two little girls warmed something deep in my center.
“We could do it, Sal. We were already talking about having some kids. This is just a little earlier than we had figured.”
“What about work, Lany? Two little girls will take up a lot of our time.”
“We can hire a nanny.”
