Childless: A Novel (33 page)

The car
pulled close to a dying playground blemished by overgrown weeds and discolored monkey bars. Julia recognized Amanda fifty yards in the distance. She was sitting alone on a rusting swing that rocked to and fro without intent, a girl lost in solitary thought.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Troy asked.

“Give us a minute alone first. It might be better that way.”

He nodded in agreement before kissing Julia on the cheek.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked. “I mean, we haven’t even been married a year. Are we ready to become instant parents of an adolescent girl we barely know?”

“Correction,” he said with a smile. “You barely know her. I’ve never met her.”

She sighed at the truth of it.

“I can’t explain it,” he added. “But I have a strong feeling this is right for us. As if…” He hesitated.

“As if God is leading us?” she asked, giving him permission to take the conversation places she had too often resisted going.

A nod. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“I’m sorry, Troy.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I don’t know. For dragging my feet about motherhood. And for making you feel…”

Words failed her. But the gentle touch of Troy’s masculine fingers against the softness of her cheek told her he understood.

“Go on.” He nudged her toward the car door. “We’ll be fine.”

Julia made it as far as the monkey bars when Amanda noticed her approaching form. Ten more steps and she suddenly realized who it was.

“Ms. Davidson!” Amanda said enthusiastically. “Is that you? Remember me? Amanda Tozer?”

Julia laughed. “Of course I remember you, Amanda. I came to see you.”

The girl looked confused. “Me? Not Austin?”

“I already spoke to your brother. He told me you might be here.”

“My half brother,” she insisted. “He sent me a message saying to hang out here until he calls. Said I couldn’t come home right away. Not that I wanted to anyway. He was meeting with you?”

“He was,” Julia answered, reaching toward Amanda’s disheveled head of hair.

“I know. Bad hair day again,” she said. “I wish I had straight hair like you. It’s so pretty. You’re so pretty.”

Julia moved toward the swing beside Amanda’s. “Mind if I join you?”

“Really?”

“I’d like to chat. Then I’d like to introduce you to someone.”

She looked toward the vehicle in the distance. “Your husband?”

“Yes. Troy.”

“Really? Cool!”

Julia started pumping her legs back and forth. “I think I remember how to do this.”

“Easy as pie!” Amanda said, pumping her legs to demonstrate for a novice.

They swung in delightful silence for a few moments while Julia tried to put herself in Amanda’s shoes. A near-stranger was about to ask if she wanted to leave the home of her deceased mother, the only home the girl had ever known. How to approach the subject?

“Amanda,” Julia began, “I met with your brother because I want to ask you something.”

“Me? Really? What?”

Both swings eased themselves toward stillness. Julia turned toward the girl to meet her eyes.

“Do you remember when you said you wanted to call the Foster family?” Julia laughed at the recollection.

Amanda nodded. “Sure do.”

“Well, I made some phone calls to get information on how you could move in with a foster family.”

A series of rapid-fire questions shot in Julia’s direction. “Really? You did? For me? Wow! What’d you find out?”

“If the right family comes along, and if your brother—”

“My half brother!”

“Right, sorry. If Austin doesn’t oppose the arrangement, the process can move fairly quickly.”

“How quickly?”

“Depends on how fast the family can complete applications, get a home study done, attend training, that sort of thing.”

Amanda sat listening intently to every word.

Julia swallowed hard. “So, I was wondering—”

She didn’t finish the question. Amanda’s arms flew around Julia’s neck. “Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted as they tilted off balance, sending both bodies to a worn patch of gravel below.

Tears flooded Julia’s eyes as the girl planted her cheeks with six or seven kisses.

“I get to live with you?” she shouted between pecks. “And with your husband? Like a real family?”

Julia sat up with some effort. Then she patted the ground beside her to offer Amanda an adjoining spot.

“Everything’s already in progress,” she finally said. “So if you’ll have us, we’d be honored to have you.”

“You’ll be my foster family?”

“For a while,” Julia answered. “Until we qualify for full adoption.”

That’s when emotion filled Amanda’s eyes. “You mean it?” she managed to say after a long silence.

Julia nodded decisively. “I mean it.”

They sat on the gravel for several minutes while Julia explained the why, what, how, and when of a process she didn’t fully grasp herself. “I’m not quite sure of all the details,” she said. “But we’ll figure them out as we go. Right now, there’s a man over there who can’t wait to meet you.”

They stood. Then Amanda intertwined her fingers with Julia’s as they began to walk.

Troy opened the car door in the distance. Then he stood beside the vehicle, the look on his face reminding Julia of the day he’d asked her on their first date. But he seemed less anxious, more resolute, as if about to accept an adventure neither he nor Julia could begin to comprehend.

Their eyes met. He winked as if never more proud of his friend, his lover, and his partner in the task of becoming a bright spot in Amanda’s darkening world.

Dr. James Dobson
is the Founder and President of Family Talk, a nonprofit organization that produces his radio program, “Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson.” He is the author of more than thirty books dedicated to the preservation of the family. He has been active in governmental affairs and has advised three U.S. presidents on family matters. Dr. Dobson is married to Shirley and they have two grown children, Danae and Ryan, and two grandchildren. The Dobsons reside in Colorado Springs, CO.

Kurt Bruner
serves as Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Lake Pointe Church and on the adjunct faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary. A graduate of Talbot Seminary and former Vice President with Focus on the Family, Kurt led the teams creating films, magazines, books, and radio drama. As President of HomePointe Inc., he helps local church leaders create an ongoing culture of intentional families. Kurt is the best-selling author of more than a dozen books. Kurt and his wife, Olivia, have four children and live in Rockwall, Texas.

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Title Page
Welcome
dedication
Author’s Note
Victor
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Part Two
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Part Three
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
About the Authors
Newsletters
Copyright