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Monday morning I could not even eat breakfast I was so nervous. I felt like I was getting
on a huge roller coaster. I was sure that we would get a call telling us the hearing had been canceled again.
When
no such call came we went downstairs to meet our driver and he whisked us off to a building so old and run down that I did
not think it could possibly be the court. Natalya met us with our court translator and we went in through a turnstile, up
a small staircase and into a skinny long hallway. We stopped at the first door and everyone started talking very quickly in
Russian and gathering documents. Other people arrived and milled around. We were all squeezed into a very small area off the
hallway and everyone was pacing back and forth and looking very nervous. 
I was simply beside myself and just wanted to get it over with.
It wasn't long before someone opened the door
into a tiny room that had the judges chair and desk and just room enough for the prosecutor, secretary, the 2 ladies from
the orphanage, us and our translator.
We waited for probably 10 minutes for the judge to appear. She came in all business
and began right away. She spent a lot of time reading each paper out loud and our translator repeated everything to us so
it took twice as long.
She asked which one of us would like to talk about why we wanted to adopt so Jeff stood up
and talked about how we were both adopted and wanted to do the same for another child. She asked if we were both in agreement
and we both said yes.
Then she started the questions about our finances. She asked about if we thought we could afford
another child, if we planned on paying for her education and if we expected our income to stay the same. It took about 5 minutes
and she moved onto questioning the ladies in the orphanage who said they thought she was a good match for our family and that
we interacted well together.
They talked about the fact she had been exposed to TB over and over again, stressing
that no Russian family would want her because of this. The judge asked if any Russian parents had shown any interest in her
and the director said no not ever. The judge asked if there was a possibility any Russian family would take her and the directors
once again stressed that no Russian family would want her because of her TB exposure and that she desperately needed to be
in a family as soon as possible with good food and vitamins. They said they believed we could give this to her.
The
judge asked me to stand and asked about our oldest son who is in the Air Force. She asked how long he was in for and if when
he got out he would come to live with us. I couldn't help myself and laughed a little and said No he would not be back to
live with us. She told me I could sit down and that was the only time she asked me anything.
Then she moved onto the
prosecutor who said that she had looked over all the papers and was in favor of granting the adoption.
The judge looked
over her paperwork then said she would consider our request and return shortly.
That was the longest 10 minutes of
my life. When she returned she began reading paperwork out loud again, basically repeating everything that had been said including
the TB issue another 4 or 5 times.
As soon as she finished reading she closed her files and said "All Finished". She
stood up and left the room. I was looking around wondering what happened. The translator was smiling and said Congratulations.
It was so anticlimactic....nothing like I had imagined. I thought I would break down and cry but instead all I felt was this
overwhelming relief and desire to get out of there.
When we left the court we went straight down the street to the
MOE and where we were signed off the list of prospective adoptive parents. We went back to the hotel, changed out of the fancy
court clothes, picked up Emily and Jeffy and headed for the orphanage. We stopped along the way to eat then settled in for
the 2 hour drive.
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On the way we got pulled over by the police who were carrying
machine guns. They asked our driver what our business was and he showed them papers and they let us continue.
Once
in the village we went to a local office with treacherous stairs to pick up her new birth certificate and the certificate
of adoption and then onto the orphanage.
There they brought her to us and we changed her into going home clothes.
They always joke that when you adopt a Russian child thats all you get. One skinny naked little kid. No clothes. Nothin'.
The director was quite impressed that we brought her jeans and tennis shoes that lit up.
Then we got to go upstairs
and see where she had been living. Their day room was nice, very large with a parakeet, fish tank, lots of plants, a small
TV, and off to the side they had their bedroom where all 12 of them slept.
We passed out little goodie bags we brought
for each of them and they opened them up and ate the chocolate first. Katya was the only girl with longer hair. I think they
let her hair grow since they knew she was going home. All the other little girls had hair cut very very short. One little
girl was sick and they had her laying in bed by herself. She looked so sad until we brought her a goodie bag.
Emily
and I were fighting tears as we were getting ready to leave looking at the children and wishing they could come home with
us.
Soon it was time to leave and the caretakers where holding Katya and kissing her and I could see her wiping tears
away and trying to hide the fact she was crying.
We took her downstairs and by the time we got to the van she was
smiling and climbing in without looking back.
On the way home our driver got pulled over again. This time they said
he was speeding...more police with machine guns. There was no way he was speeding considering the number of people who passed
us like we were standing still. Our driver simply got out of the car, took out his wallet and handed the officer some money.
The officer nodded curtly and indicated he could continue along. The whole process took about 3 minutes. Natalya said it saves
time for the drivers to pay the fines on the spot. The police do the paperwork later back at the station. Jeff leaned
over to me and whispered, "I wonder how much of that money actually makes it back to the station?" Not much I suspect.
As
we continued on, Katya ate almost a whole bag of cheese puffs. Within about 15 minutes she looked pale and ill. We stopped
the van and took her out to get some air and when we got back in she laid down and fell asleep.  She woke up as we got back to the city but continued to lay down and she looked very sad and quiet. I misinterpreted her
silence as sadness for leaving the only home she had known for the past 2+ years.
As we pulled up the hotel and we
were getting out and she turned a pretty shade of green and puked all over the back of the van and sidewalk.
She looked
up at me and smiled. OK now she felt better. I was apologizing to the driver and wiping up the back seat but he seemed OK
about it and said that it was OK and most kids ended up throwimg up at some point along the way. Well at least I knew why
the brought the old ugly van for this trip.
When we got her up to the hotel room and changed her clothes she suddenly
opened up and starting chattering away in Russian and smiling and chasing Jeffy all over the place. All my fears that she
was sad disappeared as she giggled and tried every knob, drawer and remote control in the room.
She had spaghetti
for dinner and she ate like she hadn't eaten in a week. She wouldn't sleep in the fold out bed in the living room with Emily
so we folded one of the thick quilts next to my side of the bed and she slept there.
It was the beginning of a great
adventure for all of us and a day I honestly thought would never come.
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