Not a Chance(111)

But then he got a phone call to go to the local DFS. He couldn't imagine what had happened. He packed Emily into her carseat and drove straight to the office. He was shocked to see Tonya sitting there with a social worker and another man he didn't know. The man stood and introduced himself as Harvey Lessinger, a lawyer Mark Butler had hired for him. Travis didn't have time to think. Emily was still in her carseat which he was holding in his left hand. He sat her gently on the floor and took a seat at the table. He looked at Tonya, but her face was stony.

He was holding a pen and in the process of signing a paper when it fully dawned on him that Tonya was letting him adopt Emily. She was terminating her parental rights. It was explained to him that this was all dependent on a court's approval and that afterwards there would still be a lot of process to go through before the adoption was final.

When he would look back on this time in the future, it would seem so amazing to him that things had gone as smoothly as they had. Of course during every step of the process he was a nervous wreck, worried that one little misstep would result in him losing Emily. But none of that happened.

He would come out on the other side of the whole ordeal with the love of a beautiful woman and a sweet, red-headed daughter to raise.