ADOPTIVE PARENTS
.....Most of the details, which follow, were unbeknownst to me and told to me by various friends and family members, which I have compiled and recalled to the best of my knowledge.
.....Preceding my birth, Dino and Natalie married shortly after the close of World War II and like most couples during those days; they had next to nothing. They accepted a small drafty attic apartment in the home of Natalie’s older sister Nina.
.....Dino, the oldest of a large first generation Italian family consisted of four sisters and five brothers. He inherited a natural instinct for family devotion, responsibility, and loyalty. Therefore, at age 14 when his father died of a massive heart attack, he left high school before graduating and found a job.
.....Dino worked on the streets of Boston’s North End doing almost anything he could to support his ailing, frail mother, not to mention his eight siblings.
.....Natalie, on the other hand, a beautiful redhead with green hazel eyes and bore a striking resemblance to the classic actor Maureen O’Hara without the Irish brogue. Because of striking beauty and an atypical Italian facade, all the boys desired her. A woman who never thought twice about what she could have because she always got just what she wanted. Natalie, the youngest of 12, raised differently from Dino, had two sisters and nine tormenting brothers who usually annoyed her.
.....She did not appreciate the joys of childhood. Instead, she filled her Saturdays with scrubbing the hardwood floors in her home and cleaning up after her brothers. On Sundays, she occupied her time with church and cooking lessons. She never enjoyed the pleasures of dating or spending time with friends.
.....Eventually Natalie came of age realizing she did not need the constant supervision of her mother and brothers. This is when she met Dino and he would be her ticket out. She observed Dino’s charisma, mannerisms, and style, realizing how he acquired the reputation for being a womanizer. She heard many rumors of his conquests and realized she needed to try something unique to peak his interest in her direction. Little did she know Dino fell in love with her on first sight like a coconut from a Florida palm tree.
.....At their first meeting in the home of Dino’s cousin, he showed his audacity and confidence by declaring she would be the women he would marry. Natalie, who lived with nine brothers, only heard a macho line.
.....Natalie confident in the ways of persuasion to lure most men planned to attract the right kind of man. The man in question needed to love her more than she loved him.
.....On September 3, 1945, they were married. Six months later, Natalie became pregnant with a first child. In those economically tight days, Natalie recalled how overjoyed starting a family meant to them until Natalie suddenly past out on the floor with severe abdominal cramping. Dino rushed her to the hospital unfortunately too late and the baby stillborn.
.....Natalie and Dino learned to accept tragedy because within the next five years it would be their misfortune to lose six more babies. Natalie never carried her own children because her babies suffered from a condition known as ‘Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn’. After her last child had been stillborn due to severe hemorrhaging, she underwent an almost fatal total hysterectomy. She realized she would never be a mother and revealed to me the desire to adopt.
.....On a cold morning in February of 1951, after her hysterectomy, Natalie eagerly awaited her discharge from the hospital. Heidi, the head nurse on her maternity floor, came to her room to wish her well. Heidi and Natalie became good friends and developed a strong bond because Natalie spent many hours on this floor in the past several years.
.....“Good morning, Natalie. How are you getting along this morning? Ready to go home?” Heidi asked.
.....Natalie replied, “As well as can be expected, I guess. I will be very happy to get out of here and back into my own bed.
.....“Natalie, I am so sorry things worked out so badly for you and Dino.”
.....“Thank you very much, Heidi, I just do not understand why God has done this to me! What have I ever done to deserve this? My mother gave birth to 12 children without as much as a blink of an eye. What can possibly be wrong with me?”
.....Heidi gave her a big hug and said, “Well Natalie, maybe there is something I can do to help. There is a sixteen-year-old girl in the next room who just gave birth to a baby boy...”
.....“Forget it!” Natalie harshly interrupted.
.....“But Natalie this is an ideal situation for you and Kelly, the young girl I am talking about, to come to an arrangement. It will help both of you at this emotionally difficult time. She cannot care for her baby and you should go home with a child in your arms.”
.....“I said forget it! Dino will never agree! He is a proud man and would never accept a child that is not his by birth.”
.....“I know you, Natalie! You can persuade him of anything.”
.....“No. I would not even try.”
.....“Okay, whatever, but just let me introduce you to Kelly. Maybe the two of you could sit and talk.”
.....“No Heidi! There would be no point it. Please just get away from me. It’s a ridiculous notion and a waste of my time.”
.....Heidi turned away leaving the room with an unrelenting sigh. She did not forget the matter and contemplated another way to get Natalie and Kelly together.
.....After Natalie finished her breakfast and waited for Dino, she ran out of patience and decided to take a walk. She wandered the halls of the hospital growing increasingly tired; after all, she lost a lot of blood from this last delivery. In her fatigue, she became lost and in a struggle to find a familiar face or even a familiar hallway, she heard someone call her name from somewhere behind her. Turning around she saw Heidi walking fast towards her.
.....“Natalie. Natalie.” Heidi called to her. “Where have you been? You should know better, not to walk around in your condition. You need to rest quietly. I have been looking all over for you.”
.....In a slightly frightened voice, Natalie replied, “It seems I got lost, thank God you found me.”
.....“Well, I am glad I did. Let’s get you back to your room.”
.....As Heidi helped Natalie back to her room, she made a detour by the nursery window. As Natalie approached the window, she became increasingly agitated.
“Why in God’s name did you bring me this way?” she asked.
.....“Well, it is the fastest way back to your room and I thought we could see the little baby boy in the last bassinet.”
.....“Yeah, So what, for Pete’s sake, let’s get out of here.” As Natalie turned away from the window, she caught a glimpse of Kelly’s baby. She could not resist the temptation to turn away and as she did, she slowly placed her hand on the warm shiny glass. She shuffled across the floor until she stood directly in front of the baby. Natalie looked at the bassinet with tears rolling down her face and dripping off her chin remarking, “Oh God! He is so beautiful. Why God, why?”
.....“That’s right Natalie!” Heidi replied, “Why can’t he be yours?”
.....“No! No!” she said. “She could never give up a baby so beautiful.”
.....Heidi took Natalie with a strong hold by the shoulders and said, “Well that is the best part Natalie. Kelly’s father has not allowed her to see or hold the child. It would be tragic to put this child in the hands of the state not knowing what end he may come to. This is your chance. You must decide to do this or all will be lost for you and the child. Come with me now, Natalie, and we will visit Kelly and talk awhile. We can persuade her to speak to her father and her boyfriend.”
.....Heidi took Natalie by the hand and walked her to Kelly’s room. When they approached the open door with a wooden plaque numbered 203, Natalie let go of Heidi’s hand and stepped backward away from the open door, too afraid to pass through and ultimately into the room itself.
.....Heidi took Natalie by the hand and held on tight. “Kelly, I want you to meet someone. This is Natalie.”
.....Kelly did not turn or show any sign of acknowledgement. Natalie saw a beautiful petite girl rocking back and forth in an aged brown wooden rocking chair staring blankly out the window.
.....“Kelly!” Heidi repeated.
.....Remaining motionless, Kelly continued to stare out the window without a response. Natalie a comfortable distance from Kelly noticed every detail. Unlike her beautiful room, she noticed four beds each with steel bedposts, white sheets cover the mattresses and pink blankets turned half way down the length of the bed.
.....Kelly appeared barely 16. She wore a yellow hospital Johnnie and pushed her bare feet on the shiny cold linoleum floor as she rocked back and forth. Natalie could not see her eyes. Her long beautiful blonde hair flowed over the back of the chair and wisp through the air as her head rocked back and forth in unison with the rocker. Natalie saw an angel waiting to save someone’s life and for just an instant, in less time than it takes to blink an eye, she said why not me?
.....Heidi spoke again, “Kelly, I want you to meet my friend, Natalie.”
.....Natalie pitied Kelly and because she remained still and unresponsive, Heidi grabbed Natalie by the hand and walked her farther in to the room slowly approaching the rocking chair. When they reached Kelly, Heidi placed her right hand firmly on the arm of the rocking chair to stop it from rocking.
.....Heidi began first. Turning and looking at Natalie with a smile and a wink, “Kelly, this is my friend Natalie, she lost her baby boy, and the doctors told her she can never have any more children.”
.....Heidi took her hand off the arm of the chair, placed it directly on top of Kelly’s hand, and in a slow sympathetic tone whispered, “Kelly, if it’s okay with you, Natalie and her husband want to take care of your baby like it is their own child. We know you can give him a mother’s love, but you will not be able to give him the financial advantages he needs.”
.....Looking back at Natalie and then again at Kelly, she continued, “Natalie and her husband can give your boy so much more. If you truly love your baby, you want to make sure he has the best of everything life has to offer. Your father wants to hand him over to the state and we all know that would be a life far worse than even you could give him. They have a beautiful new home and he will reap all the advantages money can buy. The only problem is we need you to speak to your father before he makes final arrangements. What do think?”
.....Kelly turned her head away from the window, looked directly at Natalie and said, “You’re so pretty. What’s your hubby’s name?”
.....Natalie looking surprised and somewhat taken off guard simply replied, “Dino.”
.....Kelly then responded, “Natalie and Dino, What are you, Italian, or something?”
.....Natalie replied in a persuasive tone, “Yes. We may not be able to raise him as Irish, but I can promise you, we will love him and give him a better life.”
Kelly then looked right into Natalie’s eyes and said, “Okay, but on one condition, I don’t wanna give up my baby, so please make sure he knows it wasn’t my idea, okay? It might be cool if he ever asks ‘bout me, yah should tell ‘em. That okay with yah?”
.....Natalie realized Kelly’s illiteracy and just put her head down, stared at her feet, and humbly whispered, “Okay.”
She now had what she envisioned impossible, a son to call her own. “Oh God,” she thought. “What to do about Dino?”
.....She realized her biggest hurdle now would be how to convince Dino. When she returned to her room, she devised a deliberate plan of action. She changed the simple black and white dress she wore to a pretty blue and white floral linen dress, always a favorite of Dino’s. She tried forming words in her mind, which eventually became full sentences, hoping to make sense to Dino.
.....When Dino arrived at her room, two hours late no less, it could not have been better than if she planned it herself.
.....In a firm and slightly raised voice she proclaimed, “Dino! My God, how could you be so late? How could you possibly have done this to me?”
.....“Oh honey, I am sorry, but I had a problem at the store. Please forgive me, honey.”
.....“Forgive you,” she angrily said, “For leaving me in the awkward position of watching the nurses wheeling bassinets of newborns back and forth. How can you be so insensitive? I do not think I will ever be able to forgive you for being so cruel.”
.....“Oh, Natalie, baby, I am so sorry, I did not mean it, honest, please forgive me. Please. You know, you look beautiful in that dress and I bought you some flowers, your favorites, lilies. What more can I do to make it up to you?” he sweetly asked her.
.....He put his arms around her, hugged her, and kissed her cheek still wet from tears. He saw her as if for the first time and just fell in love with her all over again. He would have given her anything she asked.
.....Natalie instantly seized the moment knowing there would never be another chance like this one.
.....She softly and affectionately said, “Dino since you mentioned it, there is something you can do.”
“What is it, baby?” “Anything, anything you want, I will be happy to do it for you, I love you so very much.”
.....“Well there is a 16 year old girl down the hall from here who just gave birth to a baby boy.”
.....“Yeah. Poor girl. So what do you want me to do? Find her a job at the store?”
.....“Well, actually her father...”
.....Dino cut her off, “Oh, you want me to find some work for her father?” .....Natalie replied with a slightly raised voice, “No! Will you stop for one minute and let me get a word in edge wise. Now, please listen to me; it is important. Her father is forcing her to give up her child for adoption.”
.....“Oh NO, NO Natalie!” he said firmly. “I can’t do that, I just can’t. Just forget it.”
.....Natalie responded back in a sweet, but firm voice. “But Dino you said anything! This baby is going to child services and you know as well as I do the child will have no chance in hell at a good start in life. This is a great opportunity for us to change his life in a positive way. If we walk out of here today with him in our arms, no one will ever have to know my baby died. Everyone will just assume I gave birth to him. We will not have to say another word. We will never even have to tell the child. He will always know we are his true parents and we will be, because we will be the ones who care for him for the rest of his life.”
.....Dino just stood there shaking his head back and forth.
.....“Please Dino! Please! This is all I have ever wanted and I will never ask you for anything else again. Please!” Natalie begged.
.....Dino stood they’re still shaking his head from side to side. He did not say anything right away. He looked at Natalie and saw how beautiful she looked and watched the tears as they rolled down her cheeks. I cannot do this, but she is so beautiful and suffered so much more than any woman could possibly endure. How can I say no? She does have a point though; we could walk out of here with the baby pretending he belong to us. When you really think about it, it is only just a swap. We swap the dead child for the living child.
.....Dino looked at Natalie’s red swollen eyes, and said, “Well Natalie maybe we should see the baby and meet the girl first before we make any decisions. You know you never can tell about these kinds of things. I mean what kind of people are these? Is she on drugs, booze, or maybe something worse? What kind of family or genes are we really getting along with this child? I mean, come on Natalie, do we really know what we are getting into?”
.....“Oh Dino, stop that! He is a beautiful cuddly little boy and besides, he is young enough where we can mold him into whatever we want him to be,” replied Natalie.
.....“Oh really, and how do you know?” Dino commented with a suspicious look in his eyes.
.....“Well, you know my nurse, Heidi?” she asked.
.....“Yeah,” Dino replied still suspicious, “Go on.”
.....“She has already shown me the baby. She took me to meet Kelly. That’s the mother’s name, Kelly.”
.....“Uh Ah,” as Dino shook his head. “So I see, it appears I have been hoodwinked; you’ve played me for the fool, shame on me. You had this all planned and ready to go as soon as I walked in here and it is my unfortunate mistake to be an hour late.”
.....“No it is not like that at all, and you were two hours late, not one. Heidi knew she did the right thing and I can’t blame her for wanting to help. Just come with me, see the baby, and meet Kelly. You will see for yourself. It will be fine.”
.....Heidi stood just outside the door eavesdropping and lying in wait to seize the opportunity. She walked into the room and not surprisingly, she held Kelly’s baby in her arms.
.....“Hello Natalie, Dino,” Heidi said as she placed the child directly into Dino’s arms.
.....Dino willingly held the child. To his amazement, all doubts, he could possibly have had to argue away this child, simply melted away.
.....“Oh he’s so beautiful. And small!” replied Dino.
.....Heidi replied, “And he’s all yours if you want him, but we must hurry.”