A mother of five children rescues three homeless siblings and takes them to Child Services. But she can\u2019t forget them and comes up with a plan to bring them into her life.<\/p>\n
Lacy loved being a mom so much she\u2019d done it five times! She and her husband Brian were the proud parents of three boys and two girls, and she sometimes wished they\u2019d had more, especially now that the three older children were in college and the two youngest were in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be alone again soon,\u201d Lacy told Brian sadly. \u201cI\u2019m going to miss having children around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian nodded absently, even though he wasn\u2019t really listening. \u201cYes, dear,\u201d he said. Lacy smiled. She loved Brian, and she loved that he always understood how she felt!<\/p>\n
Three days later, Lacy\u2019s life and her marriage were turned upside down. She was walking her dog on the beach when she heard a baby crying near an old abandoned lifeguard hut. The dog started barking and ran towards the hut. Lacy followed it and saw it wagging its tail happily.<\/p>\n
In front of the dog were three children. The oldest looked to be five years old, the second oldest maybe four, and the third was a baby still in a carriage. The two oldest children looked frightened, and the baby just looked upset and very hungry.<\/p>\n
A family is founded on love, and the willingness to give of ourselves.
\n\u201cHello,\u201d Lacy said gently. \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The oldest boy said, \u201cI\u2019m Drew, that\u2019s my brother Kim, and that\u2019d baby Will \u2014 he\u2019s two.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Lacy,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd where is your mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
Drew looked away. \u201cMom went to get hamburgers,\u201d he said bravely. \u201cBut maybe she got lost, \u2019cause it\u2019s been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d asked Lacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday,\u201d Drew whispered. \u201cBut I KNOW she\u2019s coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell you what,\u201d Lacy said. \u201cWhy don\u2019t I take you to have a burger, and then we can find your mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut\u2026\u201d Drew frowned. \u201cIf she comes back she won\u2019t know where we are!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll leave her a note, OK?\u201d Lacy said. She wrote a note and pinned it to the door of the broken-down lifeguard hut. \u201cI\u2019ve written down my cell phone number too, so she can call us!\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacy took the kids to a beachfront burger restaurant, and while the kids ate, she called the police and Child Services. Then she returned to the table and ordered milkshakes.<\/p>\n
The kids were smiling and relaxed. That was when little Will reached over and patted Lacy\u2019s cheek. \u201cAre you our mommy now?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no\u2026\u201d Lacy stammered. \u201cWe\u2019re going to find your mommy, you\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Social Services weren\u2019t as hopeful. They knew that if someone wanted to disappear, they could. \u201cShe\u2019s got three mouths to feed,\u201d the social worker explained to Lacy. \u201cAnd she\u2019s just nineteen. She\u2019s been a mom since she was fourteen, and she\u2019s desperate for freedom. If she ever comes back, it will be when she\u2019s in her late thirties, and the kids don\u2019t need her anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s very sad,\u201d Lacy said. \u201cBut these kids are so cute and so young, I\u2019m sure plenty of families will take them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d the social worker said. \u201cWe have a policy not to separate siblings. We can usually place two \u2014 three is a stretch. These little boys are going to be in the foster system for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacy went home and told Brian and her high school-age kids what happened. \u201cCan you believe it? Those poor babies\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLacy,\u201d Brian protested. \u201cYou end up mothering everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacy laughed, but she remembered little Will\u2019s question: \u201cAre you our mommy now?\u201d She took a deep breath. \u201cBrian? Why don\u2019t we take the three kids?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d gasped Brian.<\/p>\n
\u201cWHAT!\u201d screamed the kids. \u201cAre you KIDDING?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked Lacy. \u201cCome on, Brian! We\u2019re doing so well! You said the other day you\u2019d like more kids\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNO!\u201d Brian said crossly. \u201cI told you what you wanted to hear! We don\u2019t know these children, and we don\u2019t owe them anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about basic compassion, Brian?\u201d Lacy asked softly. \u201cWhat about love?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t owe them love either!\u201d Brian shouted. \u201cThese are NOT my kids, and I won\u2019t spend a cent raising them! You want them? YOU find the money, \u2019cause you won\u2019t get a cent from me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacy looked at her husband. \u201cYou know, Brian,\u201d she said quietly. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the money. I\u2019ll find the money. I\u2019m sad you\u2019ve become such a miser with your love. How can you grudge them your compassion? You\u2019ve become hard-hearted. I wonder \u2014 do you still love me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacy turned to her children: \u201cThis is not how I raised you, to be cold and selfish with those less fortunate. I must have been a bad mother to have you turn out like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian and the children looked at each other, and then away. They were ashamed but much too proud to apologize to Lacy. Brian felt even worse when he learned from the family lawyer what Lacy was doing.<\/p>\n
She had placed the house on the beach she\u2019d inherited from her parents up for sale, and even the silver and the jewelry her grandmother had left her. Lacy was planning on selling things she held dear to help the three kids!<\/p>\n
That night, Brian and the kids came to Lacy and apologized. \u201cPlease honey,\u201d Brian said. \u201cDon\u2019t sell anything. We have more than enough money!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut do you have enough love?\u201d Lacy asked, looking Brian and the two younger children in the eye. \u201cI won\u2019t bring those kids into a house where they won\u2019t be loved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian and the two younger kids \u2014 14 and 17 \u2014 promised they\u2019d be caring and supportive, and even the older kids called from college to tell Lacy she had all their support.<\/p>\n
As for Drew, Kim, and Will, they were delighted to be part of a big family, with lots of big brothers and sisters to spoil them. Soon, no one could even imagine what life would be like without the three little children who\u2019d made their family complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A mother of five children rescues three homeless siblings and takes them to Child Services. But she can\u2019t forget them and comes up with a plan to bring them into her life. Lacy loved being a mom so much she\u2019d done it five times! She and her husband Brian were the proud parents of three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30219,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30218\/revisions\/30219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzdiscover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}