My husband Mark and I had been through countless struggles trying to become parents.

After years of grueling infertility treatments, we made the decision to adopt.

Every step of the adoption process felt like a test of patience, as we navigated interviews, home visits, and endless waiting lists.

There were days I thought it might never happen for us, that I’d never get to hold a child in my arms.

But then we found him—Sam, a sweet, wide-eyed boy with ocean-blue eyes that felt like they were looking straight into my heart.

He was three years old, and I instantly knew he was meant to be ours.

Mark and I went together to meet him at the adoption agency. As we walked down the hallway, my heart felt like it might burst with anticipation and a touch of nervousness.

“Are you nervous?” I asked Mark, clutching a tiny blue sweater I’d picked out just for Sam.

Mark laughed it off, but I could see the tension in his face. This was a huge step, and we both knew it.

When we finally entered the room where Sam was playing, he looked up with those incredible eyes and smiled shyly.

I knelt down to his level, my voice barely more than a whisper. “Hi, Sam. I’m your mom. Do you want to come home with us?”

He reached for my hand, and in that tiny, tentative grip, I felt a connection that words can’t fully describe.

Mark stood beside me, his face softening as he watched. It felt like the beginning of a beautiful new chapter.

The drive home was quiet, Sam holding a stuffed elephant we had brought for him.

Every now and then, he’d make small, trumpet-like noises, imitating an elephant, and Mark would chuckle from the front seat.

I watched them together, my heart swelling with joy. After years of longing, our family was finally complete.

Once we got home, I started setting up Sam’s room, organizing the toys and clothes I had carefully picked out for him.

Mark offered to give him a bath, wanting to spend some one-on-one time with him, and I thought it was a wonderful idea. I listened to them talking and laughing down the hall, feeling overwhelmed by how perfectly everything seemed to be falling into place.

Then, just as I was folding Sam’s pajamas, I heard Mark shout. “WE HAVE TO TAKE HIM BACK!”

His voice was shaking, and he came bursting out of the bathroom, pale as a ghost.

“Take him back? What are you t