The Perfect Child(30)

Our parents were excited to meet Janie but had been respecting our request for privacy. Allison had arranged a meal train but made sure everyone understood that the meals were to be dropped off on the porch or delivered by a food service. I called her first to let her know about our change of heart. She was thrilled and couldn’t stop squealing. My mom was even more excited than Allison. She took care of calling Mabel for us, and by the end of the night, they’d booked the same flight.

I was nervous when Saturday rolled around, but Janie seemed excited to meet new people. She let me put her in a dress and comb her hair, which she rarely allowed. I kept glancing over at Christopher, both of us holding our breath and waiting for her to revolt, but she sat calmly through the entire process. I even put a red barrette on each side. She looked darling. Christopher wouldn’t stop taking pictures, but she didn’t mind because getting her picture taken was one of her favorite things, and she never tired of scrolling through them. She smiled and beamed for each one.

My parents and Mabel arrived first since they were always early. They carried wrapped gifts with huge decorative bows. My mom knelt down cautiously in front of Janie, and to my surprise, Janie flung herself into her arms. “Hiya, what’s your name?” she asked, all smiles.

My mom was taken aback. She’d been listening to all of my stories about Janie for the past few weeks and hadn’t expected such a warm reception. “I’m Lillian, and I’m your grandma. Do you know what a grandma is?”

She shook her head.

My mom pointed to me. “I’m Hannah’s mommy. That means I’m your grandma.” She reached up to pull my dad down next to her. “And this is Gene. He’s Hannah’s daddy, which means he’s your grandpa.”

“Hi, kiddo,” he said, ruffling the top of her hair. My heart swelled at his use of my childhood nickname.

Janie shrugged, not seeming to care what any of the labels meant. “Do you want to see my toys?”

“Certainly,” my mom said.

“Come on.” She grabbed each of their hands and led them to her room, walking between them.

I turned to look at Christopher. He was as surprised as me. “Did you see that?” he asked.

I shook my head in amazement. “Wow.”

She bounced out of her room to answer the door each time the doorbell rang and flung herself at whoever it was in the same way she’d greeted my mom. She led everyone into her room. Before long, the party had moved into her bedroom. We’d kept the gathering small, limited to our immediate family and a few close friends, but her room was packed.

Dylan and Caleb sat in the center of the rug with Janie. Even though they were only nine, they looked like teenagers next to her, and I realized how small Janie still was despite the weight she’d gained. She took out toys from her bins and held them up for everyone to see, eliciting oohs and aahs from the adults around her.

“She’s loving this,” my mom whispered to me.

I smiled. She shined in the spotlight. It reminded me of how people had swooned over her at the hospital.

“Can she open our present?” Caleb asked, looking up at me with his huge brown eyes framed in dark lashes that any girl would kill for. They both had the most beautiful eyes. I didn’t know how Allison ever told them no.

I looked at Christopher, and he nodded.

“Sure,” I said.

“Mom, where’d you put her present?” Caleb asked.

“It’s in the living room,” Allison said.

“Why don’t we all go into the living room and open presents?” Mabel asked.

Janie looked confused as everyone started moving toward the living room. Dylan reached for her hand. “Come on, Janie. Don’t you want to go open your presents?” he asked.

She still looked perplexed. “Presents?”

“Presents. You know, toys?”

She grabbed his hand, and they ran into the living room. The presents were piled on the coffee table. I hadn’t expected everyone to bring gifts, but no one had shown up empty handed. The boys loved showing Janie how to rip open the wrapping paper. They were as excited about the gifts as she was, exclaiming over each one with her. Janie bounced over to whoever had given her the present and threw her arms around them. “Thank you. Thank you,” she gushed.

Christopher came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned into his chest, my tension relaxing.

“I’ve never seen her look so happy,” he whispered.

“Me either,” I said.

He kissed the top of my head. “Look at our parents.”

The grandparents were sitting on the couch, and Janie had climbed onto their laps with the American Girl doll Allison had given her. I’d told her it was too expensive for a gift, but she’d ignored me like always. The grandparents took turns passing Janie around. Everyone was thrilled to have a little girl running through the house. It was so different than the boy energy we were used to from Caleb and Dylan.

I kept waiting for Janie to act out as the day wore on or have one of her meltdowns after something didn’t go her way, but it never happened. Not even after we made her stop eating the chocolate cake Dan’s wife had brought for dessert. She let me take it from her without a fight and allowed me to wipe the frosting from her mouth without the slightest protest.

Caleb and Dylan adored her. They fought over whose turn it was to give her a piggyback ride and spent over an hour playing hide-and-seek with her in the house before taking her outside. We had hired someone to build a wooden play structure in the backyard as soon as the adoption petition had gone through. It was one that didn’t just have the typical swings and slides but had all the extras that Janie’s physical therapist had suggested we get to help work on all her motor skills. There was a climbing wall and a clubhouse with a telescope and tic-tac-toe housed inside. They scampered up and down the structure with her.