A significant change has occurred in the lives of Jennifer Kaylin Steele and her partner, Terri Monique Leroi.

Terri:

Hello! This is Terri Leroi writing.

You may not be familiar with me, but I will let you know that I have written here before. I am a 30-something woman who happens to be a lesbian, and I live in Nashville, Tennessee, with my partner, Jennifer Kaylin Steele. I am not only her lover: I am also her caretaker, as she is paralyzed due to a construction accident; but she is still one of the best friends I have ever had!

We have been lovers for quite some time now, and life for now is good; but it is about to get even better. For you see, there is a new person in our lives; and it all happened so unexpcctedly.

We were living out our lives, as best as we can, when we happened to see this little kid, a boy, hanging out around our porch. The kid couldn't have been more than four years old at the most, and he was dirty, hungry, and obviously in need of attention and a bath. He looked miserable and lonely, so we invited him in for lunch. The little guy was on a pair of rickety crutches, and he dragged his legs as he walked; but his eyes shone with determination. I asked him where his mama was, and he just shrugged his scrawny little shoulders as he remarked in a voice full of indifference: "In jail". That was when we called the authorities and reported the situation.

This happened several months ago, in the summertime.

Well, it turned out that the boy in question was living out on his own, and he was not four but six. He had spina bifida, and his parents were in jail because of drug use; and they often left the little boy on his own. THe little boy's name was Ant'won Marcus, and he was small for his age because of neglect and abuse on his parent's part. It was really a sad situation; but as we got to know him, we couldn't help but to fall in love with him.

That was when we decided that he needed a home and a family, so we decided to try to adopt him.

Jennifer:

Yes, it is true . We are trying to adopt a child, a child nobody seems to want. Young Ant'won is a cute little kid, with a round brown face, huge, bright-black eyes with killer lashes, and a fluffy, thick Afro, and he has been with us since about two months ago; and we couldn't be happier. We are both getting used to the idea of having a kid around the house, and Ant is such a sweet and loving little boy with a sense of courage and determination that is mind-blowing. He doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "Quit", and he is about the most determined little fellow we have ever seen! Nothing seems to stop or slow him down any, and he is such a good little helper. He helps Terri with my care, and he delights in helping out his "two mamas". He calls me "Mommy" and Terri "Mamma", and it doesn't seem to bother him that we are in love, even though we are women. He just likes being with us, and we enjoy him, too. He is such a smart, articulate little boy, and he is happy here with us.

We have already started adoption proceedings, but we know we may have a fight on our hands because there are people who will try to dissuade us from trying to adopt Ant'won because of our "lifestyle", but I see nothing wrong with it. We are two people, and we ARE in love; so why should it even matter? We can be parents, too, just like anyone else, and we can be happy and deserve to be treated like anyone else! We have a good lawyer representing us, and we are hopeful that Ant'won will get to stay with us until adoption procedures are underway and are, eventually, finalized, which is our goal. Ant'won is our child, and we intend on being the best set of parents as possible for him!

~To be continued~