A Long Way from Home

‘If we don’t get to court before the judge goes away, I’ll have to phone work and ask for unpaid leave,’ Ian said to Elaine. Ian’s boss knew about the adoption and had been sympathetic when Ian had asked to take all his annual leave in one go, which needed special permission. Elaine, a legal secretary, had left her permanent job the day before they flew out. During their adoption assessment the social worker had said that one parent should be at home at least for the first year after the adoption to give the child continuity and time to settle in. Elaine hadn’t minded at all. She had waited a long time to be a mother and wanted what was best for her child and to make the most of every minute. Later, when Anastasia was old enough and went to school, Elaine could take some part-time work. Legal secretaries were always needed and with her experience she would find work easily.

Ian and Elaine felt they were bonding quickly with Anastasia, probably faster than she was with them. But that was to be expected. They had spent two years working towards this point, whereas Anastasia had had barely two weeks so far to adjust. Dr Ciobanu had told them that the care workers had explained to Anastasia what was happening, but Ian and Elaine doubted they’d had the time or patience to explain thoroughly or answer her questions and reassure her. He’d also told them that her attachment to her mother (or anyone else) was very weak, so she’d have no problem bonding with them once they were home, and wouldn’t miss anyone there.

Ian and Elaine had got to know some of the staff at the hotel, especially their waitress who served them each morning at breakfast. Her name was Maria and she told them she was improving her English so she could work in the UK where the wages were much higher. She practised her English on them as she served them and knew why they were there. She had a five-year-old daughter who was looked after by her mother during the twelve-hour shifts she worked six days a week. But it was only when Maria showed them a photograph of her daughter that she said her name was Lana. This in itself was not such a huge coincidence, as it was a very popular name, but its significance immediately struck Ian and Elaine. On a waitress’s wages, Maria would never be able to afford to buy her daughter nice toys, let alone a personalized bear, as they had done for Lana. They hadn’t had a chance to approach Dr Ciobanu about putting the bear on Lana’s grave and if they were honest the need for doing this was lessening, as they moved on and bonded with Anastasia.

‘I think I’d like Maria’s daughter to have Lana’s bear,’ Elaine said to Ian later. He readily agreed.

The following morning Elaine brought the bear in its original store gift bag down to breakfast and gave it to Maria. ‘For your daughter,’ Elaine said. We thought our child would be called Lana but we were wrong. We’d like you to have it.’ There was no need to go into any more detail about the child they’d lost.

Maria looked at them, surprised and delighted, then, as she took out the bear, her eyes filled and her face crumbled. ‘For Lana? It’s beautiful. I could never afford to buy her this. She will love it so much. Thank you.’ She took Elaine’s hand and then Ian’s and kissed them. ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Elaine and Ian swallowed hard and knew they’d done the right thing.

They began extending their time with Anastasia and running over the hour. Dr Ciobanu wasn’t there to tell them not to and the care workers didn’t seem to mind. In fact, it probably did them a favour not having to watch Anastasia, who was one of the few non-disabled children and by far the most active. So the hour became one and a half hours and then two. Anastasia always appeared pleased to see them and eager to look inside the carrier bag of toys to discover what they’d brought for her today. She wasn’t a tactile child but that would come with time, and although she wasn’t saying any English words yet, she seemed to understand simple instructions – for example, put this piece of puzzle there.

One afternoon, while they were in the playroom, they heard English being spoken in the corridor outside without a heavy accent, which was unusual. Intrigued, Ian went out to investigate and saw two women in their early twenties. ‘Are you from the UK?’ he asked them.

‘Yes. Are you?’

‘Yes, pleased to meet you. I’m Ian.’

‘Pam and Mel,’ the girls said.

‘My wife is in the playroom. Come through and say hi. What part of the UK are you from?’

‘Bournemouth.’ And so they got chatting.

It’s always heartening to meet someone from your own country when you’re abroad, especially if the country you are in doesn’t speak the same language. Friendships can develop and confidences can be swapped, when they might not at home.

‘This is my wife, Elaine,’ Ian said, introducing her. ‘Pam and Mel. And this is Anastasia.’

‘Ahh, she’s cute,’ Pam said. ‘Is she your daughter?’

‘We hope she will be soon,’ Elaine said with a big smile. ‘We’re adopting her.’

‘That’s lovely,’ Pam said. ‘We met another couple adopting two boys, brothers. There seems to be a lot of adoption from this country.’

‘Yes, there is,’ Ian agreed.

‘Why are you here?’ Elaine asked, interested and making conversation.

‘We’re volunteers,’ Mel said. ‘We’re students and we’ve come here on a project to help in the orphanages. We came at the end of June and fly back on 12 September, ready for the new term.’

‘That’s very good of you,’ Elaine said. ‘Are you going to be working in this orphanage?’

‘We think so. We’ve been at another orphanage run by Dr Ciobanu about thirty kilometres from here, and he said we should come here as they needed the help more. He’s supposed to be meeting us here.’

‘They certainly could do with the help,’ Ian said. ‘They’re very short-staffed.’

‘We’ve only seen two care workers and there are thirty children,’ Elaine added.

‘That’s a very low ratio,’ Pam said. ‘The orphanage we’ve been working in had two care workers for twenty children and that was nowhere near enough. The building there was much newer than this, though. This is very old.’

‘I know,’ Elaine agreed. ‘And it has so little equipment. There’s nothing for the children to do. Are you staying locally?’

‘We might be sleeping here if they put us on the night shift. We’re not sure yet. It depends what Dr Ciobanu says. Otherwise we’ll get a room in town.’

The large front door of the orphanage could be heard opening and then clanging shut, the sound resonating down the empty and otherwise silent corridor.

‘I wonder if that’s him,’ Mel said, and stepped into the corridor to look. ‘Yes, it is,’ she said. ‘We’d better go.’

‘Hopefully see you again,’ Elaine called. ‘Good luck, and well done for volunteering.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’m going to catch Dr Ciobanu while he’s here,’ Ian said to Elaine and disappeared out of the playroom.

‘Good afternoon, Mr Hudson, how are you?’ Dr Ciobanu turned from the students as Ian approached.

‘Well, thank you. Could I speak with you later?’

‘Yes, of course. I was going to phone you. I have the news you’ve been waiting for. Come to my office before you leave.’

‘Thank you,’ Ian said, and returned to the playroom, greatly relieved. ‘He says he has the news we’ve been waiting for,’ he told Elaine.

‘Fantastic.’ They both assumed it was good news: that they’d been given a court date for the following week and would fly home with Anastasia as planned.

As they played with Anastasia, Dr Ciobanu’s low voice could be heard outside showing the students around. It was reassuring to know there would be some extra help. They worried about Anastasia when they weren’t there.

They kept to the hour and then began packing away the toys, telling Anastasia that they had to see Dr Ciobanu. She didn’t say anything but recognized his name. She went with them to his office and as Ian knocked on the door she slipped her hand into Elaine’s. It was the first time she’d wanted to hold hands and Elaine was delighted. As she felt her small, cool fingers tuck themselves inside hers, Elaine knew it was a big step forward and a moment she would treasure for a very long time.

‘Come in,’ the doctor welcomed, opening the door. ‘She can come too,’ he said, referring to Anastasia.

Ian and Elaine sat in the two chairs in front of the table as Dr Ciobanu took his place behind it. Anastasia stood between Elaine and Ian, close but not quite touching. Elaine would have loved to pick her up and sit her on her lap, but she knew she had to wait until Anastasia was ready for that.

‘So you like your new mummy and daddy?’ Dr Ciobanu asked Anastasia in his usual upbeat manner. It was unlikely she understood, but seeing the man in charge smiling and talking to her, she nodded. ‘Good. And they obviously like you very much, so all is well.’

‘Very much!’ Ian and Elaine agreed.

He looked at them in the same positive manner. ‘We have news of the court date at last. There is no free time before the judge goes on holiday, so the child’s mother has returned to work abroad until the court hearing. She needs the money and Anastasia will stay here with us for that period.’ He paused.

‘I see,’ Ian said, trying to understand what this meant. ‘For how long?’

‘Three months. As you know, unless the child is an orphan the mother has to be in court for the adoption hearing to give her consent, so I have booked the court date for the day after she returns – 23 November.’ He looked at them as though they should be pleased.

It was a moment before either of them could speak. ‘But I can’t take another three months off work,’ Ian said.

‘No, of course not. You must fly home and return for the court hearing.’