Adopting Billy

I am going to adopt Billy.  I've been thinking about this for a really long time.  I've had him since he was 11 and he holds such a big chunk of my heart.  I can't imagine my life without that kid in it.  I really just want to make it official.  I've been working on the paperwork for a couple of weeks and have finally gotten to the point that I think that we're ready to sign and file.  I mailed out a copy of the paperwork to Billy last week so that he can sign his form and have it notarized and returned to me.  Once I receive that back, I can have Bill and I have our forms notarized and then we can take everything downtown and file it with the courts.  Once they set up the court date for us, Billy will officially be my kid.  Up to and including a birth certificate change.

This is something that I've wanted to talk to Billy about for a long time, but I really wasn't sure how he would take it.  I didn't want him to feel like I wouldn't love him anymore if he didn't want to do this.  I know that Traci is going to be very unhappy when she finds out that this has taken place and it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to convice Brad to do the same with Doug out of spite.  But, after all that we've been through, I want Billy to know that he belongs.  He belongs in my heart.  He belongs in my family.  He belongs in my life.  He belongs.  And it doesn't have one thing to do with what he does or how he acts.  It's just because we love him and he's ours.