Donna and Robert entered the room when called, standing before the judge. The judge read from a paper, her voice ringing out clearly in the courtroom silence. "On the matter of kinship adoption for Mark Hess and Delilah Hess, this adoption is following the death of Mr. Hess' parents. Is that correct?"

                              "Yes." Replied Robert with a nod.

                              "Where do you work, Mr. Hess?"

                              "At the Beaumont farm. Right here in town."

                              "And where do you reside?"

                              "I live right over on High Street." He answered somewhat nervously.

                             "Are you employed, Mrs. Hess?" The judge asked, turning to her. Donna nodded.

                             "I-I also work at the farm. They're my parents." She replied.

                             "Do you and Mr. Hess live together?"

                            "Yeah we do." Donna replied.

                            "Now in my file, it says that you requested kinship after the first attempted placement was rejected by, Robert and Virginia Hess. Is that correct?"

                            "Yeah, they're Robert's aunt and uncle." Said Donna.

                            "And lastly, are the children here today?"

                            "Yes. They are. They're outside with her parents." Said Robert.

                            The judge was quiet for a moment, then spoke. " At this time given the circumstances, and your relationship to the children. I'm going to approve you for kinship. If one of you would like to bring Delilah and Mark in, we can go ahead and issue an adoption certificate."

                            Donna sighed in relief and Robert let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I'll go get them right now." He said, heading for the door.

                            Robert walked out of the courthouse and across the parking lot to where their loved ones had stood waiting. "They want me to bring the kids." He said to Michelle quietly.

                            "Did you get them?" She whispered.

                             A grin broke on Robert's face. "Yeah, we got them." He said out loud. There were relieved sighs all around and Robert grabbed Delilah and Mark's hands. As he walked by, Jean stepped forward and stopped him for a second.

                            "I'm so happy for you." She whispered, wrapping her arms around her neck.

                            "Thanks." He whispered back, allowing his lips to softly skim the top of her hair.

                            "So I guess this is it for us now. You're gonna be a husband and a father, you'll do great." She whispered, patting his back. He looked back at her and hurriedly broke the glance, walking towards the building.