My Sister Returned Her Adopted Daughter—So I Stepped In (3 of 3)

Two people stood on the porch. A woman introduced herself as Vanessa from Child Protective Services. Their neighbor—someone Erin had feuded with for years—had reported her the moment Caleb arrived.

“We need to talk about the way you handled Lily’s custody termination,” Vanessa said, cool but firm. “And whether you’re capable of providing a safe environment for your son.”

Apparently, Erin had skipped key counseling steps, rushed the legal process, and turned Lily over without a transition plan. They weren’t just questioning her judgment—they were questioning her fitness as a mother.

I left. I couldn’t sit there another second. All I could think about was Lily.

It wasn’t easy, but my lawyer and I found her. She’d been bounced from one foster home to another—again. But this time, I wasn’t going to let her down.

I applied for guardianship, then full adoption. It was a long road—court hearings, home evaluations, endless paperwork. But the day the judge signed those final papers, my husband Aaron wrapped his arms around us and whispered, “She’s ours now.”

Lily just turned six. We threw her a unicorn-themed party with too much cake and too many balloons. She still wakes up scared some nights. She still hides food in her closet. And for a long time, she believed she had done something wrong.

But she didn’t. She was never the problem. She was never disposable.

She wasn’t Erin’s daughter anymore. But she’s mine. And I’ll never let her go.