Tamika's resident smile vanished like the sun slipping behind clouds on a stormy day.
“Mommy, why did you pick me?” she said, dangling her toes in the crystal clear pool water.
“Because you were the most beautiful baby at the hospital,” Allison replied.
She sat down on the rough pebbled tile beside her daughter and dipped her own feet into the water.
“Oh, that's cold.”
“Tam like it,” Tamika said, splashing the water with both feet.
Allison draped a soft towel around her daughter's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “You're shivering. Are you ready to come inside for lunch?”
“Nope.” Leaning forward, she tried to catch a water bug skimming the surface of the water.
“Careful, now,” Allison said.
“Julia said you and Daddy wish I were pretty, like other girls.” Turning her face to look up at her mother, she sighed, and a large tear rolled down her cheek. “She calls me Dumpy Downs.”
Allison suppressed the anger bubbling inside her chest. That sounds like Julia's mother speaking. Well I've got news for you, Mrs. 'My daughter's so gifted' - I wouldn't trade my Down Syndrome daughter for ten perfect Julias.
Looking at her daughter's sad face, she said, “Come inside, and let me tell you a story.”
“A story? Goodie!” Tamika's smile returned, her schoolmate's comments forgotten for the moment.
Allison waited until Tamika finished her sandwiches and drank her milk.
“Ready, sweetheart?” she asked, placing the dirty dishes in the sink.
“Yes, Mama.”
“Alright, come sit on my lap.”
Tamika climbed up on the couch and twisted her mother's brown hair around her finger.
“Soft,” she said.
“You love soft things, don't you darling?”
Tamika nodded and snuggled against her mother's chest.
“Here is your story,” Allison said, brushing the crumbs from her daughter's face.
“My story? 'Bout me?”
“Yes, 'bout you. Eight years ago, a mommy and a daddy oyster decided to look for a beautiful baby. So off they went to the Oceanic Adoption Agency.”
“Did they find one?”
“Oh, yes. They found many beautiful babies, of every shape and size, all needing loving families. Dolphin babies, whale babies, turtle babies and lots of darling little oyster babies. But although they were all very beautiful, the mother oyster knew something didn't feel right. So they went home.”
“What about their baby? Didn't they pick one?”
“No.”
“Awww. Poor Mommy and Daddy Oyster. That's sad.”
Allison squeezed her daughter's hand. “You always think of the hurting ones, don't you? But I'm not finished yet.”
Tamika wriggled around and took her mother's face in both hands. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, more than all the stars in the sky. Do you want to hear what happened?”
Tamika nodded, planting a loud kiss on her mother's cheek.
“That night, Mommy Oyster had a dream. In her dream she saw a special little baby girl oyster. The next morning she told Daddy Oyster about her dream. They swam back down to the Oceanic Adoption Agency and found the very same little girl oyster baby Mommy Oyster dreamed about.
'I want that baby,' Mommy Oyster said.
'Are you sure you want this baby?' they asked her. 'She's not the same as the rest. God put an extra part inside of her, and now she's different.'
Mother Oyster smiled, picked up the little special oyster baby and hugged her tight. Then she looked at Mr. Swordfish, the adoption director.
'This is the beginning of my little Pearl Garden. If you get any more babies like this, let us know and we will come right away to get them.'
“She wanted to make a pearl garden?”
“No, sweetheart. The baby would become her garden. Mother Oyster knew the extra seed inside her baby didn't make her ugly. The seed meant her daughter would be the most precious of all, because inside of her – she had a pearl heart which made her more beautiful than all the other babies in the ocean.
"Nobody could see her beauty on the outside until they got to know her. But once they did, they wondered why they never saw it before. Her pearl heart grew into a fragrant garden of love and acceptance and joy and everyone who knew her, loved spending time with her.”
“Did Mother Oyster name her daughter Pearl?”
“You're very clever. She named her Tamika Pearl. Just like you.”
“That's so sweet.”
“Isn't it? Did I ever tell you that Tamika means sweet? You are my Sweet Pearl, and having you in my life means I have my very own special Pearl Garden - you. I'm the luckiest mama in the world, just like Mother Oyster.”
“If they find another oyster baby with an extra seed growing, will we bring it home? We could have two Pearl Gardens.”
Allison smiled. “I think they're all out of Pearl babies. But the other day, Daddy and I went digging down in this diamond mine. There were all kinds of beautiful Diamond babies down there. But one baby boy looked different. He didn't shine like the other diamond babies. He looked more like an opal with many beautiful colors hidden inside. All the other Diamonds thought he looked odd, but we thought he looked perfect.”
“Can we bring him home to be my brother? I promise I'll love him sooo much!” Tamika's eyes shone.
Allison set her down. “Daddy will be home in a few minutes. I'll help you get some nice clothes on. Then we can all go down to the diamond mine together and find out if our dear Opal baby is still there waiting for us.”
“Yay! We'll have a Pearl Garden and an Opal Garden now.” Scrambling across the floor, Tamika whooped and hollered as she headed to her room.
“Indeed we will,” Allison whispered. She reached across the table and slipped a paper reading “Special Needs Adoption - Approval Notice” into her purse.
Share your own writing!
You need to