“Hello again, little bear.”
“You’re getting stronger every time I see you.”
“I knew you could do it.”
One morning, our social worker entered the nursery carrying a folder with a smile none of us had seen in weeks. Shelby had returned to the hospital after receiving counseling and support, determined to rebuild her life and bring her son home instead of surrendering him to the foster system. She had been terrified, overwhelmed, and convinced she wasn’t capable of being a mother, but she had chosen to try.
Before meeting her baby again, Shelby asked about the volunteer everyone kept mentioning. She had heard the nurses describe the enormous biker who spent hours holding her son, and she wanted to thank the stranger who had comforted him when she couldn’t.
“You’re Wade?”
“Thank you…”
“For loving my son when I wasn’t strong enough to be here.”
Wade lowered his eyes for a moment before offering the same quiet humility we had all come to admire.
“He never needed me.”
