The Battle for the Little Boy.
In November of 1997, my brother's wife, Angie, gave birth to a baby boy. This was not her first child. Two years prior, she and her husband had welcomed another bouncing baby boy into their home.
Suspicions arose that this second child was the product of an ongoing affair Angie had been involved in. A year later, more than just the affair made the marriage turn sour. During the separation it was revealed that this adorable little boy was not my brother, Troy's, child. Yet, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that this child was still going to be loved and welcomed into our family.
Shortly after the separation, Angie decided she was no longer interested in being a mom. She showed up at my mother's house one crisp fall day, and not only dropped the two boys off, but also their belongings. It appeared they would be staying awhile. Their hair was grimy and they looked like they had been having mud fights with one another. Angie didn't look any better than the kids did. Her clothes looked like she had been wearing them for days. Her eyes were blood shot with dark circles underneath. She told my mom, "Tell Troy I will come by later and talk to him about this, I don't have time right now." Before my mother could utter a single word, she was out the door.
As time passed, the situation got uglier. Occasionally Angie would stop by for five minutes to see the kids but nothing further than that. She realized life was more fun when you didn't have to worry about anyone else.
There came a day when she actually wanted to pick the kids up and spend time with them. "This is great," we thought. The kids had been waiting a very long time for this day to come. Little did we know Angie had a dirty surprise in store for us.
Angie was always fond of babies. Once they turned about three, she wasn't interested in them anymore. Sadly Devin, the oldest, was three years old.