–We do not know, the hospital does not give us any information.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Well… How long will she stay there, do we even know?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –No, there is no information.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seemed to me like there was some kind of catch. Naturally, I thought about the worst thing\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Tell me, can I \ufb01rst take Artyom, and then, when Varvara recovers, take her?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –No, unfortunately, the rules are that brother and sister cannot be separated, and you will have to wait for Varvara to return.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I continued to visit Artyom, but Varvara never returned. At one point, I just thought she was dead. On the street, the leaves turned yellow, and I kept sitting in the garden with Artyom. Without Varvara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One beautiful sunny autumn morning, the bell rang. \u201cThe distributor of children in Moscow\u201d called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n –I know that you wanted grown-up children, but here I have a girl, a baby who got refused, would like to come see her???<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Yes, I’d like to come. I am leaving now to your of\ufb01ce, so you can give me a referral for seeing her.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, to see a child, you must get a referral. You can’t just come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ended up in the building of an old kindergarten, which, in fact, is considered a department of the Filatov hospital, where children, who are refused by their mothers, get sent. They brought me a bag with a small blue-eyed doll. I took her in my arms and began to move towards the exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Lady, where are you going???!!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Home. Something\u2019s wrong???<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The head doctor laughed in my face:<\/p>\n\n\n\n –You are so funny! First, we have to \ufb01ll out all the documents, I have to tell you the medical history, and then you can pick the baby up. Come tomorrow, I will prepare a package of documents for the court. I take it you liked her?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, reminiscing about that moment, I would like time to stop. At least for half an hour. Just to feel it even better. After all, it was the most important moment in my life. The baby in my arms was MY baby, without actually being mine. This is a strange sensation that few are given to experience. God, how pretty she was!!! She was like an angel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quiet, calm, tiny angel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next day I brought her home. During the day, I prepared everything for the baby: we had a children’s room, and there was still a baby bed from Stepan; the rest \u2014 diapers, carriers, bottles \u2014 I bought in a few hours. I put the baby on the bed, undressed her, changed diapers, and just sobbed while looking at her for the next two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “How can I love you?” – I thought <\/em>…<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lopatova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/how-i-stayed-in-america-31-1.jpg\")
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