We Adopted a Teenage Brother and His Little Sister After Other Families Turned Them Down – A Month Later, Their Former Foster Mother Called and Asked, ‘They Still Haven’t Told You Why They Picked You?’

But I looked at Josie and felt something inside me shift.

Then our caseworker, Rebecca, asked if Daniel and I could speak privately.

There was something we needed to understand.

Josie had an older brother.

Jace was sixteen.

“They’re a sibling group,” Rebecca explained. “They need to be placed together.”

Daniel glanced at me.

I asked, “Where is he?”

“Down the hall.”

I frowned. “Why wasn’t he in the meeting?”

Rebecca hesitated.

That hesitation told me more than her answer did.

“A number of families have expressed interest in Josie,” she said. “When they’ve learned Jace is part of the placement, they’ve reconsidered.”

I felt embarrassed on behalf of people I had never met.

“Because he’s sixteen?”

“Teen placements are harder.”

Daniel crossed his arms. “Does he have behavioral problems?”

“No more than I would expect from a teenager who’s been through significant instability.”

It was a careful answer.

Rebecca folded her hands.

“Jace knows why previous families changed their minds.”

“And he expects us to change ours too?” I asked.

Rebecca didn’t answer right away.

“I think Jace expects adults to prove what they mean.”

That sentence stayed with me.

A few minutes later, Jace walked in.

He was tall and thin, dressed in a gray hoodie despite the warm room. His hair fell over his forehead.

He nodded once when Rebecca introduced us but didn’t smile.

Josie immediately ran over to him.

We spent nearly two hours together.

Josie talked enough for everyone.

Jace mostly answered questions with one or two words.

Daniel asked whether he played sports.