Thursday, October 31st, 2019, Evening

Baxter thought the call could be from Mr. Danhof. If it was, he wanted one of his fathers to answer, so he looked in their direction and raised his eyebrows. Rob picked up the phone. “This is Rob Choi,” he said. After a few seconds he continued, “Hello, Carter. Baxter and Vincent are here, too. We’d like to put this call on the speakerphone. Is that all right?”

“Yes, that will be good because this involves all three of you,” Mr. Danhof replied.

“Carter, I’d like Baxter to tell you what he told us. Go ahead, Baxter.”

“I got a call from Betty Taylor, my CPS caseworker, telling me my grandmother died last night. She was informed by the convalescent home where my grandmother was living in Chandler, Arizona. They want to know what I want to do. I’m confused about what the right thing to do would be.”

“Yes, hello, Baxter. I got your message and decided to contact the convalescent home where Lydia Hansen was staying before returning your call. There will be a small remembrance ceremony there this coming Saturday morning at ten o’clock. They want to know if you plan to attend. They also want to know if you want her buried, and if so, where. Or, if you want her cremated and if so, where you want her ashes sent.”

“Mr. Danhof, do you have any advice? Then I’d like to talk it over with my fathers so they can help me decide. Is that okay?”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea. You can call me back on my direct number when you decide.

“This is my advice. I don’t think it’s necessary for you to fly to Phoenix for a half-hour ceremony for someone you never knew, even if she was your only relative. I suggest instead that you arrange for flowers to be delivered in time for the ceremony.

“The alternative would be that you go to the ceremony, but that’s complicated. In that case, you’d have to travel tomorrow. I’d recommend that if you decide to go, you should be accompanied by an adult. Otherwise, you’d be an unaccompanied minor traveling to Phoenix by air. Then you’d have to take a taxi to the convalescent home. It’s in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, about a half-hour from the airport. If you went by yourself, there might be a problem with getting a taxi because of your age. Then you’d repeat all of the travel in the return direction.

 “Thanks for that information, Carter,” Rob said. “It will help Baxter, me, and Vincent make a decision.”

“There’s one other thing,” Baxter said. “When my mom died, everything was put in a trust for me. My grandmother’s care is paid out of the trust. That payment should be canceled. I need to know when it can be canceled and how to do it.”

“I’ll look into that for you. I’ll also find out what’s covered for burial or cremation in the level of care you were paying from your trust. Based on that level, it should have been included. But if it wasn’t covered, I’ll find out what the cost for each would be and let you know.”

“Thanks. Now, I’ll talk to my dad and my pop. I’ll call you back, and if you’re not there, I’ll leave a message.”

“Thanks, Baxter. Can I assume that I’ll talk to you at the latest tomorrow?”

“I’ll be at school tomorrow.”

“What time do you get home?”

“Between three-thirty and three forty-five.”

“If I don’t hear from you by four-thirty, I’ll call you using this same number. Until then, I’ll say goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye, and thanks for your advice.”

Baxter hung up the phone and looked at Rob and Vincent.

Rob asked, “What do you think about the options, Baxter?”

“One is, I won’t go, but I’ll send flowers. The other is, I’ll go because she was my only relative in the United States on my father’s side.” He frowned.

“It looks like you still have some reservations about the choices. Is there one which would make you feel better?”

“To go, because then I wouldn’t feel guilty. But going would be long and complicated. One of you would have to come with me to Phoenix, so I’d feel guilty for pulling you away from work. Also, I’d miss at least one day of school. We’d have to find out what flights we could take from Oakland to Phoenix, what they’d cost, and what time we’d arrive. And then I’d have to do all of it coming home. Thing is, since I’d never met her, it seems sort of meaningless.”

He sat thinking for about a minute. “So what I’ll do is what is easiest. I won’t go. Can you help me find out how to send flowers that would be there in time for the remembrance ceremony?”

“Yes, certainly,” Rob said.

“I’ve decided about the remembrance ceremony, but I still have to tell them if she should be buried or cremated. If she’s to be buried, then I’d have to decide where. If she’s cremated, I’d have to decide where her ashes should be sent, and what to do with them after they get there.”

“Do you have a preference?” Vincent asked.

“Yes. I think it’s best if she’s cremated and I’ll have them send the ashes here. Then we can find out where my dad is buried and have her ashes put in the same place.”

Rob and Vincent looked at each other.

“I think your idea about the ashes is wonderful,” Vincent said. “So, it sounds like you’ve made your decision.”

Baxter nodded. “Does my decision to not go to the remembrance ceremony sound cruel? I mean, she was my only relative on my father’s side and in the USA, and she was my grandmother.”

Rob replied, “No, Baxter, that isn’t cruel. Please don’t think that. You’ve been taking care of her since your mother died, paying from your trust.”

“Okay. Thank you for reminding me about that. It helps a lot.”

“There is one other thing. You had a question about the level of care you’ve been paying. You wondered if it would cover the cost to have her buried or cremated,” Vincent said.

Baxter though for a moment before responding. “Maybe Mrs. Taylor would know. She’s the one who called me about this. I need to call her and tell her my decision anyway. Or I could call Mr. Danhof. He talked to theconvalescent home and might have more information.”

“Why don’t you call Mr. Danhof and tell him your decision. He might know the answer to the question about what’s covered. Or, if it’s not covered, he might know how to find out what it would cost.”

“Good idea. He might still be in his office.”

Baxter called Carter Danhof’s direct number. Mr. Danhof answered.

“Hi, Mr. Danhof. This is Baxter again. We’ve decided what to do, and I’d like to tell you what that is. And then we have a question.” He explained his decision, then asked about the cost of burial versus cremation.

“Cremation, including shipping the ashes anywhere in the contiguous United States, is covered by the level of care being paid from your trust. It does not cover burial. So I recommend cremation and have the ashes sent to you. Your idea to have the ashes put in your father’s burial plot is empathetic and appropriate. I’ll verify where your father is buried, determine if they’ll allow her ashes to be put into the same grave, and the cost they’ll charge to do so.

“The level of care payments can be terminated as of Monday, the 5th of November, 2019. That’s the anniversary date of when your grandmother had been moved into the convalescent home, and it is paid in full through that date.”

“Everything you told me is what we’ll do,” Baxter said.

“Alright. I’ll contact the trustee of your account and advise him about the decisions you’ve made and ask him to cancel the automatic payment at the expiration date. I’ll also contact the convalescent home and let them know about the flowers, then have them arrange for the cremation and shipment of the ashes to your home address.

“Now I need to direct a question to Robert Choi and Vincent Choi. Since you are his foster parents, is what Baxter has decided acceptable to the two of you?”

Rob and Vincent each replied, “Yes.”

“Now that I have your approval, I will contact the convalescent home in Chandler, Arizona, and advise them of Baxter’s decisions. I will also send a letter thanking them for the care they provided for your grandmother.

“I recommend that you contact a florist in Chandler today and have flowers sent to the convalescent home to arrive tomorrow morning. The card should read, ‘The Remembrance Service for Lydia Hansen’ and your name showing who they are from. Do you have any questions?”

Baxter looked at Rob and Vincent, and they shook their heads, indicating they had no questions. “No, we don’t,” Baxter said.

“Then, I’ll say goodbye. I think the next time we talk, it will be for a much more pleasant reason.”

“Bye, Mr. Danhof. Thanks for your advice.” Baxter ended the call. Then he wondered why Mr. Danhof had finished his call with the ‘much more pleasant reason’ comment. He mentally shrugged and thought, ‘Whatever.’

“I think you made the right decision,” Vincent told Baxter. “If you’d gone to the remembrance service, people there could ask questions about why you’d never visited your grandmother. That could have been embarrassing, even though you have a valid reason.”

“I never thought of that. You’re right. Thanks, pop. I’m glad we’re all in agreement about this. I think I should call Mrs. Taylor and let her know what we’ve decided.”

“That’s a good idea,” Rob said. “I suggest that you call her now. If she’s not there, leave her a detailed message.”

Baxter made the call. Mrs. Taylor was there, and she told Baxter that his decisions were thoughtful. That pleased him.

Friday, November 1st, 2019, After School

When Baxter got home from school on Friday, Elizabeth was sitting at the kitchen table, examining the candy she’d collected trick-or-treating.

Baxter watched as she spent the next few minutes focused on sorting and weighing her loot. Finally, she leaned back and looked at him.

“I got just over five pounds. You can have half of it, Baxter,” she offered.

“Thanks, but if I take half, I’ll eat it all in a few days. It’s better if it’s left in a kitchen cupboard, one that’s high up, so I can’t reach it easily. I don’t want to get fat.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Elizabeth said. “Your body doesn’t have much fat. And if you get enough exercise in PE, you’ll be just fine.”

“Trouble is, I’m sort of addicted to sweets, especially any with dark chocolate. My favorite dessert is chocolate cake with fudge icing, along with a big dish of dark chocolate ice cream with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Whoa! I like chocolate, but that’s a killer dessert. I guess you are a chocoholic.”

“Guilty as charged!” Baxter chuckled. “Okay, I’m going to get something to snack on and go to my room and start on my homework.”

“You going to have a snack? Or do you want a couple pieces of my candy… nope, on second thought, have an orange or an apple instead.”

He grinned. “That’s actually a much better idea,” he said. He opened the refrigerator and found the apples. They were small, so he took two. He washed and cored them, then cut each into quarters and put them in a small bowl.

“See you later, Elizabeth!”

“Okay. Have fun doing your homework!” She laughed, and he grabbed his backpack and snack and went to his bedroom. He put his things down, pulled his laptop and the textbooks he’d brought home out of his backpack, then sat down at his desk.

“Okay, I’ll get started on my English 1 assignment first,” he said to himself, out loud.

After he’d been working on his assignment for a few minutes, Rob and Vincent came down the hall. Seeing Baxter, they stopped and said, “Hi.”

“Hi, Dad. Hi, Pop. You guys are home early.”

“Yes, we are. Do you have a few minutes to chat?”

“Sure. Here or…?”

“Here is okay. Mind if we sit on the end of your bed?”

“Sure. No hey problema.”

“We have some interesting information about your adoption,” Rob said. “Groveland and CDSS have gotten together with Carter Danhof and us. Because your grandmother passed away, you are now legally an orphan.”

“I kind of figured that I was an orphan. What’s CDSS?” Baxter asked.

“The California Department of Social Services. You were initially assigned to CPS — Child Protective Services — because you were being fostered. Now you’ve been transferred to CDSS because you’re being adopted. You’ll have the same caseworker, Betty Taylor.”

“So, what’s that mean for me?”

Vincent answered. “Because now that you’re officially an orphan, it means we can fast-track your adoption and it will be finalized by Thanksgiving.”

 “What? Oh, wow! Really? That… that is so great! And that’s when I can change my last name to Choi?”

“Yes, if you’d like to. That’s your decision,” Vincent replied. “We’d like it if you did.”

“I definitely like it! It’ll mean that I’m really your son, forever and ever.” He looked at his two dads and smiled; he just couldn’t stop smiling. “Every day that I’m with you two — my new fathers and my new family because it includes Elizabeth, too — it seems like it’s the best day of my life. Then it’s even better the next day, and then the next day, and… and forever to the max! You are the best fathers in the world no, in the universe!”

“Baxter, we think you are the best son in the universe,” Vincent said.

Baxter got up and hugged Vincent, then Rob, and then all three were in a group hug. Then he sat down at his desk and wiped tears away on his sleeve.

Elizabeth was walking down the hall to her bedroom. She heard her dad and pop talking to Baxter, so she took one step into his bedroom. Baxter looked like he’d been crying. Then she looked at Rob and Vincent, then at Baxter again.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” She looked and sounded worried.

Baxter was nervously bouncing his legs. He looked at Rob and Vincent. “Can I tell her?”

“Sure,” Vincent replied.

“Elizabeth, my grandmother died yesterday. I’d never met her. She lived in a home for people with Alzheimer’s in Arizona.”

“That’s so sad. That’s why you’re crying?” she asked.

“No. These are tears because I’m happy,” he replied. “Dad and Pop just told me it means now I’m officially an orphan. So my adoption can be fast-tracked. They just told me that it should be finalized by Thanksgiving.”

Elizabeth was as excited as Baxter. She grabbed him and pulled him out of his chair and into a hug that lasted about fifteen seconds. “This is absolutely fantastic! Then you’ll be a Choi, too. This is so wonderful! This means you don’t have to wait the six months as a foster kid, right?”

“Right.” Baxter was smiling and once again was shedding some tears. That was okay. He didn’t mind crying when the tears were happy tears.

Turning to her fathers, she asked, “So, what’s next, and when?”

“Rob and are I are working with Betty Taylor, Barbara Mayhew, and Carter Danhof to complete all of the paperwork related to transferring Baxter from the foster care system into the process of adopting him. That will include setting a date to appear before a family court judge. Betty Taylor will act as Baxter’s advocate for the adoption. The judge will ask some questions, and if he or she finds everything is in order, the adoption will be finalized. That means Baxter will officially be our son and your brother, Elizabeth.”

 “We should find out more about the ‘when’ next week,” Rob said, replying to the last part of Elizabeth’s question.

“There’s something else we’d like to talk about with both of you. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, November twenty-eighth. We’re having some of our relatives here that day to have dinner with us.”

“Who’s coming for dinner?” Elizabeth asked.

Rob replied. “My grandparents; my parents; Vincent’s parents; Vincent’s sister, her husband, and their two kids; my brother, his wife, and their three kids; my cousin and his girlfriend; and the four of us. That means there will be twenty-one in all for dinner.

 “Two of Vincent’s nephews, Jason and Jordan Lee, will be staying with us in the guest bedroom. They are…” Rob turned to Vincent, “How old are they?”

“Thirteen. They are identical twins.”

“Identical twins! That’s cool,” Baxter said.

“I like them,” Elizabeth said. “They’re a lot of fun. I think you’ll like them, too.” She turned and looked at Vincent. “How long will they staying?”

“They will arrive on Tuesday — that’s November twenty-sixth — and leave on Saturday, the thirtieth. That way, they’ll be home in time to return to school, which starts on Monday.”

“We’ll have to figure out things that we can do while they’re here,” she said. “Where are Donna and Steven staying? They’re the twins’ parents, Baxter.”

“Everyone that doesn’t live close by will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express,” Rob replied.

“We made a list of the relatives who are coming for Thanksgiving,” Rob said. Here’s a copy for each of you. It shows their names, where they live, and their relationships. And ages and birthdates of the kids. This is personal information and should be kept private and not given to anyone else.”

Baxter looked at the list. “That’s a lot of people. Maybe we should have those stick-on name badges. You know, the ones that say ‘My Name Is’ and they write their name on it when they arrive. That’s what we had to do when we had a school trip and visited Salesforce, Adobe, and Twitter in San Francisco. Each of those companies asked us to write our names using those labels, then stick them to our jackets. Doing that would really help me know which relative is which,” he said.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Rob said. “They sell those stickers at Office Max. I’ll pick up a pack of the large size, and get some marking pens that people can use to write their names.”

“It’ll help me too, so I won’t call Grandpa Choi ‘Timmy’ — or something silly like that,” Elizabeth said.

“Who’s Timmy?” Baxter asked.

Elizabeth pointed to the name on the list. “He’s the youngest of Jeff’s and Kathy’s three kids — that’s Rob’s brother and his wife. See, Timmy’s three years old.”

Baxter chuckled. “I don’t think you’d mix up Timmy with Grandpa Choi,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, but I could call him Granddad Young by mistake. That’s why the stickers are such a great idea.”

“Well, we’re going to have a lot of work to do. We have a Thanksgiving dinner to plan, ingredients to purchase, and the meal to prepare and serve. And, of course, there’ll be clean-up duty following the meal,” Vincent said. When is your Thanksgiving time off?”

“We get all of Thanksgiving week,” Elizabeth said.

“So do we,” Baxter added. “Will that give us enough time to cook whatever has to be cooked before Thanksgiving day?”

Rob nodded. “Yes, I’m sure it will. We’ll have a menu of everything that we’re going to prepare for dinner and what each of us is going to be doing to help. We have plenty of time. I’ll give you copies of the menu this weekend.”

“It should actually be fun,” Vincent said. “Nothing is going to be too complicated. It’s basically turkey with stuffing that’s cooked separately in the oven, gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables, rolls, cranberry relish, and some nibbles to have before dinner.”

“Okay,” Baxter said. “I roasted a turkey for Christmas once. It was easy. The only problem was, I needed my mom to help me lift the roasting pan into and out of the oven. I was only eleven years old and I couldn’t lift it by myself.”

“We can do the heavy lifting,” Rob said, grinning.

“There was one other thing. I didn’t know how to slice the turkey. My mom did that. I still don’t know how to do it.”

“We know how to carve a turkey,” Vincent said. We’ll do it, and show you how so you’ll be able to do it on your own.”

Thursday, November 21st, 2019, Mid Morning

Baxter initially had been told the finalization of his adoption would take a long time. It didn’t because he was eligible for a fast-track adoption, which meant the in-home period was one month instead of six months. And it started from October 27th, the date he moved in with the Chois.

Baxter Hansen and Rob, Vincent, and Elizabeth Choi appeared in family court before Judge George York on November twenty-first. Baxter liked the judge. He didn’t seem bothered that Baxter was gay and that Rob and Vincent were his parents and that they were gay and married. He seemed more interested in discovering how Baxter felt about and interrelated with the three members of the Choi family. And how the Choi family felt about and interrelated with Baxter. The judge also wanted to know if there were any issues during the in-home period brought up by Baxter or the Chois. He questioned the lack of relatives in the United States, and whether the relatives in Canada might challenge the adoption at a later time.

Carter Danhof was present as Baxter’s attorney and replied to questions about the Canadian relatives and what would happen if they changed their mind and opposed Baxter’s adoption.

Betty Taylor, the caseworker representing the California Department of Social Services, was Baxter’s advocate for his adoption. She gave her report, including that Baxter’s maternal grandmother, who had passed away in October, was his only known relative in the United States; an exhaustive search had been conducted and no other relatives had been discovered.

His birth father had been an orphan, and he’d been killed in Afghanistan. He had no known relatives outside of the United States.

His birth mother had no relatives in the United States. She had passed away in July 2018 in a traffic accident. She had relatives in Canada; they had signed and submitted a notarized Statement of Non-Responsibility for Baxter to CPS. Betty Taylor stated that the Canadian relatives were not opposed to Baxter being fostered or adopted by the Chois.

She told the judge that the Chois had fostered, then adopted a girl, Elizabeth, when she was eleven years old. Her mother was killed by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting. Her mother’s relatives didn’t want to foster or adopt her for financial reasons. Her father was unknown. She was fostered by the Chois and went through the six-month in-home period before her adoption was finalized in the Family Court in Stockton, California.

She reported that the relationships between Robert and Vincent Choi and Elizabeth Choi and Baxter were exemplary.

She said that her conclusion was that Baxter’s adoption would be very successful.

The judge asked Baxter to tell him why he wanted to be adopted and why he wanted to be adopted by the Chois.

Baxter had written and memorized his response to the second question, but not to the first. So he winged it, explaining what it had been like not living with a family since his mother had died. He said how much he’d come to love Rob and Vincent, his dad and his pop, and Elizabeth, his sister, since he became the Choi’s foster son. He said they’d never replace the memories he had of his mother, but that they were his new parents, and that he loved them as much as he had loved his mother. He said that he’d never had a brother or a sister, and Elizabeth was the perfect sister, even if sometimes she’d forget to wash her hands before meals. That made everyone in the court laugh. Elizabeth stage whispered, “I’ll get you for that, Baxter!” but she and Baxter were both grinning and the judge laughed, too.

Then Judge York asked if there were any objections to the adoption of Baxter Hansen by Robert and Vincent Choi. A man who’d been sitting in the back of the courtroom stood up and said he objected. The judge asked him to come forward and explain his objection. Baxter noticed he had been sitting with an older woman and a heavy-set man. He didn’t know or recognize any of them.

“Please state your name, your age, and your relationship to Baxter Hansen, Robert Choi, David Choi, and-or Elizabeth Choi.”

“My name is Keith Jackman. I’m twenty-seven years old, I’m not related to Baxter Hansen or any of the Chois, your honor.”

“What is your standing to make an objection, and what is your objection to this adoption?”

“I’m a concerned citizen, your honor.” He said nothing else, so there was a long pause as the judge waited for the rest of his response.

“I also asked, what is your objection?”

“Oh. Sorry, your honor. The Chois are both gay. I believe they will corrupt Baxter Hansen due to their impure, immoral relationship, and because they are living a life of sin. They are an abomination in the eyes of God Almighty and His Only Son, Jesus Christ.”

“So, your objection to this adoption is that they don’t believe in or follow the tenets of your religion?”

“Uh… I guess so, your honor. But they are pedophiles and.”

The judge banged his gavel and interrupted. “Stop right there! You are accusing Robert and Vincent Choi of being pedophiles? That is a grave accusation. You need to provide proof to support your accusation. What proof can you present to the court?”

“They are the proof by being here in person, your honor.” He waved his arm at the table where the Chois were sitting. “They are married. Two men, married! They will take this boy, Baxter Hansen, and subvert him and force him to adopt their perverted lifestyle. As they have already done with the young girl, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth stood up. “Hey, you jerk, I’m not perverted, and no one has tried to pervert me!” she shouted. The judge banged his gavel and gave her a stern look. “Please speak only when I have recognized you and said you may speak.” Elizabeth blushed and sat down.

“Mr. Jackman, two persons of the same gender can legally be married in the United States of America. That is the law, and it was upheld by the Supreme Court. So that is not proof that they could be pedophiles. For that to be proven, is is required that they have to have been tried and convicted of sex acts with a minor person. Do you have records of their arrest and conviction that you can present to this court?”

Keith Jackman turned and looked at the man and woman he’d been sitting with. They sat stoically, and Keith Jackman turned back to the judge. “They are gay men, and it’s been proven that gay men are pedophiles,” he said.

“Mr. Jackman, that is incorrect. I’ve had many cases of pedophiles who have been arrested and brought to my court for arraignment and trial, and the vast majority of those who have been convicted have been straight men, not gay men, or straight women, not gay women.”

“That’s not true! We know that gay men are all pedophiles! This so-called adoption is an abomination and must not be allowed! My church has the proof, but you will not listen!”

“As I have already stated more than one time, present your proof. Your allegations are not proof.”

“I’ve already presented my proof. But you refuse to listen!”

“Because you have not provided proof to validate your contentions, I rule that your objection to this adoption is inadmissible. You’ve admitted that you have no proof that the Chois are pedophiles. Your religious beliefs have no standing under the law that would allow you to use them as the basis of an objection to this adoption.” He banged his gavel. “Please return to your seat.”

“But this can not be allowed. These men are….”

He was interrupted by the judge, who banged his gavel twice. “Return to your seat, now, or I will charge you with contempt of court and have the bailiff remove you from this courtroom, and you will go to jail for seven days. Do you understand?”

Keith Jackman did not reply to the judge. He turned and stormed out of the courtroom, followed by the man and woman who’d been sitting with him.

“Are there any other objections to this adoption?” There were none. “In that case, I declare that Baxter Alan Hansen is now the adopted son of Robert Michael Choi and Vincent Richard Choi, a married couple.” He pounded his gavel one time and smiled.

“Baxter, there is one other thing that I can do. I understand that you want to change your name from Baxter Alan Hansen to Baxter Alan Choi. Is that correct?”

“Your honor, I’d like to change it to Baxter Hansen Choi, changing my middle name from Alan to Hansen in honor of my birth father. I filled out the paperwork for this name change, and Robert and Vincent Choi signed it. Is that okay?”

“Yes, Baxter, that is okay. I need to confirm the name change with the Chois.” They both stood.

“Do you Robert Michael Choi agree to have Baxter Alan Hansen change his name to Baxter Hansen Choi?”

“Yes, your honor, I agree,” Rob said.

“Do you Vincent Richard Choi agree to have Baxter Alan Hansen change his name to Baxter Hansen Choi?”

“Yes, your honor, I agree,” Vincent said.

“Baxter, do you have the paperwork to change your name to Baxter Hansen Choi and a copy of your original birth certificate?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Please give them to the bailiff.” Baxter stood and handed the documents to the Bailiff.

 The judge banged his gavel. “I hereby declare that the adoption of Baxter Hansen Choi is finalized as of today’s date, the twenty-first of November of the year two thousand nineteen.” There was applause from those sitting in the spectators’ section.

“Congratulations, Baxter Hansen Choi, and congratulations to your parents, Robert and Vincent Choi, and to your sister, Elizabeth Choi,” the judge stated. “The signed adoption papers and signed name change form will be filed with the Registrar of Contra Costa County and made official. Baxter, a new birth certificate will be issued with your new name and your original date of birth and the names of your birth mother and your birth father. It will be mailed to your home address. Copies of your registered adoption papers and registered name change form will also be mailed to your home address. You can order additional copies of these documents from the office of the Registrar of Contra Costa County. Note that there is a fee for each additional copy, and when you request the copies, you will be advised of the then-current fee.”

The judge banged his gavel again. “This court is adjourned for lunch and will resume with the next case on the docket at two o’clock this afternoon.”