After our session in court, we had to fight a couple of uphill battles before we could retrieve Mr. Na and take him back to Kiev with us.  But we definitely saw light at the end of the tunnel and after spending nearly 14 days in Donetsk, we were ready to come home.  The first stop after court was to obtain his new passport, which required Koko to drop off the paperwork and return later that day.   After that, we drove to the hospital to get the little guy; but much to our confusion, they weren’t going to place him in our custody, even with a signed court decree and new birth certificate naming us as his parents.  Instead, someone from the orphanage had to go and get him and bring him back to the orphanage, where we would finally be united.  It seemed rather taxing, but the hospital’s policy was that whomever admitted the child initially, had to release the child. 

 We stopped by the hotel to have our things packed and ready to go, so we could make the 7:15 train to Kiev that evening.  Then, we drove on to the orphanage, where Koko told me to stay and wait while she and Pa went to get Mr. Na’s passport.  I feel like I got the better end of the deal because I had a chance to play with our son while those two ran errands in the cold.  I was led to the childrens’ playroom where Mr. Na sat on the floor, playing with a musical Sesame Street toy.  I brought new clothes for him and a diaper, and the orphanage nurse helped me change him.  I could see that the nurse was quite taken with the little guy and that they were quite familiar with one another.  She got up to grab a brochure from a nearby desk and I watched as she circled something in pen.  She handed the brochure to me, and I saw that it was for the orphanage.  In her best English, she pointed to the address and asked me to write to the orphanage, letting us know how Mr. Na was doing.  She mimed taking pictures and I nodded, telling her I would send some every so often.  That’s when I saw the tears in her eyes and she reached out for my hand and squeezed it. Again, I was the one who was speechless because I was so very thankful for the opportunity to be a mother to Mr. Na.

 Mr. Na was getting sleepy on the floor.  He put his head down and began to rock himself, which was another self-soothing habit we noticed.  And just as he drifted off to sleep, Koko and Pa returned, telling me we had to hurry if we were going to make our train.

 I scooped up Mr. Na and he opened his eyes.  We slipped a new coat and hat on him and said our goodbyes to the orphanage nurse and walked down the stairs to the car.  Mr. Na became fussy and I spoke to him softly, but he squirmed as we got inside the car and drove off.  It was dusk and the headlights from the other cars were too bright for Mr. Na.  He squinted, and tried to wiggle out of my arms.  I held fast, but he bgan to wail.  I began to rock him back and forth but he wouldn’t settle down.  What was worse was that we hit traffic as throngs of people from the mines and adjacent factories streamed on to the boulevard.  Up front, Koko grew impatient.  She was worried we would miss our train, and I knew that it wasn’t just because she wanted us to make it to Kiev the next morning, but she was home sick and missed her children terribly and couldn’t wait to get back to them.

 Being a brand new mother, I didn’t quite know what to do to calm down the little guy.  Pa tried too, by picking him up and distracting him; but he was too scared and tired to be soothed.  We finally made it to the hotel where were practically sprinted to our rooms to grab our luggage and then downstairs to the front desk to check out.  Pa took all of the luggage to the car and as soon as we were all paid up, we headed to the train station.

 Koko told us to wait in the car so she could buy tickets for the 7:15 train and we held our breath, working on other strategies to try and quiet Mr. Na.  I brought a box of cereal I had in our hotel room and gave him some to munch on, which seemed to be doing the trick.  Koko came back to the car, waving the tickets in her hand which was our cue to get out and grab our stuff.  Holding Mr. Na with one arm and my backpack with the other, we made a mad dash for the train platform and didn’t stop running until we got to our compartment.  The three of us were soaked with perspiration from the jaunt and Pa made a makeshift “crib” for Na out of one of the bunk beds in the compartment, reinforcing it with our luggage so that he wouldn’t fall out.  Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

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