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paperwork that granted us temporary custody as Joanna’s legal guardians with the orphanage director
    We would officially become her parents after we went to court in a few days, assuming, of course, that the court approved of us as parents. Then we could get Joanna’s medical exam and apply to the American embassy for her visa to enter the United States. Renata assured us that there would be no problems. I prayed she was right.
    Erika dressed Joanna in clothes we’d brought—a pink jumper, lacy ankle socks, and a blue-striped sunbonnet. It was a complete transformation. She became a dazzling little girl. Danuta, Karina, and the white-haired woman walked us back through the foyer to the front door. Renata and Marian walked ahead to the car. The women had tears in their eyes.
    There was no doubt that Joanna was special to them. They’d miss her deeply. Each of them smothered her with hugs and kisses. One of them said, “Kocham cię,” Polish for “I love you.” Erika, tearing up, said something I couldn’t understand and hugged both women.
    I swallowed hard. “Honey, please tell them for me she’ll be okay. She’ll have a great life and be safe with us.”
    â€œThat’s what I just told them.” She wiped her eyes.
    I bowed to them with my hands together in a gesture of thanks. Dziękuję. They nodded and waved. This was the Hallmark moment I’d been waiting for.
    We called out “Do widzenia”— “Goodbye”—before squeezing back into the little Nissan. Without an infant seat, I held Joanna tightly on my lap behind Renata. She was still quiet and emotionless. Erika slid in next to me behind Marian.
    â€œDo you want me to hold her?”
    â€œNo, I want to hold her. Then you can hold her for a while. We’ll take turns.” Erika laughed and punched my arm. We were like two kids fighting over a new puppy.
    As Marian pulled away, Erika and I watched the beige stucco building with the red tile roof recede behind us. The tall, skinny boy stood alone on the terrace watching us. This time he wasn’t smiling. Across the street from the orphanage, the green waters of Lake Juno peeked through the trees, a man and woman barely visible paddling by in a canoe. A little blue Russian GAZ mail truck sputtered by, belching diesel smoke. It was another hot but beautiful summer day in Mrągowo.
    I pulled off Joanna’s sunbonnet and kissed her head. “Hi, sweetie. It’s Daddy and that’s Mommy. You’re gonna be okay now. You’re coming home with us. You’ll never be alone again.”
    She looked up at me with the same blank expression, then craned her neck so that she could peer out the rear window at the orphanage and caretakers receding into the distance.

FIVE
    W e’d reserved a double room at the Hotel Forum Warszawa, which catered to European tourists. As far as I could tell, we were the only Americans there.
    We parted with Renata and Marian at the hotel entrance, then walked through the lobby with Joanna, who was slumped over asleep in our collapsible stroller. A well-dressed, officious young man and woman with the charm of the Motor Vehicles Department stood behind the front desk watching as we crossed to the elevator banks.
    When we left the hotel the day before we were childless; now we had a baby in a stroller. Did they suspect we were American baby snatchers on a poaching trip to Poland? Would they report us to the authorities?
    As we stood waiting for the elevator, I made sidelong glances to see if they were still watching us, but they’d turned back to their computer screens. Perhaps I was just paranoid. Erika stood next to me, one hand on the stroller, her hair frizzed and her skin glowing from the heat.
    Looking down at Joanna slumped in the stroller, I couldn’t get over how impossibly adorable she looked with a simple change into girly clothes. I crouched down next to her and