The Ice Breaker

黛安娜·威廉森/Diane Williamson

我们拥有的一切都很完美——一座占地四十英亩的漂亮圆木房子，美满的婚姻，还有一条忠心耿耿的狗。唯一的缺憾就是我们没有孩子。我们尝试了很多年，想拥有一个孩子，却都没能如愿。因此我和丈夫艾尔想领养孩子。基于各种原因，我们决定领养一个年龄大些的。不仅因为我们两人都工作，照顾孩子会成问题，而且我们目前唯一的“孩子”科尔比，一条斯伯林格斯班尼种犬——她的精力太旺盛了，小孩子根本控制不了她。坦率地说，我们从没养过孩子，一想到照看婴儿就有些紧张。领养机构让我们回去耐心等待，几个月后会有学龄儿童可领养。谁知刚过几个星期，也就是在圣诞节的前几周，他们就给我们打电话，问我们是否愿意先领养一个名叫卡莱布的两岁半的孩子，照看他几个月。这使我们措手不及，他们说那孩子急需有个能照顾他的人家。

情况并不符合我们几周前经过一番理性的讨论后提出的要求。困难很多——通知得那么急，我们已经有了度假计划，最重要的是，那孩子才刚会走路！我们在房间里踱来踱去，深思熟虑后还是接受了。

“只几个月嘛。”丈夫劝我说。我们互相安慰说不会有问题，但私下里我却顾虑重重。

卡莱布来我们家的日子确定了。那天，一辆汽车停在我家门口，透过车窗，我看到了他。在现实面前，我觉得头一下子大了。我们做了些什么？这个孩子要和我们共处了，我们却对他一无所知！对他的到来，我们真的做好准备了吗？我看了一下丈夫，知道他心里也在犯嘀咕。

我们出去迎接这位小客人。还没走到孩子面前，就听到背后传来一个声音。我转过身来，看见科尔比冲下台阶，直奔小男孩。一定是我们太匆忙，没关好门。我屏住了呼吸，科尔比这么激动，肯定会吓着卡莱布——甚至会把他撞翻在地。哦，不！我想。我们第一次见面怎么就这样啊！卡莱布肯定会很害怕，不愿跟我们一起进屋，整件事情就要化为泡影了。

在我们拦住科尔比之前，她已经冲到卡莱布面前了。她蹦跳着奔向他，开始欢喜地舔他的脸。同时，这个可爱的小男孩抱住狗的脖子，向我们转过头，欣喜若狂地叫起来：“这是给我的狗吗？”

我和丈夫站在那里，相互对望了一下，笑了。那一刻，我们的紧张感跑到了九霄云外，心想，一切都会如愿的。

卡莱布原本只会和我们待几个月，但是八年半之后，他仍和我们生活在一起。是的，我们收养了卡莱布。他成了我们的儿子，还有科尔比……哦，她高兴极了，她最终成了卡莱布的狗。

It was the perfect setting—a beautiful log house on forty acres of land. We had a solid marriage； we even had the loyal family dog. All that was missing was kids. We had tried for many years to have children， but it just never happened. So my husband， Al， and I applied to be foster parents. We decided we should start with an older child for a number of good reasons. Since we both worked， child care might be a problem. Corby， our springer spaniel—and our only "child" thus far might be a bit too energetic for a young child to handle. And frankly， we novices were a little nervous about taking on an infant. We sat back to wait the few months they thought it might take to get a school-age child—which was why we were floored when the agency called us within weeks， just before Christmas， and asked if we would take Kaleb， a two-and-a-half-year old boy， for a few months. It was an emergency， and he needed a home right away.

This wasn't what we had discussed so rationally a few weeks before. There were so many difficulties— it was such short notice， we had made holiday plans and most of all， the boy was a toddler？ We went back and forth， and in the end， we just couldn't say no.

"It's only for a couple of months，" my husband assured me. It would all work out， we told each other， but privately I was full of doubts.

The day was set for Kaleb to arrive. The car pulled up to our house and I saw Kaleb through the car window. The reality of the situation hit me and I felt my stomach tighten. What were we doing？ This child we didn't know anything about was coming to live with us. Were we really ready to take this on？ Glancing at my husband， I knew the same thoughts were going through his mind.

We went outside to greet our little guest. But before we could even reach the child， I heard a noise from behind me. Turning， I saw Corby tearing down the steps and heading straight for the little boy. In our hurry， we must not have closed the door completely. I gasped. Corby， in all her excitement， would frighten Kaleb—probably even knock him down. Oh no， I thought， what a way to start our first meeting！ Kaleb will be so terrified he won't even want to go into the house with us. This whole thing's just not going to work out？

Corby reached Kaleb before either of us could grab her. She bounded up to the boy and immediately began licking his face in a frenzy of joy. In response， this darling little boy threw his arms around the dog's neck and turned toward us. His face alight with ecstasy， he cried， "Can this be my dog？"

My eyes met my husband's and we stood there， smiling at each other. In that moment， our nervousness disappeared， and we knew everything would be just fine.

Kaleb came to stay those few months. Eight and a half years later， he is still with us. Yes， we adopted Kaleb. He became our son， and Corby… well， she couldn't have been happier. She turned out to be Kaleb's dog， after all.