“What If Someone Took All Nine?”
Richard asked the nurse a question that sounded almost absurd.
“What if someone adopted all nine?”
The nurse looked at him.
Then she laughed.
Not cruelly.
She simply thought the idea was impossible.
“All nine?”
Richard nodded.
“Could someone do that?”
The nurse shook her head.
“Sir, nobody is going to take nine babies.”
Richard didn't respond.
He looked at the girls again.
One was crying.
Another was moving her tiny hands beneath the blanket.
A third had stopped crying and was staring directly at him.
Richard thought about Anne.
He remembered the final months of her illness.
He remembered sitting beside her bed.
He remembered the conversations they had when they both knew the end was approaching.
And he remembered one sentence in particular.
“Don't let love die with me,” Anne had told him. “Give it somewhere to go.”
For months, Richard had wondered what those words meant.
Standing in that nursery, he suddenly believed he understood.
He looked at the nurse.
Then he said five words that would change everything.
“I'll take them all.”
The nurse thought she had misunderstood.
“What?”
“I'll take all nine.”
Nobody Believed Him
The decision sounded impossible.
Richard was one man.
He had recently lost his wife.
He didn't have an enormous house.
He didn't have a fortune.
He had no experience raising nine babies alone.
And yet he was serious.
The staff began asking questions.
Could he afford it?
Where would they sleep?
Who would care for them?
What would happen when he had to work?
Could he really handle nine children?
Richard didn't have perfect answers.
What he had was determination.
He knew there would be challenges.
He knew people would question him.
But he also knew that leaving the girls behind felt impossible.
Eventually, the necessary legal and administrative processes began.
It was not an overnight decision in practical terms.
There were interviews, paperwork, home evaluations, financial questions, and countless concerns.
But Richard remained committed.
When people asked him why he would take on such an enormous responsibility, his answer was simple.
“They need somebody.”
That was enough for him.