On the 16th February 1993, the Rohnson family at 15 Summerhill Court, Sunset Valley, were receiving a gift they'd been waiting for since they were wed.
After marrying in 1989, Lorraine and Nicholas Rohnson were told that they would never have children naturally, so they turned all of their hopes on adoption.
Within four long years of waiting, they'd been given hope, but let down on numerous occasions, until they almost lost the hope that they'd ever be parents. Then they received the call from Sharon Woodland, their social worker, that there had been an 18 month old child brought into Sunset Valley's children's center by an elderly woman.
That was when the Rohnson's finally knew that after a long wait, they would be getting their one wish, a baby.
They decided to name their new baby girl Cerys, and Lorraine was full of joy at the fact she finally knew her purpose in life, to bring up this little girl in the best way that she could. She needed to make sure that Cerys would have a full life, no matter what challenges she may come across. Lorraine and Nicholas discussed that they would tell Cerys that she was adopted, as their skin colour would definitely give that away.
Lorraine taught Cerys her basic life skills, she wanted Cerys to grow up well and achieve her dreams.
Every night whilst putting her daughter to bed, Lorraine knew how blessed she was to have this little girl in her life.
Years passed and Cerys had learned everything she could as a toddler, and it was time for her to grow up. Lorraine and Nicholas shed a small tear as they knew that this possibly could be the last time that they held a baby.
The family were taken aback by Cerys's beauty, and it brought Lorraine to wonder who would give up a child this beautiful. Lorraine never found out anything about Cerys's biological mother, but she didn't really want to know; she was Cerys's mother now.
Cerys enjoyed painting, and did it in her freetime, whilst her skill quickly got higher. Lorraine was overjoyed with her baby girl!
Nicholas worked late nights in the week at the Bistro, so usually it was just Cerys and Lorraine alone most nights.
One night, after Cerys was tucked up in bed, Lorraine and Nicholas considered adopting a second child. They both wanted another child, so they arranged a meeting with their social worker the next afternoon.
"Mr and Mrs Rohnson! It's been years! How is little Cerys?" Sharon Woodland smiled as they walked into her office. "Now, let's talk adoption!" Lorraine knew why she loved this excitable young woman, she was so upbeat about everything and always made her smile. Except when she was delivering bad news.
The Rohnson's knew that they would like a baby boy, and Sharon got right on the case.
After a few minutes searching the databases, she found someone who fit their description.
"There's a pregnant teenager in Twinbrook!" She exclaimed happily, and arranged for the family to meet her the following week.
A week later Lorraine, Nicholas and Sharon boarded the first class plane to Twinbrook to meet the knocked up teenager who could possibly be the mother of the Rohnson's second child.
After checking into their hotel, the Rohnson's and Sharon arrived at the Harris household, where they would meet the pregnant girl!
"Good Morning! You must be Mrs Rohnson! I'm Jason Harris, Carla's father. I apologize that I am not dressed yet, but we didn't expect you so early!" Mr Harris greeted her.
Carla and her parents asked the Rohnsons questions, and the Rohnsons found out that the father of the baby left her as soon as she told him she was pregnant.
Carla allowed Lorraine to feel her stomach. This filled Lorraine with all kinds of motherly feelings, and Carla agreed that this would be the family who would adopt her baby.
The documents were signed and the families hugged goodbye before leaving the family home forever, but they knew they were taking part of this family to look after and keep in their hearts forever.
Months later, Lorraine received a call from Sharon at 5pm. Carla had given birth to a baby boy, and Sharon would deliver him to their home the next morning.
Cerys woke up that morning early, one reason was because she had school and the second was because she was excited to have a little brother!
On the 4th August 2001, Sharon walked up the steps to 15 Summer Hill Court for the second time delivering a child to Lorraine and Nicholas.
They named their baby Daniel and they were overjoyed that he was healthy, despite the tender age of his biological mother.
They decided to rebuild their house to fit the four of them in!
3 years have passed, and this is me now, Cerys Anne Rohnson and this is the story of my life...
