They had three names: Mam, Anya, and Mama.

That’s what little Feliks always called them.

It was difficult trying to keep up with him at times. Just as they get him settled with one task, he’s off doing another. It appeared that Erzsébet was the only one who could manage to meet his pace, as noted by Iryna who often watched them run in circles on the family’s large rural property. But none of them seemed to mind. So full of life, they were just grateful to have him in their lives.

The three of them kept an open mind in raising their little one. There was no such thing as “gendered activities” in their home and didn’t discourage him as they let Feliks discover the world around him. Some days he wanted to be the knight in shining armour with his plastic shield and sword, other times he wanted to be Princess Elsa, and sometimes he just wanted to play soccer in the new dress Iryna spent two weeks making. He was free to do as he pleased (with some limits of course).

Feliks was just like any other three year old. He loved dragons and Emma convinced her brother to paint a large mural on his bedroom wall. He had tons of stuffed dragons all over his room as well. He loved the colours pink and red, puppies, Harry Potter, Pokemon, and the Disney Princesses.

But Feliks was not without his troubles and his mothers did their best to comfort him to the best of their abilities. The women adopted Feliks through an agency. They had never met his birth parents nor do they know much about them or where Feliks came from. The three of them noted that he had developed an irrational fear of storms during their first few weeks with them. It was normal for a child to be scared of a little thunder and lighting but Feliks would always run away screaming and crying to another room. They theorized he may have experienced something traumatic during a storm. A quick phone call confirmed their suspicions. Feliks was discovered in a vehicle by himself for several hours during a bad thunderstorm before being brought to the adoption agency. Though he had no immediate memory of the incident, it was easy to tell the experience had left a strong impact on him. Even the lightest of storms were enough to frighten the boy to no end.

Those experiences were the hardest. They hated seeing him wail like he did. But they quickly learned the best ways at keeping him distracted. Emma and Iryna were fond of their little helper in the kitchen and during the nights, they all took turns reading him fairy tales from the old books they themselves owned as kids.

He also seemed to be scared of snakes but Erzsébet’s frequent trips to the petting zoo were her way of pushing that fear out of him. Its had some success. Unfortunately his fear of strangers was a whole another challenge that the three of them simply couldn’t master, no matter how hard they tried.

‘In due time,’ Erzsébet always said. Emma and Iryna could only hope that she was correct. After all, it wouldn’t be long until three of them would be shipping him off to school. The supplies and new clothing were all set to go. All that was left was to wait for the big day.

Iryna was the most emotional at the thought of Feliks heading to school for the first time. She was determined to get as many photos of him as possible. Erzsébet and Emma were just as ecstatic and booked off work so they could witness this milestone of his life. They refused to miss it even if a promotion was on the line. They had one opportunity to see the experience. They wanted to make it count.

The day they brought Feliks home from the adoption agency was the exact moment that their lives had changed forever. A home full of warmth and tender love, the four of them were like every other family on the block. After putting Feliks to bed for the night, the three women enjoyed a cool glass of white vine out on the front porch. The cuddled together on a swing attached to the house as they relived the moments of a recent camping trip by a popular lake resort through the photographs and videos taken on Emma’s phone. They all agreed that life could not be any more perfect than what it was now.