Paige Bramlett was 24 when she adopted a 7-year-old student she met at the school where she worked.
They had only been building their life together for a year when everything became complicated: Paige became pregnant, alone, and overnight became a “single mother of 2”. But as her belly grew, her son never left her side for a second. He awaited his sister with an excitement that seemed out of place considering how little time he had spent having a real family. As if a whole lifetime of waiting for exactly that had been concentrated into those months.
Today, Paige says she doesn’t remember what her life was like before her two children. What began as an unexpected adoption ended up being the support that helped her navigate motherhood alone. Two people who saved each other without planning it, and who now love each other as if they had always been three.