In the direst of circumstances, two souls found in each other the love they yearned for.

On one sunny afternoon in May of 2018, more than fifty people mingled and sat around a beautiful baby boy who was curious about the events of the day.

Food was prepared, even if some were too “grown-up” for him to eat. Banners and decorative materials were strewn all over the place featuring lovable characters from Sesame Street.

The baby in the center of all the revelry is Baby Charlie.

And a year before this big celebration, things were a lot different.

A lot more tragic. A lot more dire.

Baby Charlie was found cold and abandoned on a truck bed with soiled diapers.

But that night, fate had other plans. For when a woman wished for a child, and a child yearned for a mother, their lives were placed in a collision course that would answer both their prayers.

The baby was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare where Lorraine Nichols worked for 18 years as a supervising respiratory therapist.

“I assessed his breathing, his, you know, oxygen,” she told the Humankind, “For the most part, he was fine. Cold, hungry, wet, but he was fine.”

But at that moment, she already knew that this encounter was way beyond the ordinary.

As soon as she cradled the little boy in her arms, she knew they had a special bond.

Nichols is a two-time breast cancer survivor and couldn’t have kids of her own.

But this doesn’t mean that she can’t be a mother. She and her husband Charles desperately wanted to have a child – so much so that they spent months preparing their home for adoption.

Then, in a truly serendipitous moment, Charlie came into their lives.

The couple didn’t waste any time. Fate has brought them together and they would not turn their backs to it. Four days after little Charlie was found, he arrived at the home of his brand-new family.

The challenges of parenting quickly set in, but the couple wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Even if Nichols helped raise her step-children, taking care of a newborn baby is an entirely different thing. But she’s not one to shy away from a blessing such as little Charlie.

“He just fills that hole that I had in my heart,” Nichols said to the Tallahassee Democrat. “I just feel like I have everything that I need and want and enjoy the fact that I can take care of him.”

That day, May of 2018, the Nichols didn’t only celebrate baby Charlie’s birthday.

They also celebrated the couple’s prayers and a year of parenthood.

For parents who are yearning for children, Nichols expressed how grateful she was for adoption.

“Adoption is a wonderful, wonderful thing. There’s so many kids out there that need someone to take care of them and become their forever family.”

She also comforted prospective adoptive parents by sharing that no one has to be perfect to be an adoptive mother. All you need is a willingness to share that overflowing love and to turn it into something nurturing, safe, and accepting.

For the Nichols, they got so much more than they could ever hope for – a wonderful son and a life of parenthood.

Watch the heartwarming story below.

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Source: YouTube – Humankind, YouTube – USA Today, Tallahassee Democrat