A toddler ran into a couple's arms at their Halloween party and stayed there all night. 2 years later, they would adopt him
A special moment might help people make a lifelong connection. However, a couple hadn't anticipated that they'd form such a connection with a happy toddler who had walked into their pumpkin painting party. They bonded with the two-year-old instantly. The kid, Jay, who had come in with his foster parents, also returned their love. So the couple, Claire and Eric DeLay, agreed when the kid's foster parents asked them to watch him over the weekends. But none of them had expected what was going to happen just a few years later, per PEOPLE.
The couple had gotten married recently when they moved into their new house in September 2021. Just a month later, they threw a pumpkin painting party for all their neighbors. It was also the first time they got a chance to meet Jay. "As soon as he got out of the car, he ran straight into my husband’s arms. And for the rest of the night, he didn’t want to be with anyone else," Claire recounted. Looking at the wonderful connection the couple had made with the boy, his foster parents asked if they'd like to watch him on the weekends. The DeLays had hoped that they would foster or adopt at some point in their marriage, so they agreed to the arrangement. Eventually, in 2022, the boy's biological mom and his foster parents wondered if Eric and Claire would be interested in adopting him.
"I always knew adoption would be part of our story — even before we got married. We just didn’t realize it would happen so quickly," Claire remarked. Jay came to live with the couple in May 2022. His adoption was eventually finalized in September 2023. "Our family threw us a big kid shower instead of a baby shower, so everyone could come meet him. When we finalized the adoption, we had another huge party. I don't know if he fully understood what was happening, but he definitely felt celebrated," the mom expressed about Jay's adoption. Eric and Claire retained part of Jay's biological name and named him Jaden Teddy after his adoption.
However, things were not always easy for Jay, as he was developmentally delayed as a three-year-old. "He was nonverbal, had no fine motor skills, couldn’t color, didn’t know his letters, colors, or animal sounds," Claire explained. But the parents were determined to help the kid and worked with speech therapists and pathologists four times a week. When he turned six this year, things had changed for the boy. "He reads on grade level, talks nonstop and just played his first flag football game where he scored five touchdowns." Claire added, "Because we see him every day, we don’t always notice it. But when friends or family see him once a year, they’re amazed."
Eric and Claire also had their biological daughter in the summer of 2024. The parents shared that both of their kids had a really sweet bond with each other. "We're just so proud of how hard he’s worked. He’s the sweetest boy, such a great big brother and we honestly can’t imagine our family without him," the mom remarked. The couple had also become licensed foster parents during this time. They had given a home to 30 kids through licensed fostering and through informal care.
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