A Little Boy Ran into Their Arms While Painting Pumpkins. 4 Years Later, He Calls Them Mom and Dad (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Just a month into their marriage, Claire DeLay and her husband, Eric, hosted a pumpkin-painting night in their driveway for neighbors

• Among the crowd was a 2½-year-old boy who had come with his foster parents

• Not long after, the boy’s foster parents asked if Claire and Eric could watch him on weekends

Claire DeLay and her husband, Eric, married in September 2021 and moved into their first home just two weeks later. Eric, a firefighter, worked shifts every third day, while Claire ran her own concrete coatings business with a flexible schedule. Though they didn’t yet have children, both shared a deep desire to foster and adopt one day.

That dream came true much sooner than expected. Just a month into their marriage, the couple hosted a pumpkin-painting night in their driveway for neighbors. Among the crowd was a 2½-year-old boy nicknamed “Jay,” who had come with his foster parents.

“As soon as he got out of the car, he ran straight into my husband’s arms,” Claire, 29, recalls to PEOPLE. “And for the rest of the night, he didn’t want to be with anyone else.”

The boy’s biological mother, who was also there, struck up a connection with the DeLays that same evening. Not long after, his foster parents asked if Claire and Eric could watch him on weekends. Though they weren’t licensed foster parents, families in their Oklahoma community often relied on “informal care,” a system that allowed children to stay with trusted adults without state certification.

What started as weekend visits quickly grew into something more. By early 2022, both his foster parents and biological mother told the couple he would likely become adoptable — and asked if they would consider giving him a permanent home.

For Claire, the decision felt like fate. “I always knew adoption would be part of our story — even before we got married,” she says. “We just didn’t realize it would happen so quickly.”

That May, the little boy officially moved in. Just over a year later, in September 2023 — while Claire was pregnant with the couple’s biological daughter — his adoption was finalized.

“Our family threw us a big kid shower instead of a baby shower, so everyone could come meet him,” Claire recalls. “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.”

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The couple also made a thoughtful decision about his name. Wanting to honor his roots while giving him a fresh start, they kept “Jay” from his biological name and renamed him Jaden Teddy — JT for short.

“When we first met him, he couldn’t even say his name,” Claire explains. “I asked, ‘Can you say JT?’ and he said, ‘Chai Tea.’ So we still call him that sometimes.”

With a new name and a new home, JT began a new chapter — though it wasn’t without challenges. When he first joined the DeLays, he was just over 3 years old and developmentally delayed. “He was nonverbal, had no fine motor skills, couldn’t color, didn’t know his letters, colors, or animal sounds,” Claire says.

Determined to help him thrive, Claire and Eric enrolled him in speech therapy four times a week with three different pathologists. Slowly but surely, his progress began to shine through.

Now, at 6, JT is flourishing. “He reads on grade level, talks nonstop and just played his first flag football game where he scored five touchdowns,” Claire beams.

“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,” she adds. “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.”

As their son grew, so did Claire’s awareness of the broader issues around foster care. “When we first started fostering, people would ask, ‘Where did he come from?’ — as if he had to be from another country,” she says. “That’s when I realized how little people knew about foster care here in the U.S., and how many children are still waiting for homes.”

That realization inspired Claire to begin sharing their story on TikTok, not just to document JT’s journey but also to educate others. Her videos quickly reached millions of viewers.

“Rich, because one month into marriage we randomly met a little boy painting pumpkins in our driveway. That little boy now calls us Mom and Dad,” she wrote in one TikTok video, which has since amassed more than 900,000 views.

“I’ve probably had at least five families reach out to say they started fostering after seeing our posts,” she says. “That’s huge.”

She also hears directly from foster kids and adoptees. “Some message me just to vent or share their stories. I can’t always fix things, but I can listen — and I think that matters.”

Today, the DeLays’ home remains open to children in need. Since adopting JT, they’ve welcomed more than 30 kids through both informal care and licensed fostering.

“As foster parents, we don’t make plans or set expectations,” Claire says. “We’ve learned that kids come into your life when they’re meant to. So we just stay open — ready to love whoever needs us next.”

Read the original article on People