At home, in the minivan, at the dinner table, Damien Harris was badgering Marseeda Reed for something he badly wanted before his 18th birthday. It wasn't an ordinary teenage desire, like a new phone, an iPod or a car, even.

He wanted to be adopted.

Three weeks before he legally became an adult, his foster mother granted him that wish, something exceedingly rare for a 17-year-old foster child. They celebrated with strawberry shortcake, Damien's favorite.