Her brother’s keeper, her brother’s mom

Tasha Love made a promise to a dying man that she intends to keep.

That dying man was her father, William. He died March 19, 2011, from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.

While entering hospice, he told her, “Natasha, I know you are always going to be OK. You’re always going to be all right. So, it’s your job to make sure that you take care of the rest of your siblings and make sure they’re OK.”

“He was very clear that I promise him that,” Love said.

She is 32, the oldest of five siblings and half-siblings. Her two adult siblings are OK — navigating marriage, first kids and college. One of her half-brothers, 7-year-old Hayden, was adopted. And her other half-brother, 10-year-old Tabor, will soon be adopted, too.

By her.

The adoption should be finalized by Christmas, which Love and her husband, Tim Mulkey, consider an “awesome gift.” At home, Love and Tabor are already mom and son even if that’s not technically what the family tree says.

“He’s just my kid,” Love said. “I made a promise at 26. I’m 32. I’m ready for that promise to just be done. I’m ready to move on from that part of my life and focus on this part of my life because this is amazing and this is so much fun.”

Love has had custody of Tabor — named after Mount Tabor in Portland — since 2013, and she was caring for him long before that during her dad’s health struggles. She was there when Tabor was born. After Dad died, Tabor and Hayden were living with their mother, who struggled with her own problems.

Love swooped in whenever they needed help. At one point, she was managing the apartment complex where they lived. Eventually, Child Protective Services took Hayden and Tabor away from their birth mother because of abuse and neglect, said Rachael Scott, the adoption social worker assigned to the family’s case. (The agency requested that Tabor’s last name and image be withheld from this story because the adoption is not finalized.)

As he was exposed to a lot of horrible things, Tabor’s mental health declined. He went to a treatment facility in Lakewood for a couple of years, and Love commuted every week to see him.

“I never wanted him to be afraid,” she said. “He’s such a brave boy.”

After a lot of family counseling, Tabor began living with Love and her husband at their home in Vancouver. He’s in sixth grade at 49th Street Academy, a therapeutic school that serves at-risk students next to Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary School. He’s doing a lot better, said Love, adding that Tabor is empathetic and respectful, and skipped a school grade because of his academic success.

“He looks the teachers in the face and he’s like, ‘I call my sister Mom and Tim is my dad, and I don’t want anybody saying anything else,’ ” she said.

In her eight years working in adoptions at the Vancouver office of the state Department of Social and Health Services, Scott said, she has never seen or heard of someone adopting their sibling. When family adoptions occur, it’s more commonly aunts, uncles and grandparents adopting their nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

Scott said she was inspired by Love’s story.

“She was so passionate about what she was doing,” she said.

She added that it wouldn’t be easy to transition to family life after being in a treatment facility. So she’s surprised by how far Tabor’s come in the short time he’s lived with Love and Mulkey.

“I think that says a lot about her and her commitment,” Scott said.

Mulkey and Love married Oct. 28, on her dad’s birthday. While the couple hasn’t had time to hold an official wedding ceremony, they got their marriage license that day as part of trying to make sad days positive again.

The couple started the adoption process in June. Mulkey, 37, said supporting Love and becoming Tabor’s father was a simple, easy choice to make.

“I’m glad it’s over in December,” he said.

Love has endometriosis, a disorder causing tissue that usually lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus, and so she can’t have children of her own. She says she never wanted to have children originally, but being told she couldn’t changed her mind.

“I feel really blessed,” Love said. “Things just all kind of came together. I can’t have kids. He needs a mom. Here I am. It’s fulfilling in every way — not just a promise I made to my dad.”

The family want to buy their own house someday. For now, they’re eagerly waiting to become a family — in the eyes of the law, at least.

For Tabor, what’s happened is simple and tangible: “I’ve got a mom and dad.”