Some stories remind us that motherhood isn’t just about biology – it’s about love, protection and standing up for someone who has no one else. This is one of those stories.
It begins in a NICU room in Indiana and ends with a new family, a second chance at life, and a reminder that kindness can rewrite someone’s entire future.
And for many of our momdadgrandco readers – parents, grandparents, caregivers – this story will feel especially close to the heart.
A 14-Year-Old Girl, Three Fragile Babies, and No One to Help Her
When neonatal nurse Katrina Mullen, a mother of five herself, walked into the NICU at Community Hospital North, she noticed something unusual.
A young girl – barely a teenager – sat by three incubators.
She came alone.
She stayed alone.
She rarely ate.
She didn’t bring snacks or even water.
She didn’t talk much.
She never complained.
Katrina later learned her name: Shariya Small, just 14 years old, still in 8th grade… and now a mother of triplets born at only 26 weeks.
Tiny babies fighting to survive – Serenitee, Samari and Sarayah – each no bigger than a hand, each connected to tubes and monitors.
Most teen moms have support.
Shariya had no one.
Katrina watched her day after day – quiet, scared, doing her best but clearly drowning in responsibilities no child should ever face alone.
Yet she still didn’t push.
“I knew if I gave her time, she’d open up,” Katrina said.
This gentle patience would later become the foundation of a new family.
Trust Begins With One Shared Truth
For months, they sat together – Shariya feeding her preemies, Katrina teaching her how to change diapers, manage tubes, understand oxygen monitors.
But the wall around the young mother stayed firm.
Until one day, Katrina decided to share something personal – something painful.
She told Shariya:
“I was a teen mom too. I had a baby at 16, and I placed him for adoption.”
Everything changed.
Shariya suddenly looked up.
Her eyes softened.
Her shoulders relaxed.
In that moment, she realized:
This woman understands me.
The judgment she expected… never came.
The shame she felt… melted.
The loneliness she lived with… cracked open.
And from that day, she trusted Katrina completely.
Phone Calls, Tears, and a Living Room Full of Babies
After the babies finally left the NICU, Katrina handed Shariya her phone number.
“Call me anytime,” she told her.
Shariya did exactly that.
She called about feeding.
She called when she felt overwhelmed.
She called when she cried at night.
She FaceTimed when she needed reassurance.
Katrina always answered.
But something worried her.
Why was this young mother relying on her so heavily?
Where was her family?
One day on her day off, Katrina drove an hour to Kokomo, Indiana – just to check on her.
What she found broke her heart.
The babies were sleeping together in a playpen, not cribs.
Shariya had no bed – she slept on a couch.
There was barely any food.
Worse, baby Samari looked dangerously thin and sick. His skin was covered in eczema, his formula wasn’t working, and he was losing weight.
Soon after, a doctor diagnosed him with failure to thrive – a medical emergency.
The Department of Social Services stepped in.
And then the phone rang.
“She wants to live with you. Will you take her?”
The caseworker called Katrina.
“Shariya and the babies are being removed from the home,” she said.
“She chose you. Would you take her?”
Katrina already had five children:
SeQuayvion (16)
ShaKovon (14)
JJ (7)
Plus two adults, Sevonté and Shai.
But she didn’t hesitate.
She said yes before she even thought about it.
“No one was going to take a teen mom and her preemie triplets,” she said.
“I knew I had to.”
She immediately took foster parenting classes.
Friends donated cribs, strollers, diapers, clothes.
In her words:
“It was like a baby bomb went off in my living room!”
And just like that, her home turned into a safe haven for a young mother and her three fragile babies.
668 Days of Love, Growth, and Healing
For nearly two years, Katrina fostered Shariya and the triplets.
It wasn’t easy.
There were sleepless nights.
Medical appointments.
Therapy sessions.
School challenges.
Stress.
Tears.
Moments of doubt.
But there was also healing.
Katrina watched Shariya grow from a scared, overwhelmed child—
-to a confident young mother.
She finished an alternative high school with an A- average.
She visited colleges.
She chose to pursue social work, hoping to help others like her.
Meanwhile, the triplets thrived:
They counted to 20.
They spoke English and Spanish.
Their health stabilized.
They laughed, played, and learned.
They also gave Katrina a new name:
❤️ “LaLa” – their grandmother.
One Signature Made Them a Family Forever
On February 6, 2023, something beautiful happened.
In a small courtroom in Indiana…
Katrina officially adopted Shariya.
She became her mother.
And by extension – the grandmother of Serenitee, Samari, and Sarayah.
The family took a photo.
Katrina shared it in a foster parent group.
Soon after, the story went viral.
Why?
Because people recognized something powerful:
Love doesn’t care about age.
Love doesn’t care about blood.
Love shows up when it’s needed most.
“I’m her mom – and I’m never going anywhere.”
Being a mother again to a teenager isn’t easy.
Being a grandmother to preemie triplets is even harder.
But Katrina doesn’t mind.
“She amazes me every day,” she says.
“She is blossoming into an incredible woman.”
And about the babies?
“They are smart, funny, and full of life. I’m so proud of all of them.”
As for Shariya:
She says she finally has something she’s never had before—
a family that won’t give up on her.
And Katrina says:
“Has it been easy? No.
But I love her.
I’m her mom.
I’m never going anywhere.”
This is the kind of story the world needs – and the kind our momdadgrandco family cherishes.
A story of courage.
Of motherhood.
Of second chances.
Of the kind of love that heals wounds we cannot see.
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