LI soldier headed to Iraq adopts young boy

Army Spc. Rob Crook had some official business to take care of Wednesday before deploying to Iraq later this month.

He and his wife, Bari, 26, from Merrick, stopped by Nassau County Court to make official what they have been working toward almost since they first met in 2009: Crook adopted his wife's 4-year-old son, Hayden, legally becoming his father.

"I now pronounce you Mom and Dad," Nassau Surrogate Judge Edward McCarty said, as a courtroom full of lawyers waiting for the morning's calendar call stood to applaud. Normally, McCarty performs adoption ceremonies in his chambers, but he made arrangements to do this one in his courtroom after hearing of Crook's special circumstance. His staff filled the jury box to watch.

"It's always been official for me, but now it's official for everyone else," Crook, a member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, said after the short ceremony.

Wide-eyed Hayden said little to a reporter after the event, but did not hesitate to answer when asked who the man in the spotless, navy blue uniform standing next to him was. "My daddy," he said with a shy smile.

The infantryman, who volunteered to go to Iraq, will be gone for about a year but plans to visit home during that time, and will e-mail or video-chat nearly every day.

"It's going to be hard, but this is what we trained for," said Crook, 24, who earned his bachelor's degree from Hofstra University and is originally from New Hampshire.

Bari, who worked at a Merrick beauty salon until moving with her husband and son to Fort Bragg, N.C., recently, will stay home with Hayden for now to help the boy adjust to the many changes in his life.

He said he could not give details about what his assignment will be overseas.

McCarty, who himself is a 20-year retired veteran of the Army Reserve, said he is awed by Crook's choice to go overseas.

"This is an extraordinary young man who is doing extraordinary things with his life, in addition to adopting a young boy," McCarty after the ceremony.

Bari Crook said not long after she introduced Rob to Hayden, the boy asked if he could call him "Daddy." When Rob asked Bari to be his wife last August, in a vineyard in Cutchogue, he said he considered the mother and son a package deal.

"I said, 'OK, I'm snagging you both,' " he said.