 Virginia Mom of 3 Adopts Dying Friend's 6 Children: 'We Love Them Like Our Own' 
 
 Courtesy Stephanie Culley 
 
 Courtesy Stephanie Culley 
 
 Courtesy Stephanie Culley 
 
 Courtesy Stephanie Culley 
 
 Courtesy Stephanie Culley 
 
 During Beth Laitkep's final days in a Virginia hospital, she made her good friend Stephanie Culley promise her one thing: to make sure her daughters always have bows in their hair.Laitkep, a single mother of six, had breast cancer and died on May 19 at the age of 39. "Beth's last words to me were, 'Tell my babies I love them. She had an emergency C-section so that she could begin chemotherapy treatments.As her condition worsened, the father of her children abandoned the family – leaving Laitkep to rely on friends like Culley for support. In June 2015, a month after the move, Laitkep’s cancer came back; it was a time, Culley said, when the two women, who had been friends since high school, started to reconnect. "Will, 15, Selena, 14, Jaxson, 11, Dallas, 10, Lily, 5, and Ace, 1, joined Culley, her husband Donnie and their three children in their Alton, Virginia, home in April after Laitkep received news that her breast cancer had spread to her spine and brain.Laitkep knew she didn't have much time left and she wanted her kids to grow up with someone she trusted. “At that point, we took the kids down to the hospital for her to talk to them about it,” Culley said. “She was tired.” 
 
 “I want to thank every one of you that has shown your love and supported Beth and her family during this time,” Culley added. They let their feelings out and we are all here to support them." At Laitkep’s funeral, the entire family showed up in pink — and the girls wore matching bows in their hair.
– When Beth Laitkep's breast cancer spread to her brain and spine, doctors knew she didn't have much time. But what should be done with her six children? "She said to me, 'If a miracle doesn't happen and I don't make it, can you take my children as your own,'" her friend Stephanie Culley tells People. "And I immediately said yes." That's how Ace, 2, Lily, 5, Dallas, 10, Jaxson, 11, Selena, 14, and Will, 15, ended up living with Culley, her husband Donnie, and their three kids when Laitkep died in May at age 39. Luckily, Donnie is a construction worker who happened to have built their Alton, Virginia, home with enough bedrooms to fit everybody. "There was some higher power working here, everything just sort of fell into place—like us having a big enough house for nine kids," Stephanie says. "It had to be someone up above looking out for us." Laitkep was pregnant with Ace in 2014 when she got diagnosed with cancer, had an emergency C-section, and began chemotherapy, reports the Washington Post. Her children's father left the family as she grew sicker, which, ironically, made room for Stephanie and Donnie to step in and obtain temporary custody. Now the parents have a June 19 court date set to secure permanent custody; adoption could follow. And word is they do it all on their own. "She's very, very humble, she won't ask for help," a friend of Stephanie's tells WSET. "She's an angel." (This family adopts babies who are going to die.)