The anxious wait ended Tuesday night for David and Candice Aitken when the little boy who stole their hearts so many months ago stepped out of a van and into their arms after a long journey from Haiti.

Eight-year-old Fabrice arrived sleepy-eyed at His House Children's Home shortly before 11 p.m. EST, but lit up as he spotted the Aitkens and his adoptive siblings, Yonelson, 4, and Nerlande, 5.

"OK, baby, we can go home. Our family is complete," David Aitken said to Candice, moments after embracing their son.

The boy left Haiti about 4 p.m. aboard a C-130 military plane, according to Chareyl Moyes, Haiti program manager for Wasatch International Adoptions, which facilitated the adoption.

The plane landed in Miami, where customs officials cleared Fabrice and 41 other children being adopted by U.S. families. Fabrice arrived on the first van that transported children from the airport to His House, which provides foster care services.

Earlier in the day, the Aitkens cried after receiving news that Fabrice had been cleared to leave Haiti.

"Full of joy, full of happiness," David Aitken said.

The family planned to return to Utah today.

Moyes said that Lt. Col. Randon Draper, a Utah native and lawyer with the 18th Air Force Legal Office based in Illinois, made sure Fabrice got on the plane along with other children destined for families outside Utah.

The Aitkens stayed in Florida after being united Saturday with Yonelson, 4, and Nerlande, 5, two other children they adopted from Haiti, in hopes Fabrice would soon follow.

Moyes said a paperwork problem kept Fabrice behind Friday. The 8-year-old boy's documents were among a stack of cleared adoption cases that needed to be signed by Haiti Prime Minister Max Bellerive. However, Fabrice's papers were inexplicably misplaced.

The boy was inconsolable after being separated from the group at the Port-au-Prince airport. He repeatedly told Moyes he was sorry, as though the mixup was his fault.

The Aitkens, who also have three biological children, decided to adopt Fabrice after his initial placement fell through last summer.

Freelance photographer Charlotte Southern contributed to this story for the Tribune.