my rights with my nephew

my nephew (9 yrs) lives in georgia.i live in texas. in january 1999 my brother (his father) died. it wasn't until after my brothers death that my nephew found out about their relationship. my nephew was devestated to find out that the man who raised him was not his biological father, and then to find out that his biological dad had just died. i will be meeting him for the first time july 2001. i have kept in contact with him, both with e-mails, letters, cards, and phone calls. my nephews mother will be having back surgery soon and will have to recuperate for weeks if not months and has three other children(two with one man and another by a third man). she and her mother think it would be good for the child to spend time(maybe this next whole year) with my family (i've been married to the same man 16 years and have 4 kids)because they feel with the mother's problems with my nephew ( he blames her for the breakup with my brother and the fact that he never got to meet him) They see my family life a stable environment for my nephew to be in, unlike his home life. He feels unloved and even though i haven't met him yet, we are close and I want to do the right thing for the child but i wonder if i have any rights with him. if i did get to have him visit for the year or longer could i adopt or have custody of him?Thank you.