Adopted

Chapter 6

"You said you like Panic! At The Disco, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. I guess so. I mean, I've heard a couple of songs.  My friend Agnes was kind of obsessed, but I tuned her out when she went on and on about them. But she has most of their albums on her phone, so she'd play a lot of their music. But I mean, we only get time at lunch to listen to music, so I've only heard a few songs."

"Well, my kiddo, you are the daughter of the lead singer of Panic! At The Disco.  Probably something we should have mentioned a little while ago."

"Yeah. Okay.  Sure." I rolled my eyes.

"Sweetie, it's true," Sarah said.

Brendon stood up and put his hand out for me to take. I took it and he pulled me up.

"Come look."

We walked over to the mantle and he showed me the awards that were sitting there.  They all either had his name on it or the band's name.

"Come outside. I'll show you my studio."

I followed him out the back door, around the pool and into the studio. There were instruments all over. A bunch of different guitars, keyboards, a drum set, a computer - with a couple of monitors. There was a neon sign over the computer that said "Urielectric" and pictures on the walls. They were pictures of Brendon, on stage, with other celebrities.

"Am I being pranked?" I asked.

Brendon laughed.

"Nope. Your life is about to really change, kiddo."

"So, why'd you adopt me? I mean, you could have had a much healthier kid. Am I a publicity stunt?"

Brendon knelt down and looked me in the eye.

"Absolutely not. That would be a really horrible thing to do to someone. Jessica, we adopted you because we wanted to. Because we wanted a child, one that would hopefully enjoy our lifestyle, and be able to move around with us much easier than a small child would. Someone who could be somewhat independent, but still needed a family, and love.  And Jessica, we will love you as if we'd raised you from birth. Your illness wasn't the deciding factor. It was a contributing factor, because you deserve to be cared for and loved. And we will be with you through everything. No matter how long. I promise you. You are not a publicity stunt. I won't lie. There will be publicity, and we'll help you navigate through that, but we didn't adopt you to start parading you around and show everyone how magnanimous we are. We wanted, we want you."

"He's right sweetie," Sarah said, standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes. "There will be press, and there will be paparazzi who will want to know about you, and there will be stories in the press about how we only adopted you for some selfish reason. But it's not true. We adopted you because we want you to be our kid."

I looked at the two of them, still a little skeptical, but considering the first thing we did was come home and not go in front of a bunch of cameras for them to parade me around, and the fact that I didn't even know he was from Panic! At The Disco anyway, I guess I'll give them a chance.

"Okay?" Brendon asked, looking at me.

"Okay."

"Well, since we're in the studio, let's hear you play the piano," he said, turning on the keyboard and hitting a couple of buttons.

"I'm not very good," I said.

"Well, as it turns out, I'm a decent music teacher. And you said you want to learn the guitar? I think I know someone who can help with that," he smiled.

I sat down at the piano and played the Mozart Sonata that I'd played in the school music show. Then I played an old Simon and Garfunkel piece "Scarborough Fair", which had been my mom's favourite song, so I'd learned to play it. 

"Sweetie, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Sarah said, coming over to me and kneeling beside me.

I wiped my cheeks, not realizing I'd been crying.  I sniffled.

"Sorry, I don't know. That was my mom's favourite song. I guess with everything, with losing them and being adopted by you guys, my emotions are all over the place."

Sarah wrapped me in a hug.

"You're  home, sweetie. I'd love to learn more about your parents, whatever you remember about them. Just because we're legally your parents, that doesn't erase the fact that you had parents before us. And we would love to help you keep their memories alive."

I sniffed again.

"Thanks."

Brendon came over to me, put his arm around my shoulder and led me out of the studio.

"What do you say we decide on your birthday dinner?"

I smiled up at him.  Sarah came on my other side and put her arm around my other shoulder and leaned in to me. She kissed the top of my  head.  I was home.