heal// 5SOS

11

Calum

"Rory?" I said, "You're gonna adopt Rory?"

"I am,"

"Thank you," Sage said, tearing up, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,"

"I let him make the choice, after I met him a couple of times. We're gonna see how it goes,"

"Is Rory one of Sage's friends?" Gia asked.

"Yeah, he is getting out of the hospital on Saturday," they said, "Why didn't he tell me?"

"We wanted to keep it quiet until we were sure it could happen. He might come for your birthday, Rider,"

Sage stood and hugged him tightly, breaking down into tears; everyone else who was visiting excused themselves, and Rider hugged them from behind.

"Don't cry,"

"It's good crying," Gia said, "They're happy,"

"You have to look after him a lot,"

"I will. Apparently they had been trying to find a home for him for a while, but I felt like I was a good match. He knows you, it's a good school, and I don't have any other kids,"

"Nobody wanted him? But he's so nice,"

"People are quick to judge, and he's almost aged out. It's harder for teenagers," I said, "the good news is that Ash is gonna take him in, and that we know that means he will be safe,"

The nodded and rubbed their eyes, wiggling out of Ashton's hold.

"Can we visit tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow," I said, "But he will see us soon,"

They went and joined everyone in the living room so I said beside Gia, rubbing her back as she finished her soup. It was probably cold now, but she didn't seem to care.

"Am I disgusting?"

"What?"

"Nobody is coming near me,"

"They know you're in a bit of pain, so they don't want to upset you. You can go and cuddle them,"

She nodded and left the table, running over to Ashton. I cleared her food away and cleaned the table, then set the dishwasher on joined everyone in the living room.

Gia stuck with me again when I came in, and held her cheek, putting my hand on top of hers.

"Don't poke it,"

"I'm not,"

"Mkay... are you excited for Ash to adopt?"

"I am happy for Rory,"

"Me too,"

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Please?"

"You know what I'm gonna say,"

"But this is different. I am in pain," she said, looking up at me with puppy eyes. "Please,"

"I will have a think,"

As the evening went on, my friends left, and I got all the kids to get into their pyjamas and do something to calm down. Sage went to their room, and Rider and Gia laid in my bed, listening to me read a book to them. Gia kept nodding off, which was a good sign,

At the end of the chapter, I got them to brush their teeth. She wasn't too happy about that, but she got over it.

I tucked Rider into bed and kissed his head, then tucked Gia into my bed.