Then Where Is Home?

Chapter 2

Tw for this chapter: Crying, breakdowns, panic attacks, throwing things, being restrained, screaming, fighting, vomit, light blood, drinking

Phil walked back into the entryway where Puffy stood, crying softly. This made Phil feel upset in a way. This was a woman who has seen the worst things a human could see, who's had to deal with awful people who end up abusing children, some of them doing worse things than abusing children. And here she was, crying in the entryway of his house.

It's hard to see such strong people break.

"Puffy?" Phil asked softly and she looked up at him. "Can I give you a hug?" Phil offered and she nodded quickly. Phil opened his arms and gave her a hug, she returned the hug softly and tried her best not to sob into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, this is so unprofessional." Puffy said as tears fell down but Phil chuckled softly.

"You're not his caseworker anymore, you're his godmother. I'd like to consider you apart of our family because of that." Phil reminded her and she nodded again. After a moment she pulled away and wiped her face, turning to see Liam in the doorway to the dining room.

"Okay, you. You were not supposed to leave Sam's house." Puffy said, pointing at Liam. Liam just blushed and walked more into the room.

"Wait, Sam as in?" Phil started and Puffy nodded for a third time.

"Judge Sam, the one who filed Tommy's case. After Tommy's case it apparently inspired him to take on a foster kid, and he some how ended up with Liam. No offense Liam, it's just a lot of ways that you've connected people." Puffy said and Liam turned to Phil.

"You adopted Tommy?" He asked softly. Phil looked into Puffy's eyes.

"You didn't tell him?" Phil asked, and she shook her head.

"I couldn't tell Tommy anything, and I couldn't tell Liam anything either." Puffy sighed. Phil frowned a bit.

"He's your godson. You can share that information." Phil said shortly, but she didn't respond. Phil looked back at Liam. "Yeah, we adopted him a few months ago."

"Oh, wow." Is the short answer Liam gave.

"Yeah. Liam I am happy to see you, but you can't just run away to our house again. If you want to visit you have to tell us, you have to tell Puffy. She could make something happen, but not if you do this." Phil lectured slightly and Liam looked down at the ground. "Hey, I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed in your actions." This made Liam chuckle softly.

"That's what you always used to say." Liam said lightly and Phil smiled.

"It's true. But you have to listen to them okay? I'm not your foster parent anymore, you can't do this. I know you said in the letter long ago how you hated how I was so nice and cared about you so much, but it's true. I care about you, but I also care about what happens to you. If you keep doing this then you'll be removed from the house you're in." Phil reminded him.

"It doesn't really matter does it. I'll just get kicked out eventually and move to some other house till I age out of the system." Liam sighed and Phil looked up at Puffy before looking back down to Liam.

"Tommy felt the same way. He went through 36 houses before us Liam. Look at him now, he found his forever home." Phil smiled again, but dropped it when he saw Liam's tears in his eyes.

"Why didn't I get this? Why did he get it and I didn't. You never offered to adopt me, you never offered to take care of me forever." Liam said as tears fell down his face.

"Liam, you're the one who wanted to leave." Wilbur's voice spoke out from the top of the steps. No one had seen him standing there until now.

"So? If Techno hadn't freaked out on me like he did then I would have stayed! But now I'll never get to come stay because of Tommy! He replaced me!" Liam shouted and Wilbur flinched harshly, which made Phil upset. He cared about Liam, but he also cared about Wilbur and flinching was never a good sign.