The Beginning Of The End | Cosmic Love Series

twenty-two - no-brainer

The midyear swimming competition was completely out of the picture for me, now.

I was sent home from the hospital later that day, with painkillers and antibiotics for days and even though I wasn't told to be on bed rest, I might as well have. I brought an actual handwritten and signed letter from the doctor, saying I should stay away from swimming practice until my wound was totally healed. Which it's going to take weeks.

I rolled in bed, turning to the other side and pulling the bed sheets over my head at the same time, in an attempt to cover me from the sunlight peeking through the windows.

However, my eyes opened wide when I heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. We weren't expecting anyone today, at least not to my knowledge, which led me to think this was probably an impromptu visit from someone who'd heard about my little trip to the hospital yesterday. Could be my uncle or aunt, or Harper or Kyle. But I did not feel like talking to anyone right now.

Tiptoeing my way out of my bedroom and into the hallway, I overheard my dads talking to Noah. My eyes opened wide for the second time in the past five minutes.

Second guessing myself, or maybe just double checking my hearing capacity, I tiptoed back to my room and looked out the window.

Yep, that's Noah's jeep.

I moved back to the corner in the hallway that allowed for the perfect spot for eavesdropping without being noticed by anyone.

"I just want to say, I am so sorry for letting this happen to Zoey."

"Come on, Noah. This wasn't your fault."

Noah's feeling guilty about this?

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Noah let out a dry chuckle. "She was with me and I didn't keep her safe."

"Let me tell you a story," My dad started and I let my head drop and my forehead hit the wall, as I tried to brace myself for whatever it was he was about to tell Noah. "When Zoey was about nine months old, we had a visit from the social worker responsible for her and her adoption process."

"Oh, are those like the surprise visits they do? I've seen a movie where that happens."

My dad laughed, and I suppressed a small chuckle as well. "Uh... No, the visits are usually planned a couple of days ahead. They'll call you and ask you if you're home on that day, at that time. But what happened was... We forgot."

"What?" Noah sounded appalled. "Oh no!"

"Yeah, we..." My father Jack trailed off, probably reliving the whole scenario in his head. "See, we'd agreed on Halloween weekend, 'cause we knew we'd be home, but, um..." He laughed. "With the whole Halloween shenanigans, we completely forgot that the social worker was dropping by and by the time she rang the bell, our house looked like it had been hit by a hurricane!"

I overheard my other dad laugh, before he took over. "We had fabrics and costumes laying around, thrown into every corner. Our kitchen looked disgusting, since Gavin here decided to cook a Halloween themed breakfast. Poor baby Zoey was sitting in her playpen, crying her eyes out because she was teething and when I opened the door and saw the lady from social services, my jaw dropped to the ground."

Noah chuckled. That very vivid, genuine chuckle that shakes your insides just by hearing it. Classic Noah.

I couldn't help but step closer to the living room and choose a spot that allowed for the perfect angle to spot the three of them as they chatted away.

"I thought that Zoey would be reassigned to another family right then and there, and that we had lost her for good."

"What happened?"