A new life for Sofia

Chapter thirty-five

It was adoption day for the DeLuca-Bishops.

The family had been looking forwards to this day for a long time. Today was going to be the day that Sofia would officially become a DeLuca-Bishop.

Even though the family tried to be relaxed about it, they all knew that it was a big thing. Luckily, there wasn't really anything that could go wrong. Sofia had been in their care for over half a year now, and everything was going well. Also, there wasn't really any biological family who could potentially apply to be Sofia's legal guardian.

Sofia was up earlier than normal. She wasn't really a morning person, but when she woke up at 6:30, she couldn't go back to sleep. She felt restless. Initially, she wanted to grab her guitar to get rid of some of the nerves she was feeling, but she realized that it was too early for that.

So, Sofia thought of the best next thing. Besides music, sport has always made her feel better as well. Luckily for Sofia, her 'soon to be official mother' was a running freak. There was a treadmill in the basement, which was exactly what Sofia wanted right now.

And so, Sofia ate a banana and grabbed a protein drink, before going to the basement and turning on the treadmill.

It wasn't the first time Sofia had been on the treadmill. She wanted to be in good shape for the soccer season and had been building her stamina all summer long.

Music was playing through her earpods and she was actually starting to feel less worried. Just after she hit 4 miles, she heard a familiar voice call her name.

''Soof, are you okay?'' Of course, it was Maya. She had also woken up early that morning, as usual. But she had decided to take the run outside.

Still dressed in her workout gear, Maya slightly reduced the speed on the treadmill when she saw that her daughter had already ran over 4 miles. Not that it was unusual for Sofia to run more than 4 miles, but it was a bit unusual for Sofia to run more than 4 miles at this time of day.

Sofia looked at Maya and put the treadmill into walking speed, taking a sip of water and breathing heavily.

''Hi, mom. Yeah, I'm fine, just couldn't sleep.'' She told Maya, taking deep breaths in between her words.

''Alright, bubba. Keep walking for a couple of minutes, it's good for your muscles. I'm gonna head upstairs and take a shower.'' Maya said, leaving Sofia alone again.

Eventually, Carina had also woken up. They ate some real breakfast together and headed to the courthouse. The real work was about to start.

At 9:30, the family walked into the courthouse, accompanied by Andy, Vic and Travis.

Their appointment wasn't until 10, but the family wanted to be early. The waiting room looked impressive, and Sofia started to feel a little bit nervous again. Luckily, their social worker Jessica came to get them within the first few minutes they were there.

The family separated from their friends, who joined them for the moral support.

''I understand that you guys might be a little nervous, but there isn't really anything to worry about. Shall I go over the process just one more time?'' Jessica asked in a kind way.

The three of them nodded, all liking a little bit more information one last time, so they knew what was about to happen.

''Okay, basically it will take around 20 minutes. The judge will ask all three of you some questions. Then your mothers' references will be questioned, and finally they'll look into all of the evidence. Any questions?''