The Lost Child

Chapter 2

"Come on, let's get this done," Michael softly says, opening his door, and I follow behind him a moment later with my two bags over my shoulders.

We walk up the brick path to the front door where Michael knocks three times, and we wait for someone to open the door. A moment later, the door is opened by an older man who I assume is Ryan Matthews, a.k.a. my unknown biological father. He gives Michael a small smile before he focuses on me, and his smile instantly falters for a second before he plasters it back into place.

"Come inside, please," the man offers, stepping back and off to the side while opening the door wider for us to enter.

The house is brightly lit with natural light streaming through the windows and a sky light as we enter into the short hallway. The walls are painted a soft blue color, and the living room walls match.

"Boys! Come into the living room! Michael and Lake are here!" the man hollers from behind me, causing me to flinch from the sudden noise. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, Lake."

He comes around to stand on my right while Micahel's on my left as I tightly hold the backpack straps with both hands as I look around the room.

"Not a problem," I mumble, briefly glancing at him before continuing to look around my new home.

Three guys with similar height as me enter the living room, and I have to do a double take when I look at them individually. Two of them look identical in appearance while the third one I would swear is my twin. My eyes widen in shock as the four of us stare at each other, and they stare at me the same as I am them.

"Wow," one of them breathes, one of my non-twins. "He looks identical to Vincent."

Okay, so the sibling that's my "twin" is named Vincent, and now I'm curious as to what our two brothers are named?

"I'm Vincent as Reid said, and I'm nineteen, and attending college to become an accountant, and I have a boyfriend of two years named Ember," my "twin" states with a wide grin toward me.

"I'm Orian, I'm twenty-one, attending college for chemical engineering, and I'm dating a lady of a year named Rain," the younger of the two brothers left, introduces himself with a sweet smile.

"And I'm Reid, the eldest brother, I'm twenty-two, attending my final year of college for architecture, and I've been dating my boyfriend Lucas for the last three years," the remaining brother introduces.

"Nice to meet you all," I softly reply, giving the three brothers and their dad a small smile. "I'm Lake James McCarthy, I'm sixteen, and in my junior year of high school. I'm gay, and I've been in the foster care system for a few weeks because my parents, well mom and step-dad died in a car crash while I was in school. My foster parents were Sydney and Leonard Smith, and they were great to me."

They seem slightly uncomfortable with part of my introduction, and I can't say that I blame them because I made the entire situation awkward. "Sorry for making this more awkward than it already is. Will my last name be legally changed to yours? I'm not sure how all of this is going to work."

The brothers look over at their dad, waiting for him to answer me, and I decide to look at him, and he smiles at me; "I can't begin to understand the grief and uncertainty that you're feeling, Lake, but I promise we'll take all of this a day at a time. Yes, I'll be going to the courthouse with you on Monday to legally have your last name changed, and then have a new birth certificate made. We have a few other items to discuss and figure out, but we can take our time with these."

Nodding at him, I whisper another nagging question that has been bothering me for a few minutes now; "What do I call you? Do I call you Ryan or dad? I'm not sure if I'm comfortable yet in calling you 'dad'. I hope you're not mad at me for this, but..."

Ryan waves me off, while stating; "Lake, breath, for now, I'm fine with you calling me Ryan. Don't stress over this, okay. I promise I'm not mad if you're only comfortable with calling me by my first name. You didn't grow up with me being your father, and you've literally just found out about us, and met us which I'm sure is overwhelming."

Humming in acknowledgment at his reply, letting my eyes wander around the room again before landing on Michael who cleared his throat; "Well, now that this seems to be going well, I'm going to leave. I'll be back in a week to check on everyone, and see how you five are adjusting to the new living arrangement."

Fear spikes through my entire body, and I whimper; "Please don't leave yet, Michael. Can't you stay for a little while longer?"

Michael's facial expression softens, as does the others as Michael steps forward to pull me into a tight hug; "You'll be fine, I promise, Lake. We wouldn't let you stay with people, even family, if they weren't good people who are going to take great care of you. I promise that I'll be back in a week to check on you, okay?"

"Okay," I mumble into his shoulder while giving him one tight squeeze before dropping my arms to my side, taking a step back as Michael drops his arms to his sides, too.

Sniffling while staring at the floor in between my feet as Ryan walks Michael to the front door, where they talk for a few minutes before the door closes, and Ryan's footsteps can be heard approaching. He stops at the entrance of the living room, looking between the four of us with a weary smile, and I feel that with every fiber of my being.

"How about we get you settled by showing you your room, and then we'll decide on what we're gonna have for lunch," Ryan suggests, and I shrug my shoulders in agreement. "Come on, I'll show you to your room."