Home and Holidays

chapter 26

Once it was time for breakfast, Lisa decided on making a simple meal of waffles and fruit with yogurt on the side. Noah and David had insisted on helping her out with making the waffles, and even though Lisa could do it perfectly on her own, she let them help, since they seemed so excited about it.

"It's so nice having both of my boys help me out with breakfast. Even though there will be twice the cleanup when we're done...." Lisa playfully said, giggling as she watched David and Noah mix up the batter in a large bowl, some of the mixture spilling onto the counter and the floor since they were both mixing it pretty fast. They were going to use the waffle iron to make homemade waffles, preferring those over the frozen, store bought kind.

David grinned at her, purposely mixing a little faster to make her laugh more. He and Noah each had their own stirring spoon and were literally mixing at the same time in the same bowl, which made everything messier.

"You know, mixing that is kind of a one person job. Don't you think just one of you should do it?" Lisa asked, trying hard not to laugh, but eventually she was giggling again.

"And let David have all the fun? No way." Noah jokingly reacted.

Eventually the waffles were done, and Noah, David, and Lisa sat down to eat, just going to relax on the couch together after cleaning the kitchen.

"So, now that you guys adopted me, does that mean this is my actual, real home now?" Noah asked, still in awe at the fact that he was their son now.

"Yes, Noah. This is your real home." David replied with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Whoa.... it's so weird to be able to say that, but it's really nice. I haven't had that feeling in so long. To actually have a home. It feels so relieving." Noah expressed. "So, how long did you guys know that you wanted to adopt me? Like, when did you decide to do it?" he questioned, since he still couldn't believe how quickly they had gotten the adoption finalized.

"When we came back home from the arcade that day, Lisa and I talked together about how it's been having you live here with us, and how much we care about you, and that's when we decided that we wanted to legally adopt you. We got to work on it the very next day." David explained, his smile still present.

"We had David's older brother help us out with the adoption, since he works as an adoption lawyer. It made things way easier, and that's how we were able to get things finalized so quickly." Lisa chimed in. "We decided to keep it a secret at first though, because we were waiting for the perfect moment to tell you, so that it could be really special." she added.

"Well, it was really special." Noah said as he smiled. "Have you guys always wanted to adopt? Or did you just decide to because you met me?" he curiously asked, looking up at David before his eyes landed on Lisa as he waited for a reply.

"Well, David and I have always loved the idea of adopting. But we just couldn't figure out the right time to actually do it. There seemed to always be something telling us to wait. But now I know that what we were waiting for wasn't just the right time.... It was you. We were waiting for you, Noah." Lisa explained, warmly smiling at him as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know what to say.... I've never met anyone like you guys. I'm really grateful." he truthfully told them. "I mean, just last night I was thinking about how you guys might want me to leave after Christmas. I was so scared that I'd have to be alone again after today...." he said, his words trailing off as he recalled that nervous feeling.

Lisa immediately wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore, Noah. We're here for you, and this is your home now. It's been your home since the first night you stayed here with us." she said, making him smile.