My Saving Grace (Book 3)

June 12, 2030

Over the next two weeks Scott and Alex spent more time with Elliot. It got to the point when they were seeing him every second day, taking him to the cinema and going for food and just learning so much more about his character. They had only known him for four weeks and they knew that they wanted to adopt him. He was perfect.

Toby got home on the Friday night that week. This meant that the whole family got to sit around for dinner. The anticipation was growing on Scott and Alex as tonight was the night that they were telling the kids about Elliot.

Jessica had finally broken up from school for the summer. That meant the whole table was in a great mood, including Toby who had been feeling way better lately.

After dessert, Jessica began to clear away the plates. "Can the both of you stay at the table, please? We'd like to talk about something." Scott announced, ringing his hands in his lap. Alex placed his hand on Scott's thigh, for comfort. Not just for Scott but for himself too!

"It's gonna be alright, pleasantly surprised remember?" Alex reassured, casting Scott's mind back to the dinner that they had had with Hannah and Rachel last week. Jessica sat back down, next to Toby. They both looked up in anticipation, eyes wide and ears listening.

"I don't like when you make us sit down for things, it makes me anxious." Jessica said, only half joking. Toby was looking between the two of them, worrying if something had happened. This was all he needed, something to go wrong when things were feeling a little okay again.

"We don't know how you're going to react to this..." Alex started. "But we'd like you guys to keep an open mind about it." Jessica nodded, Toby bit down on his bottom lip nervously. They prepared themselves for the worst, which was a divorce, that way they wouldn't be disappointed.

"Okay..." Scott breathed. He placed his hands on the table before placing them back in his lap. "How would you feel... if we told you... that we were... adopting again?" Jessica gasped and Toby's hands smacked over his mouth. They both pushed their chairs back from the table and looked at each other and then back at their dads.

A short silence set in as everyone just stared between each other. It was Toby who spoke up first. "You owe me ten dollars!" He said in triumph, nudging Jessica and laughing loudly. Alex and Scott looked at the two of them, curiously. "Jessica overheard the two of you talking a couple of weeks ago. She couldn't figure out why you'd be talking to a kids home and I said that maybe y'all wanted another kid. So we placed a ten dollar bet on it." He explained.

"You two are so sneaky." Alex laughed. His heart had broken out in a fast thump, it was like it had been restoring energy for this moment all day! He ran his hand over his face and then looked between the two of them. "So you're okay with it?" He asked, going nervous again.

"Like a baby?" Toby asked. It was Scott's turn to speak up now.

"Not exactly..." He whispered. "He's five." Jessica's mouth fell open.

"Outnumbered! Once again!" She exclaimed but not really caring. Another little brother? That would be amazing! "The funny thing is I'm literally the most masculine out of all of you."

"Calm down, Joseph." Toby joked, rolling his eyes. This made Scott and Alex laugh. "So you've met him?" Toby asked.

"Yeah. His name's Elliot. He's been in care for the last year as his biological parents are unfit to look after him." Scott explained. Toby and Jessica smiled and nodded.

"What's he like?" Jessica asked. The boys looked at each other and smiled fondly. It was so hard to put into words just how amazing this kid was.

"Um... He's really cute and really funny. He's five so he is completely sweet and innocent. He wants to play piano in a classical symphony when he's older. He's really funny, with a great sense of humour even for his age. And he's so mature, like you would not believe some of the stuff he talks about. He literally can retain any bit of information, especially if it's about music." Alex explained, watching for Jessica and Toby's reactions.