The World Behind My Wall

Chapter Twenty Two: The Last Day?

sooooo my sister recently found out she's pregnant, again. I swear she's been pregnant every year since 2014 or something. That's cool I guess but it kinda drains my Christmas and birthdays fund. Speaking of birthdays, my littlest nephew will be one this month. He's so cute! He just learned how to walk and to balance himself he sticks both arms up in the air.
Anyway I'll shut up and you can read chapter 22.

Enjoy!!
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Our day in Disneyland had been an absolute success when it came to bonding as a family, and it felt like we were making progress. But today we had to take them back to the Home, and we had an important meeting with Ms Cole. Last night we called her office and informed her of our decision to adopt the three boys, and to ready the final paperwork. She was more than happy for us, said to stop by her office as soon as we got there because she had great news.

We have the whole house to ourselves today - Gustav took Heidi to the beach, Georg and Annie took the kids to an adventure park with Tom, Carolyn, and Ronnie. It was uncharacteristically quiet and felt very weird not having kids running around screaming but at the same time it was quite nice. A property down the street had just been put up for sale, and Annie told me they were thinking about buying it. I hoped they would, as Annie is someone I would consider a close friend.

For lunch, I find leftover mac 'n' cheese in the fridge and reheat it in the frying pan with bacon bits, a meal Mark loved. I sprinkle cheese on top and as soon as it's melted, call everyone to the kitchen. I serve the boys and myself because Bill can get his own and sit next to Cody, placing my bowl on the table. All three of them look incredibly sad and pick at their food.

"If you eat it all, you can have candy!" Bill tries bribery, but they shrug him off. "Ok, what do you guys want to do?"

"Stay here and not go back." Sam pushes his half empty bowl away. "I like it here better."

"Yeah. Me, too." Cody frowns with sad eyes. I just know it will be hard to say no to him, especially with that face.

"Well you aren't going to be there for very long because we have a surprise." Bill sings, looking at me as if asking whether or not we should tell them of our plans, and I nod in confirmation. "Any guesses what the surprise is? Huh?"

Julian suppresses a smile, knowing where the conversation is headed. I'm a bit surprised he hasn't told them. "You're gonna take us to Disneyland again?"

"Probably, but that's not it!" Grins Bill. He loves keeping people guessing. Apparently that's one of the reasons why he changes his hairstyle as often as he does. "Keep guessin', guys!"

"We're gonna go and ride horses?!" Cody questioned excitedly. "I love horses!"

"Nope! Guess again." I shake my head. They take turns guessing while I clean up the lunch dishes, and when I'm done I rejoin them at the table. "Wanna know what the surprise is?"

"Yeah!" They shout together, sitting up straight with their eyes now on me.

Bill and I share a smile as I tell them. "When we bring you to the Home, Bill and I are going to meet with Ms Cole and Clarence Gorman, your social worker. Because we are going to adopt you. All of you. And you will never be separated."

"Really?!" Sam squeals, and hugs A smiling Julian. "Yay!!!"

"You're gonna be our new Mommy and Daddy?" Asked Cody, and Bill nodded in response.

"That's the plan." I grin, glancing at the clock on the stove. Almost two, and we had that meeting at three thirty. "Now go get your things ready, but keep in mind that you'll probably be back in a day or two."