The World Behind My Wall

Chapter Twenty Three: Can I Call You Mommy?

"Just one more signature, and they're all yours." Ms Cole handed me her blue ballpoint pen. I sign my name on the dotted line and slide the paper and pen over to Bill.

"So we're legally their parents? We won't have to wait for a court date or anything?" Bill asks the people sitting around the table, looking up from the signed document. "We were planning a trip to Germany for Christmas, is that possible?"

"There will be a court date between now and the end of January, basically to confirm to the state of California that you have adopted them. But other than that, they're yours and you can take them pretty much wherever you want." Clarence takes a sip of his coffee and Ms Cole and our lawyer both nod in agreement.

"Everything looks to be in order. If you want to change their names, that can be done during the hearing as well." Ms Cole says and collects the various papers scattered around the table, organizing and and placing them in a red file folder. "Congrats, and good luck. You'll definitely need it."

"Thanks!" I beam. We get up, shake hands. Then Bill and I are led down the hall to a small sitting room where we wait for one of the caretakers to bring in the boys we could now call our sons. It takes everything in me not to cry when a woman (who can't possibly be any older than twenty) opens the door and in walks Julian, Sam, and Cody.
They carried the bags they packed this morning, Sam's looking much smaller than it did earlier and I had a feeling he gave most of his things to the friends he had here. It didn't matter much, because I needed to take them shopping in the next day or two for everything they would need. A large majority of what I had to buy was clothes, because they didn't have much more than three outfits each, and just about everything else would be bought for Christmas. "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah!" They cheered and ran the short distance to the exit. The woman congratulated us, wished us good luck, and we left. Mike drove us to one of the high-end restaurants in downtown LA, refusing to tell us what on earth was going on.

"You'll just have to go in and see for yourself." He winked, a knowing grin plastered on his face. So we all piled out of the van, Julian and Cody on either side of me and Sam in Bill's arms, and stepped into the building.

"SURPRISE!!!" All of our closest friends and family (including my favourite older brother, Simone, Gordan, and to my surprise, Dominik), shouted. I burst into tears, mostly from shock, and the amount of people I had grown close to in the span of eleven months. This time last year I had no friends, no one but Carolyn and Mark. The life I have now, the life with Bill, was nothing but a dream for the old me, one I never believed would ever happen.
Annie was the first to give me a hug, rubbing my back. The boys ran off to play with the Listing kids while us adults mingled and made small talk. Dominik seemed a bit distant, but that was to be expected from our situation. He wasn't really sure how to act and neither did I. But Bill broke that fairly easily and within seconds, Dominik and I are clinging to each other, sobbing rather grossly. And to think I actually let Carolyn do my make up early this morning, only for it to run down my face in a mess of tears.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in some meeting with an important client or something." I asked as soon as we'd calmed down.

"Tom and your sister invited me to a surprise adoption party, an offer I couldn't refuse. I have grandsons!" He chuckled, very clearly elated from our reunion. "I feel so old now."

"So it was Tom who planned this whole thing? That little bugger!" I laugh and feel someone tugging at my shirt.

"Who is that guy?" Julian asked Bill and I.

"He's my father, the one from Germany I told you about. So that would make him your new grandfather." I answer his question.

Julian smirked, "Yeah, he looks old enough!"