Glowing Eyes || Adopted by Josh Dun

second opinions

{Josh's POV}

I walked off to take my mom's call and headed into my room. I closed the door behind me before holding it up to my ear, "Hey, mom." I smiled.

"Hey Josh!" she chirped happily. "How are things in LA? How's the band?"

I laughed a little at my mom's energy. "Things are going great, mom. There's some, uh, news..." I bit my lip. I planned on telling her, but I didn't think it would happen this fast.

"What is it?" my mom's tone turned more solemn. Oh boy, this was going to be tough.

"I'm-" I took a breath and closed my eyes. "I'm fostering a kid."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while. Finally my mom said, "You just... decided to foster a child?"

"Not exactly..." I trailed off. I looked down at my hands.

"Okay, okay," she took a breath, "Tell me how this happened?" She said it like more of a question than a request.

So I told her everything. My mom listened patiently as I told her about the lost little girl who walked into the coffee shop I worked at, bruised and a little freaked. I told her how I bought her coffee so she had somewhere to stay, then I talked to her. She seemed lonely, and she was nice. She was really smart for thirteen, too. I told her how I continued this for about a month. I told her about the day she came in worse than the others. About how I was there when she got the call that her mother had died. About how I offered to foster her. I told her everything.

"Oh, honey," my mom consoled. "You're too sweet for your own good sometimes, Josh. I know she's a very sweet girl, and she definitely doesn't deserve what's happened to her. But Josh, you can't handle this right now. She's a thirteen year old girl. It won't be a good situation for either of you. I hate to say this, but Josh honey, you need to let her go to another family that's ready for a teenage girl. You just aren't, honey."

I sighed, "I know, I know. But what'll happen to her when I let her go? She'll go from family to family, and who knows how long it will be until she finds a permanent home? What if it's another abusive family? Mom, it's so hard for teenagers to get adopted. I don't know what will happen to her." I pleaded.

"Josh, calm down." My mother's calm voice slowed the rapid sequence of thoughts spinning  through my head. "There are plenty of families in LA, you're in an area with a huge population. Plus, if this girl is as sweet as you say she is, she'll find a family in no time. She'll be fine, darling."

I put my head in my hands. I still couldn't imagine giving her up to another family, possibly putting her in that situation. I felt too responsible for her. Still, I couldn't argue this with my mom anymore. "What do I do until then?" I asked. "I have no idea how I'm supposed to take care of her. I know really little kids, but not teenagers. She's a full functioning person now, I don't know what to do."

"Hm," my mom thought about it. "I can't exactly give you a step by step. I haven't seen her personally, but I bet if you called Jenna, she'd be happy to help. She loves kids, and she'd get her a little more. What's her name, by the way? The girl you're taking care of?"

"Lynn," I told her. "And thanks mom. Sorry if this was a lot right now."

"Any time, honey. Tell me how it goes in a few days, alright?"

I smiled, "I will, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, Josh." And with that she hung up.

I stared at my phone for a while before putting my head in my hands and trying to focus on breathing. What was I going to do? What had I gotten myself into? I was just going to hurt this girl more than she was already. I shuddered a little at the thought of it. I was going to be one of the people I was trying to protect her from. Why did I think I could do this?