Only Just Getting Started (Adopted by Shisa)

Chapter 7

I wake up and check my phone. I’ve received a few Happy Birthday tweets and I scroll through favouriting them. I walk out to the lounge room to see that some balloons and other birthday related things have been put up around the place. Shane is sitting on the couch but he hops up when he sees me. He walks over and gives me a hug.

“Happy Birthday!”

“Thank you”

“Lisa’s taking Corny for a quick walk and then I have to go to the YouTube Space for a couple of hours which I really didn’t want to do on your birthday and I tried to reschedule but-“

“Shane it’s fine, I don’t mind”

“I still feel bad. Lisa is going to take you shopping because apparently you guys need ‘bonding’ time and that’s the best way for girls to bond or something like that”

“I also don’t have that many clothes”

“Well yes there is that. So you guys are going to do that and then we’re all meeting at my mum’s for lunch and then we will pick up Joel”

“Ok awesome. I’ll let Joel know”

“Cool. What do you want for breakfast birthday girl?”

“Ummm toast is fine”

“You’re boring aren’t you?”

I just laugh and poke my tongue at him. Shane cooks me toast and I spread some Nutella on it. Lisa gets home at about the same time that I finish eating. She goes to have a shower while Shane and I watch T.V. Then Shane goes into the bathroom to finish getting ready to go to the YouTube space and he leaves. My phone rings and it’s Joel so I go into the office to talk to him. After we finish talking I get ready to go shopping and realise that I have a total of $20 as an early birthday/congratulatory present from Mrs Barnes. Hopefully that will be enough to at least get one more outfit and then I can do some chores for Shane and Lisa to earn some money. I walk out and tell Lisa that I am ready to go. She does a couple of final touch ups and we drive to a mall nearby. On the way over there I tell Lisa that I don’t really have very much money but she says that she will by my clothes because it’s my birthday and “that’s what mothers do”. Having parents is still so foreign to me so I protest at first but give up pretty quickly. We go to most of the shops and I pick up a few things. But clothes aren’t the most important part about this shopping trip. I just enjoy spending some one on one time with Lisa. We discover that we actually have a lot in common. It's a really good couple of hours and I already feel really close to her.

At about 11:30 we leave to go to Teresa’s house. Lisa gets me to call Shane while she's driving to let him know we are on our way and he tells me that he’s already there. That calms my nerves a little bit because I am terrified right now. We get out of the car and before we go up to the house Lisa asks how I’m feeling.

“I’m really nervous”

“Why sweetie?”

“I’m an anxious person and it affects me when I meet new people”

“Aww you’ll be fine you’ve seen these guys loads in videos”

“I know but now I’m actually going to be meeting them and talking to them, in fact I’m a part of their family now and that freaks me out a bit”

“Me and Shane are both going to be there with you, you’re not alone and if you need to you can stay right beside me the whole time”

“Thanks Lisa”

She smiles and gives me a hug before we walk up to the door. Shane answers it thank goodness. Lisa quickly explains that I’m feeling a little scared and he gives me another hug. Teresa walks to the door and says hello. She gives me a hug and says happy birthday as well as welcoming me to the family. Lunch goes well but I do stay pretty close to Lisa the whole time. By the time we leave I’m more confident but I think it’ll take a little while for me to be completely ok when I’m with all these people. Lisa and I leave first because we have to drive to Joel’s house to pick him up. Shane is home by the time we get back and he introduces himself to Joel who does pretty well at hiding how excited he is. I unwrap my present from Joel, it’s a couple of DVDs and a Target gift card. After about half an hour of hanging Shane and Lisa getting to know Joel a bit, they tell us that they are going out to buy my presents. I tell them that I don’t want anything but they insist. While they’re gone Joel and I watch some TV. 

“So Joel, how are you feeling?”

“I honestly have no idea. I’m excited and confused and weirded out all at once”

“I get it”

We talk about a lot of stuff and wait for Shane and Lisa to get back. Lisa comes in first and tells me to close my eyes so Shane can carry the presents into their bedroom to wrap them. A few minutes later they both walk out and I unwrap the presents. They got me a Playstation 4 with two games. I think it’s way too much but they tell me that it’s not. They also give me a couple of movies and the best present is definitely a camera.

“I remember you telling me that you wanted to vlog so I asked Joey what camera he uses and got you the same one”

“Thank you so much Shane, now I just need to actually start my channel”

“We can help you with that this week”

“Ok awesome”

Shane also gives me a necklace with the YouTube logo on it that he picked up at the YouTube Space that morning. I put it on straight away. I thank Shane and Lisa for my presents and give them both a hug. Lisa goes to the fridge and pulls out a cake. Apparently Teresa made it and Shane brought it back while we were getting Joel. We put candles on it and they sing Happy Birthday to me. The cake tastes amazing and I make a mental note to thank Teresa. 

Later that night we go out for dinner. Lisa goes to bed fairly early but Shane stays up with Joel and I for a while. He helps us set up the Playstation and we play video games and watch movies. After Shane goes to bed Joel and I stay up a little bit longer before drifting off to sleep. It’s been the best birthday ever and I couldn't be happier.