Finding a Family

Chapter 21

Freddie's POV
It was Sunday which meant our weekend get away was coming to an end. This weekend was our anniversary and Alan had planned a wonderful trip to a beach house for the two of us. As grateful as I was when Alan told me what he had planned, I was also terrified to leave Hannah. Besides school and her therapy appointments, she had never been without us before. We wouldn't be there at night to soothe her to sleep or to comfort her if she had a nightmare. What if she was upset or got sick and we weren't there to take care of her? My mind was plagued with all these scenarios of what could go wrong while we're away. It took a while but Alan was able to convince me that she would be just fine and that his parents would do a great job keeping an eye on her. They had taken care of many foster children and are more than capable. I knew he was right and we were long over due for a get away.

The hardest part was seeing how upset she got when we left. Alan and I figured there would be tears when we left and we tried to prepare ourselves but no amount of preparing could have helped ease the guilt we felt when we had go leave her. I was relieved when Karen texted Alan to say that Hannah had settled down and that would could enjoy our vacation without worrying if she was okay. I have to admit it was a bit weird being without Hannah. Since bringing her home, it was rare Alan and I had anytime alone apart from when she was asleep; his schedule as an ER doctor didn't help either. We wasted no time in spending the weekend making love and getting quality time together. Even though this weekend was about us I couldn't help but think about Hannah from time to time. When Alan and I took a walk on the beach I couldn't help but wonder if Hannah would like it there. The more I thought about it, I realized she had probably never even seen a beach. Alan must of noticed that I was a bit distracted as he turned to me and asked, "Freddie what are you thinking about?" "I'm sorry darling, I'm just thinking about Hannah. I was wondering if she would like the beach." I told him. He chucked and replied, "I was thinking the same thing. I could see her liking the view but she might get overwhelmed by the itchy sand and the sound of the waves." "My thoughts exactly. I suppose we'll just have to bring her here one day and find out," I told him.

After our walk on the beach Alan and I went to one last dinner before our weekend came to an end. During dinner I looked at Alan and said, "darling, I can't believe how far we have come. Before I met you, I could have never imagined that someone could make me as happy as you do." Alan chuckled and replied, "Freddie I am so lucky that I found you. I cannot imagine my life with out you, I would have never have had the courage to adopt Hannah without you." "It's funny, I remember when we first started dating, how scared I was for my parents to find out that I was gay. Although they never fully accepted it they at least tolerated it and continued to love me. It's not their fault, it's just their culture. In our culture it was progressive for them not to disown me." I told him. "I'm glad you had the courage to tell them. I was lucky, I had parents who accepted me and went to pride parades with me." Alan replied. "Yeah I don't regret coming out at all, if I didn't we probably wouldn't be married and have Hannah. I just wished my parents could have lived long enough to meet Hannah, I think they would have been a great Nani and Dada to her." I told him. "They certainly would have been." Alan said.

After dinner it was time to head home. I have to admit I was looking forward to seeing Hannah. As much as I loved getting to spend some alone time with Alan I missed my little girl. I missed singing to her to sleep at night, her cuddles, hearing her giggles, and seeing her smile. After a bit of a drive we finally arrived home. We walked in the door and Hannah was sitting on the floor playing with Juliet. "Sweetheart look who's home," Joe said to Hannah. "Daddy, Papa," she said excitedly as she ran to us. As soon as she got to us I picked her up and peppered her face with kisses. "Daddy, Papa I missed you," she said giggling. "Oh we missed you too darling. Were you a good girl for Nana and Grandpa?" I said. "Mmmm hmmm," Hannah said as she nodded her head. "Yes, she was a very good girl, didn't give us any trouble at all," Karen said.

Hannah went on to tell us all about her weekend. After a while of all of us talking on the couch Hannah had fallen asleep on Alan's lap. "We'll I'm going to take her up to bed," Alan said as he carefully picked up Hannah. "Here, I'll help you tuck her in," Joe said as he stood up and followed Alan upstairs. Karen and I were left sitting on the couch, she turned and asked me, "So how was your weekend?" "It was wonderful, it was nice to be able to spend sometime alone with Alan. He planned everything out so perfectly. But I would be lying if I told you I didn't miss Hannah," I replied. "Of course you missed her, how could you not with how precious she is," Karen said chuckling. "Can I ask you something?" I said a little nervously to Karen. "Of course," she replied in a comforting tone. "How do you do it? I mean take all these foster children in and then say goodbye. It's just I fell in love with Hannah so quickly, I couldn't imagine ever having to say goodbye to her." I said. "Well, it's not easy but you know what you're doing is for the best. I think the big difference is that we take in these children with a different mindset than the one you and Alan had when you took in Hannah. When you adopted Hannah you and Alan knew that she would be with you forever. Whereas when Joe and I take in a child, we know that it will only be temporary. Joe and I prepare ourselves and the child for the fact that we will have to eventually say goodbye. Most times children look forward to going back home but it is still hard sometimes." Karen replied. "I don't think I could ever do it," I replied. "It's not for everyone but you learn to get through the tough moments." Karen said.

The next thing I knew Alan and Joe were walking back downstairs. "Well, she's all tucked in. I think it's time for us to head out Karen, what do you think," Joe said. "Yes we better get going," Karen agreed. "Thank you so much for looking after her," Alan said before he hugged both them. "Of course, we loved getting to spend time with her," Karen replied. "Thank you again, let us know when you've gotten home safely," I said before I hugged them as well.

After Joe and Karen left, Alan and I headed up to our bedroom for the night. After we had gotten settled down Alan looked at me with a devilish look in his eye, "you know Hannah is asleep, we could extend our vacation a little bit," he said, implying that he wanted to have sex. "Alright but lock the door," I said excitedly. —————————————————————-Hello everyone! For those of you who have been following this story for a while you know that I usually update on Tuesdays. Next week I will be traveling outside of the country and I will not have any access to internet and will not be able to post. Don't worry,  I will be posting a chapter before I leave on Friday to hold you over but be prepared that chapter will be a bit of a cliffhanger! After Friday, the next update will be on Nov 26th after I return. Thank you all again for reading this story. I can't believe that we have gotten over 6k reads! I appreciate you all and am thankful that you all take the time to read my story!