A Foster's Home

Chapter 11

Billy couldn't sleep. Just the thought of what was to come tomorrow kept him awake. Tomorrow afternoon seemed like a million years away. He was both excited and scared to visit the graves of his best friend's parents. He just knew that seeing the smile and relief on Freddy's face would make this all worth it.

Knowing that sleep wasn't going to come anytime soon, Billy reached under the pillow and grabbed his little notebook. He turned to the first page where he wrote the different names with Batson in it. All the scribbles stared at him as if mocking him, telling him that all that searching was for nothing. But Billy knew better than that. All that searching has been for something.

His mother's rejection made him free. It hurt, yes--it still does--but a heavy burden has been lifted. His whole life he believed that his mother just lost him and has been looking for her son. His whole life there has been a heavy burden disguised as hope that finally revealed itself when she told the truth.

The real hope had been forced into hiding by the false one. The real hope, the one he has been rejecting, was not to find his mom (since Billy has had his doubts that his mom was even looking for him), but to find love. To find people that love him as much as he loves them. The second time he entered this house with Freddy (when he first became Shazam) and he heard Rosa's words coming out of Victor's mouth, "it's not a home until you call it a home," the hope began to show itself.

And when he kept running away, they never ceased to stop looking for him, something that his own mother had never done. They barely knew him and they already took him in their open, loving arms. He came to a family who knew what love was. They loved him the second they saw him. He saw it in their eyes. And now he loved them, too. They were his family. Now he understood why Mary didn't want to leave this family.

A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked over the names, knowing full well that they can't bother him anymore.

Billy flipped over at the other pages where the information for Freddy's parents were written. Billy found what he never knew he needed. Freddy needed that, too. His heavy burden needed to be lifted. Billy knew that although finding the grave of his parents was what Freddy wanted, it wasn't really his hope. His hope was to be reconnected, to be able to talk to them and revive the loving relationship they had that was taken away from him years ago. He knew plain well that a grave was never just a stone to look at to be reminded that one's loved ones were dead. They were there so that you knew they were still there for you. Maybe not physically, but in your heart, in spirit. It's there to tell you that you two may be apart now, but soon you won't be. That's why people talk to them, believing that they are still listening to their words. That's what Freddy needed.

Billy just wished this night can pass by faster.
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The five foster siblings anxiously waited on the couch as they waited for the morning to become the afternoon. They already ate their breakfast and got ready for the day. All there was to do was just wait.

Billy held his notebook tight in his hand. He wasn't even paying attention to what was playing on the TV. He didn't think any of them were. In just a few hours, their lives might change. They will be closer than ever. They will truly know that the life they live in is a foster's home. It was a home where they knew each other and knew what each of them have been through. It was a home where they could comfort each other when times were rough. As Billy thought about it, he began to love his family more.

The familiar clicking sound of Freddy's crutch interrupted Billy's thoughts. He quickly hid the notebook under one of the pillows. Everyone acted natural, hoping that all would look normal to Freddy.

"Hey, guys," he greeted.

"Hey," they all said in unison, sounding bored.

"Whatcha doin'?"