Home is Where You Feel Safe (Camp Camp Dadvid)

Home

James and Max stayed in the hospital for two days before David and Gwen took them to their shared apartment. The two kids were both pretty timid and shy when they arrived. They stood around and didn't know where to go or what to do. James's jaw was so broken that he had to get it bandaged shut for at least a week. Max had to get a cast on his shoulder and have it in a sling for any time from a week to a month. 

It was currently 1:35 am and David and Gwen were trying to get their spare room cleaned up so the two of them could sleep. It took a little while but when they finally finished, Gwen and David walked into the living room to see James and Max talking in sign language. David then walked over, ignoring the fact that he also knew sign language, and said, "The guest room is all set up. You two can stay here as long as you need to." Neither kids move as Max says, "Uh, thanks but we don't want to bother you too much. We can just sleep out here on the couch if you want." David gasped and replied, "Of course not! Now come on to bed, it's late." David began lifting Max up from the couch as James signed to Max the letters H-Y-A. Max then said, "Oh yeah, we're normally up anyway because our foster sister has insomnia so we like to stay up with her." David smiled at them and said, "Well that's very nice of you two! But do you at least want to lay in the bed and try to sleep?" James then suddenly stood up and tried to say, "Yo-" but he was cut off by the pain of talking. He then signed to Max 'We get a bed? WE GET A BED!' David couldn't help but chuckle and say, "Alright, come on. It's been a tiring few days so let's get to bed."

Max and James did end up falling asleep soon but since they were used to getting little sleep, both of them woke up around 4. Both decided that they would earn their keep for the day now so they could get it out of the way. James started in the living room while Max went to the kitchen. Max first started with the dishes and then just tidied up before sweeping, mopping, and cleaning out the fridge. He found that it was difficult to do in a sling, but he managed. Max was surprised to see that almost none of the food was expired as it would be in their foster home. David also had a momentous amount of food in comparison. The pantry was the same way. It was stocked with food that was more than enough to last David and Gwen a few weeks at least. Max felt his stomach rumble but he decided not to take any food in fear that David would notice and kick them out. 

It was a little before 6 when Max moved to clean the bathroom when Max heard something shatter. His heart dropped as he walked back out to the living room to see that when James was sweeping, he hit a vase with flowers in it and it broke. Max felt his heart stop even more when he saw Gwen walk out of their bedroom. She started walking over to James but Max ran over. He refused to just watch James get punished after he had done so much for Max. Gwen wiped her eyes and said grudgingly, "what the hell happened?" Max saw James start to sign a bunch of excuses and apologies but Gwen clearly couldn't understand what he was saying. Max walked up in front of James and said, "We didn't do anything wrong. He just hit a vase and it broke. We are so sorry! We can clean it up and pay for it! We didn't mean to wake you up! Just go back to bed and in a few minutes, it would be like it never happened! We are really sorry! We-" "Woah, woah. Kid calm down. You don't have to pay for anything. What are you two even doing up? David said that you two looked like you need sleep." Gwen said as she sat down on a rocking chair. "I- We- It's- But I- And he-" Max was having a hard time trying to say something that would get Gwen away so they could deal with the mess. After about a minute, Gwen sighed and handed Max the remote to the tv and said, "Why don't you guys sit down and watch something while I get this, okay?" Max wanted to refuse and to just clean it up himself, but he couldn't just say no to Gwen after she's done so much for them. Max sat down on the couch and James soon followed. In three minutes, both of them were just trying to keep their eyelids from falling. James was lying across the couch while Max was curled up in the corner of the couch upright. Both ended up passing out before fifteen minutes had even passed.