Lena POV
August 10, 2015
We were both sitting in the living room, waiting. Twins and Brandon were up in their rooms. The house was quiet. Stef and I were just sitting on our couch, holding hands, looking into nothing and nowhere. The clock ticked counting away the seconds.
Stef turned to me "What time did you say Bill will be here?"
I quickly turn to look back at her "He said at 3" We both glance to the clock on the wall. It read 3:07.
"They will probably be here soon" Stef said quickly and started to tap her free hand fingers at her knee
"Are you nervous?" I ask when I noticed that. Stef shrugged back at first, looked down to our interlocked fingers
"Not really nervous…okay, maybe a little. I hate the waiting" she had kept her gaze down while she spoke
"I know you are angry" I said because I know I broke the promise
Stef instantly looked up to me "No, no…Love, I am not angry"
"We had agreed we won't be fostering, not until Brandon is out of the house, at college. But Bill called and I…simply…agreed to foster a boy" I said back "I know money is tight right now and I made that decision without consulting with you!" Stef has been very on edge for the last few months, because of our financial situation
"Love," Stef creased my cheek softly "I'm not angry" she repeated softly "If Bill had called me instead of you, I would have said yes too. I know you only did it because of your big heart. I can never be angry because of that, love. And I don't want you to worry about the money…"
"Of course I will worry, Stef, we are-" I was interrupted by a sound just outside our house, a car had just pulled up. We both looked over our shoulders, out the living room window.
"They are here!" I said exited looking to Stef, she smiled back and we got up together. We stood still for few seconds just looking at each other until Stef spoke up
"I will get the kids" she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips and then headed out to hallway
I rub by palms by my pants nervously and head over to the front doors to open them. I reach the doors just when the doorbell rings.
I take a small breathe, calming down my fast beating heart, and slowly reach for the door handle. The doors creek lightly as I open them and once they are open, I smile seeing the young boy and Bill standing right in front of me.
"Bill" I greet him cheerfully and step aside to let them both in. Bill has a duffle bag in one hand, but other was placed protectively on the younger boys back.
"Lena" he greets me back and then guides the boy inside the house first
I close the doors behind and turn to both of them. We exchanges smiles and then, to stop the awkward silence, I ask "How was the ride here?"
"Good. Thank you. Sorry we are late, we had a little mishap on the way" He apologized
"Oh, don't worry about it, Bill"
"So, Jude" Bill looked down to the boy "This is Lena, one of your new foster moms" He explained and then looked up to me "Lena, this is Jude"
I extend my arm out "Nice to meet you Jude" I said and only then realize that the boy has his right hand in a sling. I quickly take the hand back and chuckle awkwardly and then add barely above whisper "Sorry"
He brushes it off and answers "It's nice to meet you too"
Jude looked up to Bill and asks as quietly as possible "One of?"
"I'm gay" I add quickly, because I heard the questions, I didn't want Bill to explain it "My wife is upstairs, getting our kids"
"Oh, okay" he didn't seem bothered by news. Just then we all heard footsteps on the stairs and we turned to see Stef and the kids coming down the stairs.
Our three kids stood in a line. Stef stood next to me "This is Stef, my wife" I introduced them "Stef this is Jude"
"Hi Jude" Stef said happily. Jude didn't smile back, he just looked back at her. Stef then started to introduce the kids and then took his bag and showed him around while I have a little chat with Bill.
"So…" Bill reached into his bag over his shoulder "These are his pain medications. One in the morning, one before night" I took the bottle from his hand while he continued
"He has a checkup set up in two weeks with Dr. Rodriguez at Mercy. Here, I wrote it down, time and everything" He handed me a note with the information
"You are probably enrolling him in Anchor Beach, right?" he asked reaching again in his bag
"That was the plan," I said watching his hands, waiting for what he takes out. He pulls out a file and hands it to me.
"His school records. Sorry to say, he is not the brightest kid. He has some serious problems with math. He barely can get D. Otherwise he is average C kid."
"Is it really that bad?" I ask concerned
"Pretty bad, he has been bouncing schools since he was 6. He never got the base of math and it has just gone downhill because he had to change schools so much"
His phone buzzed "I'm sorry, I have to take this" he picked up and walked to the dinner room to talk. I opened the file and looked over his school records. With these grades, I will have trouble getting him in Anchor Beach.
Bill hurried back to me "I'm sorry, I have to run. One of the kid just got arrested. You can call me any time if you have any questions regarding Jude"
"Oh, um…sure, yes" I quickly shook his hand that he was holding out "Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate what you are doing for this boy. He deserves a good home and—"
"We are happy to help. He seems really nice"
"He really is. Sweet kid" Bill smiled and then zipped up his bag "Don't hesitate to call. Thank you once again, Lena" He said walking out of the house.
I closed the doors behind and looked to the file once more reading his name again "Welcome to family, Jude Jacobs" I said to myself closing the file
November 20, 2015
We all were at the courthouse, waiting for us to being called in. It was the day Jude is going to get adopted. Jesus was showing some funny video to Mariana and Jude on his phone, while I was talking with Stef just few steps away from them.
"He said he would be here" Stef said looking at the phone once again
"Babe…relax, he will be here. He knows the time and he knows the place. It is probably traffic" I tried to keep Stef calm. Any minute now we would be called inside, but Brandon was still not here.
"I should have driven after him myself" Stef said unlocking the phone once again, to look at the time and see if he has texted or called
"There he is!" I said seeing Brandon walking through the courthouse doors. We all hugged him and then just like on time, our lawyer walked up to us
"Okay, let's get going kids!" Stef said excited and ushered the kids up from their seats
"Wait…" our lawyer said "I need to talk to the two of you for a second" She called me and Stef aside
"Is something wrong?" I ask worried, her tone of voice made me think that whatever she is going to tell us, won't be good news
"I'm…I'm afraid that Jude won't be able to get adopted today" she informed us
"What?" I breathed out in shock. Stef grabbed my hand instantly and squeezed it "What are you saying?" Stef got out
"I just received some news that…um…" she looked down to the her feet for a moment, she hesitated, making this whole thing even more painful "Stef, Lena" she looked between us "Jude's sister has applied to get legal guardianship of him"
AN: So, this idea popped in my mind few weeks ago. I finally decided to post it. Would love to hear what you think about it? Is it worth the read? Would you be interested in reading this?