Authors note.
Once again I want to thank all my followers and I was surprised to see that no one had an issue with the previous chapter. Now I know I had the first three planned out but the fourth chapter may be a week out. Please leave comments or tips I wish to improve, now without further ado here is Ch 3.
It's been about a month since Elizabeth had been adopted and summer was approaching. Vincent simply took it one day at a time. Not much he really can do about his predicament. The orphanage was to get new residents by the end of summer. Still it would be nice to not be the only child.
With the last day of his preschool coming to a close meant new school uniforms for grade school. Which means a trip to get supplies was soon to happen. Vincent rarely got to leave the orphanage with school being the exception. Even if it was an errand he got to go somewhere else. Vincent saw Sister Diane in her nun-attire waiting for him outside and the two made their way home. It was sunny with a breeze perfect walking outside weather.
"So how was school today?" Sister Diane asked.
"It was ok." Vincent said absently.
"Details Vincent, explain what happened in class today." Sister Diane instructed.
"We watched a film about All Might." Vincent explained seeing Sister Diane's smile.
"What else happened?" Sister Diane asked encouraging Vincent to tell her more.
"In arts and crafts we got to make a tower that each of us made a single part of." Vincent continued.
"Really, which part did you make?" Sister Diane asked intrigued.
"I made one of the bases." Vincent answered seeing Sister Diane listen intently.
"I'm proud of you Vincent." Sister Diane congratulated.
Vincent just smiled in response simply glad that his good behavior was noticed. The two finally made it to the orphanage and saw Father Shon talking on the phone and waved to the two when he saw them. As soon as the two removed their shoes and put on their slippers Father Shon hung up.
"Alright Vincent get changed and wash up." Father Shon instructed.
I didn't need to answer I simply made my way to my room got out of my old clothes and put some new ones on. Then I washed my hands and face feeling a little more refreshed. I walked to the kitchen and to my surprise didn't find Father Shon but instead a note.
"Wonder what this is?" I asked aloud.
The note read 'Dear Vincent, please make your way to the lounge we won't be cooking tonight'. I wasn't going to argue if we got take out the only thing I would have to worry about is clean up. So I tucked the note into my pocket and made my way to the lounge. There I saw Father Shon and Sister Diane along with two others I didn't recognize. There was a man and a woman both wore casual clothes that were matching. A red polo shirt with black slacks, they both were Japanese. The man had white hair with light blue eyes and was well built. The woman had dark brown hair and wore glasses that barely hid her green eyes. She had an elegant figure and was shorter than the other adults.
"Vincent these two are Mr and Mrs Kimura." Father Shon introduced.
"It's nice to meet you." Vincent said with a startled bow.
"It's nice to meet you as well." Mrs Kimura replied with a smile.
"So Vincent do you know the origin of your name?" Mr Kimura asked.
"Vincent was the name of a saint." Vincent answered seeing that Mr Kimura was surprised.
"What kind of saint was he?" Mr Kimura asked earning a elbow to his side from Mrs Kimura.
"I'm sorry about my husband Vincent I fear he won't stop until he gets a full lecture." Mrs Kimura apologized.
"That hurt." Mr Kimura complained.
"It's ok but I don't know what kind of saint Vincent was." Vincent answered only finding it weird talking about the origins of his name.
"Saint Vincent de Paul was a priest who dedicated his time serving the poor." Sister Diane interjected.
"That's quite a name to live up too." Mrs Kimura said impressed.
"Kind of heroic if you ask me." Mr Kimura commented.
Vincent blushed he couldn't see himself as heroic or selfless like Saint Vincent de Paul.
The evening continued with more questions and elaborating more details for the answers. It felt like a few minutes had gone by, I had no idea hours had gone by. I guess it's true when they say, 'time flies when you are having fun'.
"Oh dear it's late." Mrs Kimura announced shocked at how long they had been there.
"Wow time sure flew." Mr Kimura said also shocked.
"Thank you for taking the time to visit me." Vincent said with a bow.
"But of course dear." Mrs Kimura said with a smile.
"I take it you made your decision then?" Mr Kimura asked earning a nod from his wife.
"Vincent would you like to be a part of our family?" Mrs Kimura asked causing Vincent to tense up.
He heard the impossible, someone wanted him to be a part of their family. Vincent took a deep breath before answering.
"Yes, thank you."
"Congratulations Vincent." Father Shon applauded.
Sister Diane couldn't hide her smile simply glad Vincent now had a home.
"Oh Vincent are you ok?" Mrs Kimura asked drawing everyone's attention to Vincent.
Vincent had tears streaming down from his eyes. He wasn't sad but he felt happy and relieved at the same time.
"I'm fine." Vincent sobbed.
Before he could say anything else Mrs Kimura put her arms around him.
"It's ok now." She said soothingly.
I thought I was going to be alone for the longest time. Out of all the visitors I met and times I was ignored. To be part of a family, someone who wanted me. What I was experiencing couldn't really be explained. To feel like I belonged somewhere with these people that opened their home to me. It truly was something I would never forget. After my emotional scene I started to pack what little I had in a box. When I was finished Father Shon walked in.
"Are you all set Vincent?" He asked with a cheerful tone.
"I guess." Vincent said unsure.
"It's ok to be sad, so how about till we meet again." Father Shon said easing the tension.
"Till we meet again." Vincent said shaking hands with Father Shon.
With the packed box now in the back of the gray van and saying my farewell to Sister Diane. I got seated in a booster seat in the middle behind the passenger seat. It was a bit strange at first going home with new family. Mr and Mrs Kimura or I guess mom and dad now, entered the vehicle with dad driving and mom in the passenger seat.
"It's going to be awhile before we make it home." Mr Kimura/dad said turning on the car.
"We'll make sure to make a stop for food along the way home." Mrs Kimura/mom added while confirming seat belts were on.
"Ok." I responded seeing them smile.
As we drove away from the orphanage I saw Father Shon and Sister Diane wave goodbye. I waved back till I couldn't see them anymore. The drive was longer than I expected I mostly looked out the window and saw that it was a clear night with only the moon visible. We made a drive through stop at McDonald's and continued from their. I got sleepy at this point and before I knew it I dozed off without word.
"How's he doing back there?" Mr Kimura asked while maintaining his attention to the road.
Mrs Kimura looked behind her and saw Vincent was asleep.
"Out like a light." She said now facing forward.
"We've been driving for 2 and half hours." Mr Kimura said not surprised.
"Still he had a quite a surprise today." Mrs Kimura said seeing her husband smile.
"So are you glad that I changed your mind." He said with a snarky attitude.
"Yes," Mrs Kimura pouted. "Keep this up and you'll end up on the couch."
"Hey don't threaten me with the couch." Mr Kimura pleaded seeing his wife smile.
"Thank you." Mrs Kimura said quietly knowing her husband heard her.
"So… do you want to wake him up when we get home?" Mr Kimura asked earning him an annoyed look.
"No, just carry him inside for now." Mrs Kimura answered with a yawn.
"Hey don't fall asleep we're almost home." Mr Kimura pleaded causing his wife to chuckle.
"Don't worry your navigator won't fall asleep on you." Mrs Kimura teased.
Mr Kimura drove the van into an apartment complex then parked in spot marked for residents only. The couple exited the vehicle and opened slide door behind the passenger seat.
"He's so quiet." Mrs Kimura commented.
"I'll say." Mr Kimura said while picking up Vincent from his seat.
After locking up their vehicle the couple with Vincent in tow made their way to the three story apartment. The building had four doors on each level and was divided in the center with a stair way. The building itself was a giant orange painted rectangle cube with windows and some lights shining out. The Kimura couple lived on the second floor and Mrs Kimura opened the door to their apartment allowing Mr Kimura carrying Vincent to enter.
"I'll get your shoes." Mrs Kimura said while removing her husband's shoes.
"Thanks." Mr Kimura said while stepping into his slippers.
Mr Kimura walked into the living room and saw an elderly couple sitting on the couch, watching the news. The elderly couple had similarities to Mr kimura. Aside from their gray hair the couple had light blue eyes.
"Good to see you two are still awake." Mr Kimura said relieved.
"Good to see you too son." The elderly man scolded.
"Watching over our granddaughter was nice," The elderly woman stated. "Who is that?"
"This is Vincent, our newest addition." Mr Kimura answered seeing his wife enter.
"Thank you both so much." Mrs Kimura bowed.
"Think nothing of it dear getting to see our granddaughter and now grandson was well worth the trip." The elderly woman said while getting up.
"Right, it's late put the little one in bed I need to talk to you son?" The elderly man said while stretching.
Mr Kimura put Vincent in a lightly decorated room with white painted walls and a full size bed. Placing Vincent down on the bed Mrs Kimura put blanket on top of him and the couple left closing the door behind them.
"I'm gonna go to bed don't stay up too late." Mrs Kimura yawned.
"I won't." Mr Kimura assured his wife.
Mr Kimura went to see his father and knew too well where it was going. He saw the elderly man near the entrance already with his shoes on.
"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Mr Kimura said seeing his father give him a look of disapproval.
"Does the incident have anything to do with this?" Elderly man demanded in a hushed voice.
"Dad drop it." Mr Kimura warned seeing his father hadn't receded.
"Answer me." The elderly man snapped.
"You didn't support me when I got married, you forgave me when you saw your granddaughter, then you scorn my wife for having a miscarriage," Mr Kimura scolded in hushed tone. "Will you just drop it?"
"I made many mistakes in my life," The elderly man admitted. "Scroning your wife was my worst."
"You didn't hear it from me, I asked for this." Mr Kimura yielded.
The elderly man apologized and made his way outside waving goodbye with his wife. Mr Kimura closed the door and locked it for the night.
'I never blamed her for the loss of our child never to be and yet in a strange sense taking Vincent in feels somewhat more rewarding'. Mr Kimura thought to himself.
"I better get to sleep." Mr Kimura said with yawn.
The next morning Vincent woke up in a new room unsure of how he got there. But took the time to explore his surroundings. Aside from the full bed he was laying on there was a closet and nightstand. Aside from being bare and spacious with only some furniture left room for decoration. I heard a knock on my door.
"Vincent are you awake?" I heard Mrs Kimura ask.
"Yes." I yawned not realizing I was still tired.
"Come on out breakfast will be ready soon." I heard her call.
I got out of bed and made my way to the door. I opened the door and saw that she was waiting for me. She wore a dark green t-shirt with gray sweatpants, her hair was a little messy.
"Come along there's someone I like you to meet." Mrs Kimura said leading the way to the kitchen.
I saw Mr Kimura cooking what appeared to eggs and pancakes and next to him was a little girl with long light brown hair and aqua eyes.
"Momma who's that?" I heard her ask.
"This is your brother Vincent." Mrs Kimura answered catching me off guard.
"I have a brother now." The little girl said excited.
"Vincent this is Etsu, Etsu this is Vincent." Mrs Kimura introduced the two of us.
I guess I'm not only child I won't complain at least I won't be alone. At first I found it strange it was almost like to returning to the past. I never said it out loud but Father Shon and Sister Diane were in a sense parent figures and Elizabeth was like a little sister. Still as strange as it was I still had ways to go I will need time to adjust.
"Alright everyone breakfast is served." I heard Mr Kimura announce.
As all of us were seated and had been served we all said grace. I swear it hardly felt like I left but the atmosphere was different. The orphanage had a gloomy vibe that only the residents would notice. However in this apartment I didn't feel that vibe, here I felt at ease. I knew that I still had challenges to face and some I will never be able to beat. But for now I just took a day for myself and my family.