We had a quick dinner by ordering Chinese even though it was only me and Dad. The phone rang two minutes later and I got up to answer it.
"Hello? Hi, Mrs. Prezzioso. Okay, we'll watch out for you then. Bye," I said as I hung up and went back to Dad. "Mrs. Prezzioso and Jenny are on their way now."
We were done anyway. We cleaned the table and the kitchen right away and that was when the doorbell rang. I opened the door.
"Hi, Jenny," I greeted her with a smile. "The members wished you luck and hope you would feel better soon."
"Tell them thank you," said Mrs. Prezzioso.
"I will," I promised. "We just finished with cleaning the attic. It's a bedroom now. We're adopting an orphan boy on Sunday. Dad said she can be with us that day."
"She can share Mary Anne's room. We have twin beds as well," said Dad said.
"That's good," said Mrs. Prezzioso.
On Sunday, it was Adoption Day! I am so excited! That afternoon, at twelve-thirty, we went to Stoneybrook Children's Home for Orphans. It was HUGE! Jenny was holding my hand.
"Remember now, you need to be good in there. If the ruler's talking and you want to say something, you'll need to wait your turn or say 'excuse me'," I told her.
"And, some of them might not like...," Dawn started to say.
"Dawn, don't tell her that," I interrupted. "She's four and you know it."
"Thank you, Mary Anne," said Dad. "She's right, Dawn."
Jenny did behave in there especially in the office.
"How old and what gender would you like to adopt?" asked the ruler.
"A 13-year-old boy please," replied Sharon.
"Okay. We have three boys who are 13," said the ruler. "Their names are Carlos Peters, George Viera, and Danny Anderson."
"It is okay if we meet them?" asked Dad.
"Sure. Let me go them. I'll be right back," said the ruler.
"Carlos Peters seems so similar to me. I think Shannon told me he goes to her school. She said he's one of the best basketball players there. That's how I heard of him," I said.
"We've seen him play at Stoneybrook Middle School. He's known for Slam Dunks and never missed one basket," said Dawn.
"Wow!" exclaimed Jenny.
That was when the ruler returned with the boys.
"This is Carlos Peters, George Veira, and Danny Anderson," said the ruler.
"Aren't you the one who plays your basketball games at Stoneybrook Middle School?" I asked Carlos.
"That's me," replied Carlos.
"My friend, Shannon Kilborne, seen you at Stoneybrook Day School," I said.
"I know her. She's in my classes. In fact, she's my girlfriend," said Carlos.
"Isn't that something? When I heard that name, I knew you looked similar," I said.
After we met the other two boys, we made a decision to adopt Carlos.
"You're all set. You can go pack your stuff while I talk to them," said the ruler. "George, Danny, would you help him?"
"Sure. Come on," said Danny as they left.
"There's a few things you need to know about Carlos. First, he lost his family when he was eight years old. He doesn't talk about it much. He knows how to handle bullies. If they tease him or threat him, he would walk away to tell a grown up right away," the ruler began. "Also, he loves pets of any kind. He likes Superman, race cars, Batman, and Spiderman. He's a good boy, so you'll have no trouble with him. He talks about what happens at school. He doesn't like to swear or fighting. He just ignores people who swear."
"Okay," I said.
I remembered Shannon told me about his late family since she was the one who comforted him when he was terribly upset at the time. She knew him since preschool or pre-kindergarten. I noticed Dawn wasn't paying attention at all. I have an idea to get her good later on if she asks about Carlos' family to test her.
"He's careful not to have sweets before lunch or dinner. He's allergic to bees and chocolate," the ruler continued.
"Alright," said Sharon.
"That's it now. Carlos may visit here anytime he wants to," said the ruler.
That when the boys returned with Carlos' things.
"I'll show them to bring the stuff to the car," said Sharon.
"Okay. Carlos, you can come back in to say good-bye," said the ruler.
"Okay. Thank you," said Carlos.
"I'll meet you back here after I say bye to my friends," Carlos added.
"That's fine, sweetie," said the ruler as she gave Dad and Sharon the adoption papers. "Just sign here and have the judge do the same."
"Okay," said Dad.
That's what they did.
"I'll call the judge tomorrow," Dad added.
"I noticed he looked nervous," I said.
"I know," agreed Sharon.
"How did she know that?" the ruler asked, amazed.
"I'm sensitive and if he wants to talk to me about anything, he can because I'm a very good listener," I replied.
"That's a good thing," said the ruler.
Carlos came back about a minute later.
"Bye," said Carlos.
"Bye," said the ruler. "I just told them you may visit anytime."
"Okay," Carlos said, who was trying not to cry.
I put my arm around his shoulder to comfort him. He didn't mind at all since he knew I was going to make him feel better.
"If you want, you and I can talk. I know how you feel," I said.
"Thanks," said Carlos, who was trying to smile a bit.
In the car, I was sitting with him.
"You could tell she cares for him already," said Sharon.
"I know. She did say she heard of him and seen him before," said Dad.
On the way home, I said, "I could tell you were nervous right away."
"Just a little," Carlos admitted.
"I'm very sensitive about anything and a good listener," I said. "I know how you feel. Well, Sharon's my stepmother. I grew up on Bradford Court. When Dad married her, we moved in with her and Dawn on Burnt Hill Road. I was upset. It took me awhile to get used to be at my new house."
"So, you're saying I could get used to it one day?" Carlos added as I nodded. "Thanks. I feel a little better now."
"What about your...," my stepsister began.
"Dawn, don't start asking him any questions that could upset him," Jenny said, who was smart to remember that.
"Thank you, Jenny," I said.
"I don't care," said Dawn.
"You should respect people's feelings. Didn't you listen to what the ruler told us? He doesn't like to talk about it," I said.
"Yes," Dawn lied.
"Actually, you weren't paying attention," I said. "I noticed that. Let him answer when he wants to."
"Thank you, Mary Anne," said Carlos.
At home, I led him to the attic.
"This is it, your new room," I said. "I'll help you unpack your stuff."
That's what I did.
"Thanks for helping me," said Carlos.
"No problem." I said.
"I like the Superman theme," said Carlos.
"The theme was my idea," I said. "I know boys like Superman, Spiderman, and Batman while the other boys like race cars. My part-time stepbrother, Jeff, likes anything. He's in California now. See, Sharon grew up here before moving there for college. She got married and had two kids, Dawn & Jeff. Then Sharon got divorced and moved back here with the kids. Jeff was miserable here and ended up back there after awhile. Dad and Sharon actually dated long time ago during high school. Just after Jeff left, Dad and Sharon got married like I mentioned earlier."
"That's cool," said Carlos.
"I never met my real mother. She joined the angels when I was too young to remember her of cancer at age 24," I continued.
"Wow," said Carlos.
"But, Sharon is the best stepmom," I said.
"That's a good thing," said Carlos.
At dinner, Carlos was getting a tired.
"I'm getting tired. May I please leave the table?" asked Carlos.
"Yes, of course," replied Sharon.
"Thanks for dinner," said Carlos as he got up and went up to his new room.
After dinner and cleaning the kitchen, I went up to see Carlos. I knocked on the attic door and came in to sit with him. He was looking at something.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Do you want to see some pictures of my family and my house?" asked Carlos.
"Sure," I replied.
"This is my family. That's my mother, Monica, and my father, Carl, whom I was named after," said Carlos.
"And that's my home," he added.
"Wow," I said.
"That's me at age eight, my older brother, Alexander, who was 11 and my older sister, Alexandra who was nine," said Carlos.
"You look just like your brother," I said.
"Yeah. They're all dead now," said Carlos.
"I'm sorry about your family. Shannon told me and my friends about it already," I said.
"Thanks. I'll explain it to you if you like," replied Carlos.
"Only if you wanted to," I said.
I listened quietly while he explained everything on how he lost his family.
"That's a shame. I felt bad when Shannon told us," I said.
He even continued on how he ended up in Children's Home for Orphans.
"I have been suffering depression since I lost my family. They were everything to me," said Carlos.
"I bet they were," I said.
"But I know I'll be okay since I have a new family," said Carlos.
"That's good," I said. "When my mom died, her parents raised me in Iowa, where she grew up, because my dad was too depressed and wasn't sure he can raise an infant on his own right away. He didn't take me back until I was 18 months old when he was ready to do so."
"That's cool," Carlos said.
"I know," I agreed.