AN ANGEL IS MY HERO
AN UNWANTED GIFT - CHAPTER 4
BEN
Laying on his bed all by himself in the boys room, Ben was brooding. He didn't want to be adopted, it sounded lonely, he would have to give up his life and friends. What was the point? He didn't need a mom and dad, he already had a lot of moms and dads. Having just one of each meant having no more siblings. He loved having more than 10 siblings.
He didn't want to go to school, it meant being forgotten by everyone he knew. He was scared. He didn't like changes.
Through his teary eyes he saw that Lily and James had appeared in front of him, that is how he had named the balls of light a long time ago. They just felt like a Lily and James. He could just know which one was Lily and which one was James even though they were exactly the same size and had exactly the same level of brightness. He just knew.
"They say they want us to be a family, and the first thing they do is take me away from the family that I already have" Ben started pouring his heart out to his personal stars, wiping away a tear that was about to go down his cheek. The light made him feel as if he was being comforted, when he needed it to, he even felt a warmth was emanating from them. It felt like a light hug and a tender kiss "From tomorrow on my life will change completely and they never thought to ask me what I wanted. They decided for me"
The tears kept falling down and the balls of light started dancing in front of him. Soon Ben grew tired and fell asleep before any of the boys came back to the room.
Next morning Ben felt tired, as if he had barely slept and remembered about how the previous night and day had made an impact on his life.
Tears were threatening to come back. The sun still wasn't out but it wasn't dark enough for the stars to be visible either. His personal stars weren't there either.
He slowly got out of bed and decided to start his day. He walked towards his trunk which contained a couple of shirts and pants, a couple of underwear and his stuff for personal hygiene. He grabbed one of each and went to take a bath. The good thing about always being the first to rise was that he could have the bathroom all by himself, and he could actually take a soothing bath without anyone rushing him to get out for them to have their turn.
After he was clean, he put his dirty clothes away and walked outside the room hopping food was already available. It should be, he had taken a very long bath and the boys were already awake.
"You went without me!" a screeching high-toned voice came from behind him.
Saying Katie looked angry would be a big understatement. Seeing an angry 6 year old was more hilarious than scary. Is that how he looked like to Lidya and Joshua yesterday? Was he amusing them?
"You didn't show" Ben stated calmly.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Katie asked with tears on her eyes.
"I am not allowed into the girls room"
"Paulinne is"
"She tried, you wouldn't wake" In reality Ben had no idea if Paulinne tried to wake the younger girl up or not, but it felt like it was the smartest thing to say at the moment.
"You shouldn't have gone without me" Katie was being a little dramatic.
"It is not our fault you weren't there. If it makes you feel any better, we saw two red cars" Ben smiled at the girl.
"Why would that make me feel any better?" Katie was back to screeching.
"You said you wanted to see a red car"
"I wanted to see a red car, I didn't see it, you did!" she proceeded to make a dramatic exit by stomping all the way.
"Good Morning Ben" Ben was startled for the second time that morning.
"Why do people do that?" Ben said angrily.
Lidya looked a little sad but still had a smile on her face.
"Would you come with me, there is someone that wants to meet you?"
Curiosity got the better of him and follower her to Mrs. Lovegood's office. Lidya tried to take his hand but he wouldn't let her and purposely walked a few steps behind her.
As soon as they got there Lidya opened the door for him to walk in. There was a man inside, he looked to be as old as Mrs. Lovegood or even older. He had a brown small hat and brown clothes, brown must have been a big thing for the man, or maybe it was a uniform just like Lidya's and Joshua's.
"Good morning young man, my name is Louis" the old man introduced himself with a huge smile. Ben instantly liked him. He quickly walk inside and sat closed to the man.
"I am Ben"
"Very nice to meet you Ben. I hear today is a very exciting day for you"
"It is?"
Lidya and Joshua were standing in the entrance and Mrs. Lovegood was sitting on her chair. Ben hadn't noticed before, it all dawned on him and his smile disappeared.
"Oh. The adoption thing"
"The adoption thing?" Louis asked him curiously.
"They told me yesterday that I was getting a new family"
"And you are not happy about that?"
"I already have a family"
"You do?" The man started looking for something in the papers he had on his lap, which Ben hadn't noticed before.
"He means us" Mrs. Lovegood explained.
Comprehension started to dawn on Louis' face, Ben saw it.
"It should be my decision" Ben stated.
"Not if you are still a child. It is our decision" The man smiled. Suddenly Ben didn't like the older man that much anymore.
"I am going to give this papers to Mr. and Mrs. Alec" He grabbed the papers that where on his lap "They are already signed" He continued "This papers say that your new name is Benjamin Alec"
Ben didn't say a word. Louis stood up with some difficulty and walked towards Lidya and Joshua. Ben saw the whole transition. They took the papers and thanked the man.
"It was very nice to meet you Mr. Benjamin Alec, I wish you a very happy life with your new family" He then proceeded to walk out and left Ben alone with his new parents and Mrs. Lovegood.
"When do I start my new school?" Ben asked and broke the silence.
"We don't have to talk about that now. We actually wanted to take you out for breakfast to celebrate" Lidya had hope in her eyes.
"When?" Ben pushed.
"On January" Joshua answered.
"Will I still live here?"
"Yes" Joshua continued to be the one answering his questions.
"So school will be my first birthday present?"
"You will love it, I promise" Lidya tried to console him.
"I will go have breakfast with my friends now" Ben got up and walked out.
LIDYA
"You have to understand that Ben doesn't really know what a family is and he has never been unhappy so he doesn't feel the need to change anything in his life" Lidya could hear Emma's voice but she couldn't keep her eyes off the door which his new son had just walked out of "Love him, give him time. He will come around"
"I hope you are right" Lidya whispered.
"I am" Emma had heard her.
Joshua hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek just like he always did when she was feeling uneasy.
"What if we…" Lidya started saying in a small not convincing voice.
"No" Joshua stated quickly "We are not adopting Paulinne and Josh just because is asking us too. It is a big responsibility, one we've never thought about. We don't have the economic stability nor the disposition, lets be honest, to take them in as well. I know you want to see Ben happy love, but he is a kid, he will be angry at us for something different tomorrow"
"I know. I just wish I could give him everything he want it" Lidya sighed.
"Our job is not to give him want he wants, it's to give him what he needs" Joshua said seriously.
"Listen to your husband dear. You are now responsible of a preteen. You need to be able to guide him, not only love him" Emma intercepted.
"Ben has always been my weakness"
"We know" Joshua and Emma said at the same time smiling.
"I wanted to take him out to breakfast, I wanted to be there the first time he walked out the entrance door" Lidya said.
"It wouldn't be the first time though" Joshua said carefully.
"I planned it before the London thing" Lidya defended herself.
"How did you handle that?" Emma asked the newly parents.
"We didn't" Lidya answered.
"We will handle it today" Joshua stated.
"Do we have to? He is already mad enough" Lidya tried to talk on behalf of Ben.
"We have to" Joshua said firmly.
Lidya felt defeated. She didn't want to make Ben's life any harder than what it was. Deep inside she knew Ben was being unreasonable, but his words still hurt. She had imagined this day even before Joshua had been in the picture, first she had imagined doing this with William by her side, then she imagined it doing this by herself and the past years it became evident that if it did happen, it would be with Joshua's help. She imagined it being the best day of her life, in a way it still was, it just wasn't as perfect as she wish it were. She had imagined the three of them elated. Two out of three was not enough.
BEN
"So when are you supposed to be in the time out room? I have to be there after breakfast and Josh has to be there after lunch" It was the first thing Paulinne asked as soon as sat down at the table.
"I am not" he answered.
"You are not what?" Paulinne asked with her mouth full.
"I am no supposed to be at the time out room at any time" Ben answered icely.
"Did they give you another punishment? Is it worse?" Josh looked honestly concerned.
"I haven't been punished yet" Ben knew that Joshua was not going to forget about that detail even after ruining his life.
"That is not fair!" Paulinne exclaimed.
"Geesh thanks" Ben said sarcastically playing with his food.
"I am sorry Ben, but this was your idea in the first place and you don't get punished but we do?" Paulinne stood up angrily grabbing the rest of her food and left the table.
"You have to admit it is not fair" Josh defended Paulinne once she was out of earshot.
"I got it worse than you did" Ben stated.
"How?" Katie asked making herself known "They get punished, I get left behind and you get adopted. How is it that you get it worse?" Katie had tears in her eyes "You are going to leave us"
"They are making you leave us?" Josh asked "Wait! You got adopted? By who?"
"How do you know all this?" Ben asked Katie.
"I was outside Emma's office"
"Lets get back to what is important please! You got adopted?" Josh asked with a smile.
"Lidya and Joshua adopted me" Josh's smile disappeared.
"Why?" Josh asked Ben just shrugged in response "Why you?" Josh got up from the table leaving his food behind, he got out of the room.
"How is this my fault?" Ben asked to no one in particular.
"You think that everything that happens to you is the end of the world, but you don't realize that you always get what we all would die to have. You are not even grateful" Katie said angrily.
"Aren't you supposed to be like 6?" Ben asked angrily.
"I still know some things better than you" Katie stomped out of the room leaving Ben in shock and alone at the table. Several of the other kids were looking at him from the other tables and making feel uncomfortable. He got up going towards his room and remembering that Josh was probably going to be there. He took a detour and entered one of the empty classrooms.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, Lily and James appeared moving quickly, as if dancing, in front of him.
"I can't believe they are mad at me!" Ben started ranting "At me! I didn't ask to be adopted, I didn't want to be adopted"
The lights started dancing around him and he could feel them tickling him. He soon forgot about how mad he was and started having fun.
That is how Emma found him a couple of minutes later, except the lights disappeared before she could see them.
"May I talk to you Ben?" She asked smiling, Ben nodded in consent.
She sat down in an empty chair and Ben stood in front of her.
"I know you are scared" She started.
"Am not" Ben stated quickly.
"Having a family is not something you know, and it must be difficult to accept changes you never thought you could have"
"They never asked me"
"They never thought you wouldn't want to"
Ben put his head down ashamed.
"Is there a reason why you don't want to?" Emma asked kindly.
"I don't want new parents" Ben blurted out. He hadn't actually ever realized this, and it made him feel weird inside. New parents? It is not like he ever had parents in the first place. Except for the first year of his life. They hadn't wanted him though, they had left him. Then why didn't he hate them? Why did he felt that he could never let anyone take that place?
"Lidya and Joshua love you very much"
"I love them too"
"Give them a chance" Mrs. Lovegood stood up and let Ben alone.
He was glad she left, he needed to think.
Lily and James came back, this time just hovering in front of him, as if they knew what he was feeling inside.
Without actually knowing why, tears started coming out of Ben's eyes. He didn't feel sad nor angry. But he did feel a lot better a couple of minutes later when the tears stopped.
He got up and went to have lunch.
He found Katie, Paulinne and Josh at a table, without even thinking about food he walked over and sat down.
"I was adopted today by Lidya and Joshua. I found that about it yesterday when we came back from London" He explained himself while looking at Paulinne's eyes.
"Katie told us" Paulinne said coldly.
"I am not leaving you, but I am going to go to a school starting January. I will still get to come back here afterwards" Ben continued.
"Why did they adopt you?" Josh asked hurt.
"I don't know" Ben answered honestly, this answer was enough for his friends. They nodded, but Ben knew they were still hurt. He had never known that his friends maybe wanted to have a family, that they were now a little jealous of him getting a family and not even wanting one. Even Katie looked hurt.
"Can I be adopted too?" Katie asked timidly.
"You will someday" Ben promised her.
"By Lidya and Joshua?" Katie asked hopeful.
"By someone better" Ben answered.
"Be happy about it ok?" Paulinne said.
Ben didn't answer. He didn't believe in making a promise he knew he wasn't going to keep.
That night Ben was in his new bedroom. Apparently being adopted meant he had to sleep by himself. If it weren't for Lily and James he would feel very lonely and scared. Now he just felt angry and anxious.
Against his better judgement he fell asleep almost immediately. He was exhausted.
Time went on. His friends weren't angry at him anymore but it wasn't the same. They didn't include him in everything they did, and they sometimes stopped talking when he was near. Lidya and James took him out a lot, to parks, restaurants, the movies. He liked the movies, the parks were pretty and some of the restaurants had good food. Katie was the only one that was always waiting for him to come back and tell her all about his day. She still asked him if Lidya and Joshua would adopt her, she even asked them once. She never got the answer she wanted.
The night before Christmas he was told to put on a black pants, white shirt and black jacket. He had never worn anything like it before, it was called a suit. He didn't like it, it was very uncomfortable and the shoes hurt. They were going to go have dinner with William (he was now supposed to call him uncle William) and his mother. Ben liked Mrs. Abel so he wasn't too mad about the idea. Besides, he remembered how she cooked.
It was an hour drive where they talked about everything they could think of. Joshua taught him some games and Lidya taught him new songs. It was a good drive to London. When he saw out the window he was passing 4 Privet Drive, he had forgotten that Mrs. Abel's house was around this house. He could see through the window that the Dursleys had a very large tree inside with a lot of lights. They all looked very happy. They were hugging a fat boy that he could only assume was Duddley.
They waited outside Mrs. Abel's house for them be invited in. It wasn't long before William welcomed them.
Mrs. Abel had a tree very alike the one he had seen on the Dursley's house, there were colorful boxes in the floor and candles in the middle of the table. There was a large roast beef and ham with lots of vegetables and a huge cake in the kitchen. Ben was very excited about how the night promised to be like.
He ate everything he could until he could no longer move and was sure he would explode. But when he was told that the colorful boxes where gifts and that they all were for him, he founded the strength to run to them.
He got a soccer ball, several shirts, a couple of books and a couple of car toys, one red and one blue. He was going to give Katie the red one, he promised himself.
The grown ups went to the living room to talk among them and left Harry in the front yard playing with his new soccer ball. Careful of not being seen he put the ball down and left towards where he had seen the Dursley's house. For some unknown reason, he felt compelled to them. As if he had to be there.
It took him longer than he had thought it would to get to 4 Privet Drive.
He finally got there and knocked the door expectantly.
The fat boy opened the door.
"Hello" Ben greeted happily.
"Who are you?" the fat boy asked rudely.
"Who is it darling?" Mrs. Dursley asked from inside. She walked towards the door until she was standing in front of Ben.
"You again" She sneered.
"Merry Christmas Mrs. Dursley"
"You are not coming into my house this time you little monster. Go away before my husband sees you and never come back Potter" she said it in a harsh whisper and slammed the door on his face.
Every time he saw that woman he thought she was even weirder than before. He had no clue why Mrs. Dursley would hate him so much, or maybe she just hated everyone since he had never seen her being nice.
Feeling confused and awkward he decided to go back to Mrs. Abel's house.
A sight waited for him. Lidya was crying on Mrs. Abel's shoulder. Joshua and William were walking down the street screaming his name. Bollocks, I am in trouble, Ben thought.
Lidya was the first to see him, she ran towards him and almost crashed his ribs with a hug. Joshua and William saw him nest, both of them looked extremely angry and Mrs. Abel looked disappointed.
"Are you all right?" Lidya kept hugging him and crying without actually wanting an answer to her question.
Lightly Mrs. Abel took Lidya's arm and make her take some steps back.
"Where were you?" Joshua asked calmly.
"I went for a walk" Harry answered.
"A walk where?" Joshua prided.
"Down the street" Harry stated.
"Try that again" Joshua said.
"I went to the Dursley's house"
"Who?" Joshua asked
"That is where I found him" William explained.
"Why?" Joshua changed his question.
Ben just shrugged not really wanting to give him an answer, and not really having one.
"That is all you are going to say?" Joshua asked.
Ben just stared at him.
"Go get your things. We are leaving. Thank Mrs. and Mr. Abel" Joshua said "You are grounded"
He had left for less than an hour, he didn't even think they would notice. He was angry at Joshua's reaction, he was exaggerating. Ben went to get his things, thanked uncle William and Mrs. Abel and got into the car.
The hour drive back was a one sided conversation of Lidya. Neither Ben nor Joshua said a word. As soon as they were home, Ben got out and ran to his room, leaving all his things in the car.
Joshua had kept his word, Ben was grounded until his birthday. At least his birthday gift wasn't only a new school, but being able to run free again.
Lidya had wanted to take him to take a haircut before school started but Ben had refused. He liked his long hair, he used it to cover a scar that he had always had in his forehead.
Just like every year he stayed up late to see the fireworks from his window. Lidya and Joshua had proposed the possibility of going out and seeing the fireworks up close. Ben had declined, this was his special moment and he didn't like the idea of celebrating a new year with the rest of the world instead of a birthday with Lily and James, Just like he'd had since he was 3 years old.
They went on for less than 10 minutes, but he enjoyed every second of it. Joshua and Lidya had respected his wish to be left alone.
The view from his previous room had been better. The window had been bigger and that room was in a higher floor. He was tired of saying what he wanted and not wanted out of his life, he had learned that they weren't going to hear what he had to say anyway, so he just started nodding to almost everything he was told.
On Monday he was going to start a new school and will have to make new friends. He was very surprised of how things had turned out. It wasn't as if he was being ignored, but apparently he wasn't a part of the house anymore. The other kids greeted him and didn't mind if he played with them but he was never directly invited to anything. Not even Paulinne or Josh. They had started hanging out with Kurt, Ben had been replaced. Who would have thought that the only one who went out of her way to make him feel welcomed would be Katie? Now he felt bad about how he had always treated her. He was very grateful to have her right now.
"Happy Birthday Ben" He congratulated himself "Goodnight Lily, goodnight James" and went to sleep.
For the first time in that he could remember the boys weren't there to give him a birthday hug, Josh wasn't angry at being woken up and Ben wasn't really interested in going out of his room.
"Goodmorning birthday boy" Lidya came into his room carrying a small birthday cake with a candle. Joshua was right behind him with a gift.
"Happy Birthday lad" Joshua came closer and gave him a gift.
"Make a wish and blow the candle" Lidya said excitedly
"There is nothing I want" Ben said with a small smile.
Lidya and Joshua beamed, probably thinking he meant he was happy with what he already had.
Ben blew the candle and ate a piece of cake for breakfast.
"So what do you want to do today? We can do whatever you want" Lidya said.
"Can we go out?" Ben wasn't feeling like being in the house if the other children were going to treat him like a guest instead of a brother.
"Of course! Whatever you want. We will leave you so you can get ready, we'll meet you at the entrance in half an hour" Joshua and Lidya left.
Ben got out of his bed slowly and started getting ready for the day. He really loved Lidya and Joshua, and he almost always had fun with them, so he was actually looking forward to the day.
They went to the park to get ice cream, a clown made him a balloon sword, the Joshua got one in another color so they could play. Lidya kept taking pictures throughout the whole day. They had pizza for lunch and went to see The Christmas Vacation at the movie theater, where he had a large popcorn and soda for himself.
Afterwards they went to an arcade and he played some games against Joshua. He met a couple of kids there and played with them for a little while.
When it was late they went back to the house. Joshua and Lidya tucked him in.
"Do you want me to tell you the story?" Lidya asked to which Ben nodded.
"Uncle William and Joshua had always been best friends, they met at the police academy when they were very young. One very cold October night they received a call that told them they were supposed to go to 4 Privet Drive in London where a baby was waiting for them. They took care of the baby and called me to help. I knew that the baby was special as soon as I saw him. I fell in love with the baby and I never wanted to let go, so I knew there was only one place for him, Berkshire orphanage. This baby had no mommy or daddy, we didn't know his name, so I named him Ben. Mrs Lovegood fell in love with the baby as soon as she saw him as well and opened the doors for him and me. With your Uncle William and Joshua right beside me, we came to live here with baby Ben. Joshua didn't need too much convincing he had said yes almost the same day I had come to them. I didn't know back then that he was in love with me, that could have been part of the reason he had agreed to move with me. Some years later I realized what a wonderful man he was and a married him. We were only missing one thing, you. That is how we became a family"
Lidya was beaming at him and Joshua was smiling. Ben hadn't heard this version of the story before, but I guess Lidya had thought of adjusting it to newer events.
"Goodnight love" Lidya kissed him in the forehead and Joshua squeezed his hand before they left, turning off the light and closing the door behind them.
As soon as they left Lily and James came.
"It was a great birthday. I am 10 now. I had cake for breakfast, and chocolate ice cream in the park…" He started to describe his day to his friends in great detail; it felt like the balls of lights were listening intently to every word he had to say.
The next day he went to breakfast with everyone else, hopping he had been missed the day before. When he got there no one glanced his way. He saw Katie, Paulinne, Josh and Kurt were talking in a table so he decided to join them.
"Happy belated birthday Ben!" Katie got up to give him a hug.
"Happy belated birthday to you too! How does 7 years old feel like?" He asked the younger girl happily.
"Like I am older and wiser" She said trying to act very seriously.
"Happy Birthday" Paulinne, Josh and Kurt exclaimed with a smile.
"Where were you? I couldn't find you anywhere" Katie dragged him to a sit to her right.
"I went to the park and the movie theater"
"What movie did you see?" Katie asked excited.
"One about a Christmas going wrong but then everything was perfect" Ben gave a bad and short summary, he hadn't really payed that much attention to the movie, he had been busy with the popcorn.
"How was your birthday" Ben asked Katie
"It was awesome! Everyone sang happy birthday and we played tag in the yard with the older kids. We had chocolate cake at lunch and cookies for dinner. I just wish you had been there" Katie said smiling.
"I will next year. I promise" Ben promised the girl.
He talked with his friends all day and got to know a Kurt a little better. He was a little bossy, but he was nice enough.
He told them about how scared he was of going to school the next week and they all reassured him that everything would be fine and that he would come back there every afternoon, so he still had them to lean on. He was happy to be with Paulinne and Josh again, it felt like before. Kurt being there as well didn't bother him.
The next week was awesome, he didn't feel so alone with his friends, that made time fly by.
On Monday 8 of January 1990 he went to his first day of school.
Ben walked into the classroom feeling very nervous, he didn't know how to act or what he was supposed to do. Was it the same as his classes back home? He walked in, all the seats but one was taken. There were less than 10 children in there, and they were all looking straight at him.
"We have a new classmate, please welcome Mr. Benjamin Alec" the teacher said. She was wearing a tight bun, she was a little on the plump side and very tall. She looked friendly enough. "I am Miss Marigold" She introduced herself to Ben "Please take a sit" She pointed to the empty seat in the middle of the front row and then addressed the rest of the class "I will call out your names to make sure you all came back from your holidays in one piece" everyone started giggling.
"We've established Mr. Alec is here…
Bricks, Jasmine
Duke, Kyle
Granger, Hermione
Lee, Kim
Niles, Charles
Ozz, John
Piers, David
Simmers, Melody"