Chapter 9
After the doctor completed his analysis of the babies he confirmed Rosalina's suspicions. "It concerns me of how small he is," the pediatrician continued, "he's twice as small as he should be at this age." "Well maybe he isn't as old as we originally thought," Mrs. Wolff considered but the doctor shook his head. He explained to her that Noah matched the description of a six month old if his weight was not included. He advised her to take Noah to the hospital to have further blood tests done.
They were in one of Dr. Gerald's examining rooms. Pictures of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger were painted on the walls around them. Mrs. Wolff had insisted for Noah and Dylan to go see a doctor. "Winter is here and I won't allow these two to catch anything at their age," she had said. Since it was an afternoon appointment Rosalina was allowed to go after completing all of her homework. She wasn't really paying attention to Dr. Gerald's diagnosis. She was deep in thought.
She couldn't believe it but it had happened. Yesterday, Tuesday night, Mr. Wolff had come home unusually early. It was about 11:00 and Alex had already gone to bed and Mrs. Wolff and her were in the living room rocking Dylan and Noah to sleep. Mr. Wolff called Mrs. Wolff into their room to have a private conversation. Mrs. Wolff gave Noah to Nat, whom had been sitting on the couch watching TV, and followed him.
"I wonder if he got a promotion or something." Nat had wondered out loud. Rosalina had shrugged and went back to her task at hand. When Mr. and Mrs. Wolff returned Mr. Wolff had a beaming grin on his face, but Mrs. Wolff seemed troublesome. "We need to talk to you two," Mr. Wolff said. "Oh how many times are we going to hear that sentence?" Nat asked. "Final time," Mr. Wolff assured him as he sat down on the upholstery of the purple couch. Nat gave Noah back to his mother, who quickly shushed him as he tried to fuss. Mrs. Wolff left the room carrying the baby. Rosalina sat next to Nat and Mr. Wolff next to her. "You both know what I said about not having space for everyone to live here permanently," he began. Both teens nodded silently. Rosalina held Dylan a little tighter as he stirred in his sleep.
She could hear tiny objects outside pelting the roof as Mr. Wolff continued, rain? "Nat your grandmother, my mother, owned a house that's about an hour away from here. There's not much of a town around it compared to here, but it's bigger than this apartment." Disbelief came over Rosalina immediately, "does that mean we can stay?" she asked. "Possibly," he answered, "we want you to stay but there's still your aunt and uncle who have to give up custody rights for you two. We could take them to court, but Mrs. Wolff thinks it would be a better idea to ask them instead. And if they agree we'll adopt you and Dylan." Rosalina's eyes brightened for the first time in weeks. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could have a permanent home and a permanent family like she had when her parents were alive. "But what about school?" Nat asked. "The bus that runs out there goes to your schools here, but you're going to have to get up earlier to catch it," Mr. Wolff informed them. "Oh great," Nat muttered under his breath.
Two weeks later schools were closed for Thanksgiving Break. Mr. Wolff had finally gotten his wife to approve of the move. It was definably going to be a white Thanksgiving according to the weather man. A cold front was to move in that weekend which would result in 1 inch of snow, the first of the season. Alex couldn't contain himself in the wait for the inevitable snow. He found Nat's old sled and place it in the hall closet. Everyone else, however, had other things on their minds.
Rosalina woke up early one morning to find frost on her window. She tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. She looked outside and found it was cloudy and doubted the frozen Earth would melt very soon. The bare branches of nearby trees shook as a chilling breeze crept past them. The winter had only been there for a little over a month's time and had already eaten away greedily at the plants leaving them crippled, wilted, and few in numbers. She left the window and returned to bed. She found comfort in the warmth of the sheets. Although she was not tired she closed her eyes. Dylan lied asleep only a few inches away from her surrounded in a fence of pillows. She knew there was no chance really that he would remember this Christmas, but at that moment she promised herself she'd make it the best he would ever have.
A.N.- Hope you liked the chapter. I didn't forget my promise. I've been having computer issues all week. So glad they're finally over. :)