Sunny Came Home

Entry 25:

Adopting Sunny was a process that was made much easier by the fact that she was already living with me and in my care. The whole thing went by so quickly and smoothly I didn't even have time to worry about it enough to mention it in this journal or to anyone for that matter...except for the one other person the decision concerned. It had been a mere 'what if' scenerio that lingered in back of my mind ever since the day Chloe had called Sunny my daughter at the cafe. But, the one good that's come out of the last few weeks with my mother reemerging in my life was that it pushed my decision to go through with the adoption. After that, I gave as much thought to it as someone gives jumping off a cliff, the consequences not being all that different actually. I either do this and get us to safely land or we completely crash and burn. Either way, I still know what I'm doing is crazy...but I feel I'm prepared for either outcome now.

A few days ago, with Sunny completely over the flu, I thought it might be a good idea to sit her down and go over once again everything that was happening. And after her spending most of her previous days coughing and sneezing in the air of the house, I thought it would be an even better idea to take her for something to eat in order to welcome back her appetite in the process.

We settled on an outdoor burger place that we had passed by a number of times and made comments about eating at one day but never had gotten around to it. As soon as the waitress left the table with our order, I began.

"Sunny, do you remember what we talked about a few weeks ago?"

"You adopting me?"

"Exactly. It's going to be finalized in about a week and I just want to make sure you understand what's happening."

"I know. You're officially and legally becoming my guardian."

It was almost word for word what I had said to explain it to her. In reality, however, it was only about as legal as forging papers from Olga that expressed that I take care of Sunny if anything was to happen to her gets.

"Right. But, you don't ever have to call me 'dad' or anything if you don't want to."

"Is it okay if I still call you 'Uncle Hal'?"

"Of course."

"And this means my last name will be Emmerich too, right?"

"Yes, it does. Are you still okay with that?"

"Sunny Emmerich." She tested it, reviewing each syllable, and smiled, "Yeah, I like that. When the adoption is complete, is that when I start going to school?"

"Yep. Are you nervous?"

"A little."

"Well, you shouldn't be. You're going to be fine."

"Uncle Hal, are you going to be sad while I'm at school?"

This was something I had thought about a lot despite my attempt to look unconcerned about it. But, I feel it's time for her to venture out into that part of her childhood. Sure, there's always home school but I think that would be more for my benefit than hers in the long run. She can't stay sheltered by me forever.

"Yes, I suppose a little bit."

"Then, I don't want to go!"

"No, Sunny. It's okay. It'll only be for a few hours a day. Besides, I'll only be sad for a couple of days, then I'll get used to it. So will you."

"What if the other kids don't like me?"

"Then...then, I'll teach you some of the CQC moves that Dave tried to teach me a long time ago." I could tell she laughed more at the thought of me doing or even knowing CQC than she did at Dave trying to teach it to me, "Don't worry, you'll make a lot of friends."

"Okay, Uncle Hal. I trust you."