As promised, another chapter. Happy Halloween, everyone!

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Part 25

Harm was back downstairs in under five minutes, Mattie a little later. She was still tugging a comb through her wet, curly hair, which kept tangling.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, struggling and trying to get it free, "C'mon, c'mon. For goodness s…"

"Here," Mac took the comb from her daughter's hand, "Let me get that for you."

She steered them both to sit on the couch, where she ran the comb through Mattie's tangled hair, starting with the ends first, not the roots as Mattie had. This way took a bit longer, but at least Mattie wouldn't tug half her hair out in the process.

"Thanks," the young girl breathed, taking the comb back from Mac, once the task was completed, "I guess I'm just anxious…Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"Any minute now," Harm nodded.

Everybody jumped as the horn of a car sounded outside.

"Well," Harm surmised, "That's them, they're here…Are we all set, ladies?"

Mac and Mattie both nodded, with a smile and they all stood up from the couch and headed for the door.

Just a few minutes earlier…

"So, we're going there now?" Tyler piped up from the backseat of the jeep.

"Uh-huh," Wendy nodded, disconnecting the call.

"Are they nice, Nana Moon?" Tiegan asked.

"They're very nice, I promise," Wendy assured her.

Wendy had purposely kept the call vague, she wanted this to be a surprise for the children, who knew nothing about who had petitioned to the courts to foster them, with the view of later adopting them. This was the case in most petitions involving children this young and in situations where the petitioner wasn't a blood relative. Occasionally, they were unsuccessful, so it wasn't fair to get the child's hopes up, in case it didn't happen.

"Do they live in a house or in a flat?" Tiegan and Tyler continued to play 'thirty questions' they were both eager and apprehensive about this move, so they wanted to be as informed before the big event as possible.

"A house," Wendy told them, "with a big garden."

"Do they have kids?"

"They do," Wendy nodded, "Just one, she's adopted, like they hope to adopt you."

"When will that happen?"

"In a few months, I think."

"Why a few months? Why not right away?"

"The courts want at least a few months to pass, so that they know everything's okay, before they make that decision."

"Like with Timmy?"

Their foster sister had briefly gone back to live with her biological mother a couple of years ago, but it had proved too much for the single woman, because Timmy had ADHD and could sometimes be a handful, especially if her carer was not experienced with taking care of children with more challenging behavior. That's why Wendy and Alfred's was the perfect place for her, as Wendy and Alfred had cared for many children with attention disorders and were very patient people.

"Yes, a little like Timmy. But you remember, Ms. Walker didn't have any other children and Timmy can be a little spirited, sometimes. You two are going to be on your best behavior, aren't you?"

"Yes, Nana Moon," they both chorused, obediently.

"Then I'm sure you're all going to get along very well," Wendy surmised, "Like I said, this family are very kind and they really love children."

"Will we have a brother or a sister?"

"A sister."

"Is she younger or older than us?"

"Older, but I can't remember how much so…Maybe around ten years. And she's a very friendly girl. And smart. She likes history, like you two, so you'll get on well with her."

"Did you meet them?"

"Yes, of course," Wendy told them, "I had to make sure that you were going to nice people, didn't I?"

"When did you meet them?" Tiegan asked.

"A couple of weeks ago," Wendy told her, "We went out for dinner with them, Grandpa Moon and I."

"And they are? Nice, I mean…" Tyler checked again on this particular prerequisite.

Wendy laughed as she told them again, "Yes, they are. They're very nice, all three of them."

"Do they have any pets?" Tiegan asked.

"Not that I know of," Wendy noted, "That wasn't a question I thought to ask them, when we met. But I'd give it some time, before you start asking about things like that. Just settle in first and I'm sure that you'll find something you all like to do together, whether it's look after a pet or something else."

"What about school?" Tyler asked, "Will we still get to go to the same school, with little AJ and Jimmy?"

"Yes," Wendy assured them, "It's a little further away from here than other schools, but they told me that it's no problem for them to bring you. There are lots of other nice schools around here, but they said they didn't want to settle you into another school, when you like this one so much…see, I told you they were very nice people, didn't I? They're very excited about you coming to join their family…And we're nearly there, now."

Wendy took another couple of turns, and they found themselves on a tree-lined street, which looked nice enough, even through all of the pouring rain.

Once Wendy had parked the car, she quickly beeped the horn before she turned off the engine. Tyler and Tiegan curiously peered out of the window at the two-storey house, with a white picket fence, a large front porch and an apple tree in the corner of the front yard. While they were anticipating somebody appearing at the front door, their insides also felt like they were tying themselves in knots and in a way, they were willing the front door to stay closed, just in case their high hopes were somehow dashed.

"Do you two have on your raincoats?" Wendy asked them, to which they replied in the affirmative.

It had begun to rain when they were making their way towards the café for dinner, so they had donned their raincoats. Because they had reentered the car with their wet coats still on, the windows had fogged up, so Wendy had had to turn on the aircon up and Tyler and Tiegan had each kept wiping their passenger windows down, so that they could watch the journey through the neighborhood.

Wendy turned around in her seat.

"Okay then," she instructed them both, "Hoods up."

Tyler pulled up the hood on his 'tiger' raincoat, complete with ears. Tiegan's coat was a clear pink color and had a matching rain hat, which she tugged on.

Wendy watched them for a second, in silence, before speaking up.

"Don't you want to see your new parents?"

She cocked her head in the direction of the house and the children both jumped in realization and their heads whipped round to look out of the window. Even through the slightly foggy window, they got a good view of whom Nana Moon was talking.

Their little eyes were wide and their mouths open in shock as recognition dawned.

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