=Normal POV=
[Sunday, 8/11/2019; 8:30 am]
[Berk; Forger/Haddock Home]
"Okay, thank you so much!" Gabriel stated as he was coming out of his bedroom while on his cell phone. "Yep, see you soon! Bye," he added before ending the call. "Oh, the lad is gonna love this!" he chuckled.
Hayden had one of his sleepovers, so Hayden was downstairs with his friends, and likely still sleeping. Hayden had gotten up at 6 am for his morning pill, but then moseyed himself back down to sleep more since the friends had a late night. Gabriel swore he went to bed at 1:15 am, and the friends were having a blast still. And then when Hayden got up for his pill and to take care of Spencer; Gabriel learned Hayden didn't go to sleep until almost 3:45 am. Spencer went back to sleep at 8 am, so Hayden probably just went back down and fell asleep, but Gabriel knew Hayden would enjoy this news.
Gabriel made his way downstairs and saw the lights off and everyone around the room and fast asleep. Hayden was locked in Trayden's arms, also knocked out. Gabriel felt along the wall and flipped the light on. A lot of the sleeping friends groaned and turned their heads.
"Hayden!" Gabriel said softly. No reply. "Hayden…" he tried again. Hayden grumbled a bit, turning his head towards Trayden's. "For the love of…Hayden!" he yelled louder this time. The others were now awake, even Trayden, but Hayden was still out like a light.
"He could sleep through anything…" Trayden giggled a bit.
"Nah. Watch this…" Gabriel smiled. "Hayden! Get up; the house is on fire! Hurry!" he yelled in a panicked voice. Instantly, Hayden snapped awake getting to his feet and looking around.
"Call 911, where's Spencer…!" Hayden said quickly.
"Lad…Easy; I was kidding…" Gabriel laughed. "There's no fire," he smiled.
"Asshole…" Hayden growled. "Don't fucking do that! You know I have fire PTSD!" he glared.
"That's how I know you'd wake up if I yelled fire," Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"Fire PTSD?" Trayden blinked.
"My mother tried to cook…She got distracted, and we had to renovate the entire kitchen and living room…Gods, it was so bad. It was like 5 am…Mom went screaming through the house that the house was on fire…" Hayden sighed.
"And ever since…Hayden has a fear of house fires. Well, not fear, but he freezes, then panics," Gabriel said.
"Okay, fine, I'm up…What do you want?" Hayden grumbled. "I'm tired…"
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have stayed up so late," Gabriel remarked.
"The others were out at 1:45 am…Tray and I snuck upstairs and had sex for an hour, fell asleep in my room until 6 am when I took my pill, then he went back down while I took care of Spencer," Hayden shrugged.
Gabriel face-palmed. "Anyway…Thought you'd like to know that your little sister is on her way here, to stay for good,"
"Little si-Savannah is on her way here, t-to stay for good?!" Hayden was suddenly very awake. Gabriel nodded. "Th-The adoption is finalized!?" he inquired.
"Just got the call about five minutes ago from the caseworker. She said that everything looks great, and she's coming by with Savannah in an hour to sign all the paperwork, and Savannah will be able to move in and stay today," Gabriel informed.
"YES!" Hayden cheered. Finally, Savannah was legally adopted by Gabriel and coming to live with them! Hayden was ridiculously happy right now, despite the tiredness.
"I thought you wanted to sleep, babe," Trayden asked.
"What's sleep? Who needs sleep? Fuck that; my little sister is coming!" Hayden said happily. "I-I gotta clean the house, and make sure her room is set up…"
"Hayden, Hayden, lad…Relax…You've got an hour or so…Have some breakfast and coffee; then worry about anything else. But the house is clean; you did it yesterday before everyone came over," Gabriel chuckled. "Settle down," he added.
"Hey, I'm allowed to be excited…" Hayden muttered. This was the best news to wake up to. Finally, Savannah would be there soon, and officially a member of the Forger/Haddock family.
. . .
[9:45 am]
The friends had gone home, and Trayden too. They all felt that Savannah coming to live permanently live with Gabriel, Hayden, and Spencer was something for just the four of them to enjoy. The friends and Trayden promised they'd all get together soon, but for now; they knew Hayden wanted to spend time with his family, and new sister. Hayden had breakfast, showered, and then cleaned the entire house within the remaining time. Now, it was about and an hour later from when Gabriel got the call. Hayden was anxiously awaiting for Savannah's arrival. There was a knock on the door as Gabriel instantly looked at Hayden to calm down before he went to the door.
Gabriel opened it up and smiled. "Hello, Mr. Forger," the caseworker smiled.
"Oh, don't have to be so formal. Gabriel is fine," Gabriel chuckled. "Come right in," he stepped aside as the caseworker came in and Savannah, nervously, behind her. Gabriel closed the door and led them inside.
"Sav!" Hayden rose to his feet happily.
"Hayden!" Savannah perked right up and rushed to hug him. Though, she paused fast and stopped. "I'm…Not gonna hurt you this time, am I?"
"No, no. It's cool. I'm officially, entirely healed," Hayden said. Yes, everything was officially recovered as far as physical wounds went. Savannah hugged Hayden instantly, and he returned it fully. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"Me too," Savannah said before they pulled apart. "I-I'm still so thankful for all this," she got teary-eyed.
"Hey, it's okay. I know it's a bit emotional, but you're in your forever home now, with a new family who won't let anything bad happen to you. And if they do…You got your big brother to help out," Hayden reminded as Savannah let a few tears slip, but she smiled, wiped them away and nodded before hugging Hayden again.
"Well, Hayden, why don't you take Savannah to her new room while the caseworker and I finish up the paperwork," Gabriel suggested.
"Okay! Come on, Sav," Hayden said, getting her suitcase for her and heading down the hall towards the main entrance. "Might as well give ya a tour too. So main entrance here, and then over this way leads into the mudroom, and through that is also the garage on the right. Over to the left is Gabriel's room, bathroom, and what will be yours. Up here past the mudroom is my son's room, and then mine is right next to it. And…Up more is, as you've seen the living room and kitchen. Uh…right down this way is the stairs to the basement. I'll show ya that after," he chuckled while moving to Savannah's room, the one which was across from Gabriel's. "And…Here you are,"
"Wow…It's amazing," Savannah beamed.
"You have a queen-sized bed, nightstand with one drawer and shelf in the middle of the bottom part. Uh, two windows over there, desk, and dresser with six drawers. Oh, and closet, of course. If you wanna rearrange anything, let me know, and I'll help move furniture around," Hayden smiled.
"Oh, it's perfect, Hayden. Thank you. I like it like this anyway…" Savannah informed happily. "It's so much more than I ever expected…" she added. "This…Happening, isn't it?"
"What is?" Hayden asked.
"I-I have a home, a-and family again. No more mean parents, or families…Or that…Gods awful unwelcome feeling…No more house jumping…" Savannah cried a bit. Hayden hugged her tightly.
"Hey, hey…Ssh, it's alright. Everything is alright now. You're right, no more of all that bad stuff. I promise it's not a dream, and this is happening," Hayden held her close, stroking her hair a bit.
"Thank you so much," Savannah sniffled and wiped her eyes. "S-So…is Gabriel my father now? What are you to him?"
"Well, Gabriel was my dad's best friend, like for years when they were teenagers. My mom was a good friend of Gabriel too. Gabriel is my legal guardian and Godfather. But…I call him Uncle Gabe, or Uncle Gabriel. I've been with him since…June 2018. He was supposed to take me after my parents died, but he was overseas fighting in the war as a Barbarchi Marine. I had been with my aunt, uncle, and cousins on my dad's side from late October 2017 to June 2018," Hayden explained. "But…Gabriel is the one who adopted you, so…I guess you can call him dad if you wanted," he shrugged.
"She can call me whatever she wants," Gabriel said from the doorway now. "Everything is signed," he added.
"Enjoy your new family, Savannah! I'll be checking in for the next month or so; to make sure everything is all good. We do…Two more home visits, but they are randomized. It's…A thirty-day type thing before official finalization," the caseworker stated.
"That's fine with us. Enrollment for school starts soon, and I'll be getting her into Berk Middle School for…Seventh grade? Eighth?" Gabriel said, slightly unsure.
"S-Seventh…" Savannah nodded.
"I'll take care of that as soon as enrollment starts two weeks before the new school year begins," Gabriel stated.
"Well, seems that everything is in order here. I'll leave you to it," the worker smiled. Gabriel walked her out, and then returned as Savannah began unpacking her suitcase; it was mainly clothes and a few trinkets from her parents' place. Hayden knew how all that went; he was glad his parents' home was in good hands with the family who bought it.
All that finalized at the end of June; Hayden grabbed the rest of his things, removed all the weapons, and left the key with the new owners. Hayden also brought both cars that belonged to his parents to Gabriel's house; he would likely sell them when he found a minute to breathe from all the madness that had been happening. Hayden's current goal now was to find a job and work on learning to cope without his medication. Hayden had already begun this process with Rachel, and without Trayden at his side. Hayden wanted his plans to be a secret, to surprise everyone later. Hayden's medication had already been lowered to the next lowest dosage for the month of August.
Hayden's objective was to be able to handle things without the seventy-five milligrams. If this went well, Rachel would issue Hayden's September prescription for the lowest dost available of the medication he was on. If that went well, by October, Hayden would be done taking them. Things were a bit edgy at first, but he was managing, and now; it was like nothing changed. Hayden was coping fine on the lower dose and keeping a journal that Rachel and he would go over during their sessions twice a week.
"Is there anything you need, lassie?" Gabriel asked softly.
"Um…I might need some…Personal items in a week or so…" Savannah looked down, embarrassed.
"Just realized how interesting this going to be with one girl, two adult males, and baby boy in the house," Gabriel rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Uncle Gabe…I'm sure I can ask one of the girls in my friend's group to handle that," Hayden told him. "It's all good, Sav. You got a toothbrush, hairbrush…Uh, clothes? Stuff like that?"
"And we'll take care of school shopping once I get the enrollment taken care of," Gabriel added.
"I-I think I'm alright with what I have for now. I never had a lot of clothes to begin with," Savannah shrugged.
"Well, if ya need anything you need, Savannah; you don't be afraid to ask me. This is your home now too," Gabriel smiled.
"Thank you…Dad," Savannah said; she did it to test things out with calling Gabriel her father since he was her adoptive one now. "C-Can I be a Forger-Haddock?" she inquired.
"I think if you're going to change your name…Go with Haddock. It's Hayden's last name. I might have adopted you, but this was all Hayden's idea. He wanted you part of our family; that's not to say I didn't, but Hayden pushed for this. It was something his parents would have done in the same situation," Gabriel mentioned.
"You saved me; I saved you. We both suffered hellish foster homes of not being welcomed, but gaining in the loss and things getting better. I was given that chance, and I wanted to be able to provide for you what others did for me. Give you a loving home, and family," Hayden explained.
"Thank you, Hayden. I'm immensely grateful for this…Second chance at…Life, family…Happiness. Thank you, seriously. Thank you so much," Savannah hugged him tightly. "And…I do want to be a Haddock…If you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Hayden smiled, hugging him again. "Now, let's finish getting you unpacked. Do you need any help?"
"I'll handle unpacking, thank you, though. Just 'cause…You know underwear and bras…" Savannah said.
"Understandable, lass. Well, I'm across the way if you need me, and Hayden isn't far either," Gabriel stated. Savannah nodded to them as Hayden and Gabriel both left, shutting the door as they left.
"Uncle Gabe…Thank you for doing all this," Hayden said, while they walked to the living room.
"It's no trouble, lad. I know it meant a lot to ya, and I can see how happy this has made you. Giving someone else a chance you got, that's deep and something to be proud of, kiddo. I'm proud of you, and your parents would be too," Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder.
It felt good for Hayden to hear that, and it meant more now because he was working on getting off his medication; learning how to cope with his problems without it. And Hayden was planning to get a job too; he needed to spend some time today looking for available restaurant work. This was the key to his recovery, staying busy and having the love and support of family and friends. Hayden would heal from everything; he had to, or everything he'd done thus far would be meaningless. Hayden would continue to fight, control his life, and work towards his future.
. . .
[7:45 pm]
Hayden decided to make dinner for the family; it was Carbonara with Garlic Bread. Hayden also invited over the Jorgensons, since they were family as well. Alicia and Savannah hit it off nicely, and Felicia adored that there was another female in the family besides herself and Alicia now. Hayden was happy; this was a great feeling for him to see everyone getting along. Honestly, it made him feel like his parents were still alive. These types of gatherings were what he'd hoped for; his dad making up with Silas, having big family dinners again. However, Hayden knew that was a hope that would never come to pass since his parents were dead.
Currently, everyone was sitting around the living room. Spencer was falling asleep in Hayden's arms, so he'd be going to bed soon. And Hayden couldn't shake the small amount of sadness he felt knowing his parents weren't here to be part of things. This was another test of Hayden's medication dosage being lowered; he had to learn to cope with things without the anti-depressants upping his mood. Hayden had to manage these feelings on his own.
"Alright, time for lil man to get to bed," Hayden stood up, holding Spencer in his arms. Hayden let Alicia, Felicia, and Savannah say goodnight to Spencer first, and then Hayden walked Spencer to his room. Hayden set his son into the crib, covered him slightly, and backed out of the room, closing the door. Hayden took a deep breath to calm himself down. This is all he needed, to take a few moments to himself. Everything is fine; he knew he would be okay. Taking one more deep breath, Hayden returned to the others.
"Spencer go down easy?" Gabriel asked.
"Always; he's a good baby," Hayden smiled.
"He's so cute," Savannah giggled. "You make cute kids, Hayden,"
"Thanks, I think," Hayden shrugged, sitting down and checking his phone to find a message from Trayden there.
Tray's Cell, 7:30 pm
How're things going?
7:47 pm
Good! I just put Spencer down for bed and sitting with the family. How about you?
Tray's Cell, 7:47 pm
Chillen in my room, thinking about you. -blush-
7:48 pm
Yeah? Thinking about you too, baby. I'm in a cuddly mood tonight. Might be going to bed soon.
Tray's Cell, 7:49 pm
Aw, really? Wait…It's only about to be 8. Why are you going to bed so early, babe? You okay?
7:50 pm
Been a long night into today, love. Sleepover, sex, waking up at 6, back to bed, up again not even 30 minutes later. I'm fucking beat.
Tray's Cell, 7:52 pm
I hear ya. Guess we should start planning our sexcapes better lol
7:53 pm
Or not do them when everyone is over. Save them for nights where it's just us and not have to worry about bailing once they finally go to sleep?
Tray's Cell, 7:55 pm
Yeah, seems like a better idea. How's Savannah settling in?
7:56 pm
Real well. She and Alicia are hitting it off nicely. And Felicia adores having another female in the family. Sava is all set in her room, and it's looking like this is going to be perfect. I owe your dad for finding her…
Tray's Cell, 7:58 pm
I'm the one who said you wondered about her status. During the night I told them about your past. Dad asked for her name when I said you wanted to know if she was alright, and he said he'd look into it.
8:00 pm
Well, I appreciate the joint effort then. Thank you, and now Gabriel and I can make sure she doesn't get all fucked up in the head like me. She was only 11 when that shit happened, and it was happening to her before I ended up in that house. She's strong, that's for sure.
8:02 pm
You both are. Don't put yourself down like that, baby. You've come far in 2 years, Hayden. Perhaps she was more receptive to therapy than you were, she doesn't hold things in as you did. Everyone heals at their own pace, love. You opened up when you were comfortable doing so.
8:05 pm
I suppose so. Alright, the Jorgensons are leaving, and then I'm probably hitting the sack…You, uh…Wanna come over and cuddle me until I fall asleep, or…Maybe stay over? I'm…Kind'a having one of my downer nights and could use some comfort of my boyfriends' loving arms…
Hayden got up to say goodbye to his aunt, uncle, and cousins. Gabriel walked them out as Hayden yawned when he returned "Alright, Uncle Gabe…And lil sis; I'm getting some sleep. I, uh, told Tray he could come over if he wants. Just…Send him to my room if he does show. I don't know since my phone just died,"
"No problem, laddie. Rest well!" Gabriel nodded, ruffling his hair. Hayden hugged Savannah; then headed to his room. Hayden used the bathroom first, changed into his pajama pants, and laid in his bed. Hayden yawned again as he set his phone to charge, turned the ringer off, and then flipped off the lights while taking a deep breath.
Not more than ten minutes later, Hayden was crying a little. It was dark, quiet, and he was alone while feeling a bit upset from earlier. This was because his medication was a lower dosage, so the level mood and sleep-help factors weren't at the place Hayden was used to feeling them. Hayden saw his bedroom door open and then close. Without much warning, Hayden felt someone come into the bed, lay beside him, and wrap their arms around. Hayden sniffed hard now, trying to wipe his eyes.
"Babe? What's wrong? Are you crying?" Trayden's voice cut through the silence.
"A-A little bit. Just…having a night where the family was together…B-But not my parents. Dad had always hoped we could have a family dinner night like tonight…Everyone together, laughing, having a good time…B-But they're gone now, so I-I guess it got to me a bit harder than I thought…" Hayden admitted.
"Awe, babe…Come here," Trayden said. Hayden turned some, so he was now facing his boyfriend, snuggling up against him. "Does this help a little?" he asked. Hayden managed a nod, wiping his eyes a bit more and leaning his head up to kiss Trayden.
"I love you," Hayden yawned.
"I love you too, baby. Get some rest; I'm here now," Trayden assured. Hayden found a small smile as he closed his eyes, and soon; he was drifting off to sleep.
