Coming Home Ch. 10
Disclaimer: See chapter one
A big thanks to ZIGGYUK for the beta on most of this chapter!
Previously: Following them inside, David watched as John gently sat his brother down on the sofa and then sat down beside him as Mary walked down the hallway towards the bathroom to retrieve the Children's Tylenol from the medicine cabinet there.
Sitting quietly as Mary returned and gave Joey the pain relieving medicine; he waited for the two adults to sit opposite of them and then said, "So…what is it that you wanted to tell us?"
Clenching his hands in his lap, John thought about the best way to start as he didn't want the boys to think that he and Mary were totally crazy just by blurting out the news…news that had yet to be confirmed by the DNA results they were waiting on.
"Well, I'm not quite sure where to start," John admitted as he glanced from one boy to the other. "I guess the first thing we should say is that we are so happy to have you in our lives and that no matter what, I hope that never changes. You are our boys forever more, no matter what the results."
"What results? What are you talking about?" David inquired as he looked at John incredulously.
"John, I think maybe you should let me handle this," Mary said as she reached out to grab one of John's now unclenched hands and give it a squeeze. She knew her husband was very nervous and thought maybe the news would be better coming from her.
"I guess the first thing you two should know is that a long time ago, John and I had two boys of our own, two boys that we loved and cherished with all of our hearts, but something devastating happened to us and they were taken from us?" Mary began nervously.
"What do you mean taken? What happened," David inquired, not liking where things were going.
"Our boys were ki-kidnapped," Mary stuttered, before chewing on her bottom lip, trying to keep the tears from falling. "And they were never found by the police."
"So you took us in to replace them then. You didn't really want us; you just wanted to little boys that you could pretend were them," David seethed as he glared at the two adults sitting across the room from him.
"No, that's not it at all," John interjected quickly as he realized the situation was starting to spiral out of their control. We took you in because…"
"We took you in because we wanted you boys to have a good home, someone who would love you and be there for you whenever you needed help. When we went to the group home that you boys were placed in, we went with the intent to find a child or children who needed us the way that we needed them. It wasn't to replace our boys, but to fill our home with love," Mary voiced, silent tears running down her face.
"But why did you pick us? There were lots of other boys there," Joey stated as he scooted over into his big brother's lap. These people were making him nervous.
"When we first saw you…" John started to say, before being interrupted again.
"It's because we looked like them, huh? I was right, you just used us to replace them," David angrily stated as he stood up and held Joey to his side and started walking towards the front door
"Yes…No…I mean, that's not what we were trying to do," Mary hurriedly expressed as she stumbled over her words in her haste to make David understand.
"What Mary is trying to say, is that we don't just think you look like our boys, we think that you ARE our boys." John stated succinctly, breathing a sigh of relief when his words stopped David in his tracks.
"Wh-what? What did you just say?" David inquired as he turned around and looked at John with anger, but also curiousness in his eyes.
"I said that we think you and Joey really are our boys," John reiterated with a hopeful smile.
"Why would you think that?" David asked, still standing near the door, not yet ready to believe what he was hearing.
"Well, there are quite a few reasons," Mary explained as she finally got herself together enough to speak again. "When we first saw you, we were instantly blown away by how much you looked like our son Dean. You have the same hair color, the same eyes, the same freckles that he had as a little boy. And then when we heard Joey call you 'De', it only confirmed it for us even more."
"You just knowded De, you didn't knowded me?" Joey asked, his bottom lip trembling as tears leapt into his eyes.
"Ah honey, you have to understand, when you boys were taken from us, you were only two years old. Still just a baby," Mary explained, reaching out to Joey, only to have David back away from her, Joey still entrenched in his hold.
"That still doesn't explain why you called Joey, Sammy," David voiced, holding on firmly to his brother.
"Sammy was our other son's name," John justified as he nervous reached a hand up to tug his fingers through his hair. "When Joey fell, Mary just naturally called out to him as Sammy."
"If you love us like you say, then why you never finded us?" Joey asked as he lay his head on David's shoulder.
"We tried, oh God we tried," Mary answered as the tears once again began to fall. "We did everything we could; we even put up fliers at the mall where you were taken. But it was if you just fell off the face of the Earth."
"That's not true because my Mommy would have finded me. She wouldn't have let Dady…I mean that mean ol' Norman hurt me the way he did and he hurted De too!" Joey refuted as he turned his head into David's neck and away from Mary.
"If I could have stopped that from happening, I swear to you I would have," Mary voiced brokenly as she placed her head in her hands and began to weep.
"You said that we, that your boys were kidnapped…how did it happen?" David inquired, not yet ready to fully believe that they really were this Dean and Sammy.
"I'll explain it to you," John voiced as he wrapped an arm around Mary who was still weeping inconsolably from Sammy's words. "When you boys were little, Mary took you to the Mall for a day of fun and shopping. While you were there, a woman began screaming that her child was missing. Your Mom only turned away from you boys for a minute to try and help, but by then, you were gone."
"So it was all her faul…it was all an accident then," David voiced, changing the end of his statement when he saw Mary harshly flinch at his words. "Okay, let's say what you are saying is true. How do we find out for sure if you really are our real parents, that we are this Dean and Sammy?'
"We should know in a day or two. This morning after you two cleaned up, I took some strands of your hair and took them to a friend of mine who is running a DNA test on them along with strands of mine and Mary's hair. It should confirm things one way or the other," John answered.
"And if it turns out you are wrong, that we aren't Dean and Sammy?"
"Then it doesn't change a thing. We still want you boys here with all of our hearts and that will never change," Mary supplied as she swiped a hand across her wet cheeks.
"Can I ask you a question that might be upsetting?" Dean inquired, needing to know something.
"Sure, what is it Sport?" John asked.
"Why don't you have any pictures of us hanging on the walls or anything?" Dean queried. "If we were this big happy family, then why aren't there any pictures to prove it?"
"Because it broke my heart to have to look at them every day and not have the two of you here with us," Mary answered as she remembered the pain, even to this very day. "It nearly drove me insane, so John and I took them down and placed them in my hopechest…in hopes that we could someday put them back up again when we found you."
"So why haven't you put them up now?"
"Because we didn't want to overwhelm you on your first few weeks here," Mary answered. "That, and the fact that we didn't know whether or not the pictures would scare you, if you recognized yourself or Joey in the pictures. We wanted to ease you two boys into finding out the truth when we got the results of the DNA test back and our beliefs were confirmed.
"Yeah, well that went well didn't it," David voiced sarcastically before he could stop himself.
"I'm sorry, I wish that the news had been broken more gently, but I am glad it is all out in the open now so we can move forward with our lives," John stated truthfully with a sigh of relief on his part.
"Yeah well, if you don't mind, Joey and I would like to go up to our room and have some time to ourselves," David informed the two adults. He really needed some time to think things through and make some decisions, decisions that would affect the rest of his and his sibling's lives.
"Sure Son, take all the time you need," John agreed, knowing that, at least for now, the boys were staying.
Carrying his brother up the stairs, David could feel the eyes of both John and Mary 'burning' into his back. As he traversed the stairs, he couldn't help but wonder how this change of events would affect their lives for the next few days. Would the DNA results really prove that he and Joey finally had a home they really and truly belonged in? And more importantly, would Joey accept that they really were John and Mary's kids and would he be comfortable with the fact? Because if not, then they would have to leave!
Watching as their boys walked up the steps; John and Mary couldn't help but be nervous about what the boys were thinking and what those thoughts would lead to. They couldn't stand the thought of ever losing them again.
TBC. Hope the talk met up to you expectations.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the well wishes and prayers sent our way. It has been another hectic week as a sister ended up in ICU also, but things are finally starting to get better. I guess that is all part of being from a large family.
