A/N: Finally, such a happy chapter! I really did mean to post this on the 13th as a story anniversary gift to myself but I just didn't have the oomph to do it. It gets up to 100 degrees in my apartment most afternoons and it is way too hot to write, much less do anything but watch TV. Anywho, thanks to all the readers and reviewers I have who never leaving me thinking that no one reads my little labor of love. You guys are the greatest!
"Hey, so why did we decide this was a good idea?" Adam asked as the kids raided the cereal aisle.
"It was a family bonding thing. I think we forgot how crazy they get."
"Mama, could I please, please, please get this princess cereal?"
"No sweetheart, it's all marshmallows."
"It is? Why would someone eat candy for breakfast? How about these ones?"
"We don't really need any more cereal, Tink," Adam noted. "We have an entire cupboard full because of your mama."
"Oh right. Boys! Let's move to the chips aisle. I hear the snackage calling my name!"
Clearly, taking the kids to the store to pick out their preferred foods was easier said than done.
"Oh awesome can I get this for my special snack?" Ben asked, picking up a plastic tub of puffed Cheetos. "It's only five bucks and it will last me a while. I won't eat it all today."
"Ben, that is almost bigger than me! Could you share it?"
"Yeah, hey mama could me and sissy just share this as both our special treats?"
"I'll think about it. I don't really want to pay money for junk that you'll get sick of."
"I guess that means we have to wait to make a decision."
Up and down the aisles they went finding, then rejecting different foods in favor of something else. Lindsay tried to guide them into picking out things that could be turned into meals, especially on the weekends when they had to fend for themselves. Colton had become proficient at simple casseroles and pasta so if she left a recipe she would be sure that the kids were eating well. Their minds at the moment were solely focused on treats and snacks, not meals, and getting them to think otherwise was proving to be difficult.
"Hey, why don't you and I just pick out what we need let them get their junk and then we can go home and watch a movie together?"
"Okay. There'd just better not be any complaining when they see what's for dinner."
"They'd complain even if they picked it."
"So much truth you speak."
He smiled and slid his arm around her waist, walking in sync with her as they followed the kids around the store. He didn't know how she could shop without a list ticking off recipe ingredients in her head and never having to go back to an aisle because she missed something. It must have taken years of practice and he let himself marvel at it until there was a struggle in the middle of the produce section.
"No Ben, I wanted the apples!"
"I want them too. We can both get them."
"No! You pick another so we have three fruits not two! Gimme my apples!"
"Why can't you pick something else like grapes or oranges? You know apples are my favorite."
Avery growled at him and stalked away, snatching a bag of pears and returning to the cart with it.
"There, I got my own kind of apples and I will not share with you Benjamin."
"Geez sissy, you sure are cranky. Is it nap time?"
"Mama, tell him to shut up please."
"She can't do that, we don't say that kind of word."
Avery smacked both of her hands to her face, then painstakingly pulled them down, creating the most grotesque face possible. Sighing in annoyance, she dropped her hands to her side and slumped forward shuffling along as if this was the worst thing in the world.
"She sure is dramatic," Ben mused.
"Oh and you're not?" Adam asked pointedly.
"Oh sure I am sometimes. Just not in this situation."
"Well thanks for clearing that up, buddy."
Soon the cart was full and they stood in line, moving things onto the conveyor belt while Colton organized the coupons and Avery made commentary about every food item she handled, and whether or not she liked it.
"Are we finally done?" Colton asked as they loaded up the cart to head outside. "No more errands?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"I'm almost done with my book. I have to find out what happens."
"Book nerd," Adam accused good-naturedly.
"If you and mama hadn't told me that with books you could go on any adventure you wanted, then maybe I would be spraying graffiti on the bodega instead of spending my entire allowance on paperbacks."
"Point taken, son."
The wind whipped ferociously outside, carrying rain in a nearly horizontal spray with it. It was an early fall storm, one that brought the cool of the season in with it. All the doors and windows stood open so the fresh air could blow out the stagnant. It was a little cold and Adam and the boys had donned sweatshirts, but Lindsay and Avery were happy to enjoy a little chill as they all cleaned the house.
"This looks pretty good," Ben noted, surveying the kitchen. "At least all the dishes are put away."
"Yeah, but the garbage needs to be taken out and someone needs to sweep the floor."
"I'll get the garbage!"
He pulled the bag out of the can enthusiastically, wrinkling his nose when it tore down the side and threatened to spill everything on the floor.
"This is ridiculous!" he shouted, standing still and unsure what to do. "Daddy help!"
Adam chuckled and helped him secure another bag around the mess.
"There, go toss it in the can."
"Wait Ben! All this junk mail!" Avery hollered, taking a pile off the counter, a few pieces falling to the floor.
"Avery that's not junk mail," Lindsay sighed, leaning over to pick it up.
"Oh. Sorry mama. What is it?"
"Regular mail."
"Ooh, this one looks important. There is more than just a letter in there!"
Lindsay frowned and took the large envelope from her, looking it over for a return address.
"Adam, this is from Shelly."
He stopped mid movement and took a deep breath before joining her at the counter. Shelly kept in touch semi-regularly, often just to check in and see if they had been thinking about another adoption attempt. They hadn't been, but this large envelope made them wonder if they were going to find a child's information packet inside, if they were going to find themselves doing this all again.
Lindsay carefully opened the envelope, finding a letter and a second envelope inside. She tipped the page so Adam could read it to and they both stood there silently, letting the words hit them.
"What is it?" Avery asked suddenly, breaking into their second reading of the letter.
"It's… some good news."
"Good news! Yahoo! Tell us, tell us!"
"Shelly says that after all that stuff happened with the adoptions, there was a man who worked in the government in Rebecca's country," Adam started, trying to explain it as best as he could so Avery would understand. "He decided to visit the orphanages so he would know what kind of problems there were and what kind of medical attention the kids needed. The first place he visited was Rebecca's orphanage, and it was the day they were taking her to a new place to live. This man took one look at her and he knew that she needed a family now."
"Then she should come to us!" Avery shouted.
"Well honey, his brother-in-law is a doctor and he and his wife have wanted a child for a very long time. They adopted Rebecca. She has a family now."
"Oh she does!" Avery nearly wailed jumping off the barstool and spinning in a circle, arms clasped about herself. "That is so most, most, most wonderful! I think I will cry!"
Tears dribbled down her cheeks as the boys stood still, jaws dropped as they both made a grab for the letter.
"She's okay! She's really okay! This is the best thing that could ever happen! She has a family and she is going to be alright!" Ben hollered, joining Avery in her happy dance around the kitchen. It didn't take long before Colton was dancing too, yelling and whooping with laughter. None of the kids could ever remember being so happy before.
"What's in that other envelope?" he asked after a moment, remembering it. Lindsay and Adam were huddled together, looking at the pictures that had been sent. Neither one of them could even form words, the joy of Rebecca being taken care of was overwhelming, but the added gift of pictures, and the promise from her new family to send more, was absolutely incredible.
"Is that Becca?" Avery asked, standing on her tiptoes to look.
"Yes, it is."
"She looks like a different girl! Look at how she is getting chubby! Mama! Mama, Becca has a bow in her hair! She actually has hair now mama! Oh just look at our baby sister!"
They moved into the other room and sat down together on the couch, all three kids clambering for a look at the pictures. Rebecca smiling at the camera, drinking out of a sippy cup on her own, smiling and clapping her hands, standing with help. All of them so many signs of her own determination and hard work, but also of the love and care that her parents were heaping on her. There had never been a more stark picture of redemption.
"Look how she wrinkles her nose when she smiles, like mama and sissy!" Ben said with a giggle. "Wow, she sure is cute."
"It looks like she is having a lot of fun now," Colton mused, looking down at the picture of Rebecca playing in the grass. "I am so happy for her. She's going to be so happy as she grows up."
Adam and Lindsay had stopped at the last picture, both of them so overjoyed at what they saw that they couldn't look away. The back of the picture indicated the event, first written in the native language, then translated for them.
Six months home.
Rebecca was sitting in a highchair, mouth open in laughter as her parents crouched on either side of her, looking like the happiest people in the world. There was no question about it, these were the parents that Rebecca had been waiting for all her life.
"I think we need a bigger copy of this picture," Colton noted. "And it should hang somewhere with our family picture."
"Yeah! Because even though we don't know them, they got our sister, so they are our family. Do they know about us?"
"Yeah," Adam managed to answer. "That's why they sent us these pictures. Rebecca's mother wants to send pictures to us when she can. She wants us to be able to see that Rebecca is okay."
"Fabulous!" Avery gushed. "What a wonderful lady! I can't wait to see more pictures later. Can I have this one of Becca on the swing? I would like to put it in my room, next to the picture of how she was before she had much love. Could I?"
"Sure baby, of course."
The boys each picked a photo of their own and all three headed upstairs to place them in special places.
"Linds?"
She burst into tears in that moment, all the worry and agony finally coming out, being replaced with a joy so great words could not even describe it. Adam was still recovering from the shock but managed to hold her, laughing over her wild tears.
"She's fine. Adam she's fine. No, she's better than fine. She's perfect! Look at her face, she's so happy, so healthy. And just think, that ban that we hated so much, that ban that we thought would rip our lives apart it's done what its supposed to. She has a home. How many other kids do you think are getting to come home now?"
"I don't know Linds. I hope it's a lot."
"Me too. I can't believe this. I can't remember the last time I was this happy."
"Me neither. I don't even know what to say. They want to keep us updated on her. How did we get so lucky?"
"I don't know."
They both sat for a moment, just breathing in the air and staring down at the child who would forever be their daughter. Adam began laughing first and Lindsay soon followed, both of them collapsing back into the couch.
"Best anniversary present ever," Adam said finally. "Rebecca's safe, she's flourishing, and she's with a family who loves her so much. I don't know if life gets any sweeter than this."
"So, how are you feeling?" Adam asked softly running his fingers down Lindsay's back and watching as she blinked slowly, trying to ward off sleep.
"I don't think I can move," she finally managed, giving him a smile. He chuckled low in his throat and shook his head.
"Well that's good, but I meant in here," he said, tapping her forehead.
"I feel like I can breathe again. It was like we lost ourselves the last two years. First we were so concerned with getting everything ready for her, so busy with paperwork and appointments and all the stress, we weren't us anymore. And then after… I'm just glad everything is back to normal."
"Well, as normal as it ever is in our family."
"Yeah."
"I think there's always going to be a part of me that will wish that she was with us. I don't think that will ever go away, but I think that's okay. More than anything, I'm glad she's with a family who loves her and is taking care of her and helping her to be everything that we dreamed for her."
Lindsay nodded against the pillows, smiling as his hands continued to wander over her skin, touching all the places that he hadn't in such a long time.
"I don't know if we'll be able to do this again," she mused after a moment. "I think we should do everything we can to help but I don't know if we would survive this kind of thing again."
"I know. I feel bad about that. And maybe in time that will change, maybe in a year we'll be ready to think about it again. But right now I think we should just take a break and let ourselves heal."
"You're right."
"Ooh, I've missed being right," he chuckled, scooting closer to her.
"I'll let you be right whenever you want."
"Promise?"
"At least I'll try."
He smiled and leaned over to kiss her, dashing his fingers through her hair. She sighed against his lips and moved herself closer to him, loathe as she was to exert any energy at all. He pulled her the rest of the way and they found a comfortable and somewhat familiar position, taking their time to reconnect, once again.
It was only a moment later when she burst into laughter, breaking up the intimacy of the moment.
"What?" he growled, amusement in his eyes, but frustration in his voice.
"What did you do?"
"Huh?"
She continued to giggle and pointed up at the ceiling fan where her bra was dangling from one of the spinning blades.
"Nice shot babe," she commented, unable to contain her laughter.
"Hmm. Never done that before."
"There was the one time you flung it across the room and it hung off the doorknob, but you were trying to do that."
He laughed and rolled off of her and they lay there, watching it spin.
"Bra-launching. Never thought I would find myself as a contender."
"I'm not sure if we should keep it up there because it's funny, or take it down in anticipation of Avery waking us up in the morning."
"Don't worry about her, I locked the door."
"You know, I think we should get away for a weekend."
"Now?"
"Soon. Just us, no kids. No destination, just drive until we have to stop, grab a hotel and be anonymous for a few days."
"Sounds good. Let's pick a time and go as soon as possible."
"I can't wait to have you all to myself."
"You know, you can have a little taste of that right now."
"Again?"
"What do you mean again? Like you're surprised."
She grinned and rolled over to face him, tracing over his face with her fingers.
"I love you, Adam. So much."
"I love you too. And I think we should make good on that, right now."
"You'll hear no argument from me."