Chapter 20
(Y'all it has been a month. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I finally have free time to write so you will be hearing a lot more from me. I just wanted to get this chapter out there! Stay safe!)
(Phoebe's POV)
Our alarm goes off at 6. Lia and is coming at 7 to check the house. Then at 8 Claire is being dropped off. To say I am nervous is an understatement. Of course I have worked with teenagers, but not in this capacity.
"You ready?" Nathan asks. I nod, smiling.
"I'm going to shower," I say and he nods. I head into the bathroom and jump in the shower.
I get out and do my hair. I put on jeans and a shirt. I look presentable. Nathan gets in after me as I brew coffee and make a small breakfast. I don't think I can eat. It's a combination of nerves and excitement.
Nathan comes out all showered and fresh. I smile and give him a kiss. "This looks delicious," he says and I smirk as all I made is toast and eggs.
"How are you feeling?" I ask.
"Great, I get to practice being a parent with you," he says and I smile.
"I hope she is happy she is coming here," he says.
"She is," I smile.
"Did you get everything she would need at the store?" He asks. I nod and smile. He is so excited I can tell.
"Yes, I did," I say. He kisses my head.
The social workers get there promptly at 7 am. We let them into our house. "Can I get you guys anything?" I ask. They say no. They have to do the inspection without us. Nathan and I are going to go to the coffee shop downstairs. We labeled which one was Claire's bedroom.
"Okay, let's head down," I say. Hand in hand we walk down to the coffee shop. I get a mocha and Nathan gets a black coffee.
"I hope this goes well," I say. He nods and agrees.
"We have nothing to hide," he says and I nod.
"I know… it's just scary," I say and he nods.
"I'm ready," I say and he kisses my head. We sit and watch the news. Time is moving so slowly.
After two cups of coffee. I get a call. It's from Lia. She tells us to head back up. We are silent on the way up. When we step into the apartment Lia is standing there.
"Congratulations, Moore's you now are registered foster parents," she says and tears fill my eyes. I hug and thank her. Nathan and I hug too.
"Claire is almost here" Lia says. I nod, smiling.
"So I'll go down and talk to her in the lobby then bring her up," She says and we shake hands. As soon as the doors shuts I am jumping up and down like a little girl. Nathan laughs and grabs my face kissing me.
"We are going to be parents," he says and I nod. This is so exciting.
"Whew, okay I have a water bottle ready for her. we will ask if she is hungry," I say and he nods. I smile and kiss him.
I fix my shirt and stand nervously. Before we know it there is a knock on the door. Nathan and I rush over. We open the door and see Claire and Lia. Claire is in jeans and a T-shirt.
"Hi Claire," I smile. She smiles and comes hugging me. After she hugs Nathan.
"Well I will let you get settled in. Claire, you have my phone number, so does phoebe and Nathan. If you need anything let me know," she says and I smile. We thank her and small talk until she leaves.
Lia gave Nathan and I a list of things to go over. Like our house rules, schedules, and make sure she can ask us questions and give a house tour. It's amazing how much goes into this.
We sit down in the kitchen with her. "How have you been?" I ask her.
"Good, at the hospital I slept a lot and got to feel better," she says and I nod smiling. She looks nervous.
"We are so happy you are here," Nathan says.
"Thank you guys for having me," she smiles.
"So are you hungry? What can we get you?" I ask.
"I just ate with Lia. Thank you though," she says and we nod. She is quiet and seems nervous. She has every right to be. I would be nervous too.
"Do you want a tour?" I ask. She nods and smiles. She has her suitcase. So Nathan takes it and we head upstairs.
"This is amazing," she says.
"Oh thank you," I say.
"And this will be your room," I say. I open the door and show her. It is a beautiful room. She gasps.
"Phoebe… I," she says and looks around.
"Is this okay?" I ask worried she doesn't like it.
"This is… beautiful. I've never had a real bed like this," she says and sits on it. That hurts my heart when she says it.
"I'm glad you like it. Your bathroom is right here," I say, showing her the en-suite bathroom.
"I don't know what to say," she says.
"We wanted you to feel comfortable. If there is anything we can do for you just let us know," I say and she nods smiling.
"Thank you guys," she says.
We show her the laundry room, the kitchen, the pantry, our room, the balcony and how to work the TVs in the house. Sawyer walks in as I am showing her the iPad remote. I forgot to introduce them.
"Claire, this is Luke Sawyer. He is our personal security guard. He hangs out here a lot so if you see him around don't be alarmed," I say.
"Nice to meet you, Claire," Sawyer says. She shakes his hand timidly. I know she has some male anxiety. Sawyer lets me know that my dad called for me. I will call him back later.
"Well that's the tour. Do you have any questions?" I ask her. We all sit in the living room.
"I don't think so," she says.
"Is there anything you'd like for dinner?" Nathan asks. We decided to cook tonight.
"Whatever you guys are making us fine. I'm not picky," she says. She is such a sweet girl.
"Okay, we thought spaghetti and meatballs," I say.
"That's perfect," she smiles.
"So Lia gave us some stuff that we have to talk to you about," Nathan starts and I nod.
"So for starters we can tell you about our house rules," he says and I let him take this one.
"There aren't many," I say and he nods laughing.
"She's right there aren't. So for starters, we just want to know where you are if you were to leave the house. Open communication is really important for us. If you leave Sawyer will Drive you. You can just go to his door and ask. We don't want you leaving the house without him or us knowing." he says and I nod.
"Curfew is midnight. We work in the mornings and have to get up pretty early. Check in with us when you come back if you leave. All of the house doors lock and the alarms are set at midnight," he says.
"We don't mind you having friends over, but we would like to know ahead of time," I say.
"No boys in the bedrooms," Nathan says and I smile at her as she blushes.
"Those really are our rules. Do you have any questions?" I ask.
"No, I don't think so," she says and we nod smiling.
Claire heads upstairs to unpack. She said she was also going to take a shower. I stay with Nathan. When we hear the door close upstairs I smile at him.
"I think it's going well right?" I say. Nathan nods and comes over kissing my head.
"I think so too," he says.
"Do you have anything you need to do today?" Nathan asks.
"No, I cleared my schedule," I say and Nathan nods.
"Me too, maybe we could watch a movie or play a game on the tv," he says. We both agreed we should stay here for today.
"Yeah when she comes down we can ask her," I say and he nods. Nathan and I sit on the couch. He rubs my stomach and kisses my head.
"I'm really excited," I say and he nods.
"You're going to be great," he says and I smile.
When Claire comes back down it's been about three hours. "Are you all settled in?" I ask.
"Yes, I unpacked and everything," she says. Her hair is wet and she is in leggings and a T-shirt.
"Is there anything we can get you?" Nathan asks.
"No, I think I'm good, thank you guys again," she says.
"You don't have to thank us. We are so happy you are here," Nathan says. We invite her to sit down with us in the living room. She sits in the big comfy chair.
"So tell us what's been going on, what's new?" I ask her.
"Well, not much. Before I was in the hospital I stayed with my friend and her mom for a while. That was until Lia cleared me to go back and you know. I finished school and have been practicing for my drivers test," she says and I smile.
"That's great, if you ever want to practice with us we would love to," I say and she smiles.
"Your test is soon right," I say and smile. Her birthday is July 17th. Nathan's is the 21st. I'm planning a little dual dinner for the family to all come over.
"Yes, I was going to take the bus, it drops me off very close to the BMV," she says. Oh this girl.
"Nathan and I want to take you. That is a special moment and we want to be there, if that's okay of course," I say.
"I feel bad you guys are already doing so much," she says. I smile at her.
"Honey, we want to," I say.
"You must be hungry, can we get you something for lunch?" I ask. It's almost one.
"Um sure, whatever you guys want I can just eat," she says. I know I won't get a direct answer out of her for what she wants.
"Would you rather subs from the market across the street, or a chicken Caesar salad?" I ask her.
"A Caesar salad sounds amazing," she says. I smile and we all walk into the kitchen. I got out the salad Gail prepared for us. I ask her for some meals for these next couple of days just so we can maximize time with Claire.
I put them in 3 bowls. I put them at the table and get 3 lemon waters. Nathan and Claire walk over and we all sit. I dig into my salad. It is so yummy Gail does make the best of the best.
"Can you guys tell me more about you?" Claire asks. I realize she knows so little about us.
"Oh Claire, I'm sorry, I didn't even think to tell you about us," I say.
"It's okay, so what is your guy's story?" She asks.
"Well Nathan and I met junior year of high school. We started dating November of our junior year. We dated through the rest of high school and college. We dated for 3 years after college and then Nathan proposed," I say. She smiles at us.
"We got married this April," Nathan says and I nod.
"That is so cute, did you guys ever break up?" She asks.
"No not once," I say.
"Wow that's goals," she says and I laugh.
"That's not to say there weren't hard times," I say and she smiles.
"What about you, any boys?" I ask her and she blushes.
"Maybe," she says and I laugh. I can see the overprotective Nathan eyes coming out. I'll ask her about it later.
"So do you guys have family in Seattle?" She asks.
"I have my parents and my brother, Teddy here. His girlfriend Olivia and him have been dating for a couple months. They are expecting their first baby in January. I also have my cousin and her family here. Her name is Ava. We are super close. Her husband is named Andrew. He was one of my good college friends," I say and she nods.
"My sister Berkeley and my mom live here. My grandma also lives here too," he says and she nods.
"That's lucky you guys live so close to your family," she says and we nod. We are very lucky.
"You will get to meet them if you want," I say and she nods.
"I do want to," she says and I smile.
We all finish our salads and then head out on the balcony. It is sunny for once in Seattle. We sit in the sun on our comfy patio furniture. It is so nice being here with them.
We talk to Claire some more about everything and anything. She tells us about school. She loves school and learning. She tells us about her friends. One of her friends lives in the building next to us.
She is such a sweet kid and I am so excited for the upcoming month. I get a phone call and see it is my dad. I excuse myself and head inside.
"Hey Dad," I say.
"Bubs, how is everything?" He asks. He sounds nervous.
"It is great. She got here and is all moved in. We just ate lunch and are talking on the balcony," I say and I can practically hear the sigh of relief.
"Oh I'm so glad to hear that, is there anything we can bring you guys?" He asks.
"No, I don't think so. We are just introducing her to this way of living. She had it pretty tough before," I say.
"She is so lucky to have you. I am so proud of you, Bubs," he says.
"Thank you, I'm so excited for you to meet her," I say.
"She sounds lovely, I am excited to meet her," he says.
"She is. Thank you for calling and checking in," I say.
"Of course, Bubs. I always am thinking about you," he says and I smile.
"I will see you Sunday," I say. That is when we are introducing Claire to everyone.
"See you sunday," he says.
"Love you," I say.
"Love you most," he says and we hang up. When I head back outside Nathan has Claire laughing. I smile at the scene in front of me.
"Everything okay?" Nathan asks.
"Just classic, Christian Grey," I say and Nathan nods smiling. He kisses my head.
For the rest of the day we sit talking. When it comes to dinner time we all sit down at the table. I dish out pasta to everyone. We all eat happily.
"Nathan what made you want to be a doctor?" Claire asks, twirling her pasta on her fork.
"That's a really good question. I was also very fascinated by the medical field. I loved science and math. When I shadowed a doctor at the hospital I knew that's what I wanted to be. I also am the fourth oldest of thirty cousins, so being around kids was something I had always known. I ended up wanting to be a pediatric doctor and got my residency at Seattle children's, the rest is history," he says and she nods.
"Have you thought about what you wanted to be," he asks her.
"I always have been drawn towards business," she says.
"I would love to run a company, maybe something in the fashion industry," she says and I nod. That's so cool. She is very stylish. I give her that.
"That's awesome, my dad owns a company. And my cousin is in the fashion marketing industry. You will get to meet both of them so you can ask them about it," I say and she smiles.
"That's so cool," she says.
"I have never really been a math and science person," she says. I smile and wink at her.
"Me either sister," I say.
"It's so complicated," she says and I nod.
"Nathan is the brains of the house," I say and she laughs.
"Not true, Phoebe is as smart as a whip," he says and I smirk.
"Sure," I say, making them both laugh.
"Writing didn't come easy to me, Phoebe always helped with my papers," Nathan says.
"And by helped he means wrote," I say, making Claire laugh.
We clean up dinner and all have a chocolate chunk cookie courtesy of Gail. After we are sitting and Claire stands up. "I am pretty tired. Is it okay if I go to bed?" She asks. I check and see that it is 845.
"Of course, Claire. You don't have to ask," I smile.
"Well thank you for dinner," she says and we stand there awkwardly. She ends up hugging us both Goodnight. I smile as she walks upstairs.
"Day one of foster parenting in the books," I say and Nathan high fives me.
We both are exhausted too. We both crawl into bed and Nathan wraps both arms around me kissing my head.
"I love you," I say. And I mean that.
(Y'all it has been a month. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I finally have free time to write so you will be hearing a lot more from me. I just wanted to get this chapter out there! Stay safe!)