Hello! It is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter. This one I wrote so early in the year now that it was fun to go back and read and edit because I had forgotton a lot of it! It was heavily inspired by a particular scene in the movie "Insant Family" and shows the day in which Justin and Sammy and their foster children, Darcy and Zack, become a family for good. I hope you enjoy :3
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
The orange haired female looked rather composed with her hands in her lap as she leaned against the railing of the building but I liked to think I was doing the pacing for the both of us. Heart rate gradually beginning to quicken in my chest, I did another lap. Step. Step. Step. Pace. Pace. Pace. Though I didn't even bother to try, I felt as though I couldn't stop.
I didn't look at the clock on the wall but the young woman against the railings did. Her eyes somehow looked at the hands and read the time, her hands sinking all the more calmly against her legs in her black tights. I didn't know how she was doing that! Even though I didn't bother to try doing that either, I knew that seeing the time would only cause my anxiety to increase and my pacing to continue all the while longer. And we both knew I didn't need encouraging.
But still, I moved up and down, up and down. And eventually, mid pace and mid thought and to tell you the truth – mid panic – I was stopped by Katie finally saying goodbye to the railings. Her foot in her smart patent boot jutted out just so to stop in front of me and bring me back to the reality that we were sharing. And then when my eyes became the clock I hadn't been able to gaze it before they travelled up to her face, she offered a look in return.
That look she proffered spoke everything without saying a word. I replied back vocally though after missing a second beat. It makes me feel better, I told her.
And after moving some more on my feet and trying to focus on the wooden sensation against the pads of my paws, I added that I needed to distract myself from the worry – the disappointment – that the day wasn't going to go ahead.
Katie put a stop to all this by at last speaking with words rather than just facial expressions.
"Of course this is still happening." She insisted, her body language contrasting the tone as straight as the railings as she leaned against them all over again, her foot retracting closer to her. Her lap felt the absence of her hands as they traced the lace material of her dress sleeves. "This is the most important day."
Far more than her patent black decorated foot stretching out in front of me, her words there and then brought me to a proper halt. So much so, I almost slipped and skidded on the wooden floor and to stop myself from falling, I arched my back.
Plop. I landed on my bottom.
My eyes swivelled and purposefully looked at her face once more. Katie didn't bother looking back at me. To the outside world, she appeared occupied and distracted by playing with the material of her sleeves. But I knew that she had so much faith that she didn't need me to share it. She didn't need to encourage me to see things the way she did.
Funnily enough, it was when she did this that we saw things from the same angle the most. I began seeing her at a tilted angle too. My lips fell together and I felt air escaping my nostrils as I considered. Then, my speech filled the air once more.
Yes, I know that it's the most important day, I agreed with her. The red rose pattern lace on her sleeves stopped being so interesting to Katie and she looked down at me. But that's why I'm concerned, I told her. What if it's too much?
She exhaled out of her own nostrils, her legs no longer crossing over each other as her body supported her while she leaned over the railings. I never before knew someone who could be so quiet yet so forceful all in one.
"It's a lot. But it's never too much." Katie's head swung from side to side, beginning to not look me in the eye once again and that time, I suspected that it was a different reason. Nevertheless, she still didn't falter. "It's… It's huge. But it's happening. And he will be here."
And with that, Katie nodded her head, maybe to convince herself as much as she was telling me. Then, she moved away from that railing completely to have an absent minded peak down to hall where everyone was meant to be. Where she was meant to be.
I hoped that I hadn't filled her with anxiety and doubt. Though for one reason or another it had started to creep up on me, I hadn't meant to make her feel the same way. Just like how she didn't try to convince me that things would be okay. I gnawed the inside of my cheek, feeling even more the urge to pace but finding the strength to resist entirely.
I was only so uptight and concerned about it all because I wanted it to go right. And plain and simple, I wanted it to happen full stop. Whether there were hiccups along the way or not. Whether it was a bit clumsy. Whether it went entirely according to plan. I simply wanted the day to take place. It felt like a long time coming. But it snuck up on me so quickly all in one.
Chewing the inside of my cheek some more, I got the urge to move over to Katie yet again and make friends once more even though we had never really fallen out. Still, the opportunity wasn't granted.
Although my head tilted nearer to her even more as I thought privately to myself and I considered actually moving closer – and as she took initiative all the more and tried not to let my doubt get the better of her as well – I didn't get a chance to slide my bottom elsewhere. Katie didn't have a chance to lean against the opposite railing or do anything else otherwise.
All of a sudden like was often the case, both our concerns and doubts disappeared into thin air like the fine morning mist. Out of the corner of our eyes, we saw someone rushing back in through the building. And as our pupils swivelled in our sockets and our ears honed in, we heard the padding and the clopping of boots.
Yes, we didn't need to worry at all. If the last person was there then the day still had a chance of going ahead. It was okay. It was all going to be okay.
Katie moved away from the left side of me and ran to greet the person, her pace surprisingly quick yet graceful in spite of her heeled boots. She rushed to them before any emotions lingered or increased.
"You're cutting it a little close, aren't you?" Were the first words that escaped from Katie's lips and they sounded before she even stopped, standing in front of the person who had just come in through the downstairs glass doors of the building and half sprinted their way up the stairs. Shaking her head, she exhaled. "Did you go all the way outside to use the bathroom?"
Finally taking some more paces but this time to observe rather than to reconcile or comfort, I noticed the way that Katie's eyes widened as she said the second part of her words. She was beginning to find it strange how despite the fact that that person had said they were only nipping to the bathroom, they had come back in from the doors that lead to the parking lot!
Sammy copied Katie's stance in front of him, his own legs in his own boots spread slightly apart as his feet planted on the wooden floor below. His naturally hardened expression frowned and he did this once he heard the first part of her words.
However, he decided to focus on her second words and after he did this, his expression instinctively softened, his brows arching and raising on his face. He didn't look away from the younger female as he properly replied.
"I wasn't using the bathroom." He began. My eyes dropped down to his spotless and brand new boots as they began to twitch against the wooden floor, his feet somewhat longing to hop so that they were taking turns batting against the flooring. Sammy couldn't help but add more honesty like he often did. "I went back home." A confession came, his toes squirming in his boots as he shook his head at himself. "I felt severely underdressed compared to everyone."
I considered this. Underdressed compared to everyone or just the one person? Regardless, Katie's mind seemed to fan over this, even if she had even pondered it herself at all.
The hidden doubt and nervousness that she had secretly held within her own being moments before started to show on her face and started to show as she looked at Sammy. But the more that she listened to his honesty, the more that she let go of this too. Katie didn't refrain from tilting her head with fondness.
And it was the second after she did this that Sammy's feet began to relax some more in his boots and he stopped looking like he was under interrogation or caught doing something that he shouldn't be doing. He smiled, his shoulders evening out in his suit shirt and jacket.
"See? You look wonderful as always." He told her, a smile causing his cheekbones to appear even higher than usual. I noticed that although his lips curved, it wasn't exactly in the same carefree way as always.
And after hearing these words from the older male, it was Katie's turn to feel a little more on the spot. Initially, her shoulders twitched in her pretty red dress and she looked down, her sunflower orange locks falling down over her face.
But after she composed herself and tucked her hair back behind her hair and looked back at Sammy, smiling thanks to him, she took another step closer to him and complimented him in return.
"You looked great before. And you look great now. You've always got to be yourself." She reassured him, referring to the way that she had heard on the grape vine that he had shown up to his family's prestigious occasion in a blazer and trousers but with a casual rock band t shirt. "Very handsome. And there's a padlock under here, I imagine?"
And perhaps because had been her first time seeing him on that day, her hands reached out to lightly rub his shoulders before they had travelled to a particular place on his chest.
Sammy didn't blush at all upon feeling the touch of the younger person. However, he did begin to smile and even grin in the way that was more mischievous and elfish like normal. And he found himself quickly responding.
"Of course." He didn't need to nod his head, a gentle chuckle threatening to formulate in his throat. After his hands briefly clasped her wrists as she began feeling around playfully and all the more boldly, he reached into his white crisp shirt himself and gestured so if she tilted her head and stared, she could see the gold padlock peeping out. "Would I attend such an occasion without it?"
Katie tilted her head at Sammy and smiled with a look even brighter than his padlock before she even had the desire to try and spot the piece of jewellery that the both of them were referring to. But needless to say, she did then do as was suggested to her and following that, they had a bit of a laugh together.
In spite of this, they took a step away from each other and Katie's hands were encouraged to fall away from Sammy for good. What threatened to fall over the two of them was a silence. But then after they tucked their own hair behind their ears, just looking at each other in the silence for a couple of seconds, Katie piped up all over again.
And as Katie piped up, her foot in her boot reached out once more and this time to lightly touch Sammy on the shin as she teased him.
"I have the same one underneath my dress too." she told him and although her boot was lingering against the material of his suit trousers, he didn't get the slightest inclination that he was being teased. Instead, his eyes innocently widened. His eyebrows arched with curiosity. Katie then added, mischief being the biggest factor of her smile. "I can't show you now though if at all. I would have to unbutton from the back."
A single beat happened. Sammy's expression and his smile changed from innocent to cheeky as he understood her humour. A blush didn't decorate his face though. His nose scrunched up and his brows switched position on his forehead for a different reason but he didn't become the hue of the roses on her dress.
And after that single beat, he touched his own foot in his boot against her leg and warned her.
"Behave." Sammy uttered airily. She responded by ducking her head and looking away all over again, laughing as she tucked back that loose strand of hair that had come out of place once more. And following a second wordlessness between the two, he cleared his throat and rolled from his tiptoes to the heels of his feet in his shoes that were once against pressed up against wood. "I suppose… I suppose we had better get in there then, hadn't we?"
Katie looked down at Sammy's unusually spotless boots as she continually ducked her head for a second or two more. But then she switched so she was looking back at him. Like me, she noticed that he was being oddly casual – one could even say that he was being hesitant – about the whole affair.
But then we both supposed and she found it more natural to do than I did, that it was only a tactic to keep calm in the midst of it all. Like we both had thought to ourselves, it really was a big deal. It was a big day. It was something that had been a long time coming and had also come around quickly, it seemed.
No doubt that Sammy wanted to keep a level head and his head above the water. He was a man who was led by emotion. And at times, he had felt much weakened and certainly much victimised by emotion.
He just didn't want that to be a factor on that day and in a bad way. Yes, he wanted to be elated. He was elated. He just didn't want to feel that high too much and come crashing down from it and end up a wreck like he often did.
Nevertheless, it was he to gesture to Katie again and me too and he started to take some steps in the correct direction where everybody was waiting. And I felt like it was because of this as well as a natural inclination within her that made the orange haired female follow Sammy in order to stop him.
She altered their positions so she was stood in front of him once again and he couldn't move along the hallway without getting past her first. I watched. Sammy's eyelids clapped together. Katie spoke before he could fully wonder what she was up to.
"Hey…" she started and she stopped simply just standing in front of Sammy. Her hands reached out to him. With red nail polish decorated fingers, those digits of hers traced his shoulders before they took a bolder move. They pawed at his chin lightly in a sisterly way. "Con… Congratulations, Sammy." She told him. She allowed the exhale from them both to do the talking before she added. "This is everything you've ever wanted, isn't it?"
From sat on my bottom still but closer to them all over again, I watched as Sammy stopped upon feeling her touch against his face but he definitely did upon hearing her words. He managed to resist rolling from the tips of his toes to the balls of his feet all over again. Through almond shaped eyes, his naturally stern expression looked right at her.
Sammy's natural angular countenance melted as he tried to find the right words to respond.
"Yeah… Yeah, it absolutely is." He began, his lips pressing down on one and another as though he was going to find all the sentiment expressed in the perfect words within the pink hue of his lips. Sammy started to look away. But then he soon enough looked right back at Katie as he confessed. "Thank you. I'm just waiting for it all to somehow still go wrong and for me to lose those kids."
The words 'Justin too' rang out through my mind and Katie's mind even though Sammy hadn't even added this. But we both knew it was true. We all did.
My own lips sought each other as I tilted my head and watched harder than I felt that I had ever watched before. Meanwhile, Katie spoke to Sammy all over again. And as she began, she repeated similar words.
"Hey." She started all over again but of course, that time; it was uttered in an alternative way. One hand on his shoulder and another hand lightly pressed over his chest where his padlock and his beating heart resided under it, she gave him a shake of the head and a furrow of her brow that lasted only a second. "You're a family. You can't lose something if you keep it safe."
Sammy looked back at Katie and I did also. I'm sure that we had very different expressions. The Alolan male with his naturally slender eyes and full brows looked at her like he was thinking all kinds of things but dared not to say.
He still couldn't stop some part of his truth from oozing out though.
"Not yet we're not." Sammy replied to her, his ring clad fingers finding themselves pressed up against the inside lining of his trouser pockets for something to do. His lips pressed together once more and that time, he tried to smile. And as he did this, Katie continually saw right through him.
She understood that he was being casual for good reason and to protect himself. And she knew that it was his intention to point out that there was still time for them not to be a family to hide the fact that so badly he wanted him and his children and Justin to be exactly that. Katie saw right through Sammy like he was ice over a lake on the clearest, coldest winter's day.
Her own lips threatened to press together. Her lips wanted to twitch in her dress. Out of fondness. And then out of despair!
In the end, it was the despair that won out and in a fond way. Tugging one of his hands out of his trouser pocket so that she could hold it and inadvertently encouraging them both to be on display, she clasped both of her porcelain hands over just one tattooed one of Sammy's.
Katie looked at him at that moment. Katie didn't allow her lip to curve upwards. Katie allowed her gaze to remain steady. And then, her lips parted for good.
"So let's go and make it official." She encouraged him, her fingers squeezing his hand furthermore and then this gesture switched as her body switched. She turned around. She started tugging Sammy in the right direction. And she laughed shyly to herself as she did so.
Katie knew it was what he wanted. I knew it was what he wanted. Sammy knew it was what he wanted to. Though it hid it behind composure and he hid it behind hesitance and he hid it by the occasional pessimism, all his life he had wanted someone to share his life with and someone to raise children with. He had found that.
He had found his best friend. He had found and made his little best friends. Everything along the way had been worth it. Because he found a group of people that were worth facing the twist and turns and the unexpected moments of life too. Katie was not excluded.
I saw it clear as day from the way that his expression couldn't help but alter as, initially; he didn't try to fight against her hold and her tugging. But the more that she giggled demurely to herself and the more that he realised it was nearing time to take a very big step forward in life, the more that he needed a moment to himself.
And eventually, he asked for that moment to himself. Katie knew it was going to happen the second she felt his hand falter inside hers. It was his turn to begin with those words.
"Hey…" Sammy mumbled, looking down at the ground as if he felt that he should be ashamed for asking for this. But then he felt fingers lightly tracing over the cross on his hand and his eyes met the face of the person opposite him. He freed himself of her hold even though he had a contrasting instinct to never let her digits go, especially when she had spun around to face him from the moment that he wavered. "I just need a moment to get grounded." He told her and I wondered if his fingers suddenly felt very alone when they had dropped from being touched for good. But still, Sammy's almond eyes locked further onto Katie's and he nodded his head just once. "I'll be five minutes, okay?"
I was surprised when I saw Katie look as though she wanted to throw her arms around the male in front of her. But in hindsight, I feel that I shouldn't be surprised at all. Vulnerability and openness was something that she adored and almost needed to feel close to people. And sometimes, she didn't even need it to be expressed. Often she sensed it from within. And it was that that bound her to her favourite people.
In spite of this sudden desire that I believed that I was correct about, Katie managed to compose herself. However, she didn't compose herself fully and she instead did something that she had wanted to do when she congratulated Sammy on what was to come after speaking his words back to him.
"Five minutes." She agreed, giving him permission to have that time but not a second longer. Katie didn't wish his grounding and his thinking and his composing and his reaching out to above to be a detriment to him in the long run. After telling him this, not only did her hands plant on his shoulders but a kiss was planted on his cheek also.
Her cheek lingered against his cheek for a second. But then she finally turned to go. And Sammy finally blushed out of the flattery and feeling touched at it all. His Adam's apple bobbing in his throat only proved this to me as I decided to follow Katie.
Sammy showed his innermost gratitude by touching his cheek with his own fingers, almost to tell the younger female that he was sinking her kiss into him and keeping it forever. She giggled some more. She waved her own fingers. But then she was gone. I was too.
We both headed to where we needed to be. We both headed to where Sammy needed to be in five more minutes. We left him behind doing what he needed to do. And we knew that we would see him again in five minutes. In five minutes, he would begin to receive the family that he had always prayed for.
Among all the family members of Justin and Sammy who were gathered in the court room and looked up when she entered, the judge did as well. His warm and intellectual face looked over his glasses at Katie when he recognised her to be the one to head off in search for the delayed person. And in return, Katie did a rare thing to her by piping up before she was even asked a question, raising her hand ever so slightly.
"He will join us in no more than five minutes." She reassured but also stated, her voice demure and undisputable as she moved along the aisles and prepared to sit with her own family. And so, the judge couldn't retort back to her.
He nodded his head, his glasses shining in the light of the room as he occupied himself with looking at the clock and going along with her words.
And as I scooted along and sat with my own family, I could hear her breathing out as her bottom perched against the wood of the bench and not only did she turn to greet Jayden with a kiss on his cheek as well but she gladly accepted their daughter from his arms. When the blonde haired little girl was perched but with her bottom against her mother's legs, no doubt did Katie get a rush of feeling that I most definitely felt with her.
There was nothing like family. Whether it was by blood or by choice or by fate, there was nothing like a group of people that you could depend on. Whether it was family or whether it was friends. She knew that she was overwhelmed with love for her child. And she knew that Justin and Sammy felt similarly about theirs.
So they deserved to be just as much of a family with Darcy and Zack as she was with Alice.
Jayden interrupted these thoughts of hers but nothing could interrupt these feelings of hers as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder before resting his cheek against it, still just as close to her and their daughter as if he was holding them both.
"Did he go home and change?" he questioned just for him and Katie to hear and from the row behind, I knew that it wasn't just the length of time in which Sammy had been late by which told him this. Jayden for one had been glad by his own smart outfit choice when he spied a couple of other people sitting in the courthouse.
Though Katie wanted to exhale out of her nostrils and deny anything of the sort out of protection of Sammy, she couldn't help but feel mildly impressed that he had guessed this correctly. She ran a hand through his lavender and magenta locks and then she did the same to their yellow haired daughter.
However before she could answer properly – or before she could lightly tell him not to say those things with so many people packed all around them – someone turned around in the seat directly in front of Katie. And as soon as he heard the Alolan male being spoken about and felt the orange haired female's presence all over again, he of course didn't hesitate to join in the conversation.
Concern in his eyes, he continued having his arm stretched out long the back of the bench to keep his children close while also not raising their anxiety.
"Did he get a bit nervous?" Justin asked of his long-term boyfriend, his naturally expressive eyes widening with worry. I saw the whites of his eyes from a few rows back. He added more words before Katie could even think of answering. "Shall I nip out and see him?"
Katie could feel the eyes of not only her boyfriend right next to her and their daughter too – and Justin in the row in front as well as a few other people dotted around the room – but she knew who was the right person to console there and then.
She felt Jayden's eyes grow all the more lingering while Alice grew bored and started to run her finger along the braids of Darcy in the seat in front of her father to which the dark haired child giggled and turned around. Katie felt Jayden's continual eyes but she felt a natural instinct to console Justin so she did this first.
Her lipstick decorated lips pressing together; she reached her hand out and lightly touched her dimple with her thumb to reassure him. He felt his shoulders moving down from his ear lobes at just this, let alone when she spoke words back to him. Katie shook her head.
"No, don't worry yourself about it. He'll be five minutes." She consoled and with the Ketchum family close to me and a lot of them running their fingers over the stripes of my back as they too waited for the grand occasion to happen, I saw Justin relax enough to face the front and the judge all over. Katie added to the back of Justin's head, her finger reassuringly tracing along his parting like Alice was doing to Darcy. "He's just preparing himself for a very happy moment."
She had smiled in a way that was just for him and he could not see this but he could feel it.
And with that, not only did reassurance ooze out of and glow from Katie but the feeling that she knew her words were right did as well. On top of this, this sensation got sent in sparks to everyone in the vicinity who was receptive enough for it. Jayden was one of these people and he couldn't help but smile for his brother and his boyfriend and rest his cheek closer to Katie.
Needless to say, Justin was another of these people to feel that loving glow. And because of this, his arm stopped lulling on the back of the bench and after reaching behind him to squeeze Katie's fingers gratefully for always looking after him and Sammy too; he wrapped his arm around and squeezed his children next to him.
And their older sister couldn't help but smile when her two younger siblings preparing for adoption were pulled closer to the side of her father. As for Darcy, she stopped giggling at Alice having such an interest in her braids. And Zack stopped kicking his legs and playing with his teddy bear long enough to gladly squish right next to his second older sister and feel part of a family before it was even official.
I loved that. I loved the atmosphere. I loved being there. But instead of looking at all the faces and studying and loving (almost) all of them, I glanced at the clock on the wall. I watched. I waited.
Yes, I had been lucky enough to feel part of many families and not just the Ketchum's. And there and then in that moment and on that day, I was going to witness the person who I had known from boyhood standing up and welcoming his two foster children into his family with his boyfriend. I had never seen such an occasion before. And I knew it was one that I was going to remember for always.
Two minutes left. Sammy would come back into the room at any moment. I felt Rey's finger tracing my stripes much like Alice had been doing to Darcy's hair. I could hear Misty's sighs of contentment as she looked at James across another aisle and gave him a soft smile. Before I knew it, it was one minute left. And I couldn't stop my heart rate from picking up, like it had done when my body was pacing. In that moment, my mind was pacing. But I tried to focus on sensations and closeness instead.
I had all of my loved ones near. I was combined with my loved ones. Soon Justin and Sammy would be combined with their loved ones. Unlike how he once believed, the Alolan male didn't need marriage to make that happen. He had found something worth fighting for without. He had learned so many lessons. He had changed so many times. He would go on to change so many times.
With Justin. Without Justin. With his children. Always with his children. And speaking of Sammy, he surprised us all by appearing at least thirty seconds early and coming in through the door! Apparently he was ready. Evidently he was ready.
He showed this by giving the judge a nod and a similar hand wave to which Katie had done and then he prepared to take his seat with his soon to be family. No, they were already his family. They were just making it official on that day.
And after the judge nodded his head and looked at the clock and then had a few moments to look at his notes before he proceeded with the best moment of his day, Justin showed that he didn't need that day to become further bound with Sammy – that was already the case for him clearly – from the way that he gladly touched his forehead against his after they were seated together once more.
"You okay?" he asked him in a low voice just for him and not to raise any concern with their young ones but of course, a lot of other people caught on to the words uttered. And many others caught onto the care too.
Sammy was no different. He allowed his forehead to linger against Justin's a second or two longer than he initially intended and his lips curved into a smile as their faces were near. When their faces pulled away a little bit, he nodded his head before scooting his body on the bench closer to Justin instead.
He had a carefree glint in his eye like no other I had ever seen in him.
"Me okay. I just needed a moment to breathe before I came back to my beautiful gang." He responded truthfully and though he got the inclination to touch his forehead against his equally suit wearing boyfriend, he managed to resist. However, Katie didn't manage to resist holding her hand to her heart when Sammy bumped his shoulder against Justin's instead. Misty felt similarly. I watched as Sammy's expression soon changed and for good reason. "Well where's Layla? You didn't lose her, did you?"
And suddenly, it dawned on him that Justin might've misplaced their new-born daughter while Sammy was off placing his thoughts into correct compartments in his brain! However, before his naturally hardened expression could become all the more steely and before Justin could properly swivel around in his chair let alone chuckle with fondness, a new, different voice piped up.
A feminine voice joined the conversation from the row behind the one along from Justin and Sammy's which was containing a good percentage of the Morgan's. She stood up.
"Sorry. I couldn't resist another cuddle." Lucy apologised, her teeth sheepishly appearing just below her top lip as she held onto the equally blonde baby for a couple more moments before she got James in front of her to accept the child and eventually hand her over to his son. She added when Layla was back in Justin's arms, fingers over her chest then too. "She's just so well behaved."
And then of course it was Eli's turn to speak from right next to his girlfriend, Lucy. Out of habit, he waved at the baby before she disappeared for good. And when many eyes were on the two of them and Justin and Sammy's were too, he spoke for them both to hear – he spoke for all to hear.
"Unlike her father." He felt the need to say and while Katie didn't hesitate to turn back in her own seat to chuckle with Eli and Lucy sat back next to him, resting her cheek against his shoulder like Jayden was doing to his girlfriend; Justin managed to resist turning around and looking as well.
Though similarly to Lucy, he couldn't stop his front two teeth from appearing below his top lip as his eyes sparkled and he shook his head at the humour. And of course, Sammy spun around in his seat right away!
Nevertheless, before he could have a chance to publically wonder which father Eli was referring too, the judge decided it was as good time as any to crack on with the proceedings. He allowed the music of the radio and a very cheesy song choice to fill the air before he banged his papers on the desk and smiled at every single person in the room.
"Well now that the little family is all together, I think it's time that we crack on with uniting them for good." He began with a smile and immediately, with Layla then nestled in the crook of Sammy's arm; Justin resumed wrapping his arm around his other children while clasping the hand of his long term boyfriend. Many other people held the hand of a loved one too, whoever they were. I felt many of the Ketchum children's hands on me as the glasses wearing judge proceeded with a goofy smile on his face. "In this job I have to make many tricky decisions that are often best for a family. So today I am overjoyed to bless a decision that was not made by me but is no doubt best for them!"
As the cheesy but also sentimental song continued blaring over the radio, I had just a moment to look all around me. I saw Ash and Misty smile at one and other before Misty smiled over at James all over again and Ash turned to grin at Gary with the Oak Family a few rows behind.
The judge was right. It was a decision that was best for the soon to be Taylor-Morgan clan. But I felt that it was best for everyone too. He proceeded again.
"We are gathered today on this gorgeously sunny today to make a family. To unite a family." He started. While Darcy and Zack's older sister looked on with peace in her heart that her little brother and sister had a stability that she had never had, the two children looked over at their father's. Their fathers looked back at them. Smiles were shared as the judge's voice sounded once more. "Justin Morgan and Samuel Taylor – would you like to adopt Darcy and Zachariah into your family?"
I felt a swelling in my heart as I was sure many of the people did around me that although Sammy still hadn't got the wedding day he once had hoped for, this surely must've come close to being the thing that he had dreamed! And the way that he looked back at the judge after smiling at his children and Justin too made it clear that I was right. And that he was also close to tears.
While friends and family members looked on, still not letting go of hands and still sharing looks with each other, both Justin and Sammy didn't know who was to speak first as they let out teary chuckles.
Eventually, in spite of being the one who needed a moment to himself, it was Sammy who didn't need any more moments to himself. He needed all of them to be with his gang. With his family.
"Yes please, your honour." Sammy answered and no sooner had he done this, he looked back over at the faces of his children that had fallen into his lap so unexpectedly a couple of years ago and changed his life utterly for the better.
Jessie managed to swallow the amusement that like her and her husband, it probably wasn't Sammy's first time speaking to a judge! But it was certainly the first time for that sort of occasion. And she held James' tight while his fingers were also entwined with Lynne's fingers that contained Jordan's on the other side too.
Meanwhile, Justin heard Sammy's voice and in reverse, he looked over at the children before back at the judge, answering him as he had all of the certificates fanned out in front of him, ready to sign.
"Yes, your honour. More than anything." he confessed and then he didn't look at anyone. He looked straight ahead. Once he thought the euphoria of a new love interest or stepping up onto a stage with his guitar could bring the highest sensation of his life. He was deemed wrong. It was that occasion right now. It was that occasion that made his legs feel stronger than ever yet weaker at the same time. And in the best way.
When both of them heard the way that Justin worded these words, both Eli looked over at each other and shared a smile. However as I momentarily turned back from my own family, I noticed that there was a different quality within their very different orbs.
But I didn't have time to ponder it all that much at that point. The judge's voice sounded yet again. His smile appeared to widen all the more that time passed! His glasses reflected light and lit up the room.
"Darcy and Zack." He addressed the children and out of habit, they looked a little worried when they were spoken to by an authoritative figure. But feeling their fathers' right close to them and their older sister too and their new-born sleeping sister close by as well, they understood that time had moved on. They were being called on to be joined together, not separated. The judge showed he stood all this by smiling over his shining frames at the six year old and the four year old. "Would you like Justin and Sammy to be your two daddies from this day onward?"
And of course filling laughter and love into the hearts of so many people around the room, Zack's loud self didn't hesitate to be the first one to pipe up. At first, he suddenly stood up on his bench and threw his arms wide, nodding his head so frantically that his curls erupted and bounced.
"Yep! Yep, yep!" he agreed and although the judge laughed as much as everybody else in the room and me too, he evidently was a man who liked to do things properly so he asked the little boy to sit down once again.
Once he was seated next to his sister – his far more quieter and cautious sister – the judge waited for her answer as well. Darcy really seemed to think about it and even looked around at many of the faces in the room. Her eyes took in Justin's oldest siblings and the children of their own. Her eyes took in her very youthful grandparents and the gaggle of children that James had made with Lynne. Darcy's eyes scanned Eli and Lucy holding hands.
And then, although her reaction could very be as loud and unfaltering as her little brother, she shuffled closer to Justin just a little bit and she smiled. Her eyes creasing did more talking more than words ever could.
"Yes, I do." She replied. It seemed to me that a good amount of people around the room breathed out a sigh of relief as they believed that her moment of pondering to herself was a moment of hesitance. They were wrong though. I was never wrong because I didn't think such things. I thought of a good amount of other things! But not that though.
That soft smile from the six year old was met to a similar one from both of her new father's as well as a glossiness that couldn't be tamed. Layla opened and closed a little star fish hand as she remained close to all the people that she was beginning to love with all of her heart, her new-born self still understanding the sweetness of the occasion.
No doubt did the judge as well. Managing to keep that smile a bit more for himself that time, he subtly finished signing all of the papers that he had to put his mark on before he held them up. Everyone around the court room held their breath as he did this, as though they were students getting a dreaded test back.
But of course, there was nothing to dread, was there? There was nothing at all to dread. Jayme clutching the hand of Gary and surrounded by their grown up children had nothing to dread. Jayde clasping the hand of Cameron and surrounded by their three children as well as their own fourth bundle opening and closing his own fist. Eli and Lucy had nothing to dread as Lucy's eyes continued shining with love and Eli's darted in an opposite way as their hands fell away from each other.
Regardless of all the emotions bubbling around the room – the differing emotions – there was nothing to dread.
The judge showed this by announcing to Justin and Sammy and Zack and Darcy and Layla and everybody else with halted breaths. He beamed all over again. He acted as though it really was a wedding!
"Well in that case, I pronounce you a family!" he announced and after these words were out into the air, he somehow made quite a final bang on the table with just a handful of sheets of paper.
And acting like it really was a bit of a wedding day, after of course giving their children the biggest hugs of all and touching their foreheads against their no longer foster children but adopted children's foreheads, Justin and Sammy stood up and embraced with Layla in their arms.
And with Layla between them, both Sammy and Justin shared a kiss. They could only hold onto each other a little bit from the way that their new-born was between them and they couldn't have an all-out kiss! But they still had their moment. They still seemed to fall against each other. They still seemed to merge. Just like their little family had done.
Upon seeing the two guys' lips pressing together, a lot of people around the room decided to do that with their loved ones as well! Ash was the first to copy with Misty but then Jordan was quick to get in there and give an even bigger kiss not only to Lynne but to James as well. The lavender haired male chuckled at the smooch from his best friend and then found his lips against Jessie's before Lynne's touched his too.
Some people hadn't exactly brought anyone to kiss. But someone else was always going to be nearby so their hand got a bit of a peck as well! I don't think the judge had ever seen such a thing. I don't think the police members had ever seen such I thing. I certainly had never seen such a thing as Rey pressed a kiss to my red cheek on one side and James pressed a kiss to my red cheek on the other side.
Laughing at the mass kissing frenzy that they had started, Justin and Sammy laughed and looked over at one each other and they pecked a kiss on each other's lips a second time before wrapping their arms around all of their children once more. Their children. They had always been that but now they were officially so and it felt good to think. And it felt even better to say.
Despite the fact that Lucy and Eli from their positon on the benches and on that special day had pressed a kiss to each other's lips to celebrate, both of them had gone decidedly quiet when Justin and Sammy started to lift Darcy and Zack up underneath their armpits and properly into the sky before into their arms.
Lucy had livened up when she was gestured over to have a celebratory hug and a kiss on the cheek with her good friend Katie and perked up all the more giddily so when she ended up near Justin and Sammy and Layla back in her arms once more. She received a wink from the Alolan male for taking such good care of their youngest child.
And so it was just Eli sat on the bench behind the Morgan's all alone. Although Jessie had been massively preoccupied with the antics of a lot of people that she too held dear, like me, she caught on pretty quickly to not only Eli's quietness and his rather wide eyes at the best of the time darting all about, as well as rubbing his own lower lip in an erratic fashion.
Leaving Jordan and James to playfully fight over smooching the lavender haired male's youngest daughter on the cheek, Jessie turned behind her to give Eli a smile. When she saw his expression and felt his foot tapping nonchalantly on the floor, that curve of her lipstick decorated lips became a wan one.
"You all good over there, Eli?" Jessie spoke to him. Though she found it hard, she tried her best not to let her expression to come off too concerned or too knowing as she looked right at him. His eyes continually darted. They settled a bit more when he felt her gaze. Other gestures of his didn't though. And as well as this, his head joined in. he pressed his lips together and nodded his head. But Jessie prompted, leaning closer to him from her bench in front. "Are you sure?"
It was always worth asking a second time. It was always good to have someone who asked a second time. Eli's lower lip puckering out before he composed it by sucking it back in all over again, he couldn't help but shrug as his eyes darted one more time and over to where Justin and Sammy were having another moment to themselves to kiss since Katie had Darcy on her hip and Zack had run around the aisle to tug on Lucy's leg.
Although it must've put a very strange pang in his stomach and caused his eyes to sting a bit, he continued looking. He continued looking for a while as Justin's arms wrapped around Sammy's neck and their foreheads pressed against each other's. When the children were back near to their fathers and they were all sharing a joke together and laughing as well as smiling, it was this that caused Eli to look back at Jessie.
Like her, he possessed a wan smile on his face. But his own curls erupting and falling over his features, he forced himself to smile and upon focusing on what truly counted, he smiled for good. And he smiled for real that time.
Eli reached out in return and squeezed Jessie's fingers back when she reached out to him to absolutely make sure.
"I'm wonderful." He told her, his teeth appearing. Before her expression could falter some more and she could show that she believed she was seeing right through her, he added with sincerity. Those orbs of his were wondrous things. They often told the truth. They did there and then. "Two less children are going to have the opposite fate to the one that we both had. How could that make me feel anything other than joyous?"
And with that, I felt similarly when I felt the breath coursing through the body of Jessie. Soon enough, she decided to believe Eli and his words because she had no other choice. Even if he wasn't wholeheartedly feeling that way – which he still was – he wanted to feel that way so soon enough would be all encompassed by it.
So for that, after exhaling out of her own lips, she moved away from the particular bench she was on and joined Eli all alone on his. They shared their own embrace. They shared a very tight embrace. And it was that that put such a lump in my throat that I believed it couldn't be topped. But I was wrong!
One of the police officers took the signed certificates away from the judge and his desk and after handing them to the new Taylor-Morgan family, she asked them if they wanted to take a photo with the judge. When Justin and Sammy obliged and put their arms around each other as well as their new children and proceeded to move to the front of the room to take that photo, I was left with amusement and fullness in my belly at what came next.
Jordan evidently gave up on the game of who could kiss Jorgie the most by his grown and broad self, standing up on the bench much like Zack had done. And after doing so, he gestured with his arms and boomed with his voice.
"If it's picture time then I'm all for that! I'm part of that family too." he explained with a loud quality to his voice and a smile on his face. Before anyone could object, he started to scrabble towards the front to where Justin and Sammy were after they had had Layla handed back over to them.
Covering up her giggle with a hand in front of her mouth, Lynne's eyes shone. She waited for her husband to tactfully get rejected. But instead, neither Justin nor Sammy said anything. And because of this, other people started to pipe up also!
"You know what? I feel like we could all get in there too." Ash naturally copied his father in law and all of a sudden, I was lifted up and placed on the shoulder of my best friend. If the two new fathers' couldn't object then I couldn't either! Ash grinned and gestured to the Ketchum's all around him before looking right at his wife. "What do ya say, Mist?"
And rather than Misty replying to her husband and saying anything – in agreement or disagreement or otherwise – more voices added to the conversation. All of a sudden, the Oak Family and the family of Cameron and Jayde were bustling to the front. They were followed by the Magnus' – Georgina and Jonah and all of their children, some of them biological and some of them fostered. Many of Justin's friends from all around the world, whether they knew him for his musical career or had been there from child hood started to speak up and bustle to the front as well.
I guessed that it was because of this that Justin finally decided to reply to them all. His words greatly contrasted his exasperated expression and his hands on his hips.
"Anyone who wants to join us is more than welcome." He agreed in a bit of a dry tone but with a twinkle in his eye. And then following this, I had never seen an eruption quite like it! People started getting out of their seats in all directions. Some pushing and shoving happened but mostly it was friendly.
Almost everyone in the room barged their way to the front to join Justin and Sammy and Layla and Darcy and Zack. Everyone in the room made their way to the front to join the new family.
"I definitely am part of all this!" Charlie who had been sitting alone on a seat as well got out of it and in spite of his age, made his way in his pristinely ironed and pristinely chosen suit and twiddled his moustache as he ended up one of the ones closest to the official family.
Surprisingly, no one had the heart to push him away from being so near and let him accept one of the best spots. Justin and Sammy did share a look though. And after they shared this as well as a great many things, the deep purple haired of the two's eyes lit up all the more and he gestured to someone who hadn't ran to the front but of course wanted close to him.
"You coming, my lovely?" Justin gestured to Katie for the spot right next to him that was the opposite side to where Sammy was. And he should've guessed that by inviting her right next to him then this meant that Lucy would come bustling with the orange haired female as well! She ended up holding Layla for a third time, while Darcy and Zack stood in front of their new father's. A minute or so passed and then Justin gestured again, this time to the last pair standing. "Mum? Eli? You're not part of this?"
The two of them looked at each other. I looked at the two of them looking at each other while I hung out with the Ketchum's and were close to Cilan and Iris and their family as well as Sammy's parents and younger brother and sister who had flown from Alola for the occasion.
They were of course going to join in, weren't they? There was no way that they were going to say no, was there? Of course there wasn't! They were part of the picture as well. They were part of the massive picture and part of the gang who, in some way another whether it was in a big way or a small way, had made that event on that day happen.
Holding Eli's hand up until the last minute, Jessie walked with him and squeezed his fingers and then joined her husband very near to their son and his new children as well as their other children together. And as for Eli, he was filled with surprise when he made a beeline for Lucy but was grabbed by the shoulder by Sammy.
Sammy didn't say all that much. Sammy only said one thing. But the sentiment of the fact that he made him stand near rung out more than words ever could.
"Make sure you stand in front of Katie. You'll want to actually be seen in the photo." He told him and after tugging him, he shoved him. Eli was then standing in front of Katie and right next to Justin. Justin didn't have any spare arms left to wrap around anybody because one was around Sammy and the other was around Katie.
However, although it was a small gesture, his knee pressed up against the back of the knee of Eli as he stood in front. This made him stand taller in his immaculately chosen suit for the day. And with his head held high – and with everybody's head held high – it was time for the photo to be taken.
The police officer got down on the floor and she had to stand right in the corridor to make sure everybody was in frame!
"Say… Happy Families!" she bellowed out cheerily and she bellowed out almost as loudly as Jordan had done. And of course, soon enough, the words were yelled back to her. Grins were on faces for the photograph. And none of them were forced.
Snap. The picture was taken. Justin with an arm around Sammy and an arm around Katie. Sammy with an arm around Justin and with a hand on the shoulder of Darcy. Lucy with an arm around Katie and a crook of her arm filled with Layla. Eli with his hands to himself. But his heart full of knowing.
Yes, those two children would have a fate the complete opposite of him and Jessie. But just like them too, they had found a family. Whoever it was that they called by that particular name.
And as for me, on that day, my heart sung somehow more than ever. I had given up the dream of becoming the greatest Pokémon battle a long time ago. But somehow, that day and occasions such as those made me feel closer to the reason why I was put onto the Pokémon World.
More so than battles and achievements could ever do, my heart thudded and pulsated and expanded knowing that not only was I connected to my family but I was connected to everyone. And the more that I thought about it, that had always driven me. The connection to my skills. The connection to my loved ones. The connection to myself.
On that day, I was connected by those who occupied my mind as much as Justin and Sammy were. However unlike them, I didn't need my own day. I didn't need to change my own name. That sort of thing was with me every single day. As well as my love for them all.
Yes, I gave up on a dream because I found another. And to this day, my heart sings me to sleep with contentment over the choice that I inadvertently chose. I don't want to do anything other than connect. And remember. And share.
A lesson taught to me by Justin and Sammy's family. And many other people too.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 So yeah, this one was a fun one because I got to add a lot of characters names in there! And I also got to show a bit of Katie and Sammy's dynamic which was interesting to explore. It still felt enjoyable even though of course, everyone knows by now that Justin doesn't end up with Sammy and goes with Eli a couple of years following this story. They will always be a family, as shown here. And nothing can take that away :) Thanks again and I will be back again on Wednesday so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P