“Me! Why do I have to? You’re supposed to be the tough one. Didn’t you live on the fucking streets?”
“You said you’re the parent,” Eddie argues back.
“And when I find her, I’m going to smack her fucking ass.” I hear him walk down the front steps in an outrage. “Hayden . . .”
I peer through the bushes to see him carrying a broom as a weapon, and I screw up my face to stop myself from laughing out loud.
He gets closer and closer.
“Hayden . . .”
I wait until he’s right near me, and I jump out and scream as if something is chasing me. I run past him at full speed.
“Ahhhhhh,” he screams as he sprints for the house.
“Ahhh,” screams Eddie as he waits at the door.
Christopher runs past me into the house. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I fall onto the front steps laughing so hard.
Christopher sticks his head around the door and glares at me, unimpressed with my joke. “I’m buying a wolf tomorrow, and I’m going to feed you to him, piece by piece.”
The door slams shut, and I sit on the steps and look around the darkness. I hear the wind in the trees and the animals in the nearby forest. I can hear a stream bubbling in the distance.
It’s peaceful and still. A sense of calm falls over me like never before.
I’m home.
CHRISTOPHER
“And these are your clothes. I wasn’t sure what to get you, so I just got the minimum, and we can go shopping together for anything else you need.”
Eddie sits quietly on the bed as I show him around his new bedroom.
“And through this wall will eventually be a bathroom, but it’s not done yet. The house needs some work.”
He smiles up at me as he watches me fuss.
It’s been a big day. Flew across the world. Watched me get engaged. Nearly saw Hayden get eaten by a wolf.
“You okay, buddy?” I ask him. “You’re very quiet.”
He nods, and I can tell he’s emotional.
“I hope you like it here. There’s no wolves . . . I don’t think?” I shrug. “At least I hope not.”
He stays quiet, and I sit down beside him.
“What is it?” I ask.
His eyes search mine. “What if . . .” He stops himself from finishing the sentence.
I look at him, and I see a scared little boy who’s lost everything that he loved.
“What if this doesn’t work out?” I ask.
He nods.
“It will.”
“How do you know?”
I think for a moment. “You know, Eddie, I’ve been thinking about this, and I’ve come to a conclusion.”
“What’s that?”
“A family isn’t just the one you were born into. I told you before that I felt like we belonged together and that we met for a reason.”
His eyes search mine.
“Hayden and I have been talking, and . . . if it’s all right with you, we’d like to adopt you. We’ll return to Spain with you whenever you want, but I want you in my and Hayden’s family. The three of us. And one day there will hopefully be more children, and you will have your own brothers and sisters.”