"Come on, Charlie! We are going to have so much fun!" Abby says excitedly, following me upstairs to grab my luggage.
"It's supposed to snow, too. How perfect will that be?" Alice adds as she grabs one of the suitcases I packed.
"Especially if there are sleds there!" Trent adds from the doorway. "Let us get these, you aren't fully healed yet," he says with a wink.
"She can't help herself," Adam teases, looking at me pointedly as he takes my suitcase out of my hand.
"Let's go!" Cole ushers us all out, apparently just as excited to get there as Abby.
The drive to the mountains takes about three hours. As we get closer to our destination, snow starts to fall steadily. It makes me nervous, but our procession of cars soothes me a little.
When Sophia said house, I pictured a cozy cabin in the snow. This is not a house, it's a full-blown lodge. It's made of huge gray stones and chunky wooden trim. It has a rustic effect that makes it even more breathtaking. The mountain view behind the house is the icing on the cake. It may have just taken the number one spot on my list of favorite views.
As we all spill out of our cars, the front door opens, and an older couple steps out. The man has silver hair but still has a youthful exuberance I can see from here. He doesn’t appear old enough to be Sophia’s dad. He's dressed in a sweater and slacks and looks like he fits right in in this huge stone mansion. The woman has darker hair pulled up into a curly ponytail. She has a sophisticated air about her too, but a kindness to her features that helps put me at ease. I can see the resemblance between her and Sophia right away which eases my nerves slightly.
Sophia grabs my hand and leads me up the stairs to greet them. I hold my head high and try to pretend it's no big deal. My anxiety is just below the surface, but I want to give them a chance. I have met plenty of my foster family’s parents before, but there was a clear separation between their behavior to me and their behavior to my foster siblings. Something tells me this will be different. I put on my friendliest smile anyway, trying to stay positive.
“I am so happy to finally meet my granddaughter! I’m so glad you are okay. We were so worried.” The woman rushes at me and gives me a bone crushing hug. She is clearly a superhero in disguise; she's a lot stronger than she seems. When she lets go and steps away, the man pulls me into a gentler hug. He smells like peppermint and a hint of cologne. It's what I would expect a fairy tale grandfather to smell like and I relax into his arms immediately.
When he steps back, I turn to a beaming Sophia
. Her parents gather her up into their arms next, and I can almost physically feel the shared love. They pull away and Sophia wipes a few stray tears away, before ushering us all inside.
“Come in, out of that awful cold!” Sophia’s mom raises the volume of her voice so everyone can hear her. Without hesitation the twins run off inside, causing us all to laugh and follow them in. We're quite the group.
Once we've grabbed our luggage and headed inside, Sophia directs us to our rooms. She places my group in a room to share across from hers so she can keep an eye on us. Then she distributes the rooms to the other families and their other kids. The twins are the youngest, and Trent has a little sister that's nine. The other siblings are older and didn’t want to come, even if we were about to spend Christmas in the mountains.
Our room is clearly not for adults. It has two sets of wooden bunk beds and two twin beds. The room is huge, with a rug that spans the middle of the floor and a spacious bathroom attached. The décor fits the theme of the mountain lodge, consisting of pictures of forests and woodsy pieces but it’s cozy.
“I claim top bunk!” Trent yells as he does an impressive high jump, pulling himself up to sit on one of the top beds. Adam throws his bag underneath Trent, and Abby and Alice both throw their bags on the other bunk, leaving the twin beds for me and Cole.
“Would it be inappropriate to ask you to sleep in my bed with me?” Cole whispers in my ear as he wraps his arms around my waist. I twist around so I'm facing him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips and a shrug. He chuckles and throws my bigger luggage next to his.
“Uh, no. You can have one night,” Abby protests, and Adam gives me a wink, telling me he’s going to be claiming his night too. They’re so open and honest with each other and not afraid to call the others out that it makes this relationship so much better.
After a few minutes, we're called down to dinner. The spread is crazy. They made two huge baked pasta dishes. One with alfredo and one with marinara. Aside from pasta, they also set out broccoli, salad with tons of toppings, and two kinds of bread. Their table was made for a crowd and easily seats all of us once a few extra chairs are added.
Trent and Adam don’t waste time, piling their plates high. The rest of the guests follow suit. I'm thankful Cole and Adam sandwich me at the table since my new grandparents sat across from me. I'm afraid they won’t accept me not talking much or my relationships, and it's like my friends have a radar for my anxiety. Cole reaches his hand over and rests it on my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. Adam takes my hand that's resting on the table. I give them both a smile to show I'm doing okay before using my free hand to eat.
“Charlie, I did a terrible job introducing my parents. This is Maria and this is Robert,” Sophia introduces them. She's clearly trying to break the silence. They are wonderful though. I can’t help but like them and that scares me. I try so hard to get over my abandonment issues, but even if they didn’t, I would turn eighteen at the end of this school year and they won’t be a part of my life anymore. I know how it works when you age out of the system.
They talk to me through the meal. Explaining everything from Sophia growing up, to how proud they were of her becoming a lawyer, to how much they miss her husband, to their jobs. Her dad is a doctor and refuses to retire. He works at a pediatric clinic and loves it. Her mom was a nurse in the same practice but retired last year so she could work on perfecting her recipes. It sounds so grandmotherly that I can't help but smile. They're one of those couples that just makes your heart want to burst. They're sweet to each other and the way he looks at her like she's perfect has me smiling.
We are all finished when Maria stands up and clear the table. Sophia stops her with a gentle hand and motions for her to sit. Sophia stands up instead and clutches a small stack of papers to her chest.
“I wanted to thank my parents for their generosity in letting us all enjoy the holidays here. After the awful last few months we had, Charlie and I needed some fun time with family and friends. I’ll try not to babble, but I have an announcement to make, though the outcome depends on Charlie.” She turns to me, and I just return a look of pure confusion. I'm hoping she isn’t going to ask me to move somewhere else since I really like Arcadia Hills.
“Charlie, I have a court date set for us just in case. Would it be okay if we went and finalized this?” she asks as she hands me the papers she had been clutching like a lifeline to her chest. I take them from her and read over the words. Then I read them again because I can’t process it.
It's a copy of submitted court documents for my adoption. My mind has to read it three times before it sinks in. She wants to adopt me? Me? I pop to my feet in a rush and walk around the table to her, crashing into her and hugging her to me as tightly as I can. Tears spill over and stream down my cheeks, soaking the material of her shirt. My emotions are a mess, and I’m overwhelmed. Relief filters through me, and I tuck her closer.
“Is that a yes, Charlie?” Sophia jokes. I pull back and brace myself.
“Yes. I love you, Sophia. You were already such a good mom to me. I would love it to be official,” I choke out as I start to cry harder. Sweeping my gaze around the table I realize everyone has their mouths hanging open. I give my friends a sheepish smile. They probably didn’t realize I could talk at all at this point and with all the therapy my voice is even more clear. The only one who is smiling and not shocked, is Cole who has heard me before.
“I thought you couldn’t talk?” Alice asks, causing Adam and Abby to groan. I guess they thought it was inappropriate to ask but leave it to Alice to be the one.
“I guess I should probably explain a little about my past so it makes sense,” I admit, and Sophia starts to stop me. “I won’t go into the awful details of most of it, especially because talking is painful.” I reassure her with a meaningful look at the twins. I know it isn’t something they should hear.