2.4.1 Welcome Home, Boys
Bringing the boys home meant a lot of last minute scrambling to get things in order. The first order of business was finding a place for the teenager, Brody, to sleep.
Luckily, Hollis and Mercedes were able to move into their new place sooner than anticipated, so we were able to convert Hollis’s old apartment into a new space for us.
Her old bedroom became a playroom, and her living room became Brody’s bedroom. We already had a nursery ready upstairs for the baby, who we named Lucas Solomon.
The whole thing felt so surreal. Even though we knew we could get a call from the adoption agency at any moment, we didn’t expect that moment to come so soon. Or to be welcoming not one but two new members into our family.
When it came time to bring the boys home, Brody was a bit quiet. He seemed happy but a little shy. I remember how it felt to move in with complete strangers, so I understood where he was coming from. We arrived home and started showing Brody around.
While Paul was getting Lucas settled in, I showed Brody his bedroom.
“I get my own bedroom?” He asked.
“Yeah, and your own bathroom, too,” I told him.
“Wow.”
As Paul held Lucas, I noticed Chelsea watching him closely. I tried to work out what she might be feeling. If I had to guess, I’d say she felt betrayed. She didn’t say anything, though, just continued to keep a close eye on her new little brother.
Rachel, on the other hand, was over the moon about meeting her new brothers. She talked Brody’s ear off on the way home, and continued to do so at home, although Brody was still being quiet.
We showed Brody around the rest of the house. The thing that caught his attention was our workout area. In fact, he decided to get a little workout in himself. I wanted to ask him about himself, to get to know this new person living in our house, but I didn’t want to push him too much.
We continued to check in with him throughout the evening–offering, but not forcing him, to join us in conversation. He seemed content to sit in our presence and just take everything in. It was our new normal that we were all getting used to.
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