章 4: Chapter 4: Welcome To Our Home
All five kids were present and accounted for when I get home from school. Ariel is sitting in the living room with Ares and coloring in a coloring book. Derek is in his room becoming the future valedictorian. Seth and Serena are doing homework at the kitchen table. Well, Serena is doing homework. From the looks of it, Seth is plotting his next prank. Oliver used his walkie-talkie to let me know that he’s safe and sound in his treehouse.
“Dinner will be ready soon!” I shouted, for whoever was bothering to listen.
The only thing I’ve been able to accomplish since getting home from school was taking a shower. I put on a new sweatshirt and a pair of black sweatpants. My hair that was braided all day has been taken down and switched to a messy bun.
On top of making dinner, I had to rush in a load of laundry and clean up another assaulted pillow thanks to Ares.
“Do we like this for my quinceañera dress?” Serena asked, holding up a sketch pad.
When did she do this design? She was speeding through her math homework not even two minutes ago.
“It’s nice, but do you think you’ll be able to find that in a retail store?” I asked, hoping Serena can understand that we don’t have a lot of money to give her a fabulous birthday party.
“Who knows. I’m designing a dress for my dream board, but I’d be fine with any plain dress. I can redesign any plain dress with my accessories,” Serena grinned, thinking of a way to design her own outfit.
I’d give my kidney to give Serena a fabulous birthday party, but it’s impossible. The money that Eric sends us is enough money to pay the bills and have enough food for six people. The kids know that spending money is limited for us. They don’t complain about it since they’re used to it, but I wish they didn’t have to live this kind of life.
“Why don’t you sell your skateboard?” Seth asked. “Porque eres un patinador horrible,” he smirked.
“Be nice!” I demanded.
I called everyone for dinner, and they stampeded into the kitchen like hungry predators. Ariel poured the dog food for Ares so that he could eat alongside us. She’s so adorable it melts my heart.
The six of us sat in groups of three around the table. Seth, Serena, and Derek sat on one side while Ariel, Oliver, and I sat on the other side. We always leave the two head chairs empty. Eric and Clarice used to sit at the head chairs, so we leave them open out of respect for them.
Clarice, our foster mom, passed away almost four years ago. She’d been sick for a while, so we all saw it coming; however, the kids were still too young to grasp the concept that she was gone forever.
Eric, our foster dad, refused to send any of us back into the foster care system after his wife died. The two of them raised us and they thought of us as their children. It became dangerous for him to work long hours and overnight shifts at the hospital, because if social services found out that we weren’t supervised, then we’d be taken away and sent to new foster homes.
“Can we start reading a new book tonight?” Derek asked.
“Of course! Ollie picked the last book, so I think Seth is next on the list,” I said.
“Why is your laptop on the table?” Oliver asked.
“If memory serves me correctly, you said that you wanted to talk to Eric soon. So, we decided that tonight we’d all eat dinner together as a family,” I smiled, connecting to a video chat with Eric.
All the kids smiled and started talking to Eric all at once. He looked exhausted. He’s in Cambodia right now working with Doctors Without Borders, so he woke up not too long ago. It’s the early morning over there right now. However, he was happy to see us and have dinner together.
“Hi kids! I miss you all so much!” Eric said.
“Hi, daddy!” Ariel chirped, waving her hands in front of the computer.
We’re unsure if Ariel can comprehend that Eric isn’t her birth father, but none of us have the heart to tell her the truth. She’s never laid eyes on her birth father since she came to us a few days after she was born. She’s never known anyone other than Clarice and Eric as her parents. Clarice passed away when Ariel was a baby, so she only knows her from pictures around the house. She also doesn’t find it weird that we all call him Eric instead of dad, but she’s only four-years-old. I don’t think she’d be able to understand the difference yet.
With Ariel being so young, I was concerned that she would think I'm her mother. The kids and I don't want to ever forget our memories with Clarice, so when we go through photo albums, I point out to Ariel that Clarice is the woman who brought her home when she was born. I'm not sure if she can grasp the concept, but she calls me Lucy instead of mom so I assume she understands.
“How was your first day of school? Let’s go around the table and everyone tell me something fascinating about their day,” Eric said, wanting to hear from everyone. “Seth. Start us off. In English, if you don’t mind. It’s too early for me to translate in my head.”
Seth nodded. “I went the entire day without pulling a prank or getting in trouble. I’d qualify that as pretty fascinating!”
“Well, I was placed in advanced math, and I designed two new dresses for my dream board!” Serena said next, feeling proud of herself. “I also cursed out a mean girl in Spanish since she wouldn’t be able to understand me.”
We all laughed at Serena’s boldness.
“I only got in trouble for correcting the teacher twice. I started doing most of the fifth and sixth grade material over the summer, so I’m completely ahead of my class,” Derek said.
“I’m proud of you my little genius,” Eric smiled while yawning into the camera. He looked to Oliver who wasn’t as excited as the rest of us to tell Eric about our day. “What about you my little dreamer? Catch any good dreams in your dreamcatcher lately?”
Oliver kept his head low and whispered, “I ate lunch with some kids in my class. I did my breathing exercises that you taught me so that I wasn’t nervous.”
“I’m proud of you Ollie,” Eric said. “I’m happy that you kids are doing so well. I’m immensely proud of you Lucy, for taking such good care of the kids. Without you, I don’t know what would’ve happened to our family.”
I smiled. Having Eric tell me that he’s proud of me makes the sleepless nights worth it. Running at a hundred miles per hour with the kids is the reason we're all still a family, and I'd never trade that for anything.
I nudged Ariel to tell Eric about his day.
She beamed with excitement. “I drew a picture of everyone, and Lucy put it on the fridge. Ares took a nap with me because he missed me. I had crackers for snack time! And I got to sit in a beanbag chair!”
We all talked with Eric throughout dinner, discussing how our summer went after he left again. He was only back in town for half of June, then he relocated to another country.
“What about you, Leto?” Eric asked. I smiled at my nickname. We all have Greek mythology nicknames from Eric and Clarice. “First day of senior year. Any new boys other than Jasper?”
It's ironic that my foster parents would give me a nickname for the goddess of motherhood. Little did they know how true that statement would become.
I couldn’t contain the smile that edged onto my face at the thought of Wesley. Having Eric talk about boys with me has always been an interesting topic of conversation. He knows that Jasper is my only friend and the only boy I ever talk to. He has always dreamed of giving the ‘you hurt my daughter and I’ll make you pay’ speech, but I’ve never given him a reason.
“Ves esa sonrisa?” Serena smirked, looking at me from across the table.
“No boys,” I blurted out. “Jasper is still the only boy that has my heart. In a platonic way!” I said, before directing my attention to my brothers. “You three hold a different special place in my heart.”
After dinner, the kids said goodbye to Eric and went to do the dishes and nighttime chores while I spoke to Eric in private. He doesn’t like talking about financial or foster system things in front of the kids. He doesn’t want to worry them and neither do I.
“You got the mid-month check for September and the end of the month one should be in the account on the 30th,” Eric explained, knowing that I already understand all of it. “I already got permission to come home after your birthday, so let me know when you get the court date and I’ll be there. I promise.”
“Thank you, Eric,” I smiled.
Eric and I made a deal when Clarice passed away. I was only fourteen at the time, but it was the best choice for the entire family. He was given the promotion opportunity to join the Doctors Without Borders organization. If he accepted the position then all of us kids would be sent away to different foster homes, so we made an agreement to keep our lives a secret. I would take care of the kids and he would take the job to financially support our family. The seven of us had a long family talk about living on our own and what that would mean for our lives outside of the house. Keeping our living situation a secret hasn’t been easy, but the kids would rather lie to everyone they know instead of being sent away.
“No, thank you, Lucy. Clarice would be so proud of how you so bravely stepped up for our family. I still remember the day Clarice brought you home after you stole from her in the grocery store,” Eric said, bringing back the memory of when I was ten-years-old.
“I’m going to make you both proud. I promise,” I whispered.
I swore that as soon as I turn eighteen, I would petition the courts to take custody of the kids I viewed as my own. Getting custody would ensure that we could never be separated for any reason. Eric agreed to terminate his parental rights when I turned eighteen so that I’d be able to assume guardianship over the kids.
He is going to tell the judge why I’d be the perfect authority figure for my kids, while he’s away on business. We would keep the last four years a secret and pretend that he’s beginning the Doctors Without Borders job after I get custody. Eric also promised to financially support us with this new job even after I turn eighteen. He promised to take care of us for as long as we’d let him be our "dad."
“I have to start getting ready for the day. I’ll try and set up another video chat with you and the kids. Tell them I love and miss them so much,” Eric said.
“I love you. Bye Eric,” I said, slowly shutting down my laptop. His face disappeared from the screen, and I looked up to see my kids doing their chores together like a perfect assembly line. I sighed and thought of something else I wanted to say to Eric, so I whispered it to myself, “I promise to make you and Clarice proud of me.”
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