“Is Carson going to another foster family?” Dad and Mr. Hagen both shook their heads ‘no’.

“Were we rejected for some reason so we can’t be his foster family?” Again, they shook their heads ‘no’.

“Is it because we’re not near Riverview High and they don’t want him to have to change schools?” Same thing, a ‘no’ shake of their heads.

I tried to think of some other reason. “Is it because we have too many kids?”

Dad said, “No.”

Now in addition to being sad I was getting pissed. “Well then, what is it?”

Dad stood up. “Come here, David.”

I got up and walked over to him. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me, smiling.

“If Carson is willing, your mother and I want to adopt him.”

I stood there for what seemed a long time just staring at my dad, trying to analyze and understand and absorb what he’d said. Finally my brain unfroze.

“No! Yes? Really? Oh my god! Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god!”

I could feel tears running down my cheeks as I hugged Dad as hard as I could. I heard him say “Oof!” so I let him go and grabbed Mom’s hands and pulled her out of her chair and hugged her, then ran over to Mr. Hagen who figured out what I wanted to do and stood so I could hug him too.

“Oh, this is so wonderful! I know Carson will be so freaking happy when he’s told.”

Dad said, “We’re not going to tell Carson…” I interrupted, “WHAT?” as he continued, “…we’re going to ask Carson if he wants us to adopt him, David. At his age this is a decision that he has to make.”

“Oh. Yeah. I understand. That makes sense. Who’s going to tell… uh, ask him? Should I go up and get him? Or should one of you do that, or maybe Mr. Hagen?”

Mr. Hagen put his hand on my shoulder. “I recommend that David ask Carson to come downstairs.” He looked at me. “As long as you don’t say why. Just say your folks want to ask him something. Can you do that David, without spilling the beans?”

“I can do it. I might be smiling, a lot, but he won’t know why.”

“Alright, why don’t you go up and get him.”

I rubbed off what was left of the tears on my face and walked upstairs. I walked slowly, trying to figure out the best way to ask him to come downstairs.

When I got to my room I walked in, but only a couple of feet.

“Hey, Carson.”

He looked up and pulled out one of his earbuds. “Hi, David.”

“You still on the internet?”

“Uh huh. Do I need to get off?”

“Nah. But Dad wants to ask you something. Can you come down to his office?”

Carson pulled out the other earbud, stood up, stretched, and yawned.

I grinned. “Maybe you need a break. And a snack.”

“You’re right. I think especially the snack part.”

“Okay, let’s do it.” I turned and went down the stairs sort of fast. I heard Carson laugh and holler at me, “No running on the stairs, David!” so I slowed down. I led him into Dad’s office and closed the door after him.

Dad smiled and said, “Have a seat, Carson.”

He sat in the chair I’d been sitting in, and I walked behind it and stood there.

Carson looked around and stared at Mr. Hagen. “Is there something wrong?” He sounded worried. This must have looked like an interrogation or inquisition or something.

“Absolutely not, Carson,” my dad replied. Mrs. Dempsey and I have a question to ask you, and Mr. Hagen wanted to be here when we asked you.”

Mom walked over to where Carson was sitting and crouched in front of him. She took both of his hands in hers. I guess they forgot that they’d said I should ask the question. I was glad because I hadn’t thought about what to say.

“Carson, Mr. Dempsey and I want to ask you a very important question. Would you like us to adopt you and have you become a member of our family?”

There was total silence in the room for about a minute. A whole minute. I was watching the second hand going around ever so slowly on the clock on Dad’s desk. That’s a really, really long time. I saw Mom reach up a couple of time and rub her fingers on Carson’s face, so I guessed he must be crying. I walked around the chair and crouched next to Mom. He was crying, tears streaming down his cheeks, but he wasn’t making a sound. Then he whispered, “Really?” and Mom told him, “Really, truly, and forever.” I think Carson was so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t say another word. He looked at me and saw I was smiling. I nodded, then he turned back to Mom and nodded.

Mom stood and put her hand out and Carson took it and stood. Mom pulled him, me, and Dad in a hug, and all four of us stood there, crying tears of happiness. Carson pulled back and went over to Mr. Hagen and hugged him, then pulled back.

“You made this happen for me, didn’t you Mr. Hagen. I’ll never forget you, or what you’ve done for me.”

Carson held out his hand to me and I took it then held out mine and Mom and Dad joined hands with me and Mr. Hagen, and Mr. Hagen put his hand on Carson’s left shoulder.

Carson took a deep breath. “The other day I when I had my birthday party here I thought it was the happiest day of my life. It was a wonderful day, but today beats it all to heck. This is absolutely the happiest day ever of my life.” He looked at Mom and Dad. “Mom and Dad, you’ve made me the luckiest kid in the whole world today.”

Oh, man, it was so special to hear Carson call them Mom and Dad. That made me tear up again, and I felt Mom squeeze my shoulder. I knew what Carson had said, that Mr. Hagen made this happen for him, was true. I could see it in Mr. Hagen’s eyes. He stepped back.

“I think I’d better get back to Hathaway House. I have a lot to do to finish the paperwork so we can finalize your adoption. So, Rob and Cynthia, I’ll see you on Monday morning at eleven. And Carson, I’ll see you later.”

Carson and Mr. Hagen hugged and Dad walked him to the front door.

Carson was still holding my hand. It felt nice. Then it dawned on me that Carson and I were brothers. Really, truly, brothers. And Carson and Alan were brothers, and Lynn and Barb were his sisters and he was their brother. Our family had five kids now, and had grown from six to seven people. And it all happened because Carson and I smashed into each other the night before Thanksgiving. We sat down to wait for Dad to return.

“Well,” Mom said, “Lynn and Barb will be back for dinner, and we’ll tell them then. I know they’re going to be thrilled. Alan will be back tomorrow afternoon. He’ll be leaving for UC San Diego this week. And then his bedroom will be yours, Carson. As you know, he’s donating his bedroom to you. You’ll have to use the guest room until Alan leaves.”

“Or he can stay sleeping in my bedroom like he’s been doing,” I suggested.

Carson agreed. “That’s okay with me, Mom. Uh, I called you Mom. Is that okay? And if I call Dad, Dad?”

“Of course you can, sweetie,” Mom answered, making Carson blush bright red because she called him ‘sweetie’.

I glared at her. “Mom! Don’t embarrass him.”

“And exactly how did I embarrass Carson?”

“By calling him sweetie. Geez, you don’t call guys our age ‘sweetie’.”

Mom chuckled. “Okay, no ‘sweetie’ any more. I’ll try not to embarrass you, either of you. But you know embarrassing her children, especially when they’re teens, is a requirement listed in The Official Mother’s Guide to Child Rearing. You can look it up.”

“Yeah, as if!” I blurted out.

“Now David, don’t be mouthy!” Mom warned me.

Carson was sitting just watching us, a huge smile on his face.

“You look happy, Carson. ‘Sup?”

“What’s up? I have a family now. A real, honest-to-God family. A Mom, a Dad, two brothers, and two sisters. I’m so happy I might just explode with happiness. I love you guys. I just can’t believe it’s true. Maybe I’m dreaming this.”

“You’re not dreaming,” Mom told him, “it’s true. You are going to be a member of our family, the same as all of our other kids. And your dad and I couldn’t be happier.”

Carson looked at Mom, then at me, and started laughing. He was laughing so much that tears were running down his cheeks. He got up and started dancing around the room, waving his hand in the air and singing some tune I didn’t recognize. Then he walked over to me and pulled me out of my chair and I joined into his dance and started laughing the way he was. I noticed that his tears had stopped but his smile hadn’t. After a bit he looked at Mom and she got up and joined us, holding onto Carson’s shoulder and my other hand. Our dance wound down, and when we finally stopped we sat down and got our breaths back, Mom smiled and asked Carson, “And what was this little performance all about?”

The expression on his face was priceless. “I said I might explode with happiness and I did explode with happiness. I love you guys so much! It’s finally starting to sink in that I’m realy, truly part of your family, that it’s my family too, for me it’s our family now, and it’s… it’s… just wonderful.” He was tearing up again, but his smile showed that these were tears of joy. “I’m so glad you’re adopting me, but there’s one thing I want to know. Why did you decide to adopt me? I mean, you already have two boys and two girls.”

Mom started telling a story I’d heard before, but I always loved hearing it again.

“When I was pregnant with Lynn, my first ultrasound looked like I was having twins. Rob and I were thrilled. I’d always wanted twins or triplets, ever since I was a little girl. Don’t ask me why, I really don’t have any idea, but that’s what I’d always wanted. When we went back for my second ultrasound it was clear that the first was a false reading and I wasn’t having twins, just one baby, and it was going to be a girl. Lynn was born and she was so wonderful. Alan was thrilled because he had a little sister and he could be the big brother.

“A little less than a year later my parents were visiting. Uncle Phil phoned and asked if we could pick him up at the hospital. His car was being serviced and he couldn’t get it until the next day for some reason. Since Alan and Lynn’s grandparents were here, they became our babysitters and Rob and I drove to Redwood Hospital.

“We met Phil in the lobby. He started telling us about the most amazing baby. It was a boy who had suffered serious internal injuries in an automobile accident that had killed his mother. His father had been killed in Iraq, CPS couldn’t find records of any relatives, and that meant he was an orphan. He said that despite a history of being on the critical list, undergoing surgery, and being on dialysis, the baby was the happiest he’d ever seen. He said that the baby never cried other than when he was having something that hurt, like an injection or a blood draw, and afterward he’d stop crying right away and smile.

“Phil insisted that we should go to the pediatric unit and see him. We did. What we saw there was this baby who was about Lynn’s age, lying in a bassinette, smiling and gurgling and playing with his toes the way babies do. As I approached the bassinette he looked at me, smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen, and held out his hands to me and said, ‘Mommy!’ I couldn’t resist. I picked him up and he put his little arms around my neck and gurgled and babbled and kept saying ‘Mommy’. Then he snuggled against my neck, and proceeded to go to sleep. I carefully put him back in his bassinette. He was so cute. He reminded me of Lynn and the way she smiled all the time. I stood there, looking at him for the longest time. I was hooked. I looked over at Phil and by the way he was grinning I knew this was a setup to get me and Rob to see this baby boy.

“I asked Phil, ‘What’s going to happen to him since he’s an orphan?’ and he told me that he’d end up somewhere in the foster care system. After we went home Rob and I talked about becoming his foster parents so Lynn would have someone her age to grow up with.

“It took a couple of months for us to be established as qualified to be his foster parents and receive CPS approval. As you’ve undoubtedly guessed, Carson, that baby boy is our son David. Once he was our foster son we went through the process and filed a petition to adopt him. And he’s been our son and we’ve been his parents ever since. And he’s just as happy a teen as he was when he was a baby.”

This was what I knew about my adoption by Mom and Dad. Mom continued, and this time I figured it would be about Carson.

“Now, it’s easier to adopt an infant who’s an orphan. Even though you’re also an orphan, Carson, since you’re not an infant the process is more complicated.

“First, Hathaway House, in addition to being a foster facility, is also an adoption placement agency. So we requested that Mr. Hagen initiate a detailed evaluation to determine if we are fit to adopt you and become your parents. It was easier because we have a history of a successful adoption. Mr. Hagen is a licensed social worker, and he has conducted the investigation and issued his approval for us to become your adoptive parents. As a result you’re being placed in our home on what’s called a tentative placement. It’s a probationary period, a trial to make sure you feel compatible being part of our family and that we feel that you are compatible with us and that we’re comfortable having you as part of our family.”

Carson smiled. “That’s a big yes for me. I hope that’s a yes for you too.”

Mom grinned and nodded, then reached over and squeezed Carson’s hand. “Absolutely a big yes for us too. So you’re starting your tentative placement, you’re going to live with us starting today.

“Second, we will file an adoption petition with the court. Once that’s been done, Mr. Hagen, as the representative of the adoption agency, files a report to the court stating the results of the tentative placement and attesting that our family circumstances are favorable for adoption. Assuming that everything is favorable, his report will recommend that the adoption petition be granted. Carson, you might have to go to court to tell the judge if you agree to the adoption petition, or it might be done in an interview with a CPS social worker. In either case, if you do agree the court will enter a final adoption order. That means you will officially become our son, and a new birth certificate will be issued for you.”

I looked at Mom. “Wow, that sounds complicated. Why do they have to do so much investigating and tentative placement and being on probation and interviewing and stuff like that?”

“It’s all for the protection of the child,” Mom told us. “You wouldn’t want a child to be adopted by someone unsuitable. For example, adoptive parents must have enough income to pay for the child’s current and expected living expenses, they must have health coverage for the child, their house must be clean and safe, there has to be a separate bedroom for the child, the family must be stable, and so on. Every adoptive couple or person must meet the same set of criteria to be approved.”

Carson sucked in his bottom lip. “There still one other question I have. Why me? I mean, you don’t really know me. I could be an axe murderer or something.”

“Mr. Hagen has all of your information, and the box for axe murderer wasn’t checked,” she said. Carson and I laughed. “We watched how you interact with David and the rest of us, and you’ve become David’s best friend. We all fell in love with you, Carson, and it was, as they say, a match made in heaven.”

“I’d say ‘pinch me’ to make sure I’m not dreaming, but if I did I know David would actually pinch me,” Carson turned to look at me and grinned, “so I’ll skip that and just believe it’s real. Still, what’s so amazing is that this all started on Wednesday and today’s only Friday.”

“It is amazing, Carson, but I guess that’s what happens when it is a match made in heaven.

“Well, we’ve been talking for some time and I want to talk to your father. Why don’t the two of you go in and make yourselves a snack, and we’ll join you in a few minutes.”

“Ok, Mom!” Carson replied.

I added, “What Carson said,” and we headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

“What do you want, Carson?”

“How ‘bout an apple and a slice of cheddar cheese?”

“Okay.”

I got two apples and a package of sliced cheddar cheese out of the refrigerator, and we sat down at the kitchen table.

Carson sat looking at his apple, turning it over and back and forth. Then he held it up, looked at me, and grinned. “Hmmm.”

“Hmmm? What’s with ‘Hmmm’?”

“Aren’t you going to core and quarter it for me?”

“Carson, let’s get something cleared up here, okay? This is a self-service home. You want your apple cored and quartered, you core and quarter it yourself.”

Carson put down his apple and pointed to his broken arm. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Okay, okay. I get the hint. But this is a limited-time offer.” We both laughed.

“Thank you, David. Remember, it’s just for another five or six weeks.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. I took his apple and mine to the sink and quartered each of them then cut out the core parts in each quarter. I put the quarters on a plate and brought it to the table. I opened the package of cheese and pulled out two slices.

We sat eating our apples and cheese and looking at each other. I was studying him. He was real good looking. In fact, he was cute.

He smiled at me. “I’d say ‘get a camera’ but I like having you look at me, David. It gives me a chance to look at you, too. Hey, do you have a camera?” I nodded. “Okay, I want a pic of you that I can put in my wallet and always carry with me.”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll take a pic of you, and you take one of me. Lemme go get my camera.”

I ran upstairs. “Stop running on the stairs, David!” I heard Mom yell at me from the living room. I went to my room and got my camera and walked back downstairs to the kitchen.

“Okay, got it. Now, where should we take our pix? I know, the garage wall. It’s light in the back yard but the sun won’t be shining in our eyes.”

“Uh… how ‘bout we finish our apples first?”

We did that, and I put the package of cheese in the refrigerator while Carson put the plate into the dishwasher. Then we walked outside.

“Okay, you stand over there,” I told Carson as I pointed to garage wall. That wall is what Dad calls ‘Navajo white’ which looks like white with a little tan added to it. He stood about three feet in front of the wall, and when I framed the picture I could see his shadow.

“Move about two feet in front of where you are.”

He moved forward and his shadow shifted off the screen. I said, “Say cheese please!” and he said ‘cheese please’ several times and I took four pictures.

“Come take a look at your pictures.”

Carson walked over to me and I showed him his four pictures.

“Cool. I really like all four. I guess you can take your pick. Now, you go stand over there and and say ‘cheese please’ and I’ll stand here and take your pic, David.”

My pix also turned out good. “We make great photographers, Carson. Maybe we could make some money taking pix of people from school. I know everyone bitches about their class pics.”

“That’s funny. But who knows, maybe. How ‘bout we print these to go into our wallets.”

“What, no enthusiasm for my idea? Well, there goes our first chance to make a million dollars.”

“A million dollars? I don’t know about that! Anyway, can we go up and get these pix edited and printed? Right now? Please?”

Carson was sure in a big hurry to get me to print the pix. So we walked back into the house and upstairs to my bedroom.