Chapter 50
“Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, I’m Mrs. Grandon and this…”
she paused pushing Josh a little in front of her.
“is Josh”
“Hello Josh” Karen smiled friendly.
“Hi” he said shyly.
“I’m Karen and this is Roy” Josh eyed the two of
them; they looked nice.
“Would you like to come in?” she asked gently. Josh
looked over his shoulder at Justin who’d offered to come with him to meet his
foster parents.
Josh was nervous; these were the people he would
probably move in with. It was strange to think that he was moving out of
Justin’s house and even stranger; he actually had a place where he was welcome,
again. Lynn and Paul had made sure of that.
After the trial; which went pretty quickly; the
police had told the court they were still looking for Josh’s stepfather and
they had reasons to believe the man was behind it all. The pictures came back
as evidence and it was decided pretty quickly that Josh really didn’t choose to
rob the place. He also showed his regret and it was clear that it hadn’t been
out of free will. However the judge still kept to the fact that Josh did rob
the house and although it was not his choice; he still did it. The judge didn’t
want to send him to jail however; he didn’t deserve it really but she didn’t
want to let him go without any repercussion. In order to help him stay on the
right track and as a repercussion really as well; she put him on probation.
They were all happy with the outcome and dared to celebrate although the
probation didn’t mean he was trouble free. He still needed to be careful but he
intended to. Lynn and Paul had talked about Josh moving out for some time but
they didn’t want to do anything till after the trial. They were all a bit on
edge because of it and extra worries would do nobody any good. Therefore they waited
till after to contact Mrs. Grandon.
Lynn and Paul had talked to Mrs. Grandon; informing
her that they thought it would be better if Josh lived somewhere else. They’d
assured her it was nothing he did, they were just concerned about Josh and of
course Justin. Henry had been to their home and if he ever came back he knew
where to find his step-son in an instant, moving him would be safer; at least a
little. They were concerned about Justin as well and although they were very
fond of Josh they never meant for this to be a permanent thing. The papers
they’d signed at the time allowed them to back out of this. Justin had asked
them, at the time, with no warning, and it had been an impulse to say yes to
his request.
Justin had kept his word; he’d taken responsibility
for Josh and Lynn and Paul couldn’t be more proud of him and the way he cared
for Josh. However they were also aware of the fact that Justin was still a
child as well and they didn’t want Justin to take care of Josh the way a parent
should. Josh had been through a lot and no matter how badly Justin wanted to
fix that he couldn’t… not really. Justin needed to let the adults handle this.
Justin was too young to take total responsibility for a boy who was almost the
same age as he was and in order to protect Justin, Paul and Lynn knew it was
time for them to look for the appropriate parents for Josh so that both Josh
and Justin could act like their age again; they had plenty of time to act like
adults. Josh had already lost so much he needed a normal, stable home and Paul
and Lynn were determined to search that home.
After the conversation Mrs. Grandon had had with
Lynn and Paul they’d agreed they would go look for another foster home for
Josh. Lynn was afraid of Justin’s reaction more than Josh’s and she’d asked
around before she told him. The asking around paid off; Lynn came with a
possible new home for the troubled kid; Karen and Roy Hayes. Lynn had been
friends with Karen for years and coincidently she told her friend about the
troubled youth who was living in their home, telling her they were looking for
a new home for him. Karen felt tied to it and she’d asked Lynn for Mrs.
Grandon’s phone number.
Mrs. Grandon had checked them although they were
friends of Lynn’s and made sure they knew what they were getting themselves
into; Josh was an abused child and also the probation needed to be discussed.
It was not to scare them off; it was simply procedure and if they would back
out; they weren’t suited anyway. However Karen and Roy seemed determined; she
did not know what their motives were but they seemed wonderful and so it was
approved. Josh would go live with the Hayes’ the sooner the better. Lynn only
had to tell Justin then;
“Why
can’t he stay here?” Justin whined, his pout already beginning to show.
“Don’t
you want Josh to have a normal life?”
“Yes”
Justin admitted softly.
“Roy
and Karen can give him that” Justin bit his lip, dropped his head.
“He’ll
still like you Justin” Lynn reassured. Justin’s head snapped up.
“How
did you know…?” Justin gasped.
“A
mother sees those things Justin” Lynn assured; she knew Justin was gay and was
fine with it. So was Paul; Lynn however saw the chemistry between the two boys
in her house. She saw the way Justin’s eyes shone when he was around Josh.
She’d seen the gentle touches, accidentally bumping into each other. She’d seen
the attraction. Justin smiled a little.
“I
really like him”
“I
know, he really likes you too. I can tell but now he’ll like you for real, like
a boyfriend not like a replacement mother. It’ll be better Justin, trust me”
“Ok”
And with Justin agreeing; Mrs. Grandon could tell
Josh what was happening. Josh was afraid at first and hurt that Lynn and Paul
wanted him out of their house but they’d explained everything and Josh
understood. He also really appreciated the fact that they’d personally found
him another home. They could have just kicked him out but they didn’t and that
meant a lot.
And now they were finally there; ready to meet his
new foster parents. Josh was nervous. He kept asking for reassurances, a
confirmation that Roy and Karen really wanted to take him in, certain they
would change their mind when they’d hear about what he’d done but till his
astonishment they already knew, making it even harder to believe that they
really wanted him. He certainly didn’t know why; he was useless, except for the
money he made Henry he’d been nothing more than a burden to him, undeserving of
any love or otherwise he wouldn’t have been left behind with Henry in the first
place. He didn’t blame his mother. She’d made him feel special but after some
time with Henry it was almost impossible to produce the happiness. It was all
Henry’s fault, all of it.
Josh was sure he really didn’t deserve any of this;
the new home with people who cared about him but Justin kept saying that he
did. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve Justin either, living with Henry
for years had taught him one thing; he didn’t deserve anything. It doesn’t take
a lot of times for someone to say you don’t deserve anything before you start
believing it.
However; he must have done something good if he had
the privilege of meeting Justin, of having him as a boyfriend and Lance;
something had gone right if he had the luck of meeting Lance, of having him as
a friend. He’d been lucky Lance had persisted; his life would have been very
different now if Lance had given up. However for some reason he hadn’t given up
on him and Josh would be forever grateful.
He must have done something good and he hoped he
deserved yet a little bit of extra love and comfort; if he was really lucky
from strangers who were willing to treat him like family.
Justin smiled, gently, urging him on with his eyes
as he met Josh’s questionable gaze.
Josh nodded, “Thank you” he said politely, smiling
softly, ducking his head shyly as he followed Roy and Karen inside, Mrs.
Grandon and Justin close behind him. Justin was glad Mrs. Grandon hadn’t mind
that he went along. He wanted to be there for Josh; once more before Karen and
Roy would take over, that was if this all worked out. Roy and Karen guided the
two young boys and the social worker to the living room.
“Have a seat” Roy offered. Josh walked with Justin
to the couch and sat down.
“Can I get you a drink?” Karen asked their guests
politely. They all declined however; Josh and Justin too nervous and Mrs.
Grandon had had too much coffee already. Karen nodded with a small smile.
“We’re glad you’re here” Karen smiled warmly as she
sat next to her husband on the other couch.
“Why?” Josh blurted softly.
“Because we want to help you”
Josh’s knee bounced and he chewed his nails;
nervous ticks. He always got nervous when people told him they wanted to help.
He couldn’t help but think about what they wanted in return.
“We knew your mother” Karen informed him gently.
“You knew my mom?”
“Yes” they nodded.
“We lost contact when she got married” Karen told
him sadly.
“Oh”
“And we heard what happened to her”
They were all silent for a while. Roy and Karen
shared a look then Roy focused his attention on the teenage boy.
“Justin’s parents told us about you. We have two
kids of our own but if you want there’s room for one more. We want to offer you
a home… a stable home if you want you’re very welcome here”
Josh took in the news, the hospitality and sat
dumbfounded for a while. He didn’t even know these kind of people existed. They
were willing to just accept him into their home, to take care of him even
though they knew about his past?
“Josh?” Justin nudged him gently.
“Oh yeah… I’m sorry I… I’m just shocked but…” he
swallowed firmly.
“You’re sure you want me here?”
“Uh-huh” they nodded in unison.
“Even after you know what…” Josh asked still not
sure this was all for real but Justin cut him off, grasping his hands.
“Josh. They want you to live with them, do you want
that too?” Justin asked lowering his head to meet Josh’s eyes. He didn’t want
Josh to have to rake up the memories of his stepfather when he would ask if
they knew about his past. When Josh started his sentence Justin couldn’t help
but stop him; protect him. Josh stared at Justin, letting the question sink in,
the he turned to face the couple waiting for a reply, however he held onto
Justin’s hands for support. He nodded slowly. A smile tugged at his lips as he accompanied
the nod with words.
“If you’re sure you want me…” he started, seeing
the determined nods, “Then yes… I’d like to live here”
