766 V3 ch1

"Im happy you found your forever home." Mr. Duncan congratulated me outside the courthouse. He had come to visit us and was officially no longer my caseworker.

I smiled up at him, happy to see him for once. I had thought long and hard what my life would be like without the Atkins. "Thanks for finding them for me, Mr. Duncan."

He looked surprised, but returned a smile of his own. "Its part of my job, Jake. Seeing a kid end up in his forever home is always the end goal."

"I thought the state is always about reunification?" Noah rolled his eyes.

Mr. Duncan shrugged, helpless. "We have our guidelines to follow. I do what I can." He shook hands with Mom and Dad. "Mary, Wayne, thanks again for your hard work. Let me know if you guys are interested in fostering again."

Mom looked apologetic. "Probably not anytime soon. Dont cross us off the list, but-" She smiled my way. "We have our hands full at the moment."

Feeling embarrassed, I turned away and started to thank my friends that showed up.

Alisha took charge, inviting everyone to her house for a celebration. Her parents and our parents started talking about where to order pizza from and how much they would need to cover everyone present.

"We have to hit the road." Jeremy said to me, holding Roses hand.

I nodded, understanding. He had a game tonight. It was okay for him to skip some of his pregame workouts and preparations, but I didnt want him to miss it all. "Thanks for coming." I smiled.

He reached out and messed up my hair that Mom had meticulously done. "Anything for you, kiddo."

Rose smiled too. "Let me know the next time you boys can come to a game."

"Itll be harder with school starting next week." Dad had come over to say, resting his arm around my shoulders. "Well have to coordinate on the weekends."

Jeremy nodded. "Sure. I understand. I can also visit on my off days. Once the season is over, therell be more time and opportunities for me to come over."

Dad nodded. "Its all about balance. Youre welcomed to come over anytime." He smiled at Rose. "You too."

Rose blushed. "Thanks."

The crowd started to get smaller as I said goodbye to those who couldnt stay or couldnt make it to Alishas. With two cars, we had to split up. Mom and Dad took our grandparents. Zeke took me, Noah, and Dave. Kyle went with Marie and Kaylee. It didnt matter so much how we got to Alishas, but it did stagger our arrival times.

As we filled up her backyard, it definitely had a party feel to it. Similar to Noahs birthday, the a.d.u.l.ts hung out on one side and us teens hung out on the other.

Mom went around taking pictures of me with all my friends. Me and the guys from the team. Me with Dr. Moore. Me with a few classmates. Me with Kaylee and Alisha. Me with Noah, the twins, and Zeke. Me with my grandparents. Me with the coaches. There is no one I didnt take a picture with.

"I think Mrs. Atkins is more excited than either of you." Alisha said as we ate pizza that the a.d.u.l.ts ordered.

"She just likes to doc.u.ment things like this." Noah shrugged.

"You like to take pictures too." Alisha pointed out. "But for real, shes like really, really, really excited."

"She worked hard." I explained, smiling towards Moms general direction. "I think shes just reveling in the success of me getting adopted. Her and Dad had to do a lot of classes, training, and interviews. It probably wasnt something they had planned on doing before. Plus, theres a lot of stories of how adoptions dont go through."

"Were you worried about it not going through?" Kaylee asked.

I shrugged and turned my attention to my food. "Not too much. Even if they got denied, I would still get to be with them. I dont have any other parents but them."

"He would have cried." Noah ratted me out. "Jakes a big cry baby."

The girls laughed at my look of distress.

"I think Jake Atkins has a nice ring to it." Alisha told me, smiling.

"Probably has something to do with him dropping an extra syllable." Kaylee stated plainly.

Alisha looked at me. "Did you ever think about taking Jeremys last name? That should have been your last name originally, right?"

I shook my head. "I never thought about it." I always wanted to be an Atkins.

"Speaking of Jeremy, hows he and his uncle drama?" Kaylee asked. "Did he cut him off completely?"

I shrugged, not sure. "We dont talk about it. And now that the news is over it, there isnt much to be said." I thought about how hard he took it. "I think...hes distracting himself with baseball for now."

"Yes!" Noah exclaimed. "He needs to! The As have never looked so good." He grinned my way. "And with you as an in, we can even go to some playoff games. That would be so awesome."

I smiled and nodded. If that happened, I would definitely take Noah to a playoff game. He would die from the excitement.

We spent the rest of the day there, talking about everything and nothing. As people would leave, they all stopped by me to congratulate me again. There was a lot of the talk from the guys on the team how there would still be four Atkins on the team and that the other schools might be scared that Zeke repeated. It was a good time.

Later that night, Mom and Dad told us the plan for taking Zeke to school. Tomorrow, he would have to pack up all his stuff in the family car and we would have the option to go with if we wanted to, but we would have to take an additional car if all of us went.

"If we go, can we stay the night?" Noah asked.

"Where the heck would we stay?" Dave asked. "Do you want all of us to squeeze in one tiny room?" He scoffed. Then looked at Zeke. "No offense, but Ill pass. There doesnt seem to be any reason for us to go. Ill help you pack the car though."

Zeke shrugged. "Yea, its not a big deal. Rhys will be there to help me move my stuff into the dorm." He looked to his parents. "Are both of you going?"

"Of course!" Mom exclaimed.

Dad nodded along. "We wouldnt miss it for the world." He looked to Noah and me. "Did you two want to come?"

Noah nodded. "Yea! I want to see! Ill help too."

I nodded after him. If Noahs going, then I want to go too.

Kyle spoke up. "Ill stay home too. Probably get some pitching in, then maybe go on a date with Marie."

Dad squinted at him. "No girls over while were away." He looked to Dave. "Youre in charge."

"Yes!" Dave pumped his fists.

"What? Why?!" Kyle looked stunned.

"Because Daves not in danger of i.m.p.r.e.g.n.a.t.ed a nonexistent girlfriend." Dad said.

"Oh, burn." Noah looked at Dave with a smirk.

Kyle looked to be in a better mood.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"So will you guys be gone until Sunday?" Kyle got the conversation back on track.

"No, well be back late tomorrow night." Mom said. "Well get Zeke settled in. Hopefully have dinner with Rhys and his parents, then well come home."

"Sounds like a plan." Dad nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Johnson wont be there." Zeke said. "Hes on a series of away games with the team."

"Thats too bad." Mom sighed. "Hes really missing out on move-in day."

"Mom, its not a big deal." Zekes lips twitched, revealing a small smile. "Were not even moving a state away. For Rhys, its even closer than you guys."

"You wouldnt understand." Mom brushed him off. "Our oldest sons are moving out. This is a huge milestone." She started to tear up. "Back to back big days. I dont know how Ill get through this weekend."

Dad pulled her into a hug and the rest of us stealthily made our way out of the kitchen.

"You really cool with us not going?" Kyle asked Zeke as we climbed the stairs. "Like, Ill go, if you really want me to."

Dave laughed. "Youre acting like Zeke is Jake. Zekes a big boy. He can move into his tiny dorm room all on his own if he really wanted to."

Zeke answered. "Its really not a big deal. Im not moving that far away and Ill be home one weekend a month."

"Ew." Dave snorted. "Why would you come back? Live your college life."

Kyle gave him a small shove. "Cant you think about Mom for a second? She obviously isnt ready for Zeke to be on his own."

Dave scratched his nose. "Oh. Right."