Home Is Wherever You Are (21 page)

Chapter 37 – Good Help is Hard to Find

I must have fallen asleep, finally crashing from my adrenalin rush, once I knew everyone would be alright. I felt a hand on my cheek and went to squeeze Addy’s, only to find my own hand empty. I jumped up in a panic, worried she wasn’t okay, only to find her looking at me quizzically.

“Bad dream?” she asked.

I shook my head no and took her hand in mine. “I was afraid I’d only dreamt you were okay,” I said, leaning over her, kissing her lips and then kissing her stomach. “Are you okay? Are you in pain? Do you need a nurse?” I asked.

“I’m fine right now, Matthew. Well, I will be once you tell me about the girls.”

I was happy to be the one giving her the good news. “They’re fine, a little dehydrated and malnourished, but no one had…hurt them, until tonight, anyway, and we stopped that before it happened.”

She let out a sigh of relief.

“We’re taking them home. Ms. Jordan is on her way with the adoption papers. They’re going to be ours for good.  No one will ever take them or try and hurt them again,” I promised, kissing her softly. Her good arm came up around my neck, and our foreheads rested against each other.

“They’re coming home,” she said with a sigh.

I smiled. “Yes, Leon has Kelly getting their room ready. I’m not sure what we’ll come home to, though.”

She laughed a little and then cringed in pain, when her body shook her wound. A throat cleared behind us, reminding me we weren’t alone. Daniel had been waiting patiently to see if his little girl was alright. I wouldn’t deny him that, especially when I knew how upsetting your daughter being hurt could be.

“Hey, baby girl. You scared the crap out of me, when your husband called to tell me you were shot,” he kissed her head. “Don’t do that again.”

“I didn’t plan on doing it the first time.”

“Yeah, well, you could’ve waited for the cops.”

“They wouldn’t have gotten there in time,” she defended. “They didn’t make it in time to stop this, either,” she said, motioning to her shoulder. “I called as soon as we looked down the alley. It took them that long to come. We couldn’t let him take the girls. We couldn’t let him hurt them,” she said, with a stronger voice. The monitors went off a little louder.

I stepped forward, hushing her. “It’s alright, baby, we did the right thing. There was no way I wasn’t going to help our girls.”

She sniffled a little, and I held on to her. Daniel stepped back, rubbing his face. “I was just worried, Addy. I wished it’d been me or an officer with a vest prepared to be shot, not my baby girl. I know you did what you had to. I’m glad the girls are safe and coming home.”

My mother came forward and rested her hand on Addy’s tummy. “I’m so happy to hear you’re both alright.” My mother was fighting back tears and finally gave in, hugging my wife as she sobbed.

The social worker stepped into the room nervously. “The girls are asking for you,” she said, looking at Addy and me.

“You should go to them. Let them know we’re taking them home, and they won’t ever have to leave again,” Addy said with a smile.

I nodded, and my mother wiped her tears and took my hand. “Leon and Daniel, you look after Addy now. I’m leaving her feeling fine and growing my grandson. I expect to return to find her in the same condition,” she said, in a deadly serious mom voice.

Both men nodded yes to my mom, and she led me down the hall, following the social worker.

We came to the pediatric wing and had only stepped in the door, when I heard both girls call to me. “Daddy!” they squealed, and Gabby was wrapped around my legs.

I noticed she had an IV in her arm and most likely shouldn’t have been up, so I picked her up and carried her back to her bed, which was next to Genny’s. I leaned over, kissing her head, and then I kissed little Genny’s, too. She had tears in her eyes, and my mother was fawning over the girls, hugging and kissing them both.

“You’re going to be coming home with us for good. I’m getting the judge to sign the papers saying I’m your dad and Ms. Addy is your mom forever.”

“Really?” Gabby asked, choking up. “We get to stay this time?”

“Forever,” my mom said.             

“There’s no way I’m ever letting them take you away again,” I promised and picked up Genny, holding her in my lap. Her little arms were strapped against her sides and chest. “Are you alright, sweet girl? The doctor says you’re going to get better and grow up healthy and strong.”

Genny just turned her face into my shoulder, so I kissed her little head. She looked up at me with sad eyes.

“You’re coming home with me, and you’ll get to meet your brother, Adam. I know he’ll be great at helping you out, and in another two months, you’ll get a brand new little baby brother named Abraham. We’re going to need your help with him. I hear babies are lots of work. Do you think you and Gabby could help us out by being his big sisters?”

Genny looked over at Gabby, who was nodding yes happily, sitting in my mom’s lap.

“I think you girls will like Adam,” my mother added. “I’m sure he’s going to be so excited to meet you. He’s been the only little kid in the house for a while.”

Their doctor came in and looked over their charts and then looked up at us surprised. “Who are you?”

“I’m Matthew Martin. I’m in the process of adopting the girls. They were my foster children, before they were returned to their mother.”

“Process?” he asked and looked at the social worker. I really should learn her name.

“Yes, Ms. Jordan is bringing the papers down to be signed right now, actually.”

“Well, alright then, it’s nice to see these girls get a happy ending,” he said and came over, gently examining the girls, checking their vitals. His eyes darted to my bandaged arm. “What happened?” he asked.

“I was shot along with my wife while trying to get the girls away from the man who hurt Genny.”

The doctor’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“As the heart attack he almost gave me by calling me and telling me his pregnant wife had been shot, and then I get here and see he’d been shot as well,” my mother tsked at me.

“I’m fine, Mom.  Addy was the one who was really hurt.”

“Is she alright?” the doctor asked, sounding sincere.

“Yes, she and our baby are fine, it was in her left shoulder, so she’ll be out one arm for a while, but we’ll make do,” I said, leaning down and kissing little Genny on the head.

“Yes, I’ll be there to help. I was just telling the girls about their brother, Adam.  He was adopted while they were away.”

“So, you’re adopting three kids and having one, too?”

“We found out we were pregnant and then adopted our four-year-old son, Adam, and now we’ll be adopting Genny and Gabby. They were with us before Adam, they were our first babies, and I’m so grateful we found them in time and get to take them home,” I said, fighting back tears. I was feeling a bit overly emotional from all the stress. The thing that sucked was once I got home, I wouldn’t be able to take off work to be with the kids or get a break. I would have to do my best to pick up extra jobs, so I could make ends meet with four kids and a hospital bill.

“Are you going to take some time off to help Addy and get the girls settled?” my mother asked, as if reading my mind.

“I wish I could, Mom, but you know we’re barely making it as it is, and with no insurance, I’m sure the hospital bill is going to be huge.”

“You don’t have insurance?” he asked me shocked.

“No, I’m an electrician and a handyman, self-employed. I couldn’t find any work in my field, so I employed myself, in order to be able to take care of my family,” I stated. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any benefits.”

“I’m sure the state insurance would cover the children and maybe even your wife, since she’s pregnant. I’ll have the financial aid person come up and talk to you. Hopefully, you can get this taken care of and not end up starving.”

I smiled. I wasn’t one to take something without working for it. I had come to like bartering, but at this point, I knew Addy’s hospital bill would be huge.

An hour later, a lady with thick glasses came in and saw me sitting with the girls on the bed. I was reading a story to them, while my mother went hunting for food and checked on Addy. I wanted to go, too, but Gabby had a death grip on me, and I completely understood why. She needed me more than Addy right now, and I was sure Addy would understand and agree.

“Matthew Martin?” the lady asked.

“Yes,” I answered. She looked kind and had a file folder clutched to her chest.

“It’s so good to meet you. I’m Ingrid Townsend with financial aid. When Dr. Hannelle told me your story, I thought it must’ve been something made up, but then I ran into the cop and asked for a copy of the police report. What you did was amazing, and I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I think God intervened right then, putting you right by your little girls when they needed you most.”

I wasn’t much for God most the time, but this time, I had to give God the credit for having his hand in saving my girls. What were the chances we would just happen to be staying in the hotel next to the alley they were living in? “I think so, too. I’m just glad I’ll finally be able to take my little girls back home.”

“It’s so nice that they’re getting a happy ending. I brought the papers for you to request assistance from the state for your wife. I can help you process them. I was also wondering if you wouldn’t mind letting us tell your story. It might encourage others to adopt and get more children into more permanent, happy homes.”

“I’ll have to talk to my wife, but I think it’d be okay,” I said with a shrug.

She smiled and clapped her hands. “Wonderful, I’ll just write up a little statement for the press release for you to look over, then.”

I was a little dumbfounded, but agreed. Once Gabby was asleep, I slipped out and talked to Addy about it, telling her about how clingy Gabby was being, not wanting to let me go, and that was why I wasn’t able to get back to her sooner. Just like I knew she would, she told me to go stay with the girls. Daniel was staying with her, so she said she would be fine. My mom and Leon were bouncing between both rooms, making sure we had everything we needed and helping me look after the girls.

Kelly came the next day with little Adam, who jumped right up on the bed and into my arms, not even caring that I had one of the girls next to me. He looked over at Gabby with big excited eyes, sticking out his hand to shake. “I’m Adam, I’m your brother,” he said, making Gabby smile big at him and then look up at me, before she hugged Adam, kissing his cheek. He wiped it off, and to his credit, he did his best not to look grossed out.

“I’m Gabby, and that’s Genny, she’s our sister.”

Adam looked over at Genny asleep in my mom’s arms, her torso all wrapped up, and frowned. “She got hurt like mom.”

“They’re going to be alright, Adam. Everyone is going to be fine.”

Ingrid came in with a paper and smiled at us crowded together on Gabby’s bed. “Who’s this young man?”

“I’m their big brother, Adam,” he said, puffing out his chest.

“Well, you look to be a very good brother,” she said, and he grinned so big I thought he would burst.

“I’ve been practicing,” he whispered.

“Oh, you have?” Ingrid asked intrigued.

“Yeah, I’s at the playground, and I helped all the little kids out, so they could swing and climb and play.”

“Well, it looks like the girls are going to a good home, then, since you’ll be there to look out for them,” Ingrid complimented.

He nodded with a serious look on his face. “They’re my family, and I take care of my family,” he said proudly.

I was filled with pride. I leaned down and kissed his little head. “You’re going to be the best big brother ever.”

Ingrid left the statement with me to read over. It was just the copy, and she told me it would go out on the six o’clock news tonight, unless there were some changes that needed to be made. She told me she had left a copy with my wife as well.

When the six o’clock news came on, I was surprised at how deep the news reporter had really decided to dig. They had looked me up and had found that I had been laid off and homeless, and then went back to work for a company that had gone under a year later.  They touched on me starting my own handyman business and dabbling in home building, taking on another employee and partner, who had also lost his job and had a family to support.

Then they spoke of us taking my parents in and then losing my father. They also mentioned we had fostered the girls, who had been returned to their mother, and how we had found out we were pregnant and still adopted Adam anyway.

Like there was any doubt we would, I scoffed.

They went on to talk about us celebrating our anniversary and finding the girls. The news anchor got really teary-eyed, as she mentioned that my pregnant wife had been shot during the rescue, and now we were facing mounting hospital bills. This was not the twist they had been supposed to take. It was supposed to have been a happy ending, feel good story, or so I had thought, looking down at the statement in front of me.

I was shocked, when suddenly they began talking about donations and where to call or go to donate to help the Martin family.