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Goodbye For Good? | Shook Chapter 25 Part 11
A few days later, the Blue family was at a legal Department in North Carolina to welcome their newest edition.
After the highway crash, Mr. and Mrs. Blue had changed the Blue children’s schools back to normal at the last second as long as the children promised to do better (especially Maya,) and took on extra chores for a month. Madalia sent Dyan to a foster home in NC, so she could be close by when the court date for adoption showed up.
Dyan finally understood what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. Her stomach felt jittery but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She was going to be adopted! Even when her old foster parents had said it was unlikely she would be adopted at ten, she had been!
Dyan was driven from a foster home down to the Department of Adoption where she met up with the Blue family. Dyan was surprised to get tackled by Maya in the parking lot with a big hug. In front of them was a huge building that looked like a cross between an office building and a house- the house was brown with brick shutters, and the building was much longer than a house should be.
The family went in and was led to a large room where the walls were covered in bookshelves. There were lots of circle tables with chairs all around. Mr. Blue ordered all his children to sit at a table and be quiet, and so they did, chatting and giggling quietly.
The woman Mr. and Mrs. Blue were speaking to was much younger than Dyan thought she would be. Dyan thought everyone who dealt with ‘official’ state stuff would be old and wrinkly, but this woman had smooth white skin and brown wavy hair. When she smiled her eyes didn’t even crinkle like Mr. Blue’s. She had on a wide black dress that fell to her ankles with long wrinkled sleeves.
“So this is the girl you’ll be adopting,” the lady bent down to meet Dyan’s eye level. “I’m Shanon and your name is?”
“Dyan,” she answered skittishly.
“Dyan. Such a pretty name,” said Shanon, and she sat at one of the round tables with Mr. and Mrs. Blue. Dyan was offered to sit with them, and so she did.
“State your appearance.” said Shanon, her smile fading and her eyes sliding across papers at the table.
As Mr. and Mrs. Blue talked with Shanon, Dyan looked at all the Blue children at the nearby tables.
Teal was sitting in Royal’s lap, pulling on a royal blue coil of her hair. Royal was too busy shushing the boy twins to notice this. The boy twins were playing rock-paper-scissors. True was sleeping.
Navy and Maya were laughing at a nearby table by themselves.
“Remember when I tried to walk downstairs with your old crutches?” Maya asked Navy between laughs. “You couldn’t stop laughing!”
Navy quietly chuckled. “Well if I hear ‘puh-tack’! And I see you at the bottom of the stairs with my crutches pointed at the sky, why would I not laugh!? Wait ‘til I show Dyan the dents you left in the wall,” and the two laughed, their volume getting higher and higher until Royal turned around and shushed them.
Yeah, Maya was definitely not Spirit. They shared the blue hair and clothing style, but that was about as far as it went. Dyan wasn’t Spirit either though. Spirit and her shared the same thinking process and well, spirit, but Dyan wasn’t an artist. Plus, she hadn’t left the Blue family for good, and she wouldn’t want to either. In a few minutes, this family would be her family. And soon, she would be their-
“Dyan?”
Dyan turned back to Shanon, who was doing that no-wrinkle smile at her with signed papers in front of her.
“Would you like to be adopted by the Blue’s? This means that all those beautiful children with the blue hair behind you will become your siblings, and these two -she pointed her pen at Mr. and Mrs. Blue- will become your Mom and Dad.”
Dyan wasn’t expecting to have a choice!
Mr. and Mrs. Blue were staring at her, as well as Shanon.
She turned at all the Blue children, who she didn’t expect to be staring at her, some with smiles, others with faces of anticipation. She smiled at them. This was it.
“Yes!” Dyan said loudly and proudly.
“Well then, I, Judge Shanon, have signed the decree of adoption. I now confirm this adoption.”
Oh. Shanon was a judge!? How had Dyan not known!?”
“Lucy and Cobalt Blue are now your Mom and Dad. You also now have seven siblings.” Shanon let out a breath as she smiled once more.
Find out what happens next in the next part!
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