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Official | Shook Chapter 26
“Lucy and Cobalt Blue are now your Mom and Dad. You also now have seven siblings.” Judge Shanon let out a breath as she smiled once more.
Dyan ran and hugged Mr. Blue’s- side. After eight merciless, hard years in foster care, she would finally have a forever home-and a family to go along with it!
Mr. Blue thanked the judge, and they were outta’ there! Bear was so happy to see Dyan, he nearly jumped on her. Luckily Dyan remembered to turn and face him once he was at a calmer state. In the spirit of celebration, the family stopped at a pizza place before going on their way home. The Blue children tried their best to not open the pizza box before they got home but eventually they couldn’t help themselves.
“Hey, leave some for me and Dad!” Mom yelled from the front of the car.
“We will!” Dyan said between a mouth full of cheese pizza.
“Since you're my sister, I believe I can ask you weird questions now, free of charge,” Said Maya, popping a pepperoni in her mouth.
“Go ahead,” Dyan mumbled.
Maya hesitated before saying, “So… how’s it feel to be adopted?”
Dyan thought about this question. “I guess it feels like when I turned ten. It’ll take some getting used to, like calling Mr. and Mrs. Blue Mom and Dad, and you all my brothers and sisters, but it feels almost exactly how it did when I was staying with you guys earlier. But more official. You all are the best people in the world and I’m glad I get to stay with you guys for good.” As she rubbed her hands on a napkin her head jerked up. “Oh! And I realized something as well.”
“What?” Maya leaned back, trying to stretch her cheese as far as it could go. It snapped and the long rope of cheese and tomato sauce fell onto her shirt. “Dang it.”
Dyan laughed. “That’s a great example of what I learned. Truthfully, I used to think you were my story book character come to life. That you were Spirit, and your family was Spirit’s family. I always wrote that Spirit would have the perfect life with a perfect family, and have the perfect adventure. But your family isn’t perfect. Adventurous and real and even special, but not perfect. But that’s what makes it good. I realized that I wanted Spirit to have a perfect life so bad, I forgot that the mistakes and bad things are what make the books feel real. I was wrong. The Blue family isn’t Spirit’s family. you're not Spirit, And I’m not either. Spirit is just a character I made based on me and you, and her story is based on the adventures we’ve had.
Maya stared at Dyan. “You thought I….was Spirit?”
“Yes, like, real life Spirit!” Dyan explained.
Maya widened her eyes and her smile grew bigger. “You really thought that your book character had just come to life and found you?”
Now Dyan wanted to curl up into a ball, as she felt the eyes of her other brothers and sisters on her. “...yeah?”
Maya burst into laughter, and all the kids around them began to laugh too. Maya laughed so hard, she nearly dropped her pizza, which Bear noticed as he eyed her pizza.
Dyan put a hand over her eyes. “I shouldn’t have told you that…”
“Don’t feel too bad,” Royal scooted beside Dyan. “We laugh at each other all the time. It’s not personal to you.” She patted Dyan’s shoulder.
Bear nipped at Maya’s pizza slice.
“Hey! You greedy dog! You just had my mushrooms and now you want the whole gosh-darned pizza!” Maya looked at the huge dog, angrily.
Dyan pointed and laughed, which made all the children laugh at Maya.
The Blue family continued down the road and past the railroad track, towards home.
Find out what happens next in the next part!
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