Luka and Sutton returned home, and a nervous KJ walked back to the flat, with Tabitha by his side.
Jace stood up as soon as KJ walked in, and the blonde boy made a beeline for the sofa. 

"Hey, uh... have you guys got a minute?", asked KJ.

"What's up?" asked Sutton.

Sensing that this wasn't going to be a lighthearted chat, Luka walked closer to KJ.

"Is everything ok?"

"Uh, look, I haven't been very open with you guys. I want to though.
I just, well, I don't really know how–"

"Whatever you have to say, say it", said Jace. "Take as much time as you need with it."

KJ nodded and gave Jace a small smile.

"Uh, right, well, where do I start?
A man came to the house today, claiming to be my grandad."

"What?", asked Sutton.

"Wait, what do you mean 'claiming to'?", questioned Luka.

"I'm adopted.
I-I never knew my birth parents.
All I know is that they gave me up when I was a baby.
I've been to a couple children's homes, but I only really remember one.
It was... not a nice place.
I got picked on a lot.
I don't really know why.
Maybe I was just an easy target.
Anyway, I was eventually adopted, and... my parents are amazing.
They're normal, well, ordinary.
They're nice.
But I was still so scarred from being bullied, that it took me a long time to feel like I was actually wanted by them.
And it took me even longer to make any friends.
To be honest... I don't think I ever did.
Not proper friends, anyway."

KJ paused, unsure of what to say next.
He looked up briefly, and saw Tabitha giving him a reassuring smile, before nodding her head. 

"I keep saying we're roommates and not friends, because I don't really know what it's like to have friends.
I don't... I don't know what it's supposed to feel like.
The only person I've ever been able to rely on is myself, so, that's the company I prefer to keep.
But you guys... you're nice people.
Kind people.
You're messy and weird and pushy... but I like that.
I've never had a family to do game nights with, or a family that teach me how to make dishes from my childhood.
Before coming here, I never went to any parties.
No one wanted me around.
But you make me go to all the parties, you ask me what I like... it's overwhelming.
But I want you to know that I am grateful for it.
I want to give this family thing a go.
If I haven't completely messed up already."

The silence that followed was extremely uncomfortable.
KJ wanted someone to speak, or even for a car outside to honk loudly.
He just needed something to break the silence.
He heard footsteps approaching, and looked up.

"You can one hundred percent say no if you want, but can I please hug you?", asked Sutton. 

KJ just nodded, and Sutton threw her arms around him.
She pulled him into a tight hug, before gently rocking side to side. Luka gently tapped KJ's shoulder. 

"Mind if I join?"

KJ shook his head, and Sutton held her arm out so that Luka could join in.
After a few seconds, Tabitha and Jace joined them.
KJ smiled softly, a shaky sigh of relief escaping his lips.
When they all pulled away, Jace and Luka pulled KJ to the side. 

"The man that came, he left a letter.
He said to give it to you.
He said your birth parents want to see you. He'll be at the park tomorrow, and he really wants to speak to you.
It'll just be him, not your birth parents", said Jace. 

"We can come with you when you eventually meet your birth parents, if you'd like?", offered Luka.

KJ shook his head.
"No, I, I appreciate that, but... I don't think I want to meet them."

"Not even once?", asked Luka.

"I don't think I'm ready for that."

"That makes sense.
What about your grandad?
Do you want to meet him?"

"I honestly have no idea.
I think I'm going to sleep on it."

Later that night, Sutton spotted KJ watching a movie in the living room.
She walked to the sink, placing her glass in it, before turning around and heading towards KJ.
She smiled when he looked at her. 

"Hey, didn't know you'd be up", said Sutton. 

"Apparently there's this new movie out that all the kids at my workplace are raving about.
I want to see what all the fuss is about", he admitted. 

"Oh, that's the children's home, right?
I forgot to ask earlier, but are you working at the same children's home you went to?"

KJ nodded.
"Yeah."

"Well, I mean, judging from the fact that you haven't quit... things must have changed. That's good, right?"

"Yeah... it is.
It was still kind of new when I got sent there.
I don't know, maybe that had something to do with it being so bad.
The staff weren't great.
It was like they didn't really care, to be honest.
It's a lot better now."

Sutton smiled.
"I bet your grandad would like to hear that."

KJ's smile faltered.
He looked back at the TV, and just shrugged. 

"I mean, he's probably heard stories about how awful it used to be.
Hearing that it's changed might put his mind at ease."

"Why should I care about his mind being at ease?", snapped KJ, startling Sutton.

"KJ, I–"

"He could've done something.
Stopped my birth parents from giving me up.
No, he chose not to fight for me.
I didn't walk out of their lives, they pushed me out."

Sutton's face softened.
She placed a hand on KJ's arm.
He tensed up a little, but relaxed after a few seconds. 

"Did you read his letter?"

"No."

"Maybe you should.
And hey, hearing him out doesn't have to be for him.
You deserve closure.
So if you won't do it for him, do it for you."

¤¤¤

KJ walked across the park grounds.
There was a slide, roundabout and seesaw in one area, but most of the land around it was occupied much more frequently.
Next to the rides, there was a long bench. KJ's grandfather sat on it, wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
There was something by his feet, but KJ couldn't make out was it was.
A part of him was still hesitant.
The man looked nothing like him.
The only physical feature they shared was their eye colour. 

"Uh, K-Kenneth?"

Kenneth looked up, his face instantly lighting up when he saw KJ.
He stood and marched towards him with so much purpose.
He stumbled a little, and KJ held his arms out. Kenneth shook his head and chuckled. 

"No, please, I'm fine.
Just lost my balance for a minute there. Thank you for meeting with me, son.
Did the letter pique your curiosity?"

KJ shook his head.
"I didn't read it.
I wanted to give you the chance to tell me what you wanted to say instead."

KJ walked over to the bench, with Kenneth following after him.
He sat down right next to KJ, so the younger boy moved along the bench, to put more space between them.

"How did you find me?"

"A friend of the family follows this girl online.
She posts poetry videos and songs, apparently.
Anyway, she saw a video of a poetry recital she did, and you were in it.
We only saw you for a few seconds, but the resemblance to your parents... it was uncanny.
We went to the children's home and found out you worked there.
From there, it wasn't hard to find you."

Noticing how unsettled KJ looked, Kenneth held his arms up. 

"I promise we're not murderers.
I appreciate how strange this must be.
It's just that, seeing your face... we couldn't get it out of our heads.
I mean you really do look like the perfect blend of your mother and father."

"Why did you want to find me anyway?"

"Kelvin, your parents wanted–"

"It's KJ.
And they're not my parents."

Kenneth frowned, but nodded. 

"Of course, I'm sorry.
Seeing that video brought up a lot of emotions for your biological parents. There's so much you don't know.
They want to meet you, but are too nervous.
I offered to come here instead.
KJ, they'd love to meet you.
To see how you've grown."

"And why would I want to see them?"

Kenneth's expression melted into one of shock, but it was subtle.
He sighed, gently shaking his head. 

"I don't know.
Perhaps it was foolish of me to believe that you would, but KJ, you need to know why they put you up for adoption.
They were just teenagers when they had you.
They were barely equipped to look after themselves, let alone a baby.
We were from a pretty close-knit neighbourhood.
You couldn't walk down the street without everyone finding out about it.
So when news broke out of your birth mother's pregnancy... well, her mother and I had to make a difficult decision."

KJ's eyes widened.
"You convinced her to give me up?"

"No, no, I... I knew she wasn't ready.
Neither of them were.
We were in no position to care for a baby either, so... we came to the decision that they needed to give you to a family that could look after you."

KJ shook his head.
"No, you needed to give me away to anyone who'd take me.
You didn't care about finding a loving family, I know you didn't!", he exclaimed. 

KJ stood up, his face turning red as his anger bubbled away inside him. 

"You know what?
You can go back and tell your precious daughter about all the sh*t I had to go through!
Getting picked on by the other kids in the children's home, spending every day cooped up in my room because no one wanted to play with me!
I had to listen to my classmates make up stories about all the awful things I did to make my parents give me away!
I had to wipe my own tears when I cried.
I had to put plasters on my own cuts when I fell in the playground."

KJ's voice broke as he spoke, and he felt a lump form in his throat as his volume increased.
He aggressively wiped at his face, before pointing an accusatory finger at Kenneth. 

"You go back to your family and tell them that their decision broke me!
Because of them, I've never been a happy child."

KJ panted heavily, the sheer power of his anger exhausting him.
His hands were clenched, and his arms were positioned in a way that made him look like an extremely angry bear.
It felt good to get his feelings out, but when he looked at Kenneth, he felt the tiniest twinge of sadness.
Kenneth's bottom lip trembled as he looked down at the ground.
He blinked rapidly, in an attempt to push away his tears.
It was his voice that upset KJ though.
His pitch went higher as he spoke, and he let out small sobs.
It was like the words were just bleeding out of him.

"I-I can't tell 'em that, it'll break their hearts."

KJ's anger slowly started to fade, and he was forced to deal with crying man in front of him.
He sat down on the bench,  before turning his body around to face Kenneth. 

"Hey... why are you crying?
How can they be heartbroken if they don't even know me?"

"They'll never forgive me.
I was the one that fought so hard to get you put into care.
My father, well he wasn't a nice man, you see.
He passed long before my daughter was born, but the damage was done, you know? My siblings and I used to think that the 'loving parent' gene skipped our family.
We just always seemed to mess up.
That's not an excuse, and we never treated our kids the way our father treated us.
I don't know, I suppose I just thought that I failed as a parent.
My kid got pregnant at sixteen for goodness sakes!
I knew my daughter would be a good mother, but she was nowhere near ready.
I just felt this need to protect you from a messed up life.
My daughter was angry at me for quite a while, but in time she realised that it was for the best."

At the start of their conversation, KJ felt his thoughts racing around in his head, at a much faster rate than he could process.
Now though, after listening to the reason why they felt they had to give him up, he felt at peace.
Not completely.
Just a small amount.
Most importantly, he was realising that it wasn't his fault. 

It was strange.
He stopped caring about his own feelings, and was now only focusing on the pain Kenneth felt.
Realising none of this was his fault felt liberating for KJ.
He wanted Kenneth to feel the same.

"Look, I can't tell you that giving me up gave me a good childhood.
In fact, if you hadn't given me up, I probably would've had a pretty good childhood.
But... I also know that if you hadn't put me up for adoption, I never would've met my Mum and Dad.
They had a pretty tough job, after everything I went through.
But they never gave up on me.
I'm really dämn lucky to have them.
You gave me that."

Kenneth smiled gratefully, and KJ opened his arms out for a hug.
After a moment of hesitation, Kenneth pulled KJ towards him and gave him the biggest hug he could.
When KJ was younger, he used to imagine what a hug from his grandparents would be like.
People always used to make out that grandparents were the warmest, kindest people.
They were right. 

Kenneth pulled away, his smile much brighter.
He wiped away his tears, before turning around and reaching behind the bench.
He pulled out a medium size wooden box. He held it out, and KJ took it.

"What is this?"

"Some things your birth parents wanted you to have.
They said it was really important that I give this to you, and that it'll help you learn more about them.
I know you don't want to see them just yet, but would you maybe want to know their names?"

"Uh... yeah, actually.
I'd like that."

"They're called Alison and Miles."

¤¤¤

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UmsyyEmpZo

[Play this as you read from here until the end of the chapter please!]

The window in KJ's bedroom may have been fixed, but everything else in his life seemed to be breaking.
After he got home last night, he left the box under his bed.
He decided to get it out, but didn't get as far as moving it from under the bed to the centre of the room.
He sat on the floor, leaning against his bed with his knees tucked up against his chest. All he could do was stare at the box.
He heard a series of loud, quick knocks on the door. 

"It's open", was all he could say.

The door flew open, and Anvi rushed into the room.
She dropped her bag by the door, before approaching KJ.

"KJ! Tabitha told me what happened", she revealed.
"She told me she wanted you to be the one to tell me, but I forced it out of her.
I'm sorry."

KJ shrugged.
"It's alright."

Anvi's eyes landed on the box.
Her eyes widened a little when she saw the name 'BABY KJ' on it, and she looked back at KJ.
"Is that..."

She let her words trail off when KJ nodded. 

"I've just been staring at it."

Anvi sat down beside KJ, a remorseful expression on her face. 

"KJ... I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you."

"Why are you apologising?
It's not your fault."

"Still... I just wish I had been here."

KJ exhaled sharply, his eyes still focusing on the box.

"I don't know what to do.
A part of me wants to forget any of this happened, but..."

"Another part of you is a little curious about what your birth parents were like?", questioned Anvi.

KJ looked over at Anvi.
"Kenneth, uh, well I guess... my grandad, he said my birth parents wanted me to have this box.
What if it's got important things about who I am in it?"

Anvi's face softened when she heard the genuine worry and desperation in KJ's voice. 

"KJ, look, honestly?
I don't know if that box will tell you anything about who you are now.
But it could tell you a lot about who your birth parents are.
I just... I don't know if that'll do you any good now."

KJ contemplated Anvi's words. 

"You know... I've been thinking about what my birth parents could possibly think is important for me to know.
Maybe one of my old toys is in there, or a baby bottle?
Anvi, I have no memories of what my childhood was like.
You know, before the children's home."

KJ felt a lump form in his throat as he thought about all the lonely nights he'd spend in the children's home.

"I... I act like I'm so sure of myself.
Like nothing fazes me.
But uh, I... I've never known who I am, Anvi. What if... what if this is the closest I'll get to knowing who I was?
I think... I think I need to look.
I need to know who I was before I went to the children's home.
I need to know if I was ever happy."

KJ's last sentence broke Anvi's heart.
Sure, she may feel pressure and stress because of her family, but she never once doubted if she was happy as a child.
She pressed her lips together, in an effort to suppress her sadness, but she couldn't stop the tears forming in her eyes.

"Then you should look, KJ", she whispered, worried that being any louder would cause her voice to tremble.
"I'll leave you to it."

As Anvi moved to stand up, KJ reached out and grabbed her hand, making her turn back to him.
After a brief moment of hesitation, KJ looked at her.

"Can... can you stay?
I don't think I want to be on my own for this."

Anvi nodded, before giving him a small smile.
"Of course."

KJ pulled the box closer to him.
He looked at the name 'BABY KJ' which was scrawled out in messy handwriting.
It may not have been the neatest, but KJ didn't care.
It just made it even more personal.
The nerves took over, and his hands began to shake as he tried to lift up the latches on the sides of the box.
Anvi helped him undo the last one, but moved her hands away immediately after. He should be the one to open the box.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds.
He lifted the lid and opened his eyes.
There were a few bits and pieces in the
box—none of which KJ could make out without properly rummaging through the box.
There was a small printed picture at the top of the pile, but it was facing down.

"Th-there's so much... I-I don't know where to..."

"Hey, hey, it's ok", said Anvi.
"Why don't you just get one thing out today? Here, that looks like a picture.
Maybe just look at that for now?"

KJ leaned closer and noticed some writing on the back of the photo.
It had the date '5.05.15' on it, and
'Wedding Day' scribbled above it.

"They got married in 2015?", questioned KJ.

He quickly turned the picture over.

Confetti covered most of the surroundings, but KJ couldn't tear his eyes away from the two people in the photo.
The man had auburn hair and bushy eyebrows.
His eyes were a warm brown.
He had a grey suit on with a lilac tie.
The woman had blonde hair and it was styled in princess braids—just the front pieces though.
The rest was loosely curled.
She had a white mermaid wedding dress on and a lilac broach pinned to her dress.
They had the biggest smiles on their faces. His hands were around her waist, and it looked like he had just pulled her closer before the picture was taken.
Her hand was cupping his face, and their foreheads were touching. 

He looked at her like she was his whole world and she looked at him like there was no one on Earth she felt safer with. 

Kenneth was right.
He had his father's nose and face and his mother's hair and eyes.
There was absolutely no doubt about it.
He was their baby.

KJ started crying.
He didn't even know he was going to until it was too late.
His grip on the photo tightened, and although his eyesight became blurry due to the tears, the image had been burned into his mind. 

Anvi draped an arm around KJ's shoulders and pulled herself closer to him.
She couldn't help but frown at the sight of her friend breaking down.
She used her free hand to cup the side of his face.
She gently rubbed his back. 

"Th-they looked so h-happy...", he sobbed.

His breathing became erratic and he forced himself to gulp down his sobs. 

"KJ..."

It wasn't that he hated his adopted parents. No.
He loved them.
But seeing his birth parents, seeing how in love they were... it made KJ wonder about how different his life would've been if this couple had raised him.
Not the couple that had a baby at a young age and gave them up.
But the couple who got married under confetti.
The couple that had so much love for each other that even a quick photo could pick up on it. 

Anvi carefully turned his head, and moved her face closer to his, before resting her forehead against his.
She gently caressed his face and he pulled her closer to him, closing the gap between their bodies.
They stayed like that for a while, until Anvi pulled him into a hug.
His crying became louder, but the sound was muffled as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

¤¤¤

KJ'S POV

I decided to call my parents in the morning, partly to fill them in on everything that has happened, but also because I missed their voices. 

"Oh gosh, KJ, do you want us to come down there?", asked my Mum.
"We can talk things over in person."

"No, Mum, it's ok.
I've got a whole box of memories than I can go through whenever I feel like it, so it's not like I have to look through everything now. And I'm in no rush to meet my birth parents.
Not when I've already got the best parents in the world."

"Aww, Noah did you hear that?
Our moody little teenager is being all sweet!", she smiled.
"Oh no, quick, let's get him to the hospital!", added my Dad.

I rolled my eyes.
"Oh ha ha.
But seriously, I mean it.
I know I don't say it enough, but I really, really love you guys.
Thank you for loving me.
I know I don't make it easy."

"Oh, baby... that's not true.
Loving you is the easiest thing for us to do. We just have to look at your face, sweetheart", said my Mum.
"Yeah, your mother's right.
And after listening to you getting excited about new film projects, seeing your face light up... how can we not love you?"

I smiled.
"Ah, this is too much sweetness for me!", I joked. 

"Well there's plenty more where that came from!
We'll let you eat breakfast now, but we'll call you again later, honey.
Love you, and hope you have a great day."

"You too.
Love you Mum, love you Dad."

I opened my bedroom door, the strong smell of apple pie wafting through the air.
It reminded me of one of the nicer times from my childhood.
When my parents were looking to adopt me, we were allowed to spend some time together.
One of the first dishes they made for me was apple pie.
It wasn't mind-blowing, but it was memorable all the same.
Whenever I eat apple pie, I picture the nervous but hopeful looks on their faces as they watched me take my first bite years ago. 

I ventured further into the living room, and saw that the dining table was laid out with plates and cutlery.
The others were sat around the table, looking at Sutton, who had a large tray in her hands. 

"KJ, morning!", she beamed. 

"Hey, you're just in time!", exclaimed Tabitha. 

"Luka's been bouncing around in his chair waiting for you to get here", said Jace. 

"What's going on?", I asked.

"Well, Anvi mentioned that you like apple pie, so we thought we'd have it as a special breakfast treat.
It's just come out of the oven", explained Sutton. 

I couldn't help but smile.
How is it that five strangers, who only heard about my past a day ago, were already doing everything they could to cheer me up?

Maybe I was wrong about them just being roommates. 

I still think I was right about families being weird.
But maybe that's the point.
In my world, two strangers became more important to me than my own flesh and blood, and five total weirdos somehow matched with me on an app.
And those same weirdos became my roommates.
My friends.
You know what?
Maybe calling them family isn't so far-fetched after all. 

Family comes in many forms.

Maybe 'traditional' is overrated anyway.

- - - - -

Hi. 

This chapter was both a joy for me to write, but it was also a very emotional one for me. Family really does come in all shapes and sizes. Some define it as blood, others define it as people you've known the longest. To me, family are the people you feel safe with. The people you feel loved by. The people that help you grow. 

I want to explain KJ and Tabitha's scene more:

- Tabitha is used to diving straight into a situation, and letting her emotions take over. In this moment, she couldn't do that to help KJ. Tabitha's way of helping is by acting-she needs to be doing things. KJ didn't need that though. He just needed someone to be there. So whilst Tabitha felt helpless, it actually ended up being the very thing that KJ needed. This is important, because it showed Tabitha that there are more ways to help. 

- Often times, with anxiety, it's not just one thing that can cause a panic attack. It's a culmination of events that span across a day, a week, a month. Sometimes things that you think are insignificant or silly to worry about, can be the thing that adds that final straw to the camel's back.  You might see it was overreacting, but they are not at all. When you feel like everything is going wrong, you hold on to the little things you can control. For KJ, it was a room that was his safe space. When that was taken away, he started to crumble. It was so important to me that I covered that. I can relate to KJ in this way. There have been times when I've been really stressed and worried, and something like me setting aside some time where I can watch my favourite show really helps. But then plans change, or something comes up and I'm not able to. I get really annoyed and upset. Don't get me wrong, we can't take our frustrations out on other people, but if someone is upset about something, try listening to them instead of dismissing them as being 'selfish' or 'childish'.

KJ's been through a lot. I'm glad he opened up to the others. I wanted to explain the Anvi and KJ scene a bit more:

- KJ is completely taken aback by the photo. He sees such a strong resemblance between himself and his parents, and my interpretation was that he could kind of envision himself in that situation. That's why it got to him so much, because he allowed himself to think about the day where he would get married, which he hadn't thought about before because he never believed that anyone could love him like that, or that he was ever deserving of a love like that. That was at least my interpretation of it. 

- He also sees how happy his birth parents are, and it makes him sad, because if the couple had him at this stage of their lives, maybe they would've kept him and his life would be different. It's also important to note that this isn't about his adopted parents at all. He doesn't feel like they robbed him of a life with his birth parents. It's more so about the bullying he endured growing up. In his head, if his birth parents didn't give him up then he never would've gone to the children's home and lived through most of his unhappy years. I also want to note that this storyline isn't bashing children's homes. It's just saying that this specific one wasn't good for KJ, and had he gone to another one things may have been different. 

- Another little moment to note was Anvi and KJ essentially copying what KJ's birth parents were doing in the photo. This is just a moment I wanted to add as like a full circle moment. It was just meant to be a sweet moment.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and the chapter as a whole!

The whole group coming together to support KJ was so sweet, and it really drives home the idea that your friends can be your family too.

Another important note—foster parents and parents who adopt are incredible. Yes there are cases of neglect, and things going wrong, but we also need to give love to the parents who adopt and foster, because they love and care for children from all walks of life. They have the power to give a child who has faced trauma in life, a fresh start. It is not an easy job, and they should be commended for their hard-work and capacity for love. 

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett

1-800-LANCEMCCLAIN-

mlkbttl