Patterns of Blues

Chapter 28

Saturday morning was spent with lazy conversation, though there was a tight feeling in the air that told him something was amiss. Niall ignored it at first, but when he was sat down in the living room, he began to worry.

"Uhhh," Mrs. Corden started, her face showing a nervousness that Niall hadn't seen on her before, "James and I, we wanted to talk to you about something important."

Uh-oh.

Niall looked across the living room to Mr. Corden, who was smiling, so perhaps the important topic wasn't terrible. He looked back to Mrs. Corden and tried to give her a reassuring smile, urging her to continue. She took a shaky breath, "Well, Niall, having you here with us has been amazing. This week with you has brought us so much happiness, and we would like to have you around for the long run." She sent her husband a quick look before turning back to Niall, "We want to adopt you, Sweetheart." Niall's heart stopped beating for a moment, staring at her in disbelief before feeling a warm sensation well up inside of him,

"I can stay here forever?"

"Yes!" James replied with a grin, "We love you and would be thrilled if you would stay here." At the words 'love you', Niall felt happy tears form in his eyes,

"I love you too."

"So, you say yes?" Mrs. Corden pressed, taking his hands into hers. Niall nodded, a smile playing on his lips,

"Yes." Mrs. Corden squealed excitedly, and in an act of impulse, threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. Niall returned it, melting into the feeling of safety the gesture brought him. Mr. Corden touched his hair affectionately but didn't hug him like Julia had. It was a signal to Niall that he wasn't going to hurt him, an offering of space. Niall wiped his eyes and laughed, the warm sentiment in his chest making him feel light and free of all the pain he was hanging on to. Mrs. Corden was crying too, her gentle smile resting on him,

"I love you so much." Niall nodded also, tears spilling over again,

"I love you too." He would never get tired of hearing and repeating those words. He hadn't thought he'd have a parent around who would say them to him, and now having two, it was hard to believe. It reminded him of Harry and Liam's gentleness, the only people who had cared for him tirelessly since he was small.

Harry and Liam.

He gasped suddenly, "When are they coming?" Mr. Corden's face held a hint of confusion,

"Who?"

"Liam and Harry," Niall replied, frowning, "They're staying here too, right?" Mrs. Corden stuttered over her response, and that's when a rotten thought clicked in his head: They weren't going to adopt his brothers. He stood up and felt a fresh round of tears coming, these of betrayal rather than joy, "You were going to take me away from them forever?"

"No!" Julia replied quickly, she tried explaining something more, but Niall's ears were buzzing with anger and he didn't let her finish,

"You can't do that," Niall screamed at her, surprising himself that he was brave enough to yell at anyone, "I need them!"

"Hey, take a deep breath," Mr. Corden tried to coax, placing a hand on his shoulder. Niall flinched away from the contact, jumpy all over again,

"NO." He mustered the strength to glare at him, not afraid that he'd hit him, "I won't stay here if I can't be with them."

"Sweetheart," Mrs. Corden attempted to soothe, "No one's taking you away from them. We want to speak to Ms. Claire soon to see if we can foster them as well. If we can and everything works like we want it to, then they'll be able to move in with us. We just need to turn the office into another bedroom." Niall stopped his tears and processed what she was explaining,

"So, you're... you're not keeping them away?"

"No," Mr. Corden answered, "once we get everything organized, we hope to have them here as well."

"We only wanted to make sure you were okay with the idea of staying here first," Mrs. Corden added, "If you didn't want to be here then we weren't going to force you to. After the foster process and a few court visits, you won't have to worry about being taken ever again."

"And you want Harry and Liam too?" Niall asked, desperate to hear the answer he was looking for. Mrs. Corden nodded slowly, staring into his eyes with earnestness,

"I promise. Siblings should never be split up." Niall sighed in relief and held his arms out for another embrace, which was gladly given to him,

"I-I'm sorry for yelling."

"Shh," Mrs. Corden whispered, "it's okay. No one's mad." He nodded stiffly before pulling away and blinking down the rest of his tears,

"Can we go fix the office now?"