25 Days of Kingbury

Day 10: Visiting Family part two!

Samuel and George had gone to sleep peacefully the night before, wrapped in each other's warmth against the chill of the house. George had taken a few moments to observe Samuel's childhood room, Chloe fast asleep across the room. There were movie and book posters around the room, and the walls had been painted dark blue with yellow stars on the ceiling. George loved how the room reflected Samuel, not being able to imagine anybody else sleeping in there.

He loved the stars painted around the room, the midnight blue color that Samuel had loved forever. 

The next morning, however, made sure that George would be thankful he had received the warmth of his husband, and he woke up shivering with Samuel in a similar tremor. The window outside was frosted over, displaying frozen art across the glass panes, and revealing at least three feet of snow outside.

George absolutely despised snow, but soon seeing the excitement in the family's eyes, put on his heaviest clothing and went outside, almost immediately getting nailed in the back with a snowball. Somehow, in the time it took George to have a cup of coffee and put on his clothes, Samuel and his sisters had built a snow fort. Samuel giggled and stuck his tongue out at his husband. George grinned and scooped up some snow.

"Oh, you're in for it now!" He said. The Seabury's ran away as George started throwing snowballs at the five, retreating to a snowbank to construct his own fort.

Samuel's father had come out as well, and in wordless communication, had built a snow fort to block the both of them from the icy ammunition, and made a small arsenal of snowballs between them. Soon it was the Seabury children against George and Samuel's father, laughing and screeching at the onslaught of snowballs.

Samuel's mother watched from the house, smiling at her children, son-in-law and husband play in the snow. She remembered the first time she met George, how he had looked at Samuel with a deep love in his eyes when Samuel had talked passionately about baking and his job as a pediatric oncologist. She had known from that moment on that George would be the right one for her son.

Outside, things were happy. Samuel and his sisters fired snowballs at George and Mister Seabury, winning the fight a million to one. George looked at Samuel, getting dazed for a moment, watching him laugh and smile with rosy cheeks and a red-tipped nose from the cold. He got himself nailed in the face with an icy sphere, seeing that Chloe had taken advantage of his moment of distraction.

Samuel's phone started to ring, and he picked it up out of his pocket. His stomach sank.

"Timeout! George, it's the orphanage." He said fearfully. The two hopped over the barriers, his father and sister following closely behind. Samuel answered and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" He said uneasily.

"Hey Samuel!" Lenore said cheerily. Samuel smiled at her nerdy attitude.

"Hey, Lenore. What's up?" He asked uneasily.

"I filed the paperwork, and it looks like you and George can get Charlotte faster than we thought." there were small gasps as Adriel translated for her father.

"How soon?" Samuel questioned, looking at George with sparkling eyes. HIs husband was practically jumping up and down.

"Well, depending on where you are at the moment, today!"

Samuel's breath hitched. "T-Today?" George's eyes lit up.

"Sure! The orphanage is open until 8, if you can get there by then."

Samuel nodded frantically, forgetting momentarily that that wasn't how phones worked. "O-of course, Lenore. We're in Connecticut, but we'll be there as soon as we can."

He ended the call promptly and tackled his husband with hugs. "We're getting Charlotte today!" He practically squealed. "Georgie, you're gonna be a dad!"

Samuel's mother walked down the porch, demanding to know what was going on. Charity explained quickly to her.

"Oh my god." Samuel said suddenly. "Do you guys want to come with us?"

And so the six Seaburys and the two Kings piled into a minivan and drove to New York.

~~~~

They arrived at the orphanage in the late afternoon to meet Samuel and George's little baby.

A little olive-skinned girl with long dark hair was placed in the couple's care. She looked up at the party of eight and her eyes lit up. She was quiet, only nodding and shaking her head when asked anything.

"Mamma! Questo è Charlotte! Non è cara?" (This is Charlotte! Isn't she darling?) Samuel said quietly.

"Oh, lei è bellisima!" (She's beautiful!) Samuel's mother cried.

"G-Grazie, signorina..." Charlotte whispered quietly. Samuel smiled fondly down at his daughter before recognizing the language.

The Seaburys paused.

"Sh-She's Italian?" Diana asked.

"I guess--" Samuel laughed a little. "Sorry, George."

George just smiled. He didn't even care that he was the only person in his family that couldn't speak Italian. He picked up Charlotte. "Hello, love. I'm gonna be your father." Charlotte giggled and squeezed her daddy tightly.

Samuel went off introducing his entire family to his new daughter. "This is my Mamma, he's my Papa, and these are your zie, Diana, Adriel, Chloe, and Charity." Charlotte hid in her new father's shoulder, feeling embarrassed seeing her entire family at once. Samuel squeezed her tightly.

"Ti amiamo Charlotte. Ognuno di noi." (We love you Charlotte, every single one of us.)

For once, George understood something in Italian.