Oasis in Ohio

Chapter Twelve

I was the third one to wake up. Bella was stilled curled up in my arms as the first rays of the sun shine through the windows. Squinting in the harsh light I slowly moved Bella out of my arms and sat up.

Rubbing my eyes I looked around. For a second I panicked, forgetting what happened the night before. Once it came back to me though my heart rate dropped to normal and I got up to India Riley and Scott.

Checking between the bookselves, behind the counter, outside, and I even waited a bit to see if they came out from somewhere I hadn't checked, but, they were no where. As I did a 360 I realized there was on place I hadn't checked. Upstairs.

I looked at the carpet cover stairs and took a step forward. Stepping up to the next step I noticed how the railings were the same color as the walls, a sort of sandstone color. Making my way up the stairs I found myself in a cafe area. It was still mostly intact like the rest of the building. This area two was carpeted, a gray base with different colored dark lines, with little dark oak tables placed her and there. At the max, each table had four chairs. I looked over at the counter and saw that a cafe food machine was there in all it's glory. The keyboard that you could type your order into was still there, all the different attachments were still there, it looked to be perfect.

After I looked to the food machine I turned around and saw Riley and Scott sitting at a table on the other side of the room. They didn't notice me for a while as I walked up.

"Oh, good morning Xavier. Is Bella up too?" Riley asked, finally noticing me.

"No, just me."

Riley smiled at me better Scott caught her attention. They again, shared a look with each other but this time they lined in and whispered to each other. From time to time they would steal glances at me before they finally stopped and looked up at me.

"Would it be alright if we joined you in heading to Ohio?" Riley asked.

"You don't want to stay here? At your library?" I questioned, puzzled.

"I would hate to leave this place but,"

"But we've decided that going to Ohio would be the best choice for us. Yes we will lose this place but we have all our memories and we can never lose those." Scott finished, folding his hands with Riley's.

"Oh! And one more thing. How would you-"

"Xavy? Where are you?" I heard Bella cry out from downstairs.

I held my hand up to say, give me a minute I'll be right back.

"Bring her back up here with you." Riley told me.

Making my way to the stairs I found Bella walking around, tightly gripping Puppy in her good arm, looking for me. Her face had fear and concern written all over it. Walking over to the windows she carefully peeked out.

I walked 3/4 of the way down the stairs before saying in a soft voice, "Bella, it's okay. I'm right here."

She turned around from the windows and ran towards me as I walked down the rest of the stairs. As she got closer I saw she had started crying a little.

Hugging me around my waist she mumbled into my shirt "You scared me there!"

"I'm sorry, I was just upstairs talking with Scott and Riley."

"What's upstairs?" She asked, pulled her face off my shirt and sniffing.

"A cafe."

"What's that?"

"A cafe is a place that sells coffee, tea, and baked goods."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure. Follow me." I lead her up the stairs, a hand on her back protectively.

Once we got upstairs her eyes widened with awe. She had never seen a cafe before let alone hear about one. Scanning the area, she stood still for a moment before she saw Riley and Scott headed over to them.

"Continue." I said as I joined them.

"Well let's catch Bella up first." Riley said.

So Scott explained how they were going to join us in our journey to Ohio.

"Really? Yay!" Bella cheered, shooting Puppy into the air with excitement along with her arm.

We all laughed at her cuteness while she smiled away.

"Now for the other thing we wanted to tell you guys." Scott started.

They shared a look of pure excitement before turning back to us.

"We want to adopt you two!" Riley cheered, finishing what Scott said. "Take you on as our own." She added for Bella.

"What? Really?!" Bella and I synchronized.

I couldn't believe it. They would never replace our birth parents  but this was amazing! Bella could finally have parents to learn from like I did. So many emotions flooding through me, all happy ones though. I felt like a kid in a candy store, running around and trying every sample, the sweet tantalising tastes dancing around my mouth. Was this what orphans felt like when they were told they were being adopted?

"We've always wanted kids but never had the time to have them. Then when all of this happened, it wasn't the best time to have kids, but then you two show up at our door." Riley told us.

"Merow." Bella and I turned around to see Honey making her way up the stairs.

"Guess who's part of your family now!" Bella happily said.

Honey just purred in response and pushed her head into Bella's hand. Sitting down criss-cross, Bella pet, and played with honey. I watched for a second before turning back to Riley and Scott- our new mom and dad.

"How about you go get that map of yours and we can map out the best root to Ohio, son." Scott said.

"Will do, dad." We both shared a smile before I went downstairs to grab the map.

It was weird calling Scott my dad, but I would get used to it. I smiled like a ninny as I went downstairs and grabbed the map and was still smiling when I sat with them at the cafe table.