The Castaway Hotel: Book 2

The next event to happen was my trip to Philadelphia with Carlos, so I could return him to his mother, after she let us know she had secured a stable and better paying position, Sally checked with her friend there and verified this information. Now that we were sure everything was in order, it was my pleasure to reunite them.

Carlos was both nervous and excited as we drove there, as he wondered how much different his life was going to be. However, once he saw his mother and discovered how different she looked and how well she had kept up their new apartment, he was excited about being back. I couldn’t have been happier for them.

Ms. Garcia immediately took Carlos and showed him his room, which she had fixed up with all the things he liked. He really appreciated what she’d done and immediately went in to check everything out. While he was doing that, Ms. Garcia thanked me again.

“Gracias, Senior Currie,” she told me, in her thick accent. “You have done so much more for my Carlos and me than I could have prayed for. You have changed both of our lives. Gracias, mucho gracias,” she repeated.

She not only expressed her gratitude in words, but she also kissed me on both of my cheeks, to thank me again, just as Carlos came back out to join us. He smiled when he saw what she was doing.

“Don’t get any ideas, Junior,” I warned him, when I saw his mischievous grin. “Your mother’s only thanking me for what I’ve done for you.” He didn’t say anything in response, merely winked at me, and I hoped he wasn’t getting the wrong impression about her show of thankfulness.

I stayed and chatted with them, before taking them to the grocery store for one final shopping trip on me. Although Ms. Garcia protested that it wasn’t necessary, I convince her it was something I wanted to do for them. Besides, I wanted to make sure I didn’t owe the grocery store anything from her previous visits and then let them know she was on her own, from this point forward. I did tell the owner to call me, if it looked as if they were having problems getting enough to eat, and he assured me he would.

Once I took them back home, I said my good-byes and gave them my phone number, in case they should need anything. “Carlos, I wanted you to keep in touch with the boys and with me,” I informed him. “You can call any time you’d like and maybe you will be able to come and stay with us from time to time, maybe even join us for a vacation, of one sort or another.”

“I would really like that, Mr. Currie, sir,” he replied, “but you have already done so much and spent so much money on us that I feel guilty having you do more.”

“Nonsense,” I emphasized, “and when are you going to stop calling me sir?” I teased. “We’d be happy to have you, if your mother will allow it, since you and your mother are a part of our extended family now. I might not be your dad, but I think I might be able to be your Uncle Josh.” He immediately beamed, told his mother, in Spanish, what I had just said, and then they both thanked me again. Before I left, I hugged him, kissed him on the forehead, letting him know he would be treated no differently than my other boys. I think he got this point immediately and hugged me even tighter. It was tough leaving him behind.

Once I returned from that little trip, our main focus was the upcoming adoption ceremony. At that time, I would be adopting all of the boys who had joined us since our last adoption ceremony. This meant Pat, Trey, Dion, Sammy and Andrew would soon officially become my sons.

I was somewhat disappoint that Steve Shay wasn’t going to be able to preside over the process this time, since he was now also a very dear friend and valued member of our extended family. Instead, a judge from a neighboring jurisdiction would be doing the honors, although Steve assured me it was just a formality and there wouldn’t be any problems.

When the big day finally arrived, I had all of the boys dress in their suits, including the ones I’d already adopted, and we drove to the courthouse. My five soon-to-be sons were a bundle of nerves and the others were doing their best to try to calm them down and offer their support. We went into the courtroom and took our seats in the gallery and waited.

Before our case was called, each of the boys and I were called in to have a private chat with this new judge, which for me was more intimidating then my previous turn at doing this. This Judge was older than either Steve or myself, but seemed just as friendly. After talking to all of us, we waited again, this time for our case to be announced.

When our names were finally called, I led the boys through the swinging gate toward the front of the courtroom, and we stood with my lawyer behind one of the tables. Judge Rhinehart began his remarks.

“We are here to decide if one Joshua M. Currie should be allowed to adopt five young men who are currently in his custody. Although my colleague, Judge Shay, had informed me about performing a similar case approximately a year ago and telling me how well these young men were doing, I was not convinced this was the right thing to do. I believed this was far too many young men for one person to deal with.” I think all of us held our breath at that point, wondering if he was going to stop this from going through. I think Andrew was about ready to burst into tears, as he tugged at my sleeve and indicated he wanted me to pick him up. Against my better judgment, I bent over and lifted him up, right in the middle of the judge’s comments.

I was actually expecting to be chewed out for this, even though it wouldn’t stop me from comforting my son, but when I looked up, I saw the judge give me a sly grin. Confused, I went back to listening to his remarks.

“After talking to each of the parties involved, as well as the boys whom Mr. Currie has already adopted, I can find no reason why this process shouldn’t go forward. He has already proven he is quite capable of taking control and caring for such a large group and the boys have proven to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they wish to have nothing more than to officially become his sons and one rather large family.” After hearing this, I think we all started breathing again, knowing our dreams were soon to become a reality.

“Therefore, I am pleased to announce, that from this day forward, these five young men will be known as Mr. Currie’s sons. If they will please come forward to receive official copies of their adoption papers and new birth certificates, indicating their new names, as I call them forward.

“Master Patrick Alan Currie, age 14; Master Alexander Michael Currie, also age 14; Master Dion Jamal Currie, age 12; Master Samuel Tsukimo Currie, age 11, and I do hope I pronounced your middle name correctly,” he added, to Sammy’s nod of approval, “and Master Andrew Furuhata Currie, age 9.” As the judge began to make a similar comment about Andrew’s middle name, Andrew was already nodding, so the judge stopped, before he even started.

After each of the boys received their papers, they returned to stand next to me, proudly showing me what they held. They were beaming, and after giving me a glimpse of what they had received, they eagerly began holding it up so anyone who wanted would be able to look at their legal documents. Suddenly their attention was drawn back to the front of the room, as Judge Rhinehart concluded his remarks.

“Before we conclude this proceeding, I wish to allow an old friend a chance to add his own comments.” As everyone else began to scan the room to see who that might be, I turned immediately toward Steve and saw him rise and move forward. Once he was near us, he began to speak.

“I marvel each time I think about this home and these people,” he began, “and I can only say that I feel blessed to be even a small part of this unbelievable group. Theirs is a story and a home filled with warmth, love and numerous generous hearts. I hope each of you in this courtroom will join me in welcoming the newest members of the Currie family into our community.” After saying that, Steve began to applaud and soon everyone in the courtroom, outside of our family, joined with him. Needless to say, there were a lot of moist eyes in that group, most of them belonging to Curries.

After we left the building, Steve and Sally joined us for lunch and we went back to the same restaurant where we had celebrated our first adoption ceremony. The manager recognized us immediately and came over to our table, as soon as it was prepared and we were seated.

“It looks as if your family has grown since your last visit. Is this more new members, or do some of these boys belong to these other adults?” he asked politely.

“No, we have grown,” Ricky answered for me. “A few minutes ago, we added five new brothers.”

“You adopted more boys?” the startled manager asked.

“Yes, sir,” Steve responded. “This fantastic family nearly doubled today and I’m proud to have been there to witness it and be a part of their lives.”

“And I’ll second that sentiment,” Sally added. “In my line of work, I seldom have the opportunity to enjoy cases and their outcomes more than I have with this family. Here’s to a wonderful group of individuals and some really fantastic people.” With that, she grabbed her water glass and lifted it, as if giving a toast. Lowering her glass, she continued. “I also waited for this moment to present you with something else, although, unfortunately, it’s not from me personally.”

Sally handed me an envelope with my name on it. I opened it and inside was a check in the amount of $153,325.00 from the State of Pennsylvania.

“What is this for?” I wondered aloud.

“An audit was conducted on my department over the past couple of months and your case was examined, because of the number of boys you had been assigned,” she informed me. “In going over your files, the auditors determined that you were not credited properly for clothing allotments, medical reimbursements, housing expenses and travel costs for the boys. It was because you would only let me give you the minimum monthly reimbursement as a foster parent, but the auditors insisted you be given the same payments as every other foster home. They calculated the expenses and then cut the check before they finished. I held onto it until this moment, so I could present it to you at such a joyous time.”

“Well, thank you, and I’ll just add this to the money I’ve set aside for the boys’ future. I’m sure we all appreciate it.” The boys agreed and thanked Aunt Sally themselves. “By the way,” I added, “lunch is on me.” That comment evoked a little chuckle from the adults and even a few from the older boys, who caught on to my little joke.

We ate our meal and had a great time. When the waiter asked us if we wanted anything else, we told him ‘no’ and I asked for the check. Without warning, a cart with assorted desserts was brought out and we were informed that these were on the house. Those who still had room, or could force a dessert down, took one and we thanked the manager for his generosity. He again announced our presence and why we were celebrating, but people were accustomed to us by now and merely gave us a polite response. I paid the tab, left a generous tip and made ready to return home. I had let the boys take the whole day off from school, so we could enjoy this time to the max.

We said our good-byes to Sally and Steve and loaded into the van. Once home, the boys changed and then we sat and talked for a while. One of the first things I did was to ask Trey a question.

“Seeing you are no longer Alexander Michael Daniels, THE THIRD, do we still call you Trey or shall we call you something else?”

Trey lit up with my comment and question, but then he took some time to think about his answer. I don’t think it had dawned on him about that aspect of his name change. “No, Pop. I still want you to call me Trey.”

“Fair enough. As you wish, so will it be done,” I informed him, trying to sound dramatic by doing so, but I think my attempt failed miserably.

All day long I got hugs and kisses from the newest adoptees, and they in turn got the same treatment from their brothers and me. It was a very spiritual experience. Although I suspected there would be many more important events in our lives, during the years to come, this was definitely one of our ‘moments to remember’.

THE END OF BOOK 2