The air was filled with an aroma of different smells and sounds. Spices from the roast slowly cooking in the crockpot, cinnamon and mint from the dessert resting on the counter, the gentle sizzle and pop of veggies on the stove, the muted thud from the knife hitting the cutting board; all coming together to take Kayden back to his first day with his new family. He even remembered the taste of his first dinner.

With a smile, he knocked his knuckles against the kitchen doorframe. “I see you’re bringing out all the stops for tonight.”

Susan looked up from the counter, her hand paused in the action of chopping up a pineapple. “You remember?”

Kayden stepped further into the kitchen. “Of course. What sticks out the most is when I tried to help and you chased me out of here with threats of an early grave.”

Soft laughter traveled through the air. “You were particularly hard to dissuade, dear. Your dad came to get you so many times, yet you always found your way back.”

“Naturally,” Kayden teased, grinning. “Who doesn’t love their mom’s cooking? In fact, I’d say you’re the best chef out of all the moms in the entire world.”

“Ha!” Susan set down the knife, moving to stir the veggies. “I’ll tell that to my coworkers tomorrow.”

“Are you still planning to become a stay-at-home mom?”

Susan’s face became serious. Her hand was steady as she stirred the veggies, but her eyes clouded, filled with worry. “I don’t know. If I don’t have to, that would be the best. I know Roth makes good money, and he’s reassumed me multiple times we’d be fine. He even said I’d have twenty-four-hour access to his bank account.”

“Mom!” Kayden groaned.

“Alright, alright,” Susan smiled, moving back to the cutting board. “If Sam’s speech doesn’t improve by the end of summer, I might take time off and see how it goes. It’d give me more time with Angela, and you.”

“Awe, I’m flattered.”

Susan grinned, brandishing her knife. “If you came in here to offer help, I’m going to threaten you with another early grave, my dear.”

Kayden raised his hands, pressing his back dramatically against the kitchen wall. “I would never offer such an atrocious thing to my own mother.”

Laughing, Susan gathered up the sliced pineapple and started placing them in strainer bags. “I can tell you have something on your mind.”

“Yeah,” he settled himself more comfortably against the wall, “I was wondering…”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you and dad decide to take Eric in? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you did. I think he needs something stable in his life. But it didn’t stop me from wondering…what made you think this was a good idea?”

There was a pause, then a long, heavy sigh. “I really think Roth should be here for this.”

“I’m not waiting until Dad gets back. I’m going to give Eric a tour of the house and try getting him to talk. It would help knowing what motivated you to open our home to him.”

Susan fiddled with one of the strainer bags. She looked reluctant to say anything. After a few minutes of silence, she said, “Laje called us last year about one of the children in her care. Said she and the caretakers were worried because he kept refusing every family who wanted to adopt him. She gave us more details about his history, and what he was going through, and your father and I…well, he was more open to the idea of letting Eric stay with us.

“I had my doubts, and still do, but I trust Roth. You know how he gets when he feels like he has to help. Laje is one of his oldest friends, which only added fuel to the fire. One of the last conversations we had with her before we agreed, she broke down in tears, saying there was nothing else they could do. She worried about the trajectory of his adult life because he couldn’t stay with her after he turned eighteen. Made it sound like Eric didn’t want to stay.

“I’ve never heard Laje sound so desperate. She cares so much about the children under her care. After hearing the way she sounded on the phone…I told Roth it was okay. I’m not convinced this is the best option, but it was the only one we all agreed on before it would be too late for the paperwork to process.” Susan leaned heavily against the kitchen counter. “He’s here now. We’ll do our best to make things work.”

Kayden zeroed in on the last thing his mom said. The professional in him was dying to start investigating the situation to make sure this was a safe and stable environment for Eric to live in. Which made him feel guilty for thinking it because it was his parents and not a client.

If he had been the one in charge of processing and approving Eric’s paperwork for his parents, he didn’t think he would let things move forward. One parent having any doubts about adopting meant stopping the process and telling his clients to wait a few years until they were ready. It’s what he would have done in this situation.

The headache he’d been fighting off hit him full force. He was one more conversation away from flagging his parents and halting the adoption paperwork processing for the Florida siblings. If his mom’s reasoning for helping Eric was only because Mrs. Laje cried, he couldn’t help but question her motives for adopting Angela and Sam.

And now that he was questioning her motives for their recent adoption, he couldn’t ignore his worries for the one processing in Florida.

He understood where his dad was coming from. He knew he’d treat Eric like a son. But his mom had serious trauma leftover from what happened when she was a child. She never gave him all the details, just enough that he could piece together an adoption went wrong…

“Mom—”

“Kayden, I know what you’re thinking, and I want you to stop.” Susan turned around to face him. “Roth and I talked a lot about becoming guardians to Eric instead of adopting him. From what Laje said, Eric didn’t want a new mom or dad. We didn’t agree to take him in lightly. I know my doubts make you worry, dear, they always do. But we’ll do right by Eric, I promise.”

He crossed his arms, fighting hard to hold back his harsher thoughts. “I don’t know what you expect me to think when you make it sound like things will be difficult for you because he’s here. Yeah, he may be moody, but that’s teenager stuff. Are you actually going to give him the freedom to start over? He can’t change if you don’t allow him to.”

“I know that, Kayden!”

“I’m just saying!” he shouted back. “My job is adopting children out to families, Mom. What am I supposed to do? Turn off my brain and pretend like I’m not seeing a plethora of problems? Eric deserves better than this!”

Susan spun around and busied herself with the forgotten veggies on the stove, cursing under her breath when she saw how burnt they were. “Eric will be fine, Kayden. It’s not like he’s going to starve or anything.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Mom!”

“Then what are you worried about? He’s going to be taken care of!”

“I’m worried about his emotional and mental well-being!” Kayden pushed off the wall and took deep, slow breaths. He knew part of the reason he was getting so worked up was because he and Eric used to be friends. He wouldn’t sit back and watch him suffer, not even under the care of his own parents. “Sorry for yelling,” he said after a few more inhales and exhales. “I know you’ll take care of him with food and other necessities. I’m thinking about the stuff we’re not privy to. Like his thoughts and emotions.”

Susan turned off the stove then hurried over to Kayden. She pulled him into a hug. “I know, dear, I know how much you worry. I’m sorry for yelling, too. You know me and your dad won’t be mean to him for no reason. We’ll take time to understand him, I promise. Angela and Sam are also here. It’s something we thought long and hard about when deciding to take Eric in. Laje said he needs a positive environment to thrive. Do you know anyone better suited to positivity besides Angela?”

Laughing, Kayden shook his head. “No. She’s been a beacon of it since she got here.”

“Exactly,” Susan smiled, “so don’t worry too much. There’s always an adjusting phase, just like there was when you came to us all those years ago.”

“I know,” he sighed, hugging her tighter.

Susan eventually squirmed free, slapping his shoulder playfully. “Help me juice the pineapple. I ruined the vegetables.”

Kayden’s eyes rounded and he gasped. “You ruined a dish? You?”

“Oh, stop it!” Susan flapped a hand at him. “Make the juice, dear.”

Kayden washed his hands off in the sink. While he was comforted by what his mom said, it still didn’t erase the worries growing in the back of his mind. The issues he discovered didn’t disappear after their talk. If anything, they became more pressing because his own adjustment period wasn’t smooth sailing like his mom made it out to be.

He hoped tonight’s dinner proved his worries wrong.