42. Chapter 42 #5
On our ride down, it was impossible to resist the urge to be close to him, holding his hand tightly and leaning into him while he went over what he was trying to explain when I kissed him.
Then he talks about the speech he’s going to give once we get to the ground floor and how, after his speech, adoption day for the kids will be happening here, in the main hall.
I assume we’re stopping on the first floor to fetch the others, but Oliver explains that everyone is already downstairs waiting for us.
When we reached the ground floor, a bundle of nerves hit me.
My hand in his starts to tremble, only calming to the feel of him kissing it gently.
At least that part of Oliver hadn’t changed…
he knew I was freaking out before I did.
Because let’s face it, this place is amazing; he did it all for me, but I was still riding on overwhelm.
Could I just forgive completely, just like that?
I mean, yes, we did just kiss in that office…wait, no - my office.
But what did that mean for Oliver and my relationship? If we walked into that hall holding hands, did that mean we were back together? Was I ready for that? For my family and friends to see what? For the kids to?
“Luna, breathe!” Oliver calls gently, gripping my shoulders and bringing me back to earth. Then I released the breath I didn’t realise I was holding.
“Relax, no one is going to ask questions about us, nor does there have to be an us yet if you’re not ready, putting what happened upstairs aside, okay?” I nod in response.
He then makes me take a few deep breaths, making sure I’m calmer before he leads me into the main hall. Oliver respects my request, and we walk in with our hands to ourselves.
While everyone is chatting amongst themselves, I take the time to look around.
The hall had a stage and a few tables set up with snacks and refreshments, and a few home-cooked meals, judging by the smell, were made by my family.
The whole room was decorated much like we usually did on adoption day, with balloons, streamers and a handmade photo booth set up for Tracy to get pictures of the children and their new families.
A desk next to it where the paperwork would be signed, and lastly, a bouncy castle located at the back, currently keeping all of the children occupied with a few of my teenage cousins on children duty. Although they were more invested in clicking away on their phones.
The bouncy castle wasn’t something we usually had, but it had Oliver written all over it, and if he planned to stick around as he indicated, I intended to make him pay for one for every adoption day from now on so the kids wouldn’t be disappointed.
The clearing of Oliver’s throat brought my attention forward and silenced the small crowd of adults.
“I would like to start by thanking you all for coming here today,” Oliver starts, flashing a smile, clapping his hands together. “I know it meant a lot to Luna to have all the people she loves most here to witness her dream weeks away from being a reality.” He nods.
“I also want to thank LJ and Luna’s aunties, uncles and cousins for lending a hand when it came to creating the place to Luna’s liking.” I turn to see family over by the bouncy castle who offer either an awkward wave or a raise of both eyebrows.
Those sneaky bastards.
They were a part of this and didn’t say anything to me when we were together, not even two weeks ago.
“That aside, it’s safe to say there is still a lot to be done.
Today, we will be focusing on adoption day, where I will let Tracy take over and place you where she needs you most, but starting Monday, we will be working towards our original goal, which is the grand opening.
I hope to be ready by February first.” Oliver recites as everyone, but me, nods in agreement, like they aren’t hearing this for the first time.
“Everyone knows what to do, and if you need any more information or are willing to take on any extra tasks, then feel free to talk to Nigel,” Oliver adds, gesturing to the person holding his hand up.
I didn’t even notice how he blended into the crowd, offering everyone a wave before shooting me a quick wink.
He then returns to looking at his clipboard, ignoring Oliver, who’s glaring at him for winking at me, which only makes my family burst into laughter as I follow them in pursuit.
“Anyway,” Oliver grumbles, clearing his throat and the attention in the room is directed back to him.
“As I was saying, direct any questions you have towards Nigel, as I will be spending the week working with the owner of the building on hiring and interviewing potential staff during the week,” he finishes, turning to look at me.
The owner, right - how did that slip my mind?
“Who is the owner, by the way? I should meet them.” I voice, turning toward the others. Gran rolls her eyes, Macy and LJ raise their eyebrows, and Tracy just chuckles when it dawns on me, and I turn to watch Oliver step off the stage and down towards me again.
“I’m the owner?!” I point to myself, and in turn, Oliver winks at me, with a smirk on his face. While I stand there in disbelief to process that - of course, Oliver would buy out the original buyers of this place instead of renting it, but when on earth did he legally put everything in my name??