Finding Family |Adopted by Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood|

25 part 2

Chris is going to be ecstatic when he gets home. Melissa pulled her car into the garage about five minutes after Chris left to pick her up from school. Neither Chris nor Star knew that she was done filming earlier than expected. I'm so glad I get to be there for Star's first playdate with us! It's going to be so much fun!

Melissa got out of the car and took care of the dogs before going upstairs into the attic. I know it's in there somewhere... She pushed around some boxes, sneezing as the dust irritated her nose. Ah hah! I found it! There was a box with faded colors on it. Inside the box held a disassembled puppet theater.

Chris pulled his car into the driveway after picking Star up after school. The hives on Star's face were still rather prominent but they didn't seem to be bothering her. "Okay. So Emery should be here in an hour. Why don't you go and..." Chris stopped mid sentence as he saw his wife's car sitting in the garage at least six hours before it was supposed to be there.

Star sensed some excitement in her foster dad and it was very infectious. She bounced up and down on her car seat a few times feeling her heart flutter against her chest and her breathing quicken but not in a bad way. Mwissa!

"Hi guys!" Melissa exclaimed, standing at the door. Her eyes had dark circles underneath but her excited smile was enough to make the tiredness disappear.

"I didn't know you were done filming early! Now you get a vacation! Gosh I have so much to tell you" Chris gushed, putting Star's bag down and practically tackling his wife in a bear hug.

Star watched this scene play out with a curious expression on her face as she snuck past her foster parents. So at least in this house, giving hugs all the time is a very normal thing to do. Interesting. Well.. Kind of tired so I guess I'll just go upstairs now.

"You going to go upstairs to rest honey?" Melissa asked, noticing Star begin to slowly inch away from her foster parents.

Star nodded, stopping in her tracks and glancing up at her foster mom. Without even thinking, Star darted across the room and gave Melissa a fast hug.

"Oh!" Melissa exclaimed, a bright smile spreading across her face. She gave me a hug! Sweetest girl ever!

Then, Star slipped behind Chris and gave his leg a quick hug as she was not quite tall enough to reach any higher.

Chris didn't say anything. He just beamed while a warm fuzzy feeling filled him to the brim. I love that kiddo so much.

As Star raced past Melissa and Chris, the weight of what she had done seemed to sink in. Oh gosh what did I just do? I... I don't want them to be mad.. But.. they seem to like hugs.. Do they like my hugs? She glanced back just before the view of her foster parents disappeared around the corner and they were grinning. Bigger than ever before. Star could practically feel the joy and excitement streaming off of them. It's okay. Hugs are good.

"When did she start giving you hugs, Wood?" Melissa asked in a playful voice but she was genuinely curious as to when this happened.

"Today at school actually. Our girl is also allergic to bee stings so that should be interesting." Chris replied, leaning forward to pet Drift who was impatiently nudging Chris with his nose whenever the pets stopped. "Okay okay I'm petting you, chill" Chris teased the big dog.

Farley trotted over to Melissa and delicately lifted up a front paw before staring at her owner. "You want snuggles too?" Melissa asked, kneeling down and stroking the dog's silky coat. Suddenly, Farley decided she had enough and took off in the opposite direction. "You psychopathic puppy," Melissa laughed.