Damon held my hand tightly as we approached the doors of the orphanage. I could tell he was nervous but he was hiding it well. Sterling probably expected me since I hadn't seen him since Sunday, but he didn't know Damon was with me. We had to wait an additional two days for Damon's lawyer to get all the paperwork expedited and pushed through.
Damon's hand gripped mine a little tighter as we walked inside. Emily was at the receptionist desk as usual. She looked up when she heard our footsteps and I could see her slightly surprised to see the man beside me. "Ms. Bush, welcome." She greeted me.
"It's actually Mrs. Tipton now." I smiled. "Did Mr. Tipton's lawyer get a hold of Mrs. Strahm?"
"Um, I'm not sure. Let me take you both to her office." Emily stood up and led us down the hall to Mrs. Strahm's office.
She knocked on the office door and waited for a response. "What is it?" Mrs. Strahm's voice asked from the other side of the door.
"The Tipton's are here." Emily answered.
"Let them in." Mrs. Strahm spoke once more.
Emily opened the door and Mrs. Strahm remained seated at her desk. It appeared she had been going over some papers. Damon and I stepped inside and Emily shut the door before going back to the front desk. Damon and I took a seat in front of Mrs. Strahm's desk.
"Mr. Tipton, we've met before when your sister married my cousin. It's nice to see you again." Mrs. Strahm was nervous as she spoke to Damon.
"How is Robert?" Damon asked.
"Last I heard he was doing well." She answered.
"Good, after all my wretched sister put him through he deserves it." Damon responded. "Did my lawyer contact you?"
"Yes. I've handled all the paperwork on our end myself. I just need a couple signatures and Sterling is free to leave with you." She pushed a couple papers and two pens over to us.
"Perfect." Damon spoke as he signed.
Once we finished signing everywhere we needed we passed the papers back to Mrs. Strahm. She looked everything over once more just to make sure nothing would be missed. With the urgency from the lawyer it was clear there would be no room for any errors on this matter. That's why she must've handled these papers herself.
Mrs. Strahm stood up from the desk with the papers in hand. "I'll take you to him." She headed for the office door and opened it. "Emily, I need you to run off two copies of these papers and fax a copy as well to Mr. Sterling's lawyer." She hollered down the hall.
Emily hurried and grabbed the papers to do as she was told. Damon and I stood up and followed Mrs. Strahm down the hallway. From my multiple visits I knew she was taking us to Sterling's room. She paused when she was in front of his door.
"I have to give the original copies to the state but Emily will have your copy of the papers at the front desk when you exit. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Tipton, I'm happy to see Sterling go home with his family." She smiled and headed back to her office.
I opened the door and the small boy was looking out of the window on his bed. As expected he was looking at his father's building. I pushed Damon slightly to let him go in first. I wanted Damon to have the opportunity of surprising him.
I watched quietly as Damon entered the room and walked up to Sterling. "You know as the boss' son you can go inside of that building any time."
Sterling turned around, looking in surprise as his eyes met Damon's. "You're back."
"Of course I'm back." Damon responded.
"Mrs. Strahm told me to dress nice today. Is it cause you were coming to visit me?" Sterling asked.
"Visit?" Damon chuckled slightly. "I'm not here to visit Sterling. I had to get some things taken care of. Now you can come home with me."
I watched from the doorway as Sterling's eyes lit up. "You mean it?"
"Yes son." Damon lowered his head so they were face to face. "I even got Kaydence to marry me so she can be your mom here while your mom in heaven watches over you."
Sterling finally noticed my presence and looked over to me. "Really?"
"Yes. Really." I responded
Sterling stood up from his bed that he was sitting on. "I have to pack and tell all my friends bye." His excitement disappeared at the realization he was really leaving. "What happens to my friends? Will I get to see them again?" He asked as he looked between Damon and I.
Damon thought for a moment and then looked at me. "If Kaydence is okay with it, how about you come back and see your friends once a week. I'm sure we can talk to Mrs. Strahm and get her to agree with it."
"Can we?" Sterling looked up at me with his beautiful icy blue eyes.
"Of course." I nodded. "But for now why don't you get your things and tell your friends that you'll see them in a few days."
While he packed his belongings and said his goodbyes Damon pulled Mrs. Strahm aside. She seemed thrilled at the idea that Sterling wanted to come back to visit his peers. He had been there so long that he had captured the hearts of the other children and the staff. I could tell even though she may be happy that she was sad to see him go.
Sterling was finally all packed and ready to go. He had a backpack of things and Damon carried a suitcase for him. I held onto Sterling's hand as he held onto Damon with the other. Before leaving Emily gave me the papers that made everything official. Sterling was officially ours.
"So we're going home?" Sterling asked.
"Not exactly." Damon responded as we walked down the steps. "I have some things being worked on before I can take you there."
"So where will we go?" Sterling had a puzzled expression on his face.
"Well, your grandpa wants us to stay with him for a few days. He wants to spend some time with you while I get everything set up for you to go to school." Damon explained.
I knew he wasn't thrilled about staying with Martin, but it was better than a hotel.