Chapter Text
Reggie bit his lip as he and Chad pulled up in front of the Molina’s home. It was a large craftsman home with a garage on the side, and Reggie could honestly say that so far, it looked like the nicest foster home he had ever stayed in. Meaning, the Molina’s probably weren’t fostering for the money. Granted, that’s exactly what he thought about with the Pattersons.
Reggie and Chad both got out of the car and started walking towards their front door. Chad immediately frowned when he noticed that both of Reggie’s book bag straps had snapped. He quickly squeezed Reggie’s shoulder and ushered him to the front door.
“Trust me,” Chad said with a smile. “I’ve known the Molina’s for years. I wouldn’t place you with them if I didn’t think they’d be good foster parents.”
“Sure,” Reggie said, biting his lip as the two walked up the stairs to their front door.
As of right now, his birthday was officially over and all that mattered was that he survive the next nine days until he was safely back home with Luke. The Patterson’s may not be the best foster home, but Reggie knew what was expected of him, and he knew the consequences if he screwed up. Here, everything was uncharted territory. What if the Molina’s were secretly like his biological parents, and they also hid their abuse behind their wealth and success.
Reggie tightly held on to his book bag and gift bags as a women in her early 40s opened the door. She had long curly hair just like Julie’s and kind eyes. That’s when he realized she was the women who took their order this morning at breakfast, she was kind enough to give Reggie his coffee on the house since it was birthday, even though Bobby was paying for everything.
“Hey Chad, it’s good to see you again,” she said, opening the door a bit wider letting the two boys standing outside inside. “You must be Reggie. I’m Rose.”
Reggie gave her a small smile as he stepped inside and looked around. The inside of the house looked like organized chaos. There was decorative clutter, and family photographs everywhere. He saw childhood pictures of Julie and her little brother, that reminded him of… well he didn’t like to think about who her brother reminded him of. His eyes then landed to the birthday balloons in the kitchen and he looked at Chad very confused.
“Is today Julie’s birthday?” Reggie asked, biting his lip. “I-I didn’t mean to crash your daughter’s birthday or anything.”
“No, no, they’re for you,” Rose said with a small smile. “Chad mentioned today was your birthday.”
“Oh…” Reggie said, blushing. “You guys really didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
Rose’s heart broke. Clearly it had been a while since he’s had a caregiver properly celebrate his birthday, and now, she was determined to make this the best birthday Reggie’s ever had.
“It’s really no problem,” she said, ushering them into the kitchen. “So, you know my daughter Julie?”
“Yeah, we’re in four classes together,” Reggie said, as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes landed on a small pile of gifts next to the balloons and his eyes went wide.
“I’m glad to hear that you guys know each other,” She said with a smile. “Hopefully, it won’t be too awkward. Chad mentioned that your friends don’t know you’re in care, and I’ll make sure Julie doesn’t mention your situation with anyone. Though she may have already told her friend Flynn.”
“It’s fine,” Reggie said, sighing. “My friend Bobby invited me and my friends to Trevor Wilson’s Friendsgiving. They’re all going to figure out my secret when I show up with you guys.”
Rose’s eyes went wide when she realized exactly who Reggie was. Their friend Trevor mentioned that his nephew Bobby had a friend in foster care, and it turns out that Bobby also happened to be friends and bandmates with a boy named Alex, who was in Julie’s youth group and terrified of his parents finding out about his boyfriend. Alex was one of the reasons Ray and Rose decided to become foster parents.
It was funny how small the world really was.
“Look, there’s nothing wrong with being in foster care,” Rose said, with a sympathetic smile. “And I have a feeling your friends are going to understand your situation and treat you exactly the same.”
“Yeah… sure,” Reggie said, unconvinced.
“Speaking of Julie,” Rose said, turning back around and walking towards the kitchen. “My husband Ray, my son Carlos, and Julie should all be home soon. Be warned though, Carlos is going to be very excited and he’s going to want to give you a very detailed tour of the house.”
Reggie gave a small chuckle as he walked into the kitchen.
“I got you a couple of small gifts, and I figured we could maybe go to the mall after dinner and you can pick out a few bigger things,” Rose said with a small smile. “My brother owns a Mexican restaurant near the Glendale mall and I got us a table for 6 o’clock.”
“Mrs. Molina, this is way too much,” Reggie said, looking at the small gifts on the table.
“It’s really no trouble,” she said, reassuring Reggie. As she got five plates down from the cupboard.“And call me Rose. While you’re here, my husband Ray and I are going to treat you just like all of our other kids and that includes celebrating birthdays and holidays. Now, would you like a snack? My sister brought over some extra mallorcas this morning, and I think they’re her best batch yet.”
“Uh… sure… what’s a mallorca?” Reggie asked, taking a seat at the bar.
“It’s a sweet, eggy bread covered in powdered sugar,” she said with a smile. “But, if you don’t like it we have plenty of other food, which you can have whenever you’re hungry.”
Chad smiled knowing for sure that Reggie was going to be alright and that it was probably safe to leave him now.
“I’ve got to get going,” Chad said, placing Reggie’s redacted file on the counter and pulling out a couple papers for Rose to sign agreeing to have Reggie in their care.
Rose quickly placed a mallorca on the plate and placed it in front of Reggie before grabbing a pen and walking over to sign all the papers.
As Rose and Chad were busy getting everything in order, Reggie took a small bite out of his mallorca and smiled as the sweet bread touched his taste buds. He immediately started eating the desert a bit faster, not realizing how hungry he truly was.
As soon as all of the papers were signed, Rose looked up and noticed powdered sugar all over Reggie’s face. She gave a small chuckle and went and got him a napkin as Chad gathered up all the papers.
“Reggie, you have my number so, call me if you need anything,” Chad said.
“I still don’t have a phone,” Reggie said, rolling his eyes.
“Right,” Chad said, sighing. “I promise I’ll work on getting you a phone after the break.”
Reggie just shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t believe him. Which, to be fair, he had every right to be skeptical. Chad had been promising to find a way to get Reggie access to technology since he got out of juvie.
“I’ll see you guys on Tuesday and again, Happy Birthday Reggie.”
“Thanks Chad,” Reggie said, wiping his face.
Rose quickly packed four mallorcas in a Tupperware container and handed it to Chad before he left.
“Thanks Rose,” Chad said, smelling the desert. “You have no idea how excited Lily is going to be when she see’s I brought these home.”
Rose gave Chad a quick hug as Chad left their house, leaving Rose and Reggie alone together.
Reggie used the same napkin Rose had handed him to clean off any powdered Sugar residue on his shirt and hands after taking the final bite of his after school snack.
“Do you want me to show you to your room so you can have a few minutes alone before everyone else get’s here?” Rose asked, putting Reggie’s plate in the sink.
Reggie nodded his head and got out of his seat to grab his book bag and gift bags. Rose took a shaky deep breath realizing how worn out his book bag was, just like his clothes, and was glad she picked up a few shirts and pajamas to go along with his welcome basket.
“So, your bedroom is going to be the last door on the right,” Rose said walking up the stairs. “It’s right next to Carlos’s room, and you guys will also share a Jack and Jill bathroom with Julie.”
Rose opened the door to a fairly simple bedroom with 2 twin beds, light grey walls, white bedsheets, a dresser and two desks side by side. She and Ray had agreed to keep this room very neutral so that who ever ended up moving in, could decorate it to their liking.
On the dresser, there was a basket filled with snacks and comfort food, none of it was healthy, but Rose hoped that all of the food was at least familiar to Reggie. Then, on one of the beds there was a welcome basket filled with brand new toiletries, brand new towels, a fuzzy blanket, a notebook, pens, socks, underwear, a pair of new pajamas, a couple shirts, jeans, and thinking putty.
“All of that is yours to keep,” Rose said, lingering by the door. “In fact, everything we give you this week is yours to keep. Feel free to make yourself at home.”
“Thanks,” Reggie said, placing his tattered book bag on the floor.
Reggie then laid down on the bed and sighed as he felt the softness. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept in a soft bed, let alone had a room all to himself.
“Is that all you brought?” Rose said, motioning towards his bag on the floor. “Chad mentioned that you’d be here for a little over a week. So, I just kind of assumed you’d bring more stuff.”
“That’s uh… that’s kind of all I own,” Reggie said, biting his lip. “I lost everything when I went to Juvie, so Luke gave me some of his old stuff to hold me over until his parent’s took me shopping.”
Rose bit the inside of her cheek to keep her anger from seething. He’s been in that home since June, he should have his own clothes, and even a few personal belongings. Was Reggie being properly taken care of?
“Mom we’re home,” a little boy yelled from down stairs.
“And that would be Carlos,” Rose said, with a small laugh. “Do you want to come downstairs and meet everyone?”
“Sure,” Reggie said, getting up from the bed.
The two left Reggie’s bedroom and headed downstairs into the living room. As Reggie walked downstairs he could hear the excited voices of a little boy Reggie assumed was Julie’s little brother Carlos.
Reggie took a deep breath as he prepared for his secret to come out.
“Ray, Julie, Carlos this is Reggie,” Rose said, walking into the kitchen.
Julie’s eyes went wide as she saw the face of her project partner in the kitchen, realizing Flynn’s prediction was right. Reggie Peters was in foster care.
“Hi! I’m Carlos,” he said, jumping down from his barstool.
“Hey little dude,” Reggie said, giving him a fist bump. Reggie then turned to Julie and gave her a small smile. “Hey Julie.”
“Hi,” Julie said, awkwardly.
“Uh… long time no see,” he said, rubbing neck.
Julie gave an uncomfortable laugh and the two just stood awkwardly for a few minutes.
“I’m Ray, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, shaking Reggie’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Reggie said with a smile.
“Happy Birthday by the way,” Ray said, gesturing to the Birthday balloons on the counter.
“Oh, Thanks,” Reggie said, blushing. “You guys really didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I know I’m only here for a week, and I don’t want to put you guys out or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ray said, smiling. “Birthdays are kind of a big deal in this house, and we just wanted to make sure got to do something special.”
“Thanks,” Reggie said, blushing. “Do you think I could go upstairs and take a shower before dinner? DCFS doesn’t really have a full bathroom where kids can properly bathe.”
“Yeah, of course,” Rose said, nodding her head. “I wasn’t sure if you had any clean clothes, so I asked Chad to give me your size. It’s nothing fancy, just a pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts.”
“Thanks,” Reggie said.
“We can also do your laundry for you if you want,” Ray added. “Or you can do it yourself if you prefer. We just want you to feel as comfortable here as possible.”
“I think I’ll take you up on your offer to do my laundry,” Reggie said, hoping to maybe get out of doing any type of housework for as long as possible. The Patterson’s chore list for Reggie was getting longer each day, and they barely left him anytime to do homework before demanding lights out in the living room.
“Yeah, no problem,” Rose said, squeezing Rays hand. “There’s a laundry basket in your room. If you want to just throw your clothes in there, I can throw them in the wash before dinner.”
“Thank you,” Reggie said, quietly before heading back upstairs to take a shower. This was all a bit much and he needed a few moments alone to process everything that was happening.
When Reggie got upstairs he quickly put all of Luke’s hand-me-downs in the laundry basket by the door, grabbed one of the new towels and headed straight to the bathroom. Once inside he quickly turned on the hot water and sighed as he submerged his body in it.
The Molinas seemed nice, and considering the fact that they had gotten him some new clothes and a welcome basket, well… it was surprising. The last time Reggie had received a welcome basket was when he first entered foster care. His foster parents were really nice and understanding, but they just weren’t equipped to handle all of the trauma Reggie had endured while living with emotionally and physically abusive parents for 10 years. They wanted someone younger, someone who hadn’t been hit for getting a bad grade or for making too much noise. They wanted someone like… well Reggie knew exactly who they wanted and he didn’t really want to think about him.
As soon as Reggie got out of the shower he quickly dried off and stared at the clothes Rose bought him. His hand brushed over the tags before he ripped them off and started to get dressed. It was a simple outfit that consisted of black jeans, and a grey t-shirt, but the muted colors felt more like him as opposed to the worn out band t-shirts and baggy pants that he normally wore. He hated Luke’s style sometimes.
Once Reggie was dressed, he ran his fingers through his hair and put his worn-out converse back on.
“All clean?” Rose asked, as Reggie came down the stairs?
“Yeah, thanks,” he blushed.
“Of course,” Rose said, checking the time on her phone. They still had about thirty minutes before they needed to leave for dinner and she wanted to have a quiet conversation with her husband before they left. “Hey Carlos, do you want to give Reggie a tour real quick?”
The younger boy perked his head up, and ran over to Reggie.
“Come on,” Carlos said, excitedly as he grabbed Reggie’s hand and started dragging him all over the house.
“Let Reggie know he can use the studio,” Rose whispered to Carlos.
Carlos perked his head and gave his mom a big smile as he continued to drag Reggie up the stairs to start the tour.
Once the two were out of sight, Rose walked into Ray’s office and closed the door.
“Everything he owns fits inside of a ratty book-bag,” Rose said, heartbroken. “And the clothes he has aren’t even technically his, they’re just hand-me-downs his foster brother gave him.”
“Okay, then we’ll take him shopping this weekend,” Ray said closing his laptop.
“I don’t know if I want him to go back to that foster home,” Rose said, taking a seat across from her husband. “Who has a kid for almost five months and doesn’t even bother to take them back to school shopping?”
Ray sighed knowing he was about to hear a long rant from his wife.
“Well, I think he’s staying with the Pattersons because Emily Patterson was raving about how she was fostering one of the scholarship kids and how she was doing such a good deed at the first PTA meeting of the year.”
“Is that why you stopped going to those?” Ray asked, trying to hold back a laugh.
“That’s beside the point,” she said, sternly. “Alex even said that she didn’t feel comfortable staying with the Pattersons if he got kicked out, and now I know why.”
“Okay, well how do you know he’ll be a good fit for our family?” Ray asked. “I mean he and Julie are the exact same age, what if they catch feelings for each other or something?”
“I don’t think Julie’s interested in him like that,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “Besides, Reggie knows the rules about dating Foster siblings. I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about.”
“Let’s just see how this week goes, okay? Midterms are right around the corner and I’m sure the poor kid doesn’t want to be completely uprooted before exams,” Ray said, kissing his wife on the forehead.
“Fine,” Rose said, leaning into her husband. “But if I find out he’s actually being neglected then I’m calling Chad and getting him out of that house ASAP.”
***********************
Carlos’s house tour was extremely detailed. He showed Reggie every last room, linen closet, cupboard, and drawer in the house. They didn’t go into Julie’s room, because it was off limits for just about everyone, but other than that, they covered every single square inch.
“And this,” Carlos said, stepping outside and walking towards the garage that was next to the house. “Is the music studio. My mom said that you could use it while you’re here.”
Reggie’s eyes widened in awe as he walked around and stared at all of the instruments in the studio. His hand lightly grazed a black bass guitar, and then his eyes flickered over to the piano in the center of the room. He couldn’t believe he was allowed to come in here and play whenever he wanted.
“What do you think?” Rose asked, walking in the studio.
“It’s beautiful,” he said, turning his attention to his foster mom. “Are you sure I can use this?”
“Of course,” Rose said, with a small smile. “It’s good to have another musician in this household.”
“Thank you,” Reggie said, almost tearing up. “I have a recital at the end of the semester and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to practice this week.”
“Of course,” she said, holding back the urge to call him mijo. Rose already considered Reggie her son and apart of this family, even if it wasn’t official. “We should get going though. I don’t want to be late for dinner.”
Reggie nodded his head and she led the three of them out to the car where Julie and Ray were waiting for them by the car.
*******************
Rose’s brother, Matt, smiled when he saw his sister and her family walk into his restaurant. Rose had talked to both of her siblings on the phone this afternoon to inform them of the new addition to their family.
“Hey Rose,” Matt said, giving his sister a hug.
“Hey Matt,” Rose said, smiling. She then turned to Reggie and gave him a big smile. “This is Reggie, he’s going to be joining us for Thanksgiving.”
“It’s nice to meet you Reggie,” Matt said, giving him a smile. “The whole family is really excited to have you join us this year.”
“Thank you for having me,” Reggie said, awkwardly.
Matt looked back and saw that the wait staff was still setting up their table. Rose had dropped off a chocolate cake - which Chad mentioned was Reggie’s favorite - balloons, and some birthday decorations earlier in the day, and he was told to make the table look festive.
“Your table should be ready in a few minutes,” Matt said, turning back around. “We’re just wiping it down now.”
“Are Jesus and Emily working tonight?” Carlos asked, excitedly.
“Jesus is, but Emily is taking a break until after swim season,” Matt said. “You’ll see her on Thursday.”
“Those are our cousins,” Carlos said, excitedly. “Mom has two siblings, Tío Matt and Tia Victoria. Tia doesn’t have any kids though. And Dad has a brother with three kids, but they live in Florida with our Abuelo and Abuela. They don’t come here for Thanksgiving, but they’re all flying here for Christmas this year!”
Julie rolled her eyes as Carlos continued to give Reggie detailed information about her family that he was never going to use. I mean, it’s not like Reggie was going to be around long enough to actually meet the other half of her family, right?
After a few minutes Jesus came up and whispered in his father’s ear. Matt nodded his head and grabbed five menus.
“Jesus is going to show you guys to your table, let me know if you guys need anything else,” Matt said, smiling.
“Thanks Matt,” Rose said, giving her brother a kiss on the cheek.
Reggie’s cheeks immediately turned red as he spotted a festive table filled with confetti and balloons that their waiter was leading them too.
This was too much. The Molina’s didn’t even know him, yet they had done more for his birthday than his actual family had when he lived in Tennessee. His meemaw used to bake him a cake and they would have a small family party during thanksgiving, usually after Reggie’s dad and uncle got drunk and yelled at each other after burning the turkey.
Those birthday celebrations stopped after his meemaw died when he was 7. His parents then sold their share of the farm and moved to LA so his dad could get as far away from his brother as possible.
“Th-this is too much, Mr. and Mrs. Molina,” Reggie said, biting his lip. “I really don’t deserve this.”
Rose looked at Ray with sad eyes. She saw Reggie almost tear up when Alex gave him a red flannel as a birthday gift this morning. Eats & Beats was surprisingly slow that morning, so she was happy to let Nick and Alex throw a small birthday breakfast for their friend. She had a feeling something was off when she saw him walk in with an old Glenn Oak Middle School t-shirt that had a few holes in it. She was hoping it was a stylistic choice, but she now knew she was dead wrong.
“Don’t worry about it,” Rose said, reassuring Reggie for the third time today. “This is normal. We aren’t doing anything we wouldn’t do for Julie or Carlos.”
Reggie slowly nodded his head. It was weird being treated like a normal kid for once. Most foster parents just assumed he was a bad kid and just left him out of stuff or kept him on a tighter leash, even before he was sent to Juvie. He wasn’t… or maybe he was. Why else would his dad hit him for failing a math test?
Rose squeezed Reggies shoulder as the five of them all took a seat at the table. They talked about school, which Ray and Rose praised him for his stellar grades this semester; they talked about how their days went; and they even talked about their plans for the Thanksgiving holiday. Reggie was included in every single topic and conversation. For the first time ever, he actually started to feel safe with the Molinas.
Too bad he was only staying with them for nine days.