All Alone

All Alone II A Special Christmas Addition

All Alone II:

A Special Christmas Addition

Written by JD © Dec.2013

Authors Note: You asked for it and so here it is. This story is a short story specially written for the Holidays! For those who are wondering, I did mean Addition and not Edition. As you read the story you will understand why I did this. The idea of this story came to me while out for a walk. It is greatly influenced by the holiday movies I have currently been watching all over TV. Please also note that this story takes place 1 year in the future. I hope everyone will enjoy reading this story as much as I did writing it! For those who would like to email me, you can reach me at johndazel@hotmail.com. Please remember that if you like the stories here on Nifty to donate whatever you can to help keep this wonderful site up and running.

Now on to my generic disclaimer!-

The story you are about to read contains diaper use, adult language, and the over use of Christmas Themes. The following is evil, illegal, should be banned, and all that other blah, blah, blah. If reading a coming of age story of self-discovery about pre-adolescent and adolescent boys that wet their beds and wear diapers is not your thing, then don't read it.

Prologue:

A little over a year ago, my world was torn from me when my mom went missing on her way home from work. Because of no family that I knew of, the police and Child protective services had no choice but to place me in a temporary foster home until my mom was found. At first, I found the Jackson family a horrible place to be! This was mostly because of Mrs. Jackson who seemed to hate boys.

Other than their Teenage daughter Jessie, I had not one friend in that family. She seemed to understand me better than any of the others. So, when Mrs. Jackson made my life miserable, Jessie did her best to make me feel better.

Things did not improve when I started wetting my pants and bed. Mrs. Jackson was not happy about this one bit and felt that to be doing this at my age, that I must be doing it on purpose! To keep Mrs. Jackson from finding out about my bedwetting, Jessie agreed to help me out. She knew I wasn't doing it on purpose and knowing that her mom would be upset with me, she helped me cover up the accidents. To make things easier for me and herself, Jessie talked me into wearing her younger brother Adam's old GoodNites to bed that he use to wear to bed for his own bedwetting problem.

Things in the Jackson house and at school were just not working for me and in a desperate act, I ended up running away. Well, I didn't actually start out running away; it just sort of happened. In the process, I sprained my leg and pissed off the Jackson's even more. One thing happened though... Adam ended up becoming a good friend, even though he was younger than me.

Then the day came when I was given the worst news a young kid could ever get... my mother... my only parent... was dead! The news was a shock to me and clumsy me fell out of Adam's upper bunk and crashed to the floor. As I fell, my head came into contact with Adams nightstand. I also hurt my leg even more and broke it. Because of this, I ended up spending several days in the hospital. What really sucked was that I was still there on Thanksgiving.

Still, it was while I was in that hospital, that I began to feel an emotional connection with Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. What shocked me but also made me happy was that they too were feeling the same for me! Now I didn't forget my mom! I missed her terribly but I knew that for the first time since she disappeared, I could make it through life without her. The Jacksons came to visit me every day I was in the hospital; and when the day came that I was to finally be released, they all came and took me back home with them. When I got back to the Jacksons' home, I knew for sure that I was now an honorary Jackson. You see, it turned out that the Jacksons held off Thanksgiving dinner until the day I was to be released from the hospital. Boy was I shocked when all the Jacksons' family shouted surprise, as I was carried inside by Mr. Jackson.

As the days then weeks went by, I started to really think of the Jacksons as family... My family! Christmas that year brought me good news. The Jackson's started the paperwork to adopt me. It was explained to me that the process was long and grueling, but if I wanted to become a Jackson, all I had to do was say yes. Which I of course did!

As the months went by, I found out how hard it was to actually be adopted. One of the earliest problems was that the State wanted to be sure that I didn't have any relatives. They also even tried to find my biological dad, but that didn't get too far. Now with Christmas only days away, my adoption was in its last stretch and I would then become Jamie Adams-Jackson. It was agreed by all parties to allow me to hyphenate my last name so that I could still honor my mother's name.

Starting with last Christmas, I started a new tradition that the Jacksons showed me. Something that would not only help me remember my mother, but to further honor her as well! At every holiday, I remembered my mother by lighting a candle for her. I also started to talk to my mom every night before I went to sleep. I did this through prayer, which was something the Jacksons taught me to do as well. Talking about sleep, that first night home from the hospital, I moved into Adam's room and from that day on... we shared it!

I know! I know! For those who are wondering, I did for the most part get my daytime control back over my bladder and bowels. Actually, once I was back home, I quickly got back full control of my bowels. As for my bladder, I occasionally have a daytime accident but that has become more of a rare event these days. Now night time control on the other hand was a whole other situation! I was still pretty much wetting the bed nightly! Due to how much I wet, I no longer wear GoodNites to bed. Because they tended to leak, I started to wear actual diapers instead. At first I was really embarrassed about it since I had to be diapered by Mrs. Jackson. Eventually though, I got used to it and even began to enjoy and look forward to it. I of course never told anyone other than Adam about my love for diapers. I knew that the Jacksons would never understand and I didn't trust anyone else with that knowledge. By the way, I am not the only one who is diapered at night; Adam is diapered at night as well. For some reason (wink wink) he has begun to wet the bed every night like me. It was cool having a younger brother like Adam who liked diapers as much as I did. It became a special bond between us.

Now with my adoption finally becoming official, something is about to happen that will change everything! Will I actually end up a Jackson? You will have to read on to find out if I will be with the Jacksons... or ... All Alone!

Chapter 1: Friday December 19th, 2014 – Morning!

"Time to get up boys!" Ruth Announced loudly as she came into our room and turned on the light.

"Mommy, I am too tired! I don't want to go to school today." I heard Adam groan.

"Now don't you dilly dally, it's Friday and the last day of school before you get out for Christmas break!" Ruth instructed. As she walked over to our bunk beds, I could hear her trying to suppress a giggle.

I knew right away what she was about to do. "I'm up I'm up!" I shouted out as I sat bolt upright in bed.

I watched as Ruth Lunged at Adam. I knew from past experiences with me having the top bunk that I was normally first; but because I sat up, Ruth instead tickled tortured Adam until he was laughing and screaming for mercy!

"Mommmmmmyyyyyy, you are going to make me pee my diaper again!" Adam giggled.

"Well, we don't want to do that! From the looks of that diaper, it appears that you are trying to test how much pee it could hold before it explodes!" Ruth again chuckled.

Adam of course found this funny and started to laugh.

"Alright there laughing boy. I want you to get out of that wet diaper and into the shower." Ruth instructed Adam.

Adam got out of bed and quickly pulled off his pajamas, dropping them on our floor. Now only in his wet diaper, he quickly un-taped it and deposited it into our diaper pail. Then, naked as a jaybird, he ran out of the room to the bathroom. Where I presumed he got in the shower as instructed.

With Adam now gone, Ruth stood up and smiled at me. "Big day today!" She said to me as she reached out and softly stroked my face.

It was indeed a big day today. Today was hopefully the day that the final adoption papers would be signed by the Judge and I would be officially a Jackson. Because of this, I would not be in school that morning. If everything went to plan, by noon the papers would be signed and the Adoption finalized. I would then spend the last few hours of school with a different last name before school let out for the holidays!

I must have drifted off in my thoughts for longer than I thought. Because Ruth had to snap her fingers in front of my face a few times to bring me back to earth.

"Thought I lost you there for a minute Kiddo." Ruth joked.

I couldn't help myself as my face brightened with a cheerful smile.

Ruth then went over to the closet and pulled out my suit that she and Al had bought for me. Normally I wore it to church but since I was going to be in court that morning, she wanted me to wear it.

I watched as she hung the suit at the end of my bunk bed. She then turned back to me.

"So sleepyhead, are you going to get out of bed or not?"

I just nodded my head in reply.

She again smiled then walked over to my dresser. I watched as she pulled a pair of socks and a GoodNite from the top drawer. She then turned back to me.

"So is it underwear or a GoodNite today?" She asked me even though I knew she wanted me to wear the diaper.

I thought about it for a minute but it was obvious between the both of us what I should wear. "I probably should wear the GoodNite."

Like I said, I occasionally still had a daytime accident here and there. Usually they happened at Church or long car trips. Also it seemed any time my stress level was up I tended to have accidents. In fact, the first time we were in court, I ended up peeing in my good pants. Ever since then, Ruth usually insisted that I wear a GoodNite like I did to Church and other events. Especially those that may lead to accidents.

"Alright you. Time to get up and get that wet diaper off so you can get ready for the day." Ruth then helped me down from the top bunk and kissed me on my nose before leaving my bedroom.

It was hard for me to imagine that there was a time just over a year ago I would have claimed that she was the Wicked Witch of the West! But not now, I truly loved Ruth and her husband Al as if they were my own mom and dad. Both of them knew they could never replace my mom, but that didn't keep them from loving me as much as they could.

I removed my pajamas and then, unlike Adam, folded them up and neatly placed them under my pillow. I then looked down at myself in my drooping yellow tinted diaper. Just like Adam's diaper, mine was bloated almost to the point of no return! Still, I felt a little urine in my bladder so I decided to let it out and added to my already soaked diaper.

"God does that feel great!" I breathed silently as I felt the urine escape me and enter into my pee heavy diaper.

Like I had said, the diaper had been to its bursting point and the little bit I let out was more than it could handle. I felt a trickle of pee run down my inside right thigh.

Sighing, I removed the soggy diaper and deposited it in the diaper pail before making my way to the bathroom. I only had to wait a few minutes before Adam was done with his shower. Once my soon to be younger brother was finished, I got in. I then began my own shower. And as the water rained down upon me I smiled at the thought of being adopted and never ... All Alone!

Chapter 2: Friday December 19th, 2014 – Later That Morning!

**"**What is taking so long Jerry?" Al asked. He of course was frustrated. We were all frustrated.

Jerry was the Jackson's lawyer and was handling my adoption. He had been trying to find out why the Judge was delaying the hearing and had been gone for over 45 minutes. He had just walked around the corner and Al was the first one to notice him.

Jerry sighed heavily and gave us a warily smile. I instantly saw through the forced smile and was positive that whatever he found out, was not good! And after clearing his throat, he gave us the bad news.

"Someone has come forward and is now contesting the adoption." Jerry explained.

"Who?" Ruth asked and I could hear the sudden worry in her voice.

Al reached out and embraced his wife, trying to give her some of his strength and support. "Only family can contest the adoption?!"

To be honest, I wasn't sure if Al was just stating this as a fact or if he was trying to ask a question. Jerry took it as a question though.

"Not really, the State itself could object to the adoption but at this point it is not normally done. But for the most part, it is family and sometimes friends that can object." Before Jerry went further, he looked down at me before looking back up at the Jacksons. "Maybe we should speak more privately." From the weird movements he was making with his head, I was able to get the point that he wanted to talk away from me.

Before anyone could disclude me from the conversation I begged to be included. "Please Mr. Jones, this was Jerry's last name. I really want to know too."

Jerry nodded his head and smiled at me. "You're right Jamie; you have the right to know as well. Also, it isn't like you're not going to find out eventually."

Jerry then pointed over to an empty bench where we all went and took a seat. Over the next several minutes, I was given some amazing news. So amazing, that it was hard to believe!

"According to what I found out so far, someone claiming to be your father..." at this, Jerry nodded his head at me. "...is requesting to be given custody of you. The Judge has been going over his claim. It seems that he has already gone through a DNA matching service that has basically stated that Jamie and he are a biological match."

Both of the Jacksons were about to say something but Jerry stopped them before they could.

"Don't worry; when we go before the Judge, we will ask for another impartial test to be done. Believe me; we want to have someone that we can trust to give us an unbiased opinion. Also..."

Ruth suddenly got upset and interrupted Jerry. "He can't have him! He will have to walk over my dead body before I give him up to some stranger!" At this, Ruth got up from the bench and walked away towards the Women's restroom. I could clearly see that she was crying as she passed me.

Ruth's abrupt departure brought silence amongst us and for several seconds no one spoke a word. Finally AL broke the silence.

"Do you think his DNA test was tampered with?"

"No, but just because one place says they think he is a match, doesn't make it so. Mistakes are made all the time and we just want to cross all our T's and dot all our i's."

"I see. Is that all?" From the way that AL asked this last question I was sure he meant something else then what Jerry took it as. Then again, what did I know?

"No, the guy has other evidence as well."

"What evidence."

"All I could get was that he had some physical evidence as well."

Now through all of this banter back and forth, my brain had yet to make the connection that they were talking about a guy who most likely was my dad. It was now that it finally did make this connection.

"THEY FOUND MY DAD?!" I shouted suddenly, scaring the shit out of AL and Jerry. Before they could answer that question, I blurted out my next question. "CAN I MEET HIM?! I REALLY WANT TO MEET HIM!" I shouted excitedly. In my sudden excitement I flooded my GoodNite! Boy was I happy I wore it!

I jumped from my seat in my enthusiasm of possibly meeting my actual father. I had long ago given up on the idea of ever meeting my dad. Mom never talked about my father and so I didn't think much about him. Still, there were those times I did and wished he would come back home. I guess the last time I did think of him was last year when I was having those horrible nightmares. The one where he was first a real nice guy and later in the dream was a terrible monster!

But now thinking about my Dad again, I wondered where he had been all this time and what he had been doing. Was he nice like Mom? Did he have other kids?" All of these questions flashed through my mind. I then had a thought that made me feel a little sad for him. Maybe he was like me when mom died; maybe he too was ... All Alone!

Chapter 3: Friday December 19th, 2014 – Evening!

"Boys, time to get ready for bed." Ruth announced.

We had all been watching a movie together that evening and it had just gotten over with. To be truthfully honest though, my mind was not on the movie at all. All I could think of was that I would be meeting my father for the first time tomorrow.

Ever since that morning, I was going stir crazy. When I was told that I would not be able to meet my dad until the next day, I thought for sure I would explode from the anticipation!

When we did finally go before the Judge that morning/early afternoon; I got to meet the lawyer representing Mr. Whitfield, the guy claiming to be my dad. It turned out that his name was James too, Mr. Whitfield that is and not the lawyer. Yes, it turns out I was named after my biological father. Jamie's my nickname but my actual first name is James.

Anyway, we weren't in the court room for long. Like Jerry had said he would, he requested a new DNA test which the other lawyer agreed to. I think he surprised everyone when he said that it would be taken care of later that afternoon.

"It is our hope to have the results by tomorrow morning." The other lawyer stated.

I didn't really understand any of this and so for the most part, most of it went over my head. What I did know was that the Judge decided to have a special hearing the very next day. Jerry tried to argue against it and put it off until after the holidays. The other lawyer on the other hand kept saying though that his client had every right to have his son for Christmas. In the end, the Judge kept the Saturday hearing. You know, I thought the government stuff was closed on Saturdays and Sundays!

You know what I found really weird, even through all my excitement about the possibility of having a real Dad? I was able to see that the Jacksons didn't seem happy at all! It never really occurred to me that they would be upset about this. Still, it was obvious they were and suddenly I didn't know what to say to them. I mean, I really did love the Jackson family and considered myself one of them. Still, I wanted so much to meet my real dad and maybe even live with him. In the end, I said nothing to them and other than a few sad looks; they said nothing to me about it as well. And that was how the rest of the day went! I guess it was easier to act like nothing happen then to allow reality to set in.

It wasn't until Adam and I entered our room to get our pajamas on that the topic came up since that morning.

"Hey Jamie, you never did tell me how court went today?" Adam mumbled while pulling his pajama shirt up and over his head.

I took a deep breath before saying anything. I didn't really want to upset Adam as well, but I was dying to tell someone. So against my better judgment, I told him everything!

"But Jamie... If you go live with your dad, we won't be brothers anymore!" And as Adam said this, I saw a tear make its way down his cheek and drip from his chin.

Seeing Adam like this almost made me burst out in tears. "Don't worry Adam! We still will be buddies!" I stated hopefully. "I will visit you all the time." I added.

"But I want you to live with us!" And as he said this, the floodgates opened and the tears flowed freely from Adam's eyes. Of course this didn't help keep me from breaking down as well. Somehow though, I was able to choke back my own tears as I tried to persuade Adam that everything was going to be okay.

"Adam I'm sorry, I wanted to live here too. Anyway, I don't think I get to vote on it. I'm just a kid who has to go where they are told to." I tried to explain. "Besides, how would you feel if you were in my shoes?"

Adam sniffled then nodded his head. "I guess I would want to go live with my dad too."

"Well we better finish getting ready; Ruth is going to be wondering what is taking us so long." And that said, we both finished getting ready for bed before heading back downstairs.

Once downstairs, Adam and I each took a turn getting diapered. Ruth would diaper each of us right there on the couch. Once we had our diapers on, we kissed and Hugged Al and Ruth goodnight before heading back upstairs to bed.

As we climbed into our bunks, Adam brought up the earlier subject about my dad. "Jamie, when you go to court tomorrow morning, do you think they will take you away then?"

I thought about this question for a few seconds before answering. "You know Adam, I'm not sure. I hope that it won't happen that fast."

For the rest of that evening, until I finally drifted off to sleep, I found myself worried for poor Adam. If I did get taken away, I was afraid the poor guy would be ... All Alone!

Chapter 4: Saturday December 20th, 2014 At Court!

Normally on Saturday mornings, both Al and Ruth go grocery shopping and would spend the whole morning together. It was their special time alone. This morning though was different. Instead; they, along with me, were in court all morning. Even though it was Saturday and not a normal court day, we still were waiting as if it were a normal weekday in the courthouse. And no matter how many times I asked, no one would tell me what we were waiting for.

That morning, I had once again donned my suit and was wearing a GoodNite underneath it. Because of all the waiting, it was already wet. I was just so excited and nervous that morning, that there was no way I could keep from wetting myself.

Eventually Jerry came and got us. Something was up because instead of being led into the courtroom, we were taken to a large office which smelled of old dust. I couldn't help wondering when the last time the place had been dusted.

The dusty office turned out to be the Judge's Chambers. Speaking of the Judge, he was sitting behind his desk. The walls were lined with large bookcases that were over filled with books.

Once we entered, the Judge waved us in and pointed towards a large couch like thing. As we took our seat, I looked over at the other 2 people in the room. One of them was the lawyer from yesterday and the other one I presumed was supposed to be my father James.

"Mr. and Mrs. Jackson..." The Judge then nodded towards me. "...Jamie, This is Mr. James Whitfield.

Both Ruth and Al politely welcomed James Whitfield but on the inside I think they were throwing daggers at the man with their eyes. As for me, I was about to jump from my seat and rush over and give Mr. Whitfield a hug. Before I could do that though, Ruth gripped my hand firmly. I am not sure, but I think she must have known that I was going rush the guy before even I did. I think the Judge may have noticed as well because he gave me a quick smile before clearing his throat and getting down to business.

"As you all have noticed, I am making this informal today. We of course will be on the record..." As he said this, he pointed to the other side of the room. I was shocked to see a woman I somehow had missed. She was sitting in front of a small looking typewriter, which I recognized from the courtroom. "...so this meeting while informal, is still official." The Judge than cleared his voice before continuing. "Mr. Muldoon, please present your case."

At this, the other lawyer representing James Whitfield stood up. In his hand he held a thick envelope which he then handed to the Judge.

"Your honor, what I have just given you is a large folder of pictures. All of these pictures are of Jamie, taken at different intervals of his life. On the back of each picture, there is a date and a short note. We are prepared to offer proof that the handwriting is that of Jamie's mother."

The lawyer walked back over to his brief case and pulled a bunch of what looked like letters tied together in ribbon, from it. Like the packet of pictures, which the Judge was currently looking through, they were handed to the Judge as well.

"These, your Honor, are letters that Jamie's mother wrote to Mr. Whitfield here."

Again the lawyer retrieved something from his briefcase. It turned out to be another one of those large folders.

"And as you already know, this is the result of the DNA test that shows without a doubt that this man is that..." Mr. Muldoon then pointed at me. "...boy's father.

When I heard this I jumped from the couch and shouted "YIPPEE!" This time I managed to catch everyone off guard. "You really are my dad!" I shouted again. Before anyone could stop me, I ran over to Mr. Whitfield and jumped into his lap. I then hugged him as tightly as I could.

The Judge cleared his throat loudly and gave me a stern look. I could tell that he didn't like my sudden outburst. He pointed at me, then at my seat. Hesitantly, I retook my seat. After that, it got real quiet.

I was about to go crazy out of my brains, when the Judge finally spoke.

"The matter that is before me is one of great importance. On one hand, I have 2 people who have loved and cared for Jamie for over a year. These 2 are pillars in their community. They are licensed Foster Parents and can offer Jamie a structured and stable home life." The Judge explained.

"Your Honor, that is just..." Mr. Whitfield's lawyer started to say but was interrupted by the Judge.

"Did I say I was done talking Mr. Muldoon?" The Judge snapped at the lawyer.

"No your Honor." Mr. Muldoon stated.

"That is what I thought! I will let you know when it is time to speak." The Judge stated sternly. He then rubbed his right eyebrow as if in deep thought. "Now, where was I at?" He asked out loud. "Oh that was right. I just finished telling the positives about the Jacksons. So on the other hand; from the evidence I have seen here today, it is obvious that Mr. James Whitfield is the boy's father. His DNA is a match and the photographs and letters is beyond proof of who he is. Normally in these types of cases, I would rule in the favor for the biological parents."

At this point, Mr. Muldoon looked as if he was about to say something. Before he could though, the Judge gave him a stern look that scared even me! The Judge then continued as if nothing had interrupted him.

"Mr. Whitfield has assured the court that he has means to take care of the boy and make sure of his wellbeing. But this brings me to my next thought. Since Mr. Whitfield had all of this evidence, there is no questioning that he knew he had a son. So the question I have to ask myself is this... Why didn't you come for him sooner?"

I found myself wanting know the answer to this question as much as the Judge. Why was I left to believe that my father was some unnamed person? I looked at the man who claimed to be my father and found myself desperately hoping for an answer that would satisfy me.

For several seconds the room remained quiet as Mr. Whitfield thought about the best way to answer the question the Judge asked him. Finally he spoke.

"I am sorry your Honor. I was stupid and young. At the time I didn't want any kids and wasn't even too sure about being a husband let alone a father." He then paused for a second before continuing. "When I found out that Julie, Jamie's mom that is, didn't want a relationship with me either; I made an agreement with her." At this, my father looked at me and I could see the sadness in his eyes as he continued. "I promised that I would walk away and not interfere with her raising Jamie. For my role in it, she would not come after me for child support or any other financial situation. At the time, I am sorry to say, I was very relieved as I didn't want to be in that situation. So, I went on with my life. The problem was, as I got older, I began to regret that decision we had made and so I reached out to her. Even though in the end I respected her wish by respecting the deal, she went ahead and sent me pictures and letters telling me how my boy was doing. It wasn't even until then that I found out that she had named him after me."

Because of the emotion that Mr. Whitfield showed through his speech, everyone in the room seemed to be about to burst into tears. Then again, maybe I was biased.

"Mr. Whitfield, that is real touching but I have to ask, are you sure you are ready to take care of a child now? Right now Jamie has a loving family that wants him to be a part of their family. I would really hate to deprive Jamie of this family that wants him."

Mr. Whitfield nodded his head. "I really do want to be the father that Jamie always deserved. I didn't find out about Julie until recently. When I hadn't heard back from her, I decided to take a chance and try and see her. I knew where she worked so I went there; it was then that I found out all about this. I was devastated when I heard the news. Now with his mom gone, I am all the family Jamie has left."

"I see..." The Judge sighed then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before putting his glasses back on. "This is what I am going to do. I am going to allow you a chance to see if this is what you really want. I am ordering that starting today and until after the New Year, that Jamie be placed in your temporary custody. After the New Year, we will meet again and I will make my ruling then."

As the Judge excused us, I found myself for the first time wondering if I wanted to be staying with a stranger for the holidays. I had already been looking forward to being with the Jacksons for Christmas and New Year's. My earlier exuberance seemed to melt away as I started to really think about all this!

Mr. Whitfield agreed to follow us back to the Jacksons' home and he waited downstairs as Ruth helped me pack for the next couple weeks. While she was doing this, I took off my suit and hung it back up. I then removed the soaked GoodNite and tossed it into the diaper pail. As I was getting myself a clean pair of underwear, Ruth suggested that I should wear another GoodNite as I would be in the car for over an hour. She also wanted to tell Mr. Whitfield about my accidents but I was able to talk her out of it. Actually I begged and pleaded and she finally relented after making me promise to wear a GoodNite at night while there. Because of this, she packed me plenty of GoodNites.

Once I was packed, I followed Ruth back downstairs where Al and Mr. Whitfield were waiting for me. Both Al and Ruth hugged and kissed me goodbye. I noticed as Ruth let go of me that she was crying and I began to feel bad. It also didn't help that I was not able to say goodbye to Adam and Jessie. They had gone out while we were gone and hadn't made it home yet. Ruth promised me that she would tell them goodbye for me when she wasn't able to reach Jessie on her cellphone.

Reluctantly, I followed Mr. Whitfield to his Oldsmobile Alero and climbed into the front seat next to him. Both Al and Ruth followed us outside and were standing on their front porch. As we backed out of the driveway, I waved goodbye to them. And as we drove off; I couldn't help noticing the sad disappointment on their faces as they stood there huddling in the cold and waving back. I found that I couldn't pull my eyes away from them. I watched them slowly disappear from my view as they were engulfed into nothingness and were now ... All Alone!

Chapter 5: Saturday December 20th, 2014 – That Afternoon!

I was finally alone with Mr. Whitfield and could ask him anything I wanted. The problem was, as I sat there and thought of the Jacksons, I found that I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Hey there, you're pretty quiet over there." He quickly glanced at me as he said this then returned his attention to the road.

I just shrugged my shoulders but didn't say anything.

"So is there anything special you wanted to do while you are staying with me?" He asked.

Again, I shrugged my shoulders. I don't know why I was suddenly acting shy, but I was certainly feeling it. Trying to put the shyness out of my mind, I grabbed at the first thought I thought of. That thought was of Adam. I found myself worried about him. I knew the Jacksons had each other and that Jessie had her friends. But poor Adam had no one but me. I guess he talked to a couple other kids but they weren't really friends.

"So you go by Jamie, correct?" Mr. Whitfield asked, interrupting my thoughts. He was still trying to engage me in conversation.

Not able to get anything past my lips, I just stared blankly ahead. Stupidly, I just nodded my head. I just couldn't understand myself. I wasn't sure what was worse; my shyness or the fact that I was feeling bad for hurting Ruth and Al and disappointing Adam. I wanted badly to tell this man next to me that I wanted to go back to the Jacksons'. That I needed to at least give Adam a proper goodbye like I had promised him. But I couldn't get my brain to work my mouth.

Mr. Whitfield sighed and for the next several minutes he drove in silence. I guess he realized that he wasn't going to be able to engage me in conversation no matter how hard he tried. This of course made me feel bad about this as well.

About an hour later, we pulled into an old rundown apartment complex. "Well, we are here." He announced as he parked the car in front of one of the old buildings.

Seeing the place where he lived was kind of disappointing. I guess I had assumed that if he had the money to hire a lawyer that he must have money. Now seeing the apartment building he lived in, I realized that this was not the case. Even the apartment complex that Mom and I had lived in was nicer than this!

I guess he must have seen the disappointment on my face. "I know it is not much to look at on the outside but the inside is clean and in good repair. Besides, we will have to move into a bigger apartment when you come to live with me for good. This one only has a 1 bedroom." He informed me.

I felt awful for the next thoughts that I had. I actually found myself thinking that I would have a better life with the Jacksons because they could offer me more than Mr. Whitfield could. I also found myself thinking that if I did move in with him that he would at least move to a nicer apartment complex and not get a bigger place at this current one.

"Had living the last year with the Jacksons spoiled me?" I thought to myself.

As we got out of the car, he grabbed my bag. Then with a wave, he led the way to his apartment. Like he promised, the apartment was clean and looked nice. We had no sooner walked inside, when good smells wafted to my nose.

"Janet, we're here!" Mr. Whitfield called out.

I wasn't sure who Janet was, but she appeared a second later from another room. She walked up to us and gave a quick peck on Mr. Whitfield's lips. She then looked down at me.

"So this must be James JR. What a handsome boy." She then bent down and tried to kiss me on my cheek.

My Shyness I had been feeling proved that it could get even worse in this woman's presence. As she bent down, I backed up and hid behind Mr. Whitfield. I could see the look on disappointment on her face as I did this.

"I am sorry dear; he has been acting a little shy since I picked him up." Mr. Whitfield explained to her. "I have tried to get him to talk to me but so far he hasn't said a word." He then winked at me. "I am sure if we give him a little space that he will open up with us later."

"Well James..." As Janet said this, she eyed me seriously. "...I hope you are hungry. I have made a very special meal just for this occasion."

From the good smells emanating from the kitchen, I was sure I was going to love this meal. Even though I still wasn't able to say anything, I was at least able to smile. And with that smile I was able to let her know that I couldn't wait.

Janet then excused herself and went back to the kitchen. Once she left, Mr. Whitfield set down my bag and removed his coat and shoes. Seeing him do this, I did the same.

"Here James, hand me your coat."

Mr. Whitfield was hanging his own coat on a coatrack next to the door as he asked me for mine. He then hung my coat on the coatrack as well. As for our shoes, we just left them at the door.

"Alright now, how do you feel about getting the 10 cent tour?" He smiled as he asked me this and I returned his smile as my answer. "Okay, well this here..." As he said this he waved to the living room area. "...is our living room of course." He then led me into the room that was to the left... The room that Janet had disappeared into. "And this is our dining room and kitchen. Both of these rooms were technically one small room. He then led me back into the living room and down a short hallway. The final two rooms were the bathroom and a small bedroom.

It wasn't until we were back out in the living room that I noticed that there was no Christmas tree. "Where is your tree?" I asked and for the first time since he picked me up, I spoke. This made him real happy of course.

"Well I was sure you had a voice." He joked. "As for the tree, I thought we could set it up together after dinner." He then gently bumped me on my shoulder in a friendly gesture. "How does that sound to you?" He asked.

With that question, I seemed to forget all about my shyness and I am ashamed to admit, I temporarily forgot all about the Jacksons as well. So until dinner was ready, we discussed our plans of how we would be decorating the tree. Through all of this time, I forgot all about my GoodNite I had been wearing and how I was slowly soaking it! When I did finally remember it, I became worried and wished at that moment that I was ... All Alone!

Chapter 6: Sunday December 21st, 2014 – Early Morning!

I awoke long before the adults that first morning away from the Jacksons. This was after a hard time getting to sleep. I eventually did fall asleep but it wasn't until well after I heard snoring coming from the one bedroom. I had a lot on my mind, including the worry that I might pee so much that my GoodNite would leak.

The Sun wasn't up quite yet but it was on its way! I considered going back to sleep but after checking my GoodNite and finding it wet, I decided I would be better off getting up and at least changing it. Still, I continued to lie where I was as I thought back to the night before.

Janet proved to be an excellent cook. She even got the green beans to taste awesome! It was during dinner that I got a strong urge to poop. This of course reminded me of the GoodNite I put on before leaving the Jacksons. I could feel that it was very wet and was even afraid that it might have even leaked. The sad part was that I didn't even remember wetting myself and I found this very disconcerting. The last thing I wanted to do was have daytime problems while here.

Anyway, I wasn't about to poop my pants in front of these 2 people I barely knew. So I asked to be excused so that I may use the bathroom. This allowed me a chance to check the condition of the GoodNite I was wearing and to make sure it wasn't leaking.

As soon as I shut the bathroom door, I locked it so that no one could walk in on me. I decided to take care of my business first as the pressure was starting to build. You know, I had no sooner plopped my bottom down, when the poop just shot out of me like a bullet. It had to have been the fastest poop I had ever had! It also was one of the cleanest as there was no poop on the toilet paper I used to wipe myself with.

Instead of pulling my soaked GoodNite up, I ripped the sides and then rolled it into a ball. I then tied it tight. After pulling up my pants, my eyes jotted around the bathroom looking for a place that I could hide the used diaper. In the end, I decided that I would take my chances and bury it in the trashcan. My thought was that no one would see it under the rest of the bathroom garbage. Without thinking, I left the bathroom and headed back to the table without washing my hands first.

I spent the rest of dinner getting to know Mr. Whitfield and his Fiancée, Janet. It was during this discussion that I learned that Janet had been discussed at some point during our meeting with the Judge that morning. I guess I hadn't been paying attention at that point though. Anyway, Janet had only recently moved into the apartment. The plan was that they would get married next June and until then would live together and share expenses. Anyway for the most part, they did all the talking. Every once in a while though, I would respond to a question or even ask one of my own.

After dinner as promised, I helped Mr. Whitfield with the tree. I was a little disappointed when I discovered that his tree was a fake one. As long as I could remember, my mom always got a real tree for Christmas. I also found out last year that the Jacksons got a real tree as well. Seeing my disappointment, he explained why he used a fake tree. It was the first time I had ever heard that most apartments didn't allow real trees as they are messy and become more of a nuisance. It really made me think about our own apartment and I wondered if Mom had been breaking the rules when she brought in the real tree.

After the tree was finished, I was allowed to watch an hour or so of TV before I was told to go to bed. Because the apartment had only one room, the living room couch became my bed. I wasn't sure exactly what time it was when I finally fell asleep but as I laid there, I took notice of the digital clock on the cable box. It was 5:23 in the morning!

There was one good thing about waking up early... I was able to clean myself up. After spending almost all day yesterday in a wet GoodNite and peeing myself in the middle of the night, my diaper area was almost surely starting to stink.

While I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Janet made up the couch for me. Like Ruth had instructed me, I pulled on a GoodNite before getting dressed for bed. I continued to hide my problem from them for the time being. I guess this was due to the fact that I really didn't want to upset them before they even had a chance to get to know me. Anyway, I decided instead of wearing pajamas, I would just wear a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. The sweats did a better job hiding the clean GoodNite that I slipped on while in the bathroom getting dressed.

Talking about getting dressed, normally I wasn't shy doing it in front of people like the Jacksons. I guess it was because they saw me naked anyway when they diapered me. Here though, I wasn't sure if this would be acceptable so I chose to do it in the privacy of the bathroom. Besides, it gave me a chance to secretly put on my GoodNite.

I quietly locked myself in the bathroom where I removed my clothes. As I stood there looking at my diapered self in the mirror, I relaxed my bladder. I knew that the GoodNite would not leak as it wasn't overly soaked.

"Ahhhhhh!" I sighed as I enjoyed the sensations of wetting myself. When I was finished, I couldn't resist the temptation and squeezed the bloated diaper. I just stood there like a dumb fool and smiled as I thought how great that wet GoodNite felt.

Knowing that I needed to think about getting washed up, I reluctantly ripped the GoodNite off of me and like the night before, I rolled it into a tight ball and tied it. I then started to bury it into the trashcan where I had deposited the one from last night, but I stopped myself. I became worried that the 2 GoodNites would start to smell and because of that, they would be discovered.

"Hmmmm!" I thought to myself. Then I had it.

It was still very early and I remembered that there was a dumpster near this building. I now knew how I would dispose of my used diapers. I would somehow wake myself up early each morning and that way have a chance to throw my used GoodNite into the dumpster and clean up as well. I still needed to figure out a way to wake myself up; but for that moment, I decided to concentrate on washing up and then permanently disposing of the 2 diapers.

I spent the next hour or so watching cartoons. In fact, I was so absorbed into the cartoons, that I didn't even realize that Janet had awakened until I smelled the pancakes and sausage cooking in the kitchen. And with breakfast, started a new day where Mr. Whitfield and Janet did their best to make me not feel ... All Alone!

Chapter 7: Sunday December 21st, 2014 – That Evening!

That first full day at Mr. Whitfield's was a long one. It started with an excellent breakfast. Unlike dinner the night before, there wasn't much talking as the two adults sipped on coffee. In fact, it wasn't until I was helping clear the table that Mr. Whitfield even said anything to me.

"So how did you sleep last night?" Mr. Whitfield asked me as he rinsed off his plate.

"Okay I guess." I lied.

"So, did you ever give my question I asked you yesterday any thought?" He prodded as he took my plate from me and rinsed it off as well.

"Huh?"

I had totally forgotten the question he had asked me yesterday and so I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Yesterday I asked you if there was anything you would like to do while here with me and Janet?" He reminded me.

I thought about this for a moment or two and to be honest, I just couldn't think of anything. If it had been summer instead of winter, I knew a couple things I would have loved to do. Unfortunately it was winter so places like the amusement parks were closed. As I continued to think, Mr. Whitfield looked at me with a comical grin.

"What's so funny?!" I demanded to know.

"I am sorry James; I didn't mean to upset you. I just am real happy to finally have you here with me!"

"It's Jamie." I corrected him.

"I am sorry. I will make sure from now on to call you Jamie." He promised as he loaded the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher.

As we were taking care of the dishes and talking, Janet had gone back to the room to get ready for the day. Us guys were of course already ready and dressed. So while Janet was grabbing a shower and putting on her face, we went into the living room and talked.

Mostly it was Mr. Whitfield talking and me listening. He told me how he and my mother met and told me a little about himself from back then. It was while he was explaining about the last time he saw my mom that I suddenly remembered about Adam.

"Mr. Whitfield..."

"Please call me James." He insisted. I think he wanted to tell me that he would like me to call him Dad but he never said it.

"Okay." I nodded my head as I agreed to this. "James, I was wondering if I could call the Jacksons later this evening? I had made a promise to Adam, my broth... I mean my foster brother that I would say goodbye before I left. He wasn't home though, so I wasn't able to." I gave James a pleading look as I begged him.

"I don't see anything wrong with that. If you want you could call them now." He suggested.

"They are at Church this morning and they usually don't get home until late." I explained.

"Well that will be fine with me." He then gave me a questioning look. "Are you and Adam pretty close?"

"Yeah, neither one of us have very many friends so we tend to play together often."

"Well that is very nice of Adam to play with someone younger than him." My mouth just dropped as James said this.

It had been a while since somebody actually thought that Adam was the older one. Or at least a while since someone had mentioned it to me. Whenever it did happen it was very embarrassing for me. I was very self-conscious at how small I was and how large Adam was.

"Actually, Adam is younger than me." I said with bright red cheeks.

"Oh, I am sorry! I didn't know." And with that he changed the subject. I think he knew how much this discussion was embarrassing me. "So, have you figured out what you would like to do today?"

I just shrugged my shoulders. "Do you have to do anything today?" I asked.

"Well, I got all morning free but I do have to go to work this afternoon." This was the first time I had heard anything about work.

"When do you have to go?"

"I have to be there by 3 so I have to leave a little after 2 to get there in time. Unfortunately, I won't be back home until you are asleep." I wasn't too sure about this but I didn't say anything. "Don't worry though, Janet will be here with you and maybe she will be willing to do something with you as well." James suggested.

I still didn't have any ideas so James made a suggestion. "We have this new Laser Tag place and if you want we can check it out this morning." He suggested.

"What's laser tag?" James couldn't believe I never heard of laser tag.

"You got to be kidding me. Laser tag was the coolest when we were kids."

He then went on to explain laser tag to me. I had to agree, it did sound like fun. So as soon as Janet was out of the shower, James let her know that we were leaving. He did ask if she wanted to go too but she declined and said that we needed some alone time together.

I ended up having loads of fun at the Laser Tag Arena. There was one slight hiccup. I hadn't been paying attention because I was having so much fun. I hadn't realized I needed to pee until I felt the warm wetness around my crotch. Luckily I was able to stop it before my jeans became too wet. I was able to finish in the toilet but was terrified that James would see that I wet my pants. Then I came up with an idea. I ran the water in the sink and splashed the front of my shirt and jeans with water. By the time I was done, it looked like I just splashed myself. Of course when I came out, James made a joke.

"What did you do, go swimming?" He grinned as he said this.

Anyway, I made sure to keep my mind on my bladder. I even started to use the bathroom regularly just in case. This way, if I did pee myself again, it wouldn't be much in my bladder.

We ended up playing there all morning and I was sad when we had to leave around noon. When we got back to the apartment Janet made me a lunch of a toasted peanut butter sandwich and some chips. She offered me a pop with it but after my close call that morning, I turned it down. Instead I drank some bottled water with my lunch.

When James left for work that afternoon, Janet asked me if I would like to go to the mall with her. At first I wasn't too thrilled about going shopping. It was one of the most boring things I ever did with my mother and now I was about to go with a woman I barely knew.

"Can I stay here and watch TV." I pleaded.

"I don't think I should leave you alone." She said after hesitating for a moment.

"But I am 12 years old!" I whined.

But no matter how much I whined, she made me go anyway. It turned out that it was a good thing that I went as the mall she took me too had this really cool fun center that specialized in realistic 3D video games. So while Janet did her shopping, she let me stay at the fun center. She did make me promise her that I would stay there until she came and got me and that I would not leave without her.

I just quickly agreed so that she would go and let me play. The nice thing about this place was that you paid by the time you spent in there. So before Janet left she gave the place her credit card information so that I could play until she got back.

This was how I spent my afternoon. I did make sure though to pay attention to my bladder as I didn't want to have a repeat of that morning. A couple of time I found myself wishing that I had put on a GoodNite before we had left as it got irritating having to think about my bladder all afternoon.

When Janet did come back to get me, it was getting close to dinner time. She didn't feel like making dinner, so instead we ate a quick meal at McDonalds.

By the time we got home, it was approaching 7:30 and I had completely forgotten all about calling the Jacksons. I had actually tired myself out quite a bit and it didn't help that I didn't sleep to well the night before. I am not sure when I slipped into unconsciousness but it turned out to be devastating for me. But for the moment, I fell asleep happy and wiped out from a day where I wasn't ... All Alone!

Chapter 8: Monday December 22nd, 2014

I awoke early Monday morning and I knew right away that something was terribly wrong. I found myself having a hard time remembering where I was but when I did, I felt even more urgently that something wasn't quite right!

I sat up on the couch and blinked my eyes. I could hear someone in the kitchen and I assumed it must have been Janet making breakfast. I could also hear the faint sound of the shower and that was what finally keyed me into what was so wrong!

I pulled the blankets off of me and saw it. It was too much for my young mind to handle and I began to cry. Because I had fallen asleep before getting ready for bed, I had never put my GoodNite on. I was still in my jeans and shirt I had been wearing yesterday. It looked like Janet must have just covered me with the blanket before going to bed herself. How badly I wished she had awakened me. If she had, I would not be sitting there in soaked jeans. I had wet so much that two of the couch cushions were soaked. The other thing was that the smell of my pee was very strong that morning and I knew there was no way I was going to hide this.

This was why I was now crying uncontrollably. Not only did Janet hear me crying but James had just finished his shower and also heard me. Before I knew it, both Janet and James were standing over me and staring at the damage I did to the couch.

Now there was two ways this could have gone. Us bed wetter's normally hope that it would go the good way. Where the people would feel sorry for you and tell you it is okay. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.

It turned out that this particular couch belonged to Janet and she had recently bought it before moving into the apartment. I found out that she had paid over a $1000 dollars for it and she was not happy one bit! She didn't even try to hide her anger. Now I have to say she didn't turn it on me but she might as well have done so after she started screaming at James about it.

So my second morning there started off very bad. James and Janet spent the next 15 minutes screaming at each other while I sat there and continued to cry. It didn't end until Janet grabbed her coat and stormed away from the apartment. As for James, he had been so nice to me the day before but now that he was in a bad mood, he just gave me the cold shoulder.

This meant that he never tried to comfort me or even suggest that I go get cleaned up. Instead, he stomped back to his and Janet's bedroom where he slammed the door. All this did to me was just make me feel worse. I just continued to sit there and ball until I couldn't cry no more.

Not knowing what else to do, I decided to get up and take a shower. The warm water pouring over me did at least make me feel a little better. It not only washed away all of my shame but it also allowed me to forget temporarily all that went wrong that morning. In fact, I had a hard time pulling myself away from that shower as I didn't want to go back to the real world. Finally though, I turned off the water and began to dry myself off.

About 10 minutes later I emerged from the bathroom cleaned and redressed. I was kinda hoping that James would be in a better mood and we could put all of the crap behind me. I noticed right away that his bedroom door was opened and decided to go and see if he would accept my apology. The room turned out to be empty though.

"Maybe he is in the kitchen finishing breakfast?" I thought to myself and made my way there.

It turned out though that he was not in the kitchen either. In fact, he was nowhere in the apartment at all. I did notice that the 2 cushions I had peed on were now missing. Confused, I left the apartment to check outside. When I noticed that his car was missing, I became worried!

"Did he leave me as well?!" I worried.

It was pretty cold outside and I hadn't put on my coat before I left the apartment. Shivering, I decided to go back inside and wait until James returned. I decided that maybe he took the cushions somewhere to be washed.

"Maybe if he could do this, my wetting them would be forgiven." I crossed my fingers as I thought this.

For the next few hours I sat and watched TV while I waited for either James or Janet to return. Even though I was hungry as I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, I decided to wait instead of trying to make me something. The last thing I wanted to do was do something else that could anger them. But as noon started to approach, I was starting to get scared that like Mom, that James nor Janet would ever return.

I eyed the phone and considered calling the Jacksons. Now I didn't want to upset them but right now my fear of abandonment over powered that thought. So I went over and picked up the phone and dialed the Jacksons phone number.

On the second ring, Mrs. Jackson (Ruth) answered the phone. I had planned on telling her calmly everything that happened that morning but when I heard her voice on the other end of the line, I burst out crying!

"Jamie is that you!" Ruth asked worriedly.

I just nodded my head and continued to cry. I wasn't able to think straight so I forgot she couldn't see me.

"Jamie!"

"Jamie, please calm down and tell me what is wrong!" Ruth told me soothingly.

I tried my best to compose myself and after a few more minutes of crying, I was finally able to talk though I was crying lightly as I did this. It took me a while and several times Ruth asked me to repeat something but eventually I was able to tell her all that had happened that morning.

"I am so sorry Jamie! I should have insisted in telling Mr. Whitfield that you had a bedwetting problem." Ruth sounded as if she was the one who screwed up. "Jamie, I am sure that we can fix all of this. Would you like me to come over and stay with you until Mr. Whitfield or Janet return?"

"Would you?" I asked in relief.

"Of course Jamie! Now you just tell me the address where you are at and I will program the GPS."

I then looked around until I found something with the apartments address on it. "Okay I found it." And then when she told me to do so, I read the address to her.

"Alright, I got it programed into the GPS." As she said this, I was sure I heard Jessie in the background. "Here, Jessie wants to talk to you. You can talk to her and Adam until I get there if you want." With that she handed the phone to Jessie.

"Hi Jamie, I am sorry that all that bad stuff happened this morning. I promise that Mom will make it all right." Jessie said encouragingly.

"I really hope so!" I cried a little as I said this.

Jessie just like normal was real good at making me feel better. She explained to me that I might have been wrong to not warn them about my wetting but they should have never acted the way they did about it. She continued to tell me that all it proved was that they were not ready to deal with kids.

I talked to Jessie for a half hour and felt much better about myself. She even got me to laugh a little at a joke she heard from a friend. It was shortly after this that I heard Adam ask Jessie where their mom went.

"She went over to stay with Jamie until his Dad returns." I heard her answer Adam.

"Hey Jessie, can I talk to Adam." I found myself desperately wanting to talk to Adam and tell him about all that happened that morning.

"Here Adam, Jamie wants to talk to you." I clearly heard Jessie say as she offered the phone to Adam.

"Well tell him I don't want to talk to him!" I heard Adam snap. I then heard him unmistakably stomp off.

"I am sorry Jamie." Jessie sighed. "Adam doesn't want to talk."

"Yeah, I heard!" And it took everything I had from not breaking out and crying again.

"I am sorry Jamie." She again apologized. "If you want, I can go and talk to him."

"Okay." I sighed. "Hopefully you can find out why he is so mad at me at least."

"Don't worry; I am sure you guys will be friends again as if nothing ever happened!" She assured me.

"Okay, well I guess I will talk to you later Jessie. Please tell Adam that I said hi. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Jamie." And with that, I heard the click as she hung up the phone on her end.

For the next half hour or so, I watched some stupid game show on TV. I found myself anxiously waiting for Mrs. Jackson to arrive. I knew that the sooner she got there that the sooner I would not be ... All Alone!

Chapter 9: Monday December 22nd, 2014 – That Afternoon

When I heard the knock on the apartment door, I quickly answered it. As I opened the door and saw Ruth standing there, I once again broke down crying and threw myself into her welcoming arms. For several minutes we stood there in the doorway of James's apartment, Ruth comforting me in her arms.

Ruth allowed me to cry and just did her best to comfort me. Soon though, my tears came to an end.

"Do you feel better now Honey?" Ruth asked me as she wiped away a few stragglers from my cheeks. I just nodded my head goofily which made Ruth smile. "Alright, how about we go inside and get out of the hallway." She suggested then led me inside and closed the apartment door behind us.

Ruth scanned what she could see of the apartment.

"Well at least it looks better on the inside. I was afraid from what the outside looked like that the place would be a Roach Motel." Ruth Said Stiffly.

I giggled at the roach comment and told her I thought the same thing when I got here.

Ruth removed her coat and gloves and noticing the coatrack, hung her coat up after sticking her gloves in the left coat pocket. "So how about you give me a tour?" She suggested and I think it was her way to get me thinking about something else.

"Okay." And I quickly showed her the small apartment, including James's and Janet's bedroom.

As I said it was a small apartment so the tour didn't take long. We ended the tour in the kitchen which still showed the signs of someone in the middle of preparing breakfast. Ruth looked over the kitchen then looked back at me.

"Jamie, have you eaten yet today?" She asked me and I shook my head no. "Would you like to go and get something to eat then?" She offered. "We can leave Mr. Whitfield and Janet a note to let them know that I took you to lunch and that they can reach me on my cellphone." Ruth suggested and then dug through her purse for a pen and paper.

As she wrote the note, I grabbed my coat from the rack and put it on. I then handed Ruth her own coat and as we left the apartment she put it on. She was worried at first what to do about locking the door. Since I had no key, if we locked the door, there was no way for us to get back inside. Still, Ruth felt it would be best not to leave the door unlocked so we locked the door behind us and hoped that when we got back that either James or Janet would be back by then. Ruth then took my hand and led me out to her car.

After getting the car started, we decided to go to Arby's. Both Ruth and I loved Arby's roast beef and she had some coupons to use there. Using her GPS, Ruth was able to find an Arby's a few miles away from the apartment complex.

We took our time and enjoyed our lunch. But as we finished eating I could see that Ruth was becoming upset. She kept looking at her phone and I could tell that she was upset at the fact that Mr. Whitfield or Janet had yet to call her. It was almost 2pm when she got so frustrated that she picked up her phone and called her husband Al.

"Al, I am still with Jamie. I decided to take him to lunch since no one fed him today. I left a note telling them where we went and for them to please call me on my cellphone. So far no one has called and I am sure if we were to drive back that there would be no one home yet!" Ruth informed her husband.

As Ruth paused to listen to Al, I tried to hear his reply but unfortunately was not able to hear what he said.

"I know Al but I just can't leave him sitting at the door."

She again paused.

"I know he is 12 now but he shouldn't be left alone that long without anyone letting him know when they might be back!" She almost spat this response into the receiver. "I understand I can't just bring him home but I can't leave him here either!" Ruth seemed to be getting upset with Al. "Well I am going to at least call his case worker and let her know what is going on. Maybe she will give us permission to bring him back home."

And as she paused this time, I found myself holding my breath. After everything that had happened that morning, I was ready to leave this place. James may be my biological father but at that moment I felt that he would never be my dad! In fact, I knew that there was only one person who could fill that title and that was Al my foster dad.

Anyway, Ruth and Al discussed it some more before she hung up and then looked up my case workers number. She mumbled something under her breath about Al but I was not able to hear exactly what it was. I also knew better to ask her to repeat what she said as I knew what she had said wasn't meant for my ears.

As soon as she located my workers number, she dialed it and looked happy when my case worker answered right away. As with her call to Al, I was only able to hear Ruth's side of the conversation. It was mostly the same conversation she had with her husband but this time she also told my case worker about what happened to me that morning. It was then that I realized that she must have talked to Al on her way over here since she didn't mention any of what happened to me that morning just now when she was on the phone with him.

When Ruth handed me the phone, I retold the morning's events to Mrs. Hanson.

"Please call me Mary." Mrs. Hanson once again reminded me. She then went on to apologize to me. "I am so sorry about everything that had happened to you. I want you to know that even though I think you should have told them about your problem, that them treating you like they did and then taking off, was definitely wrong! There is never an excuse to treat a child like they did here. Please know that I will be informing the Judge about all this." Mary explained to me. She then sighed and asked me a question. "Would you like to go back to the Jacksons?" My first thought was hell yah. But then I remembered that Adam was upset with me and I wasn't sure how I going back would make things between us. I also wasn't sure if I was being fair to James. As everyone kept reminding me, this whole thing was partly my fault. Mary seemed to understand my hesitation. "Not sure what to do huh?" She asked.

"I don't know." I admitted.

"Well I think Ruth is right. We don't know where your dad is at this moment and we have no idea when someone will return back to the apartment. I don't feel it is right leaving you there until someone finally shows up." Mary decided, she then asked me to give the phone back to Ruth. I did as I was told.

"Okay Mary, I will do that. If he doesn't show up by then, I will take him home." Ruth then said goodbye and hung up her cellphone. Putting her phone back into her purse, she smiled at me. "Well Mary thinks we should give them another hour and if neither one of them shows up by then, that I should take you back to our place." She informed me.

For the next hour we patiently waited for someone to call Ruth's cellphone but when a call never came, she decided to drive over to the apartment and check anyway. As we feared, no one was yet back and the note we left was still taped to the door.

"Alright, enough of this! I am taking you back home where you belong!" Ruth said and the irritation was very noticeable in her voice.

Ruth was definitely upset that James and Janet would leave me alone that long without checking in. If only we had left a minute earlier, I would now be on my way back to the Jacksons' house. Luck would have it that as we walked out of the building that James was walking up to the door. He had his hands full as he was carrying the 2 couch cushions I had peed on that morning. Ruth saw him as well and I for the first time was reminded at how much Ruth could scare the crap out of me. She didn't hesitate; instead she gave him both barrels at once.

I just stood there with my mouth wide open in shock as Ruth yelled at James for leaving me all day like he did ... All Alone!

Chapter 10: Tuesday December 23rd, 2014

"Whoa... Whoa... Whoa... Lady! Calm down before you burst a capillary! Can we at least go inside and get out of the cold." James asked.

At first I didn't think Ruth was going to agree. I knew that all she wanted to do was put James into his place and then take me back home with her. But after looking at James' hands trying to keep hold of the couch pillows, she conceded.

"Alright, we will continue this inside." Ruth said civilly.

We then followed James back inside the apartment building and all the way to his apartment door. With one hand holding the pillows and using the wall to help him, he took the other hand and fished for his keys and unlocked the door. We then followed James into the apartment and before Ruth shut the door, she took down the note off of it that we had left for James.

Then as James put the cushions back on the couch, Ruth started right back up where she left off.

"Holy cow lady! Give me a chance to take a breath." Ruth just eyed him angrily but she did give him a chance to talk. James then sat in his armchair and started his defense. "First off, the boy is 12 years old and is old enough to stay by himself for a few hours." James tried to explain to Ruth who didn't look any happier at this explanation.

"Mr. Whitfield, he may have been old enough to be left alone but after the stuff that was said this morning by your woman friend..."

"Actually, she is my fiancée." James interrupted.

Ruth chose not to respond to his correction. Instead she focused on what she was intending to tell him before she had been so rudely interrupted.

"With the fact of all the yelling you did about an embarrassing subject for Jamie, right in front of him. Then your fiancée taking off and you retreating to your room, did you ever consider how this would have affected your son here?!" Ruth demanded.

"Please let me get a word in here. I know what happened this morning was just wrong and I know it hurt Jamie's feelings. But after Janet walked out like she did, I was very angry and the last thing I wanted to do was take any of that anger wrongly out on Jamie. I decided to go back to my room to cool off. I also decided to try and find some place that could clean the cushions before the stains set in. By the time I came out, Jamie was in the shower. I tried to let him know that I had to take the cushions to get cleaned, but he wasn't able to hear me over the sound of the shower."

"Why didn't you wait until he was done then?!" Ruth demanded.

"Now thinking back, I probably should have. Truth is, I was very embarrassed about what all had transpired. I also knew that every moment I waited would be another minute for the pee stains to set in. So I decided to leave Jamie a note telling him I was going to step out for a while and that I would be taking the day off of work. I told him that I would be back as soon as I could and if he was hungry to feel free to make him something to eat. I also left him my cellphone number so incase anything happened, he could call me."

"You didn't leave me any note!" I shouted in my defense.

"Yes I did, I taped it to the TV, I figured it would be the first place you looked." He explained.

"But I didn't see any note on the TV!" I stated still defensively.

Everyone then looked towards the TV as if the note would magically appear on it. Just like I already knew, there was no note on it. James seemed to be shocked that the note was no longer there and walked over to the TV and started looking around it. Ruth and I just watched him as he searched the living room for the note. I got the feeling that Ruth didn't believe James and that James was doing all of this to try and make it appear that he had indeed left a note. Boy were we both surprised when James found a piece of paper under one of the end tables. It appears that the tape wasn't strong enough and that when James had left the apartment, the suction must have pulled the paper from the TV and under the table. Anyway, he handed the paper to Ruth who read it out loud.

Jamie,

I am very sorry about all that Janet said this morning. I also know that my behavior could have been better. The reason I didn't say anything to you right after Janet left was because I was afraid you would think the anger I was feeling for her at that moment was meant for you. I did not want this to be the case. Since you were in the shower when I did come out to talk to you, I decided to leave this note as I needed to get the cushions driven over to the cleaners. I managed to find one that actually specializes in getting out stains like urine out of furniture.

Oh by the way, I decided to take today off and so as soon as I get done with this, how about we go and grab a nice dinner and we can talk. You see, I too have a secret to tell you but we can talk about that then. Anyway, I am not sure how long it will take to get this done and the place is on the other side of Chicago so it could take a while. If you get hungry please feel free to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast and you can make a sandwich and get some chips for lunch. Hopefully I will be back shortly after lunch. I may even try and see if I can find Janet and try to explain a few things to her. I hope you can understand that Janet is not like that person you saw this morning. She is a very loving and caring person. I know she didn't mean what she said and will feel just awful later about it.

Anyway, here is my cellphone number, feel free to call me if you want to.

The note was then signed by James and indeed had his cellphone number written under his signature. All the fire that had been fueling Ruth's rage now seemed to vanish as she handed the note to me so that I too could look it over. Boy it is really hard to stay mad at someone when you realize that it was all because of a lost note.

Ruth did look calmer but she didn't seem to be done. "I still think all of this was handled very badly! I don't think it would be a good idea for Jamie to stay here. In fact Mr. Whitfield, I don't really think you or your fiancée are ready for children yet! Now, if you want to see Jamie; then just let us know and we can set up something." Ruth than grasped my hand as she finished saying all this.

"Now wait a minute! Jamie is my boy and he is in my care right now, which the Judge ordered. That is unless you forgot!"

"Well his caseworker Mary Hanson told me I could take him back to our place and that you could take it up with the Judge tomorrow." I was there when Ruth talked to Mary and so I knew that she was stretching the truth quite a bit there.

James looked pleadingly at Ruth then at me. "Please, just give me tonight. I promise that if Jamie still wants to return to your home, I will drive him there tomorrow himself."

Ruth looked down at me and sighed. "I will leave it up to you Honey."

This was a hard one for me. I really wanted to just go back with Ruth to the Jacksons. I figured that I would be able to fix my friendship with Adam once I was back home. On the other hand, I felt like I owed it to James to let him have a chance to make everything right. Besides, I hadn't yet forgotten about the secret he wanted to tell me. This left me very curious.

My decision made, I turned and using my finger, had Ruth bend down so that I could kiss her on her cheek. "Ruth, please tell everyone that I miss them. I guess I have to be fair to James here and give him at least tonight."

"I understand Honey." Ruth then hugged and kissed my cheek. She then opened the apartment door and before leaving she turned and looked straight at James. She gave him a warning look before leaving, closing the door behind her. I looked out the window and watched as she left the building and then walked over and got into her car.

I then watched as she left the parking lot, driving off ... All Alone!

Chapter 11: Wednesday December 24th, 2014 – Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started out a lot better than the day before it. I was of course wet, but because I remembered to put on my GoodNite and that James got me up in the middle of the night to change into a clean one before it could leak. Also to not take any chances, I was now bedding on the floor which could be cleaned with a steam cleaner if I leaked. But because James woke me up not once but twice, I never got close to leaking.

Last night after Ruth had left, James offered to take me to Applebee's. He even bought me a small steak, which was pretty good. While there, I learned of the secret that James had mentioned earlier.

I couldn't believe it when I found out that James had been a bed wetter himself. In fact, he wet the bed almost every day of his life until he was almost 16 years old. He then started wetting the bed in a different way. I understood what he had meant as we had just had Sexual Education. Now I guess you could say that I didn't know everything but I did know enough. When he told me that he starting wetting the bed again at 19, I felt really bad for him. This time he didn't wet every night but just a few times a month he would wake up wet. He said he didn't become dry until he was 23 and that it just stopped with no apparent reason.

He promised that just like him that I would eventually become dry and that I would most likely become dry long before he did. We talked some more about my wetting problem and even admitted to the 2 accidents I had during the daytime since I came here. I was very embarrassed but I explained how I got so wrapped up with things or just not able to hold my bladder or occasionally my bowels long enough and therefore have accidents in the daytime. I did make it very clear that it had been a while since I had a bowel accident but I wanted to be honest just in case I ended up having one out of the blue.

James was real proud of me opening up to him like this. Anyway, that evening we talked and told each other things about ourselves. I ended up learning a lot about James that evening and he learned a lot about me. We even cried together as we discussed my mom's death.

Before I knew it, it was getting late and I was finding myself very tired. While I went into the bathroom to get my pajamas and GoodNite on, James made a bed with some old blankets on the floor.

"Did you make sure to pee before coming out of the bathroom?" He asked as he showed the spot he made for me to sleep.

"Yeeeeeeesssssssss!" I drug out the yes to show my agitation about him not trusting me.

Anyway he tucked me in and even read me a short story. I was out though before he even finished it. Like I had already said, James made sure to wake me up 2 other times to pee and have me change my GoodNite.

Now opening my eyes this morning, I realized that it was Christmas Eve and that there was not yet any presents under the tree. Then I heard a noise in the kitchen and thinking that Janet must have returned while I was sleeping, I ran out to apologize to her for wetting on her couch. Instead of Janet though, James was trying to fry some eggs but it looked like he wasn't having much success.

"Merry Christmas Eve!" I shouted happily. Then a little quieter I asked, "Did Janet come home last night?"

James smiled and replied, "Merry Christmas Eve to you too!"

The toaster popped up and James went over and buttered each slice. As for the eggs, I think he gave up trying to fry them and just chopped them up and tried to scramble them in the pan before buttering the toast. Once the toast was buttered, he returned to the eggs and declared they were done.

I watched as he put half the eggs on 1 plate and the other half on a 2nd plate. He then opened up the microwave where he had 4 of those microwave sausage patties already heated up. He separated them on the 2 plates. The last thing was the toast which he put 2 slices on each plate.

"Do you want milk or OJ?" He asked as he sat the 2 plates on the table.

"Can I have OJ?" I asked hopefully.

He grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice and set it next to my plate. He then refilled his coffee cup and took it to his seat and sat down.

"Okay eat up!" He said happily.

Through all of this, I did notice that he never answered my question about Janet. Seeing that there were only 2 plates, I assumed that Janet was still out.

It wasn't as good as Janet's food or Ruth's, but it was edible. So I quietly ate my breakfast while James looked through his morning paper. You know, I think this was the first time I really noticed how lonely I would be here if I came to stay. At Ruth's I had Adam at least and even Jessie would do things with us from time to time. Thinking about Adam, I found myself missing him and was wondering if he was still mad at me.

I decided that I needed to find out and quickly finished my breakfast. "James, can I call the Jacksons?"

"The Jacksons, are you not happy?" James asked me worriedly.

"Well, I am bored and I really still want to talk to Adam. He was upset with me for some reason yesterday so I hope he will talk to me today. Besides, I think Ruth would like to know how the night went." I explained.

"Okay, you are probably right about Ruth. I just hope though that you are now happy with staying with me."

And just like how he ignored my question about Janet earlier, I ignored his about whether I was happy enough to want to stay with him. And as I walked out of the kitchen, I could see from the corner of my eye that he noticed that I didn't answer him.

I went out to the couch and picked up the phone and dialed the Jacksons phone number. As I waited for someone to answer, I checked to see if the couch cushions were yet dry. The place that cleaned them did a very good job and there was no sign of the stain or the smell of my pee that had been in them. The cushions though would take a few days to completely dry out. At least that is what the place that cleaned them explained to James. They of course were still damp and I found myself hoping that they would soon be completely dry. This would of course make me feel a whole lot better when there was no longer any sign of what I had did.

When the phone was answered, I was not surprised to hear Jessie's good natured voice on the other end. "Merry Christmas Eve!" I told her jovially.

"So how has my little brother been?" And I giggled at her calling me her little brother. I actually liked the idea of being her little brother but if I were to stay with James, that would not happen.

"Bored!" I said simply. "There is no one to play with over here and nothing to do. I wish I could be there so I could play with Adam." As I said this I paused for a couple minutes hoping that Jessie would realize I wanted to know why Adam was mad at me. She of course caught on. She was after all a pretty smart girl.

"I am sorry Jamie, Adam is still upset and refuses to talk to you."

"Why?" I began to cry as I asked this.

"Well, I talked to Adam last night and again this morning. Even Mom has tried talking to him but he is too angry with you. I guess he is upset that you broke your promise and didn't bother to even call him until the next day. Like I said, Mom and I have tried our best to get him to understand. Anyway he is too upset right now but I am sure he is madder at himself for being mad at you. If that makes any sense at all to you."

Actually, it didn't make any sense at all to me.

I talked with Jessie a little more than she handed the phone to her mom.

"Hi Ruth." I tried my best to sound happy so that she wouldn't feel like she made the wrong choice last night.

"So is everything okay this morning?" She asked me sweetly.

"Yah, everything is okay. James made me a bed on the floor and got me up 2 times last night to pee so I didn't end up leaking." I explained proudly. I then went on to tell her how James had told me he too had wet the bed when he was my age. I did at least keep secret that he was in his 20's when he stopped wetting the bed.

"So did Janet ever come back?"

"I don't think so. I asked James and he just ignored the question. Anyway she normally makes breakfast but James made it instead and it was only for me and him." I explained.

Ruth than asked me the question that I had myself been trying to answer. "Honey, would you rather come back here? I think after yesterday's display that the Judge would more than likely rule in our favor, at least that is what the lawyer says."

I thought about this for a moment and truthfully, I really wanted to go back to the Jacksons. Then I thought of poor James here all by himself and knowing that it was all because of me. And if I left, I would essentially be leaving him here ... All Alone!

Chapter 12: Thursday December 25th, 2014 - Early Christmas

Even though James didn't have to work that day, he did need to go out.

"I am sorry Jamie. I need you to stay here as I am trying to buy your Christmas gifts today. If you stay in the apartment and be a good boy, Santa will leave you something under the tree tomorrow." And he winked at me as he said this.

I decided not to tell him that I no longer believed in Santa. Well, I wanted to believe in him but I was finding it very hard to believe all the stuff that he could supposedly do. Of course if God can do the things he can do, I don't know why Santa couldn't. Even though I was finding myself on the fence with my belief in Santa, I decided to try and believe just in case he was real. It couldn't hurt not to and I might miss out on some gifts if I didn't believe in him anymore as Santa doesn't bring gifts to non-believers.

Now I may have been on the fence but Adam loved Santa. Last Christmas he talked me into trying to stay awake and catch Santa under the tree. It didn't take much to convince me as I wanted to see him then as much as Adam did. Last year I was still very much a believer, though I needed something to believe in desperately then as I was still hurting, recovering but hurting still the same. Anyway, we tried our best to stay awake until Santa came but failed and both conked out not long after we were sent to bed. Adam had informed me that he was going to try again this year, and I suddenly found myself wishing I could be there waiting up with him.

I used the back of my hand to wipe away the single tear that made its way down my cheek. And forced myself to think of something else and instead I found myself thinking about the recent trip down to see the mall Santa. Ruth had taken both me and Adam to see him and got our picture taken with him while there. Of course she didn't take us right away and that drove Adam nuts.

He begged his mother every day to go and see him until she finally took us. I know, you are probably asking why I went if I don't believe, but like I said I want to just cover all my options just in case. Plus seeing Santa is like a magical thing and even though it seems harder to find that magic, I can still find it if I try hard enough. I know it probably doesn't make sense.

As for the Mall Santa, we both knew he wasn't the real Santa as he was too busy in the North Pole getting ready for Christmas. But the Mall Santa was his helper so Adam wanted desperately to see him in order to give him his Christmas list. As I said, I wasn't all so sure about the Santa stuff anymore. It didn't help that several of my classmates said he wasn't real. I of course tried to defend that he was and that it was their disbelief that kept them from getting presents from Santa. As I was saying earlier, I was a little too scared not to believe but I could not help question it all!

After we saw Santa I have to admit, I couldn't help feeling a little excited as Adam.

These thoughts about Adam made me want to call him and I almost did so but I decided not to at the last moment.

"If I don't get my mind off of Adam and the family, I am going to drive myself nuts or worse start crying again!" I sternly told myself. "What you need is a distraction. The T.V."

With that I went over and sat down and turned on the T.V. and started flipping through the channels. I landed on a channel showing Frosty the Snowman and I was in luck as it had only just started. Anyway, for a while, I kept myself busy by watching all the Christmas shows on TV while James was out. The problem was, even the shows reminded me of the Jacksons and how I would be missing Christmas with them. This again was starting to make me feel real bad.

Around 8pm the apartment door opened and I thought it was James. It turned out to be Janet instead and she looked a little surprise to see me.

"Oh! I didn't realize anyone was here." She said a little shocked.

Of course I couldn't understand how she could miss the sound of the TV and the fact that the lights were on inside the apartment. I decided not to question her about this though. I was not yet sure if Janet was still mad at me, so I tried again to apologize.

"I am sorry for peeing all over your couch. I promise I won't even sit on it again!" I promised.

Then I figured I should tell her that James had got the couch cushions all cleaned.

"By the way, James was able to get all my pee out of the cushions and other then being a little wet from being cleaned; they no longer smell like pee or show any signs of a pee stain." I pointed to them showing her that they were indeed cleaned.

"Well that was really lucky for us!" And as Janet said this, I wasn't sure if she meant instead, it was lucky for me.

Carefully I asked her the one question that I was afraid to. "Are you mad at me Janet?"

"Honestly Jamie, I am very disappointed in you. You should have warned us that you were still a bed wetter." And as she said this my head hung in shame. "By telling us you could have prepared us and the whole incident yesterday morning would have never happened. How are we to expect a boy your age to still have a wetting problem that should have been stopped long ago... "

You know, at first I felt bad but as she continued to lecture me, I felt a fire start to burn inside of me. How could she try and put all the blame on me like that. If it hadn't been for James walking in at that moment, I would have exploded in anger on Janet.

James' hands were filled with wrapped gifts which he just stood there holding as he stared at Janet. I could see that he was happy that she had come back and for a moment I was glad that she too was happy. Then I remembered how she had just made me feel and my heart turned to stone.

James took the gifts and placed them under the tree then kissed me on my forehead. "Hey Buddy, Janet and I need to go out for a bit and talk. We will just be outside." And with that said, they left the apartment. I looked out the front window and saw them go outside and start to talk. At first they seemed happy to see each other and hugged and kissed.

They talked for some time and out of curiosity, I watched them do so. That is why I was very shocked when they started to yell at each other again. They were yelling so loud that I was able to make out a few of the things they were saying. I finally understood that Janet was not happy at all that I was there. She felt that James had never been a part of my life all this time and that he should allow me to be adopted by the Jacksons. She went on about how she wanted to start their own family from scratch and not have to deal with a child not hers. She also wasn't happy still that I would be a heavy maintenance child due to my bed wetting problem. I started to wonder what she would do when she found out that I still have day issues as well. Most likely flip out like she had the other morning.

No longer able to stand there a watch them argue over me, I made my way back to the bathroom where I sat inside the tub and cried. I now knew what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to be back at my home, the one with the Jacksons. They were my family, not James. Now I didn't have anything against getting to know James and maybe even be able to call him Dad someday but for now, I did not want to live with him. Besides, I knew he loved Janet and she loved him. I shouldn't be the one to separate them. As I laid there and cried, I thought of someone who might be able to fix it all.

More than anything, I wanted to believe in Santa at least one more time, as I had a Christmas wish. The only gift I wanted from him was to be the son of Ruth and Al Jackson and the little brother of Jessie and the older brother and friend of Adam!

I knew it was too late for a traditional letter to Santa but I knew of one sure way to get one to him. I knew that if I truly believed in him that he would be here sometime tonight to leave me my gift. I knew that he would then see my letter to him if I put it next to the cookies and milk.

So I wrote Santa and requested to be a Jackson this Christmas forever and forever. I explained all that had happened and how I found out that Janet really didn't want me and that I didn't want to come in between her and my dad. I ended my letter by saying that I loved my Daddy (I actually said Daddy and not James and from that point on, he became Dad to Me.) very much, but I also loved the Jacksons and they were the ones that I wanted to live with. I told Santa that I was sure he would be happy without me as he had Janet, but I needed the Jacksons to be happy. I then sealed the letter inside an envelope and wrote TO: SANTA on the outside of it and placed it next to a glass of milk and plate of store bought cookies.

Then not wanting to get in trouble for being awake, I took my bedding back to the bathroom and made a temporary bed inside the tub. I knew that if my GoodNite were to leak, at least I wouldn't have to worry about anything getting wet lying in the tub.

I must have been tired as I was soon out like a light. I never heard Janet and my dad come back inside. I never knew that they had noticed my letter and that when they sat down to read it, that they both cried. No I didn't know all of this as I was in the deepest sleep that I had ever remember being in. Whether it was due to my wish or just from being plain wore out, I seemed to be in a magical deep sleep.

I awoke briefly, early Christmas morning. As I looked up, I saw that I was wrapped in a blanket and under the Christmas tree. It only took a moment for me to realize that it was not my Dad's tree. I then smiled, somehow Santa had done it! As I fell back to sleep, I did so with the knowledge that I was... home! My last thought was that I was with a family who loved me and that would never leave me ... All Alone!

Epilogue

I was awakened later that Christmas morning by Adam who, in his excitement at seeing me, threw himself at me and hugged me. In that moment he totally forgave me and happily announced that Santa had given him the 1 gift he wanted the most... me!

All the ruckus awoke Ruth, Al, and Jessie who rushed to the living room to see what all the noise was. When they saw me, I could see that they were just as happy and stunned as Adam had been. Later questions were asked as to how I got there but I was just as ignorant about it as they were.

It wouldn't be until we started opening presents that morning that a letter was discovered in an envelope in Ruth's stocking. The letter was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, from Santa Claus. I watched as Ruth and Al read the letter to themselves. The smiles on their faces grew as they read.

When they were done reading, Adam and I begged them to tell us what Santa said. All they would tell us though was that Santa had left me as their gift and that I was now their son.

It turned out that Santa also brought the gifts that my dad had bought me for Christmas. I also found a letter from my dad that expressed his love for me. The one thing that I loved him the most about that letter was that he realized that while he was my dad, Ruth and Al were my parents. He reminded me that if I wanted, he would still like to be a part of my life.

A few weeks after Christmas, I officially became a Jackson. My adoption went through without a hitch or anyone contesting it. The Jacksons though encouraged me to seek a relationship with my dad. So I now visit him every other weekend. What is nice though, is that he allows Adam to come as well. Also, Janet did forgive me for peeing on her couch and asked for forgiveness for the way she acted.

This was how I turned out to be the Christmas Addition and how I had one of my best Christmases of my life. I was reminded of the magic of the holiday and it also re-affirmed my belief in Santa for another year. Most of all, I was with people who loved me and I would never be again ... All Alone!