Sorry for no update yesterday, but it was a long, hectic day that didn't end until about 0230 this morning.
My nephew arrived right on schedule. he even brought a friend of his who looked like a walking tank! nephew said "Joey's kinda scary looking, so we wanted to send that <expletive deleted> group home guy a message about messin' with my uncle."
When we got there, the boys were sitting on the front porch with all of their stuff. As I got out of the car, R came bolting off the porch. "Hey, you're three minutes late!" he informed me. We got everything loaded and barely got it all into both vehicles. Some staff guy (not the director) came out and handed me an envelope with their birth certificates and medical cards and walked away. Never wished the boys "good luck" or even "good bye".
When we got back to the house, my nephew and Joey got the guys into a pick up basketball game in the driveway. R was going to join in, but decided his undersized, 13yo frame was no match against these guys, so he watched with me from the porch.
We unloaded all of their stuff into the living room. RC (as opposed to my R for clarification) and R went to the family room to play Playstation. i helped A get his stuff up to the room and put away. While we were orgaizing, A turned to me and said "I don't know how we're ever going to thank you enough for taking us in like this. You have no idea how this feels to have a family after being in that hellhole for so long." I told him that I didn't expect any thanks.
Later, Amy came by to check on the boys and get some initial paperwork done (they're new to our agency's case load). We talked to the boys separately. Amy asked the usual questions about injuries, pain, wanting to hurt somebody, etc.
When she asked "Have you ever wanted to hurt yourself?" RC looked down and said "yes".
We asked him for more info and he told us that he hated the group home so much that he prayed every night not to wake up in the morning. When Amy asked him if he thought he needed to talk to somebody, his head shot up. "No, not anymore. My prayers were answered." Then he said something that left us both stunned because it was SO cheesy yet heartfelt. "He said "I have no idea what a guardian angel looks like, but I think mine is sitting right there." as he pointed to me.
After supper, the rest of the night passed quietly. The boys unpakced, played Playstation and XBox with R, and sat with me watching TV. After R went to bed, I honestly tried to log on to the Forum with my update, but A came into the room and we just talked. Soon RC joined us. Finally, at 0230 I said that I was going to bed.
We have a rule in my home that nobody sleeps past noon, so the house is still quiet this morning. Now you know why it took so long to update y'all.