~Six Months Later~

"The adoption papers went through! You're officially a Graham!" Fallon squeals. I smile, "This is the best day ever!" Chad hugs me, "For you and me both, kiddo."

"Celebratory Chick-Fil-A?" Fallon asks. I smile, "Please Chad!" He grins, "Let's do it!"

We go to Chick-Fil-A, and I eat my first meal as a Graham. I'm so unbelievably happy right now, nothing could ruin my amazing mood.

"We've got church tomorrow, kiddo," Chad reminds me. I smile, "Yay! I can't wait!" We eat our chicken, then head home.

I shower and out on some pajamas, then go downstairs and watch Aladdin with Chad and Fallon.

My eyes get droopy during 'A Whole New World'. I decide to go to bed, after all, there is church tomorrow.

"Goodnight guys, love you." Fallon hugs me, "Sleep well, sweetie." Chad gets up and follows me upstairs.

He helps me get comfy in my bed. "I love you, Alex, sleep well, darling." I smile, "Love you too, Chad." He kisses my forehead, and leaves, turning the light off on his way out.

~*~

"Alex, sweetie, wake up," Fallon urges. I jolt up, "Okay. I'll get ready." She smiles, "Okay. Breakfast is ready when you are."

I smile, and put on my Spotify playlist. I stretch and climb out of bed. I stagger into the bathroom, and brush my teeth, and wash my face. I turn my music off, and go downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning," Chad says, eating his eggs. "Is there bacon?" I ask, ignoring Chad's greeting. Chad grins and tosses a piece at my face, "Here dork."

I grin, and eat the piece that he threw. "That was my piece!" He exclaims. "Hey, you're the one that threw it at me," I state, defensively. He smirks, "You're lucky I love you."

I sit down, with a plate with food. "These eggs are good," I state. Chad smirks, "Why thank you, I always knew I was a chef."

I giggle and continue eating. "I'm done! I'll get ready and be back down," I inform Chad and Fallon. Fallon smiles, "I'll help you with your make-up."

"Thanks, Fal, I'll be ready soon!" I exclaim. I hop upstairs to get ready. I rummage through closet, trying to find my blue sundress.

Finally, I find it. I pull out my silver sandals, and lay them next to the dress. I put that on, and brush my hair. Fallon helps me apply very little makeup. I grab my Bible, and skip downstairs.

"You look beautiful," Chad says. I blush, "Thank you."

~*~

The pastor's sermon was on Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; Lord hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. I wait for The Lord, my should waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for The Lord more than those who watch for the morning- I say, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in The Lord; for with The Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all iniquities.

"Guys, God hears you when you call, even if you don't think so. He hears you even in your darkest time! He's always listening," the pastor says.

I blink back a few tears. The first time I went to church, six months ago, the sermon was about Psalm 130.

Chad must notice the tears, because he grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

I think to myself, if only I knew about this passage when I was with Matt. I would've had hope, instead of being so negative all the time.

The pastor continues talking about God always listening. I smile, listening attentively.

"If God can bring Israel out of their misery, he can do the same for you. Trust Him, He will perform a miracle in your life," he says. He closes with prayer, and we sing one last song.

Afterwards, Chad turns to me, "The sermon touch you?" I nod, "It reminded me of the first time I went to church with you guys." He smiles, "That's good."

Chad stops to talk to the guys' before we leave. I walk up to the pastor.

"Your sermon really touched me," I tell him. He smiles, "Thank you, but I can't take credit, I owe it to The Lord." I continue, "It reminded me of the first time I went to church." He grins, "I'm glad. God works in miraculous ways," he says and walks off.

I rejoin the group. Caleb pulls me in for a side hug, "Hey kiddo! Heard you're officially a Graham. I'm glad." I smile, "Thanks Caleb."

Joey grins, "You're officially related to Chad! How does it feel?" I grin, "It feels awesome to finally be part of a family." Joey hugs me, "Good. I just hope you don't treat me like he does." I giggle.

"Hey Miss Graham!" Alan exclaims. I grin like a maniac,"Hey!" Alan hugs me, "You're excited about school next month, right?" I roll my eyes, "You know I have to take some online courses first, since I haven't been in school right?" Alan nods, "Of course I knew!" I laugh, and mumble, "Dork."

I walk back over to Chad, who immediately puts his arm around me. "We're gonna go to lunch with those dorks, is that okay?" He asks me. I smile, "Sure! I'd love some lunch."

"Wanna ride with me?" Alan asks. I smile, "Sure." He grins, "Awesome! Let me find the girls, and we'll be ready."

Alan quickly finds his wife and daughters, and they lead me to their van. I sit in between Presley and AJ. They sing along to their VeggieTales CD the entire way to Cracker Barrel.

I lift Presley out of her carseat, and carry her into the building. Everybody else is waiting inside for us. Presley and AJ run for the toys, while I browse looking at different things.

I notice the same necklace that Chad bought me a while back, I wear that necklace everyday, in fact I'm wearing it right now.

Soon I hear our name over the loudspeaker, I reach the group just in time to see them being led to a table.

I sit down, and Chad is on one side, and Joey on the other. We all hold hands, as I bless the food, my voice shaking.

"God, thank you for the service today, it touched my heart. Thank you for allowing me to officially become a Graham, I'm so happy you put Chad and Fallon in my life. Thank you for the friends that I'm here with, and thank you for our food. We love you, amen."

We have to wait for our food still, but hey, at least when it gets here we can eat.

I smile, and lean my head on Joey's shoulder, I've should've went to bed earlier. "What's wrong, darling? Did. you stay up all night watching Aladdin?" I laugh, "Actually I did!" He smirks, "Really? Wow, I did not expect that."

Our waitress comes back, and gives us out drinks, and takes everybody's order. Once that's done, she slips away again.

I sip on my lemonade impatiently. "I'm starving," I comment. "Chill, food will be here soon," Alan says. I sigh, "Okay."

~*~

Our food comes, and we all eat our different meals. Conversation doesn't stay on one topic for long, we skip around a lot. Sometimes I'm even confused, I have no clue what's going on.

I soon finish eating, "Chad, can I go back out to the store?" I ask. Here nods, "Here ya go kiddo!" He hands me $20, and I go back out to the store.

I browse through, looking at different things. I see the candy and walk over and pick up a few candy bars. I walk over to the checkout, and get in line.

I pay for my candy bars, and join the group at the table. "Thanks for the candy!" Caleb exclaims, grabbing my bag. "Hey! Those are mine!" I shout, grabbing my bag.

"Kids! Settle!" Alan exclaims. Caleb rolls my eyes, and tosses me my candy. "Hey! Where's my change?" Chad asks. I reluctantly pull the money out, and hand it to him.

"Daddy! I want candy!" Presley says. "Me too!" AJ chimes in. Alan smiles, "Finish your food, and Caleb will get you some." Caleb rolls his eyes, but agrees with Alan.

~*~

"We're gonna head out!" Chad says. I give everybody a hug, "Bye guys. Love you all." I follow Chad and Fallon out to the car.

"I wanna go to the bookstore!" I randomly call out. "Why?" Chad asks. I shrug, "I don't know, I just wanna." Chad grins, "Fine, we'll go." I cheer, "Yay!"

Chad pulls up to Barnes&Noble, and I race inside. 10 minutes later, I have a nice pile of books. "Chad! I want all of these!" I exclaim. He glances at my pile, "You may have one, I have another surprise for you at home." I roll my eyes, "Fine. I'll be back."

I put all of my books back, except one, Autumn Falls by: Bella Thorne. "Okay! I'm ready!" I exclaim. Chad smiles, "Okay, let's checkout." He pays for my book, and we go out to the car.

"What's my surprise?" I ask, once we're in the car. "I can't tell you! If I did, it wouldn't be a surprise," Chad says. I scowl, "Fine, but show me as soon as we get home!"

~*~

"Here's your surprise!" Chad hands me a cardboard box. I open the box, and see an Anthem Lights SnapBack. "Yay!" I exclaim, placing the pink hat on my head. "Yay! Now we match!" He says pointing to his green hat.

"You're a geek," I comment, giving him a playful shove. "Hey! Behave!" He scolds. I giggle, and shove him again.

He picks me up, and tosses me on his shoulder. "I didn't want to do this, Alex!" He says, laying me on the couch. He begins tickling me. I laugh until my sides hurt, "Stop. Please." Luckily, he stops.

"You must apologize," he states. "Fine, I'm sorry Chadwick!" I exclaim. He snorts, "You know what I think about that name!"

"Sorry," I mumble. He smirks, "You better be!" I raise my hands in defeat, "I am, I am." I laugh nervously. "Sure," Chad says in a sarcastic way.

Fallon jogs downstairs, "Alex, sweetie, I have great news!" She exclaims. "What is it?" I ask, excitedly. "The girls and I decided to have a girls' night to celebrate you officially being a Graham," she says happily. I smile, "Yay! Can't wait!"

Hope you guys liked it. I'm only going to have three more chapters in this book, I'm sad to see it end, but now I can post more stories. I had a blast writing this, and I hope you guys had fun reading it. New story will be posted soon, loves💜