Adam soon realized that emotional adjustment was far from the only problem they were facing with the father of the family gone. He overheard his mom talking on the phone one day and realized that a good chunk of the life insurance had gone to funeral expenses and the rest would quickly run out taking care of a family with six kids, a gecko, and a cockatiel.
His mom's salary alone wouldn't be able to keep them afloat. They all barely fit here as it was since he had to share a room with both Colton and Evan. They couldn't afford to move anywhere smaller and he did NOT want to lose the house that he had lived in his whole life because of this.
There was only one solution. Adam had to get a job and contribute to the household properly.
Sarah was against it at first, insisting that this was her problem and he should be focusing on school but he put his foot down. "Family is the most important."
"Adam, your future is important too."
"I won't let my grades drop! I swear."
She bit her lip but ended up relenting as long as he promised, saying that he would have to quit if they took a hit. Honestly, his grades weren't important because he planned on forgoing college to work and help take care of things after graduation but she wouldn't let him get a job now at all if she knew that so he kept his plans to himself.
Adam got a job at a movie theater and worked every day from 5-11 PM. He did his homework during lunch and on weekends so he could continue to spend time with his siblings for a couple hours after school.
That wasn't all there was to do though. His mom was hopeless about car and home repairs. He realized that it was yet another thing his dad took care of the first time she needed to go get her oil changed and let out an almost imperceptible sigh about the cost.
"I'll do it," he said firmly. "Looking up how shouldn't be hard."
Adam wished he had paid more attention to when his dad did things like this in the past. He needed to do better. If he could fix any minor car problem, that would save his mom a lot of money.
He spent what little free time he did have looking up how to do minor car repairs. But he couldn't spend too much time on that because one or another of his siblings would come looking for him every time he sat down to read.
Jenna had become even clingier since Darren's death and wanted to be held even more than usual. When she wasn't bouncing off the walls, she often sat on his lap while he did his research until Jonas or Peter came looking for her wanting to play. Then she would kiss his cheek before hopping down and joining them.
It was those sorts of sweet moments that prevented him from burning out. They reminded him why he was doing all of this in the first place.
Adam loved his family and would do anything to keep things as stable as possible for them despite how their world came crumbling down. He didn't want his siblings to miss out on more than they had do with their dad gone.
He carried on like this for a few months until his college acceptance/rejection letters came in. He had applied before any of this happened but obviously didn't need them now.
Unfortunately, his mom saw them when she collected the mail so he couldn't hide them from her. She was so excited that he had to open them in front of her and show them off even though he would also have to explain that he wouldn't be going anywhere he got in.
Or so he thought. Adam had applied to colleges all over Florida and Georgia because he hadn't wanted to go far from home. It was almost too convenient that he happened to not only get into UF but get a full-ride scholarship.
Great. His mom would never let him skip out on college now!
She was so proud of him. Her eyes hadn't shined like that since before she lost her husband as she hugged him tightly and exclaimed how she had to call all of her friends.
Adam couldn't take that from her. She was so excited. He could probably make this work. All of his school expenses would be paid for and he could continue living at home with how close UF was. He could keep working when he wasn't in class.
Besides, he could use this to get a higher-paying job than the movie theater. He would be able to help his family out more in the long run. This could be a good thing.
"Way to go, smarty-pants," Colton said as he clapped him on the back. "Mom's never going to stop bragging. Thanks for setting the bar so high for me."
Adam couldn't help but snort. "Sorry for making your life more difficult."
"Eh, I should aim for a scholarship anyway. What do you want to study? I'm thinking about becoming an accountant. I've always been good at math and I've heard they make good money."
Before all of this happened, Adam had been considering becoming a teacher but he couldn't do that now. They didn't make enough. He was going to have to look into majors that led to high-paying jobs without grad school.
"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "I have time to figure it out though."
"Don't put it off too long. Miss McKee says it's better to start college having a major declared."
Miss McKee was one of their school's guidance counselors. He had heard the same thing from her before but had put it on the back burner when he thought he wouldn't be going to college.
"Yeah, yeah."
Everyone else congratulated him too once they came into the kitchen and realized what was going on and Adam couldn't help but smile at them all. His mom wasn't the only one who was proud of him, even if the younger ones couldn't entirely understand what a scholarship meant.
"You're super smart, Adam!" Peter said with a grin. "I wanna be smart like you."
"Me too!" Evan added, nodding vehemently.
Adam reached out and ruffled both of their hair at the same time. "Thanks, guys. I'm sure you'll be able to get scholarships too if you study hard."
"We have to celebrate. Where do you want to go out to eat, Adam?" Sarah asked.
He really didn't want her to spend money taking everyone out but knew that she would feel bad if he said so. He had to phrase things carefully. "Actually, I want to celebrate with your lasagna. I've always loved that. Maybe Colton could make a cake or something too."
"I'm always down to make cake!" Colton said cheerfully. "Who wants to help?"
"Me, me!" the twins cried in unison.
"Alright. Lasagna it is," Sarah said, humming happily to herself after kissing his cheek and going to work on it.
Adam was relieved that worked. He really didn't want to waste money. If that hadn't been an issue, he would have wanted to go to his favorite barbecue place. They hadn't been there since Evan's thirteenth birthday because it was his favorite too. That was about a month before their dad died.
He would be able to afford to go there again someday. He would make sure of it!