A/N: Written for week 3 of the MC Hiatus Challenge: Familial/Platonic relationship.
Julio looked around the children's room and then at Captain Raydor who stood there with a satisfied expression on her face. She smiled at him and the warmth of her expression helped calm his fraying nerves. He glanced at his watch and sighed in relief.
"I can't believe we finished on time," the Captain said and even though he was nervous, he let his lips curve upwards just a little. "The room looks great. I'm sure they'll be happy when they see it."
"I just hope they won't mind sharing it," Julio replied.
"Of course they won't. Melody and Eric probably shared a room for a while in their foster home," Sharon replied. When Julio approached her several months earlier and requested her support through the process of adopting a brother and sister, she didn't hesitate for a single moment. It made sense that he came to her, considering the fact that she fostered Rusty for 2 years before she officially adopted him. Of course, the children Julio intended to adopt were much younger. Melody was 5 and Eric was 4, their parents died in a car accident a year earlier. Sharon has never met them. She's only seen them in photos and recordings that Julio showed her. She knew that he met them a few times during the adoption process. Julio was always very soft around children, and after he dealt with the grief he carried for his dead wife and the entire fiasco that his short-lived relationship with Stefanie Dunn was, he was finally ready to move on with his life and have his own family. When he first approached her about the adoption, asking for her assistance, she couldn't help but imagining him as a caring and loving father, and she was happy that he was finally getting the chance to create his own family. He was a good man and he deserved to be happy at last.
"I guess… until they get here, maybe we could have some coffee," he offered and Sharon nodded, throwing last look at the beautiful room they decorated for the children together, based on their subjects of interest – Melody wanted to be an astronomer when she grows up and therefore they painted a deep blue and purple sky dotted with stars on her side of the room; Eric liked the zoo, and so they made sure to decorate his side with plushy toys and animal wallpapers. Julio also bought many toys the kids could share and stocked their closet with clothes and shoes. Sharon helped him with the sizes (which he got from the children's current foster mother) and helped him pick hair accessories for Melody. She could tell Julio was very excited about finally becoming a father, and it was contagious.
They finished their coffee and washed dishes when the doorbell rang and Julio sprung out from the kitchen towards the door before Sharon was even able to react. She smiled to herself as she walked towards the living room to welcome the two additions to the Sanchez family.
THE END
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