Title: The Foster Child
Rating: PG-13ish
Pairing: Ratburn/OFC (Mostly theoretical for now)
Summary: The Read family takes in a teenage foster kid. She develops a crush on Mr. Ratburn. Mostly just a genfic about her interactions with the entire cast, but has a lot about a relationship trying to develop between her and him and the taboo of a 30-something and a teenager getting together in a romantic sense.
I apologize for any Mary Sue-ing, I do try to avoid it but sometimes it's just inevitable because I'm just not that great a writer.
Author's Note: I had this idea forever and a half ago. I don't really remember how it originated. If people like it I'll write more.
Disclaimer: Arthur the Aardvark belongs to Marc Brown and PBSkids. I don't own it in any way, shape, or form. This story is for entertainment purposes only, I'm not making any money off of this.
Prologue.
Arthur's mom and dad sat him and D.W. down on the couch.
"Kids, we've got some exciting news." She started. D.W. shot up from her seat and started going wild with guesses.
"Are we getting a pony? Are we moving to a castle? Did you win a lifetimes supply of ice cream? Are you getting rid of Arthur? Are we getting another sister?" She asked.
"Well you're getting closer with that last guess..." Mrs. Read started in order to edge back into the conversation.
"ANOTHER little sister? Mom you can't..." Arthur groaned.
"No, no, that's not it. Both of you just calm down and let me talk." Mrs. Read picked D.W. up and put her back on the couch. "You're not getting another little sister. You're not really getting a sister. But what IS happening is a girl is going to come and live with us. We're taking in a foster child, she's quite a bit older than you and Arthur."
"What's a foster child? Is her last name Foster? Who are these people, do we know anyone named Foster?" D.W. asked suspiciously.
"A foster child is like an orphan D.W. Only they don't live in orphanages they live in homes with people who agree to take care of them until they're adopted. The girl we're taking in is 16 years old so she's probably not going to get adopted. We've agreed to take her in until she turns 18. That's why we've been refurbishing the attic. We're changing it into her bedroom." Mr. Read explained to them.
"You mean we're getting an older sister? One older than Arthur?" D.W asked.
"No, not really sweetie," Mrs. Read answered. "She probably won't think of us as family. She'll be more like a guest who'll be staying with us for a while. She might start seeming like a part of the family after a while."
"So, I heard mom and dad talking. They say she's a 'problem child', does anyone know what that means?" Arthur asked after reiterating the story to his friends at the sugar bowl.
"They mean she makes trouble, like a bully or something." The Brain said.
"That's not always right. At the center that hosts my Big Brother Big Sister program they say they've got a lot of 'problem children' there," Buster added. "I think it means they've got a lot of problems in their life and so that makes them act bad sometimes."
"Whatever it means it can't be good for you Arthur. Either way it means you're going to be living with someone who wants to pick on you all the time. And I know all about teenagers, they act weird all the time and want to hog the bathroom." Francine interjected with her opinion.
Arthur groaned and put his head in his hands.
Author's Note: What do you think?
