Chapter Two: Newspaper Ads

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Juno or anything else you recognize.

Summary: Jack and Juno Payne find out that they are infertile. They decide to adopt a child. Will Juno's past come back to haunt her?

--

After Jack and I made the decision to adopt, I knew exactly where I'd go to put an ad. Vanessa and Mark had done it almost nineteen years earlier, so I figured I could do the same thing.

Once we got home, I put my laptop on my lap and began looking for it. I opened up Google and typed in the Penny Saver. Sure enough, the website was at the top of the listings. I opened it up, typed in Saint Cloud's zip code and started making an ad. I pulled upan old picture of Jack and me sitting on the couch and cropped it to show our happy, smiling faces. Okay, so maybe we didn't look exactly like the picture of Mark and Vanessa Loring. Oh well. We weren't perfect, and I figured that picture of Jack and me, sitting there laughing on the couch showed that pretty well. Score one point for us.

It took me about half an hour to compose the ad and for it to meet both Jack and I's approval. I submitted the ad and looked over at Jack, who was sitting next to me. The confusion was written all over his face.

"Why the Penny Saver?" he finally asked, puzzled.

I sighed. Of course, he wouldn't understand. I hadn't actually explained it to him. "Because," I explained, "it's the first place I looked when I gave the Kid up for adoption." I also remember my old high school friend, Leah (yes, the one who hit on all the teachers), saying the Penny Saver was the perfect place to find parents. "Desperately Seeking Spawn" are the words she used, I believe. But, I was smart enough not to put that on there... I didn't want to scare anyone away with that notion. Ahaha...

Jack frowned for a second before looking back at me. "If you're sure," he said, his voice betraying his disbelief.

"I'm not sure. I'm completely positive that this is the right thing to do. It feels right," I said.

And it really did feel right. It was like the big man in the sky had arranged it himself. I had a really good feeling and it wasn't going away. I was beyond excited.

--

I figured it would take a couple of months of placing the ad in the Penny Saver for us to get any results. Come to think of it, Vanessa never told me how long it was that she and Mark had put that ad in there before stupid old pregnant me came along and accepted the bait. Then again, I have a feeling that Mark probably put in in there without Vanessa's knowledge or approval. He always was pretty cool about that. There were a lot of cool things about Mark, now that I'm thinking about it. I often wondered what the Kid's life would have been like, had both Mark and Vanessa raised him rather than just Vanessa. I'm sure he was raised with more Baby Einstein and flashcards than any other child known to mankind.

Regardless of the time it took for me to fall pregnant and find Mark and Vanessa's ad, it only took us two weeks to get a phone call. I couldn't believe it. I had thought it was going to take MUCH longer. I answered it with the usual, "Hey, it's Juno. What's up?"

"Hi, this is Jude Cates... umn, I saw your ad in the Penny Saver..."

My eyes widened in shock and I flagged Jack down. He came running.

"Umn... hey, Jude, this is Juno," I said, completely at a loss for words at this awesome, completely momentous occasion. "Well, umn... not that I'm quoting the song or anything, but you know... I say 'hey' when I greet just about everybody." I could have gone back and smacked myself in the face. Who makes fun of someone's name like that? Oh, wait... I didn't know she was going to offer to let us adopt her kid. Oops. My bad.

"Hi... umn... I'm pregnant and I saw your ad in the Penny Saver, and I was wondering whether or not I could give thekid to you guys. I mean, I'm obviously ill-equipped, considering I'm only sixteen. And you guys seem pretty cool and obviously more equipped than I am. So, since you obviously want what I can't have right now... uh... would you take this thing," the girl on the other line said. She reminded me so much of myself already... I mean, I knew I was ill-equipped when I had the Kid. Well, that and her nervousness reminded me a lot of me, too. Gosh, what is it with the kids who look up parents in the Penny Saver? Are we all the same or something?

"Okay," I said calmly. "Umn, why don't you come over at around 4:30 on Friday. Let me give you my address." I started planning things out with Jude on the phone. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but start to get excited.

"Alright," she said. "Thank you so much."

"No, thank you," I said gratefully.

I sat the phone back in the cradle and looked back at Jack. He had the stupidest, goofiest grin on his face.

"Hells yeah!" I yelled, running over to him and kissing him.

--

Friday couldn't come fast enough. Jack had gone out and found an adoption lawyer a few days after we decided to adopt. She had been on the look-out for prospective birth parents. When he told her that a girl had called us, saying she was pregnant, she was completely shocked. She cleared her Friday afternoon appointment for us and was there before Jude Cates even showed up.

Wanda Francis was the oldest lady I had seen in a very long time. She looked like she could just keel over and kick the bucket at any moment. But then again, I trusted Jack to pick a good lawyer for the adoption.

The doorbell rang and Jack rushed to the door in excitement.

"Hi, Jude," he said, grinning. I peered through the hall to see a teenage girl standing in the doorway. "And you must be Mrs. Cates," Jack said, looking at the woman behind her.

"Umn, not exactly. I'm Vanessa Loring, the baby's grandmother. And this is my charming, yet irresponsible son, Ben," the lady said, smiling at Jack. I about shit my pants.


Thanks for reading. Please review!!

And for those of you who have read my Instant Star fanfiction, I just used Jude's name because it was very unique. This is not the same Jude and this is not a cross-over story. Thanks, much!