Chapter One

"Senator Walters, I'm sorry, can I bother you?" The senator's campaign manager stepped into his office. He looked up from his computer.

"I know." He sighed. "My campaign numbers are way down. We were doing so well. What happened?" He brought his fist down on the desk in frustration.

"We aren't completely sure, but we believe it is due to Mr. Johnson's last major campaign ad. It's leading the people to think about him as a family man."

Senator Walters nodded thoughtfully. His campaign for president had begun months ago and his popularity had been climbing very rapidly until his biggest competitor, Mr. Johnson had joined the race. Mr. Johnson was what the people viewed as the "classic American man." He had a wife, two daughters, and a young son. He was charismatic and made huge points of making time for his family while running. His latest ad had not directly come out and spoken of Senator Walter's state as a single man with no family of his own, but it did point the viewer to imply that meaning well enough.

"I can't combat that." The senator sighed with frustration. "What can I do, shoot an ad claiming that not having a family frees up my time to fulfill my duties. You and I both know that's true, but if I come out and say I don't have time for a girlfriend or a family, I'll be called an unfriendly workaholic. There is no solution."

"I've been looking a lot at the public polls this morning and a lot of people say you are too aloof and alone. It makes you seem heartless." She paused before bringing up the main idea that she had come to share. "I was speaking with Jace and Stacy Larison this morning."

"The interns that married fresh out of high school. What do they know?"

"They're good workers and they're giving us a fresh perspective of the younger generation. They said that maybe you don't have to commit to a whole family, but seeing you with a child or in a fatherly position might warm the public to you. Would you consider adoption?"

He gave her an incredulous stare. "What am I, Daddy Warbucks?" He scoffed. "I'm not taking in some unfortunate orphan just for my campaign. And what am I supposed to do when the campaign is over? You can't return an orphan."

"I know it seems ridiculous. But I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. This is the main reason people aren't going to vote for you. Your single family-less state could completely kill your campaign. You might not even have a chance without a child."

"That's ridiculous!"

"The public is ridiculous. They don't want a man that can run the country. They want a man that appeals to their emotions. They need to feel good about you. Seeing you as a father could do that."

"I don't want a child!" He said with conviction, but less so than his previous statements.

"You have the money to take care of the kid. Hire a nanny, send them to a nice school, and you only have to give a little bit of care and have them appear in campaign ads. It's not that big of a commitment." His campaign manager scoffed. If anyone could be accused of having a cold heart, it should have been her, not him.

Senator Walters pulled from the bottom of his excuse jar. "What about paperwork and the process? I don't have time for all of this and by the time I actually get a child, the election will be over. There's no point."

"I've already figured that out, too. Jace and Stacy said that they had looked into adoption themselves and were discouraged by the process until they found out about Sokovia."

"S-what now?"

"Sokovia, it's a small country in Europe that has been under onslaught for a while now. The bombings there have created more orphans than they know what to do with and they ship the kids out as soon as they find someone even moderately interested. Their legal system isn't very strict about getting children out." She sat down in the chair across from his desk and slid her finger to a link on a tablet for him. "Take your pick."

An adoption website in poorly translated English appeared before Walters and he was overwhelmed with an onslaught of little faces of unhappy children. "You have got to be kidding me." He pushed the tablet back at her.

"How much do you want to win this election?"

He hesitated and didn't move for a long time. Finally, he reached back up and pulled the tablet closer to himself. "No babies. We want someone who's still young, but also past those ridiculous childish stages."

"Girl or boy?" She smiled almost deviously.

"Girl, I have no time for a boy. I was a boy and I can say from experience that they're far too much trouble."

"The more pitiful the better, I think." She pulled the tablet back and made some search adjustments. "Here, what about this one?"

'Wanda Maximoff' The screen read '10; parents killed in July bombing; quiet; shy' The picture of a young, tiny girl accompanied this poor description. She had a tattered dress and her hair was tangled. Her face was lined with tear tracks that went through the dirt and ash that had built up there. Her hand clutched tightly to another who could not be fully seen in the picture.

Senator Walters felt a pang of guilt and sadness. This girl looked awful and beaten down by the world. Was it fair for him to take her in only for a campaign?

His campaign manager interrupted his thoughts. "Any life you can give her has to be better than that. The people will love you. We can even use this picture, she looks awful."

"What do we do now then?" He asked her.

She smiled mischievously. "I've already booked our flight to Sokovia."