The orphanage held a contemptible feeling around it. Oliver Davis had remembered far too well what being in one felt like. And in that part of his past, Gene had been there. Now, as he and Lin were driving to the front of the dilapidated building, he couldn't feel but happy that today there would be two less children who had to live in a place like this. Koujo Lin, Naru's husband of five years, was smiling uncontrollably; an odd thing to see if anyone knew the tall man. Even Naru himself couldn't help but feel jovial at the fact that they were about to become fathers.
"Koujo, you're scaring me with that smile. Calm down." Oliver joked. Lin glared at him and continued smiling as if everything in the whole world was perfect. The two men parked in the front of the building and were greeted by an old woman, possibly who ran the orphanage. She had been expecting them, so without a single word, she led them to a room full of playing children. Koujo Lin, not being one fond of child's play, sought out the two children who were reading quietly in the back of the room. He looked to his husband, who had apparently notices the children too. The Chinese man walked up to the boy, who was silently reading a book about dinosaurs. The boy looked to be about five, with blonde hair and blue eyes. The other one reading was also a boy. He took on an ominous appearance and acted as if he was bothered by Lin's presence. Koujo smiled and the woman beckoned them to another room that held infants.
The moment Naru's eyes landed on the pair of twin babies, he knew that they would be taking them home with them. They were only a few months old, and despite being twins, they couldn't have looked any different. The only noticeable characteristic that the two shared was their eyes; both an icy blue that could make any heart melt with one blink. The baby girl was blonde with a chubby face and rosy cheeks that gave her an innocent look. She would make soft cooing noises every once in a while, while her brother stayed silent. The boy had black hair and looked frustrated with the fact that he couldn't get anywhere. He looked up at Naru's habitual scowl and made the face right back to him.
"They're perfect, Koujo!" He laughed. Lin smiled and stuck his pinky out to the babies for them to grab; the girl grabbed on first, but the boy laid his whole hand on the tall man's hand, as if to outdo his sister.
"I believe they are perfect. Are these the children we want?" It was a foolish question for Lin to ask. Of course these were the children that the couple wanted to adopt. Oliver nodded and picked up the boy.
"I think your name should be Eugene Allan Lin." He then picked up the girl, "You'll be our little Elizabeth Lennox Lin." Elizabeth gave a toothless smile at her new father. Naru laughed and even got a smile out of Eugene. Lin took their new daughter out of Naru's hands and they went to sign a few more papers and documents before they could address themselves as parents.
Having the children to take are of certainly changed a lot for both Koujo and Oliver; but that isn't to say that they didn't have fun doing it. Naru spent more time helping them learn basic knowledge about history, mathematics, and even ghost hunting. Lin, however, gave the twins memories by playing games with them. A popular one between the three was a game of tag; it usually ended in Lin falling on the ground in mock defeat, and then Elizabeth and Gene jumping on top of him. Occasionally Naru would join them, just to play against Lin and help the kids tackle Koujo to the ground. In the blink of the couple's eyes, the once small, toothless, and drooling babies were about to have their fifth birthdays.
"Dad, I want to open them now!" Elizabeth whined at Naru, looking up at him with the pleading eyes he couldn't resist. The blonde haired girl had been asking to open her birthday presents all morning, despite the fact that her fathers had been planning a birthday party where she would open her birthday presents then. Gene, who was looking at his sister in quiet annoyance, looked at Naru with an incredulous expression on his face. Oliver couldn't help laugh at Gene's face, for it was mirroring his own frustration with Elizabeth's stubbornness.
"Fine, you may open one present right now, but you'll have to wait for the rest of them this evening, okay?" Elizabeth nodded and hugged her father around the knee. "Would you like to open one too, Gene?" The dark haired boy smiled softly and nodded. Gene had been asking for a chemistry set for about two years, but Lin and Naru had both said that he was too young. He hopefully thought that maybe this year they would have gotten him one. "Alright, I'll go pick them out. Lizzie, will you get daddy? I'm sure he would want to see you open your gifts." Elizabeth nodded and went to get Koujo while Naru went to go get the birthday presents for the twins.
Oliver brought down the packages and found Lin, Elizabeth, and Gene waiting for him at the table. Lin got up from the table to help his husband, because one of the wrapped boxes was big and quite heavy. The two sat them on the floor and beckoned the children to come and open them. Gene looked at the present with his name on it with a little disappointment on his face, although he tried not to show it. It looked too big to be a chemistry set, so he decided to watch his sister open her gift first. Naru handed the heavy box to his daughter and let her open it. Elizabeth took no time in ripping the wrapping paper off of a box that showed a picture of a giant stuffed panda on it. She gasped and tried to open up the box, scowling when she had to have Lin help her. When he had opened it, Elizabeth squealed and pulled the stuffed animal out of the box, hugging it.
"Thank you so much Dad!" She exclaimed, kissing Naru on the cheek, "You too Daddy!" Elizabeth also kissed Lin's cheek. Naru smiled and sat next to Lin, laying his head on the shoulder of the taller man.
"You're very welcome Lizzie," Lin said. "It's your turn now, Gene." Lin looked at Gene with an excitement on his face. Gene immediately caught on to it and realized that his fathers had planned something.
"Gene-bean, open your present," Elizabeth encouraged her brother, using a nickname that she had come up with. Gene glared at his twin for using it, but gave in and un-wrapped the gift, revealing a cardboard box. He cocked his head and looked at Naru, who had a devious smile on his face. The box was not taped and the five year-old could easily open it without the use of scissors. As soon as Gene saw what was inside the box, he smiled the widest smile any of the room's other occupants had ever seen. He ran into both of his fathers' waiting arms.
"You really got it for me! Thank you," Gene looked so happy; and he was. Inside the box was the long anticipated chemistry set that Naru and Lin had decided to get for the black haired boy. They had come to the conclusion that their son was mature and meticulous enough to handle the small and not harmful chemicals in the set; with supervision of course. Eugene went back over to the box and pulled out the already put together set. When Lin and Naru had bought it, they decided to trick Gene into thinking it was something else by assembling it and putting into a bigger and different box. "Look Dad, I can grow my own plant in a faster time by using Carbon Dioxide!" Oliver smiled at how infatuated his and Lin's son was with science. They looked over to see what Elizabeth was doing, and found her asleep on her new stuffed panda.
"She's so cute," Oliver whispered to Lin.
"They both are," The Chinese man retorted. Gene had become too focused on his chemical reactions that he was making to pay any attention to what his parents were saying. Lin wrapped his arm around Naru's waist and kissed his cheek, "I can't believe that we've already had them for five years." Naru nodded in agreement. In fact, today was the official day that the couple had brought the twins home. They hadn't known their real birthday, so Lin and Naru decided that they day they were brought home would be their birthday. Suddenly, Lin got up and walked over to Elizabeth, shaking her awake. "I have something for all three of you. I was going to wait until the party, but I don't think I can." Lin smirked at the confused expression Naru was giving him and walked away, coming back with a medium sized black box that had a ribbon around it. He handed it to Naru and sat back down on the floor where they all were.
The kids had abandoned their new toys to see what exactly was in the box for them and their dad. Naru looked at the box in wonder and Lin urged him to open it.
"It's something you've always wanted, Noll." Lin told as he watched Naru open up the box, revealing a small black kitten. Naru drew in a sharp breath and picked the kitten up; observing it as it also seemed to observe Naru.
"Koujo, she's adorable!" Naru cried as he let the cat down on the ground to roam. Elizabeth and Gene also became excited for their new family member and pet the kitten, which was not sure about being touched. "Be careful, you two. I can't believe you got us a cat, Koujo." Naru smiled and kissed Lin. The twins saw this act of endearment and simultaneously voiced what they thought of it.
"That is gross Dad." Elizabeth said as she tried to pry Naru away from Lin.
"No displays of affection in front of us, please!" Gene added.
Lin pulled away, laughing. "We just can't do anything with these kids around, can we?" Naru smiled and shook his head. "What are you going to name the kitten?" Naru furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought.
"How about we name her Bubbles, Daddy?" Elizabeth chimed in. Her favorite show to watch at that moment was The Powerpuff Girls, so whenever she named a stuffed animal, its name was Bubbles.
"I like that name," Gene said. Oliver nodded in agreement with the two.
"Bubbles is her name then." Naru smiled.
They forgot all about the birthday party for the twins; too occupied playing with the cat and spending time with each other. It was about five o'clock when the doorbell rang, signifying that a visitor was waiting outside.
"Oh no, we forgot about the birthday party," Lin got up and went to the door while Naru quickly went outside to finish setting up and decorating; which he had partly done that morning. The guests were invited in and Elizabeth went to show her friends Bubbles and her stuffed panda, while Gene showed his friends the chemistry set.
"You're so lucky! You have the best parents ever, Gene," Lin heard one boy exclaim; and he couldn't help but smile at the comment. Naru then came through the back door and told everyone that they could go outside. All of the children ran outside, while Lin, Naru, and the other parents took their time in going out; getting a chance to greet each other and ask how people in families were doing. The party continued on for another three hours until all of the kids were gone and the twins were exhausted and feeling sick from all of the cake. Bubbles, who had decided to come out and see what all of the commotion was about, was now covered in streamers and silly string. Naru fell against the grass, willing to fall asleep there. Koujo Lin smiled and yawned, tired himself. He took Gene and Elizabeth in his arms and carried each one to their rooms, giving a kiss on the head to each of them as he tucked his children under the covers. He walked back down the stairs to find Oliver asleep in the grass. The tall man tried not to laugh too loudly and picked his husband up, carrying him to their bedroom.
"So, I have three babies now?" He asked the sleeping Naru as he tucked him in. Lin left to clean Bubbles up and came back with an angry and recently dried cat. He set her down on the bed and got dressed in his night clothes. He joined Naru in their bed and let Bubbles curl up next to him as he laid down. He gave Naru a kiss on the head and turned the lights off.
"I suppose you do have three babies," Came Naru's slow and somniferous reply.