Later that day, she and the two Freds were back at the apartment. Jack came home before Chrissie and found her and the Freds sitting on the beat – up couch.
"Hi, Janet," Jack greeted her.
She turned around and found Jack standing there.
"Hi, Jack."
"Chrissie home yet?"
"No. You're the only one at the minute."
"Just wondered. What did you do with the twins today?"
"We went to the park. We had fun but there was a couple that had a baby girl. She looked like she was well – behaved," Janet told him.
"Most babies are, I guess."
Janet nodded in agreement.
That's when she and Jack heard at knock on the door. He went to answer it. It was Mr. Roper.
"Hi, Jack, Janet."
"Hi, Mr. Roper," they returned.
"Jack, Janet, we need to talk."
They looked at each other, finding the talk was about the twins.
"What about, Mr. Roper?" Jack asked.
"It's about those kids."
"What about them? They're no trouble at all."
"I understand, Janet. Helen and I have talked. She wants to go ahead and adopt them. I don't want any kids."
"Come on, Mr. Roper. They do need a place to live. Give Mrs. Roper a chance with these two and see how it goes."
"I guess you're right, Jack. She wants to adopt them today."
"Today!" Jack said in surprise.
"That's what I just said, knucklehead."
"I guess that means you came by to get them, am I right?"
"Right, Janet. She wants to adopt them as soon as possible."
"All right. Boys, we'll see you more often."
The two nodded. That's when Mr. Roper left the apartment with the twins.
"Roper with children? That's a laugh," Chrissie came in and heard Jack say.
"What's a laugh?" Chrissie asked.
"Hi, Chrissie. Roper stopped by just now. He wants to adopt those twin boys."
"You're not serious, are you?" Chrissie asked.
"Those words came from his mouth, Chrissie. This isn't like Roper to have children around this place," Jack said.
"I bet Mrs. Roper talked him into it," Chrissie said.
"She did, Chrissie. He said Mrs. Roper wanted to adopt them today," Janet told her.
"No wonder I passed Roper on my way in."
"That means we'll still get to see the boys more often since they'll be living with Roper."
"I agree with you, Jack. It doesn't sound like Mr. Roper at all," Chrissie agreed.
"I agree too," Janet said.
"You know Mrs. Roper is always talking about wanting a child one day. I guess her dream came true," Chrissie told her roommates.
"Right. She's always talked about it until today. We know she would make a good mother, but Roper, ha!" Jack said.
"Did I just hear something, Helen?" Stanley asked.
"What? I didn't hear anything."
"I thought I heard some conversation down in the kids' apartment. I think they're talking about us."
"Stanley, don't be so suspicious all the time. We'll do just fine with these two."
"And there ain't enough room for all four of us in this apartment," he reminded her.
"Give them a chance, Stanley. We're adopting them and that's final!" Helen yelled.
Jack, Janet, and Chrissie heard Mrs. Roper raise her voice.
"I betcha you they're talking about us and the twins," Chrissie said.
"Looks like it," Jack agreed.
They heard more yelling from downstairs.
"We're going now, Stanley. We're not changing our minds," she said strictly.
"I never wanted a kid in the first place."
"Right, but I want to give us a chance to be a mother and father."
"You do, but I ain't budging."
He had no choice. It was too late and they walked out of their apartment with the twins. They were at the orphanage for a while, but the orphanage did not recognize the Freds.
"We don't recall having them here," a woman told them.
Mr. Roper saw she was about Jack's age but looked like his looks. He didn't want to mention it to her, so he stayed quiet. Then he watched his wife fill in the papers. He didn't want to sound rude to the woman behind the desk and say he still didn't want them. It would make her think he was cruel. Mrs. Roper handed her the papers.
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Roper. We understand they are still minors, but we hope you will be enjoying them as new parents," she told them.
"We will. This is what I've always wanted to do – be a mother. We've never had children of our own but we finally got the dream."
He pretended to nod in agreement. He never really wanted children but once again his wife had it her way. The four of them walked back to the junky old car.
"We welcome you to the family, boys," she said, "but we would like it if you call us Mom and Dad."
"We will," Freddy spoke up.
Then they drove away from the orphanage.
