Author's Note: Any adoption information provided in this chapter was found via google, so I'm not positive it's all 100% accurate, but I did do my best to make it as accurate and realistic as possible. Hopefully I did a good enough job.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, onto the chapter.

Chapter Nine

Jon followed Chasity into the adoption agency building and up to the receptionist's desks. "Hi, I'm Chasity Gains. I'm here for an appointment with Monica Wilson." The receptionist gave her a warm smile.

"You can have a seat and I'll let Ms. Wilson know you're here." Chasity smiled back at her and nodded before turning and walking over to a group of chairs in the waiting area and sat down. Following her lead, Jon sat down next to her.

Ms. Wilson walked into the waiting room shortly after and smiled at Chasity. "Hello, Ms. Gains. You can follow me, and we'll sit in a private area to discuss your adoption options." Chasity stood to follow Ms. Wilson when she noticed Jon attempting to stand, too. Making eye contact with him she shook her head.

"No Jon, you stay out here." Now it was Jon's turn to shake his head at her.

"No, I told you I was coming with you for moral support, and therefore I'm coming back there with you. I told you I'll keep quiet unless you ask me for advice, and I'll stand by that, but I refuse to wait out here. You don't have to like it you just have to tolerate it." Chasity groaned, knowing she wasn't going to win this argument she quietly followed Ms. Wilson down the hallway to her office, Jon following behind her.

Ms. Wilson sat down and motioned to the chairs across from her. Chasity and Jon took a seat as Ms. Wilson began pulling up different documents on her laptop. "Okay, so if you were to decide to put your baby up for adoption you would be required to fill out the preliminary paperwork. That just basically means you're signing up with us, so it'd be all your basic information." Chasity nodded, signaling she understood. "After that, you'll have to look at different profiles of couples looking to adopt and choose the family you want your baby to end up with." Again, Chasity nodded, letting Ms. Wilson know she was still with her. "Once you've chosen a couple of families you think would be the right fit, you'll get to interview each family at different times and select the family you think will be the best fit for your child. Then you can set up your hospital plan and post-placement agreement. That means you're setting up the family to be there during the birth to see the baby once it's born. Are you still with me?" Chasity just nodded, staying silent. "Alright, after the hospital plan it becomes a waiting game. The next step is giving birth, and after the birth you have up to forty-eight hours to complete the process by signing the consent form, consenting for the adoption to be completed. I know that was a lot of information to take in. You don't have to understand all of it today. You don't even have to remember it all today. Just try to remember the beginning. If you want to set up an adoption, you'll have to fill out the preliminary paperwork fairly soon."

Chasity tried to process all of that information, but Ms. Wilson was right, it was way too much to process in one sitting. "Can I ask a few questions?" Ms Wilson nodded.

"Sure, sweetheart, go ahead."

"After I give birth, does the baby go directly to the adoptive parents, or do I get a chance to say goodbye?"

"You'd have the chance to say goodbye. The forty-eight hour window for you to change your mind allows you to do anything you want within the forty-eight hours; including, obviously, reneging on the adoption all together." Chasity nodded. She knew she'd been doing that a lot, but what else could she do? There wasn't much she could say in this meeting as she was learning about all of this for the first time. Ms. Wilson broke her out of her thoughts with more information. "In most cases you'll be given the option to choose whether you want to partake in an open or closed adoption. All that means is if you choose an open adoption you'll get to interview and interact with the family up to and even through the birth. In most cases, the adoptive family even allows the birth mother to stay in the baby's life if they want to. They send you photos of the baby once or twice a year, so you can see how much the baby has grown and what they're up to in school, once they've reached the school age. In some cases, the families even become best friends, and birth mom becomes somewhat of an "aunt" to the baby," Ms. Wilson explained the open adoption process.

"Then on the other hand, you have a closed adoption. In a closed adoption you wouldn't get to choose the family, the agency would do it; which also means you wouldn't get to meet the chosen family. Which is why, in a lot of these cases, the mother's choose open adoptions," Ms. Wilson informed them.

Chasity was becoming a little overwhelmed with all the information, Jon could see it on her face. He kept his promise though, he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he grabbed her hand and squeezed, reminding her she wasn't here alone. He knew she would never be able to go through with this; whether she did an open adoption or closed, she'd never be able to complete the adoption, so it didn't matter. He could still remember the time back in high school where her cat had kittens. Her mom told her she had to give them away, but she never did; she couldn't. She fell in love with them within the first twenty-four hours, so she hid them from her mom and took care of them on her own. Her mother was so strung out it was easy to allow the cats to fly under the radar without her ever noticing. If Chasity couldn't give up furry little creatures she didn't share blood with there wasn't any way she was going to be able to give up a baby that was her own flesh and blood.

That sealed it. Jon decided right then and there that when she officially decided she wasn't putting the child up for adoption he would be there to help her. The child was gonna need some kind of father-figure, and while he had no idea what that was because he'd never had one himself, he knew he would still try his damndest to make sure this child had some type of male guidance; the guidance he never got. Every child deserves some type of father-figure in their life, and he always promised himself he'd be better father-figure than his father ever was for him. This could be his best chance. He wouldn't let his friend's child grow up like they had.