While Sloane, Leo and Adam are eating breakfast on Tuesday morning, Bree rushes in.
"Sloane, come here," she says and walks over to the couch.
"What is it?"
"I found a superlative lungs app," she unlocks the Davenpad in her hands as she sits on the couch.
"What?" Sloane sits next to her.
"Do you have any apps right now?"
"I don't think so. . ."
"We'll download this to your hard drive then you won't have any problems running,
she turns the screen so Sloane can see it, "Well, your legs will still hurt and stuff, but no pain in your chest, and you'll be able to breathe easily—like you're standing still."
"Download it, definitely download it," Sloane nods.
Bree laughs, "Okay. . .download to . . Sloane's hard drive . . and activate," she says while tapping things on the screen. She looks up, "You're good to go."
"Awesome, thanks," Sloane stands. "You better get some breakfast or we're gonna be late."
"Gotcha," Bree walks past her to the kitchen area.
Chase comes in through the elevator. "Good morning, everyone."
"Morning," Adam and Leo mumble.
Mr. Davenport comes downstairs, "You guys are going to have to walk to school. I can't drive you."
"Why?" Leo asks.
"Tasha and I have an appointment to go to."
"What for?" Chase asks.
"Uh, we're going to the adoption center."
The kids exchange a look with each other and Sloane.
"We're just going to ask some questions, and learn about different options," Davenport assures. "That's all." He doesn't entirely specify. "Come on, you kids have to go. You're going to be late."
They grab their backpacks and go.
"Do you guys think Tasha and Mr. Davenport are going to try to adopt Sloane?" Bree asks as they walk.
"How can they adopt her?" Chase inputs. "If they find out who Sloane is, they'll find out the FBI is looking for her. Plus, what about her legal foster parents? And on a more important note, Sloane and I are dating," he grabs Sloane's hand.
"That's not more important," Bree says. "But it would be weird."
"Guys, don't get so caught up," Leo says. "Big D just said Mom and him were going to the adoption center to ask questions, not do anything crazy."
"Leo's probably right," Adam says.
"Sloane," Bree says, "You haven't said anything."
"What do you want me to say?" Sloane replies uncomfortably.
"Do you want to get adopted?"
"I don't know. . . it's weird because Chase and I are together. If I got adopted that would make all of you my foster siblings. Anyway, it wouldn't be easy to get me adopted if you haven't noticed."
At the adoption center, Davenport and Tasha are in the waiting area. A tall, thin woman in a pan suit walks out of an office and calls their names, "Donald and Tasha Davenport?"
"That's us," Mr. Davenport and Tasha stand.
"Follow me," the woman says and goes back into the office. The office is small with a desk, two chairs and couple file cabinets. "I'm Ms. Montclair. How can I help you two today?"
"We have some questions about adoption," Tasha says.
"Of course."
"Actually, not adoption 'd like to learn more about guardianship," Davenport states. Tasha nods
"Oh. Alright. First of all, is there a child you have in mind?"
"Um, yes, she's been living with us, but we don't know the whole gist of how guardianship works. We're exploring options."
"Well, to become a guardian of this child, they have to live with you for a trial of six months."
"Six months?" Davenport repeats.
"Yes. Then, if your household is approved, and the child agrees to grant guardianship, it's fairly simple. You take care of them and pay for things like medical appointments, dentistry, provide living, food, and stuff like that. Whether you adopt or become the guardians of a child, it's still a lot of work and you both should be committed to this child. He or she should be committed to you as well."
"Sounds simple enough," Tasha says
"When this child turns 18, unless they haven't graduated yet, you no longer have to pay for their expenses."
"But about the six month thing, is that mandatory?" Davenport asks.
"Before the court can put a child under your care, they need to make sure your home is a suitable living environment and that you're financially stable enough to provide for the child."
Mr. Davenport laughs, "I'm a multimillionaire inventor. And we already have four kids."
"Regardless, the child has a say in whether or not they want you to be their guardian."
Mr. Davenport looks at Tasha. "So considering that this foster child has already been in our care, does that time get subtracted from the six months?"
"If it's been recorded in our system, yes. What's this child's name?" Ms. Montclair is ready to search for Sloane on her computer.
"We haven't really talked with her about this quite yet."
"We don't want to get to far into this without her," Tasha adds.
"Alright. Will that be all for today, then?"
"I think so," Mr. Davenport says and they stand.
"Be sure to call again when you're ready to make things official," Ms. Montclair stands and shakes each of their hands.
"Thank you for your time," Tasha says before leaving.
Once they get back in the car, Davenport says, "Well that pretty much answered all of our questions."
"I just don't know how we're going to do this, Donald," Tasha leans her head back against the headrest.
"I do," he says. "If Sloane wants it, I'm going to use her fake last name and put her in the program by hacking into their system."
"You can do that?"
"Most likely. I can make it look like she's already been in our temporary custody for as long as I want."
"It might be our only choice."
"I know. Let's talk to her alone as soon as she gets home later."
Later at school, Sloane is late for fifth period study hall with Chase.
"Hey, Sloane," she hears behind her.
She turns, "Oh, hey Trent. I can't talk. I'm already late."
"So? I have to talk to you."
Sloane stops, "Fine. What is it?"
"Word on the street is you're dating Not Leo."
"What? You mean Chase?" Sloane asks annoyed.
"I guess. So you're going out with him now?"
"Yup. Is that all?"
"I have to say, I thought you were cooler than that."
"Chase is cool. Not that you would know, you don't even bother to learn his name," Sloane snaps and turns to go to class, but changes her mind and spins back around to face Trent. "In fact, he's cooler than you. There's nothing funny about being mean to people like Chase and Leo. Now, if you don't mind, I'm late for class," she starts walking away.
Trent grabs her shoulder, "Whoa, no one calls some nerd cooler than Trent."
Sloane backs up, "Just did. Go to class, Trent. Skipping class isn't cool either."
As Sloane walks to study hall, she can't help feeling happy with herself for standing up for Chase and everyone else that Trent torments. When she found out from Chase that he actually bullied people, especially him and Leo, it made her mad. That's not okay.
Sloane sneaks in without the supervisor noticing. This study hall is in the cafeteria like her 8th period one with Bree. She sits next to Chase. "Did she do attendance yet?"
"Nope," he answers. "Why are you late?"
"I ran into Trent in the hallway," Sloane widens her eyes and makes an annoyed face.
"What happened?" Chase asks.
Sloane tells him and he smiles as soon as she says the part about him being cool.
"Aw, Sloane," he gives her a sideways hug with one arm. "You lied for me."
Sloane laughs.
"I'm kidding. You actually think I'm cool, right?"
"Yes, I think you're cool."
"Not gonna lie. That's a first," they both laugh.
After school, Tasha and Mr. Davenport are waiting in the living room for Sloane. When they get home, they ask to talk with her.
"Sure," Sloane says, but she's a little nervous.
They take Sloane into another room and sit her down. "So, Sloane," Mr. Davenport glances at Tasha, "As you know, we went to the adoption center today."
Sloane nods.
"If you want us to, Tasha and I would love to have guardianship of you."
Sloane doesn't say anything for a second, "What is guardianship exactly?"
Tasha says, "It's not the same as adoption. We pay for your expenses, you live with us, but it doesn't make us your actual foster family. This way your relationships with Adam, Bree, Chase and Leo won't be affected. But we still care about you just as much as if you are part of the family."
Sloane nods her head again.
"If we do this, we're going to have to break the rules a little," Davenport tells her.
"Break the rules how?" she asks.
"I can make it look like you're not Sloane Jensen, but actually Sloane Mccarty. I can hack into their program and make up a whole different story for you. That way, according to their records, Sloane Jensen is still missing, and Sloane Mccarty is under our custody."
"If we do this, it's going to be like I'm completely different person, right? My whole life before now will be erased. It won't belong to me anymore."
"That's right," Davenport says sympathetically, thinking this would upset her.
"Sounds good to me," she says. "I'd love for you guys to be my guardians."
"Are you positive? We don't want you to say that if you don't mean it," Tasha says.
"Oh, I mean it. You people are some of the best I've ever met. Your whole family. I couldn't have asked for a better family to be looking out for me."
"That means a lot, Sloane," Davenport says. "I'll hack into their system tonight, if that's what you want."
"It's what I want," she answers with a small smile. "More than anything."
Notes: So apparently quite a few of you didn't like Chapter 10 so much? It wasn't a filler; I needed Bree to get into a little more trouble. It's one of the affects Sloane has on the Davenports. Anyway, I know this chapter is a bit short too, but it's because I end a chapter where I think it needs to end. However, it just so happens the next chapter is longer like Chapter 9. :) I'll put that up in the next couple of days..as always, let me know what you think.