Well maybe this week won't be so bad after all, Sandy thought after Rachel
left his office. She had come in to tell him that they were finally able
to locate Dawn Atwood. For some unknown reason, she was now living in
Austin, Texas. It bothered Sandy to know that Dawn would just take off
like that without so much as a word to Ryan or to anyone. It's not like
she hadn't already abandoned him, twice, but to move that far away without
so much as a note, Sandy just couldn't figure out how a mother would do
that to a child. Rachel reminded him, however, that she really wasn't much
of a mother to begin with. Dawn was right when she told Kirsten that she
wasn't "wired" to be anyone's mother. At least, Sandy figured, the courts
would not look upon her leaving the state too nicely if Dawn tried to stop
the adoption.
He told Rachel that he would be the one to draft the letter to Dawn advising her what they wanted to do, and explaining the documents she needed to sign. Sandy also knew he had to be the one who sat down with Ryan, and explained to the boy that Dawn had once again left him. That talk he figured could wait until after Mrs. Dawson finished her investigation the following week. Ryan had enough on his mind, and Sandy was worried about how much more Ryan could take.
Sandy was also finally able to get in touch with his mother in New York. Occasionally, it did help to have a mother who had been a social worker for forty years. Sophie Cohen was able to tell Sandy what she felt the social worker would be looking for, what she wanted to hear, and what her decision would be based on. Sophie also told him that no one ever wanted to remove a child from a home, unless it was a truly unhappy, unhealthy environment, and that was very obviously not the case in their home. It also helped that no one pressed any criminal charges against Ryan, Sophie told him. Ryan was still a good kid, who had some problems, and as long as Sandy and Kirsten recognized those problems and were getting Ryan some help, then they should be ok. She also agreed that adopting Ryan was the smartest move they could make. Not only would it make Ryan a permanent member of their family, but it would help prove to Ryan that he had a real family, one who would never give up on him, never abandon him.
Sandy was almost looking forward to meeting with Mrs. Dawson the following week. It was about time to put this all behind them and move on. Sandy had just hung up the phone with Kirsten after telling her everything he had learned from both his mother and Rachel when his secretary buzzed him to tell him that there was a Mrs. Dawson waiting for him on the other line.
"Hello, Sandy Cohen," he said when he answered the phone. He figured she was calling to set up the day and time to meet with them.
"Mr. Cohen, this is Heidi Dawson, from Child Services." He heard her say. "I'm in the area this afternoon, and would like to stop by your office to discuss your case. I could be there within the next half hour. Is that acceptable to you?"
Sandy was surprised. Madeline said that Mrs. Dawson would not be coming until the following week. Obviously, Madeline was wrong, again. Sandy told Mrs. Dawson that it would be fine for her to come by his office, and after verifying that she knew where he was located, hung up the phone and called Kirsten again.
Now he was no longer looking forward to meeting with Mrs. Dawson. Not now that she was actually coming. He found this surprise visit to be very unsettling. He promised Kirsten that he would call her as soon as he could. He then had his secretary clear his schedule for the rest of the afternoon, and informed Rachel about the upcoming meeting. He debated calling the boys over at school, but decided against it. For one, they were both in class, and he knew the teachers wouldn't appreciate cell phones ringing, and second, he was worried that if Ryan knew, he might do something stupid, like run. After that, all he could do was wait.
It was shortly after 2 o'clock when his secretary again buzzed Sandy's office. This time to tell him that Mrs. Dawson was there. Sandy realized his palms were sweating when his secretary showed Mrs. Dawson into his office, and he had to wipe them off on his pants before extending his hand to Mrs. Dawson.
"It's very nice to finally meet you," Mrs. Dawson said, with a smile.
"Yes. It's nice to meet you, too." Sandy lied. He nervously pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk for Mrs. Dawson to sit in before sitting back down in his chair. He sifted around in his chair for a few minutes, trying to find a comfortable position to start the inquisition.
"I can see you're surprised by my visit." Mrs. Dawson said, again with a smile, "You don't have a problem with my stopping by, I hope. You see, my afternoon opened up, and I was in the area so I decided to work on your case again. Is that ok?"
Sandy tried to return Mrs. Dawson's smile. Somehow he knew she was lying. This was the surprise visit he always heard about. She was trying to catch them off guard, to see what they were really like.
"No, of course I don't have a problem with your visit, Mrs. Dawson. It's so nice that you can fit us into your schedule. My wife and I were just talking about how anxious we were to meet with you and put this whole matter behind us." Sandy said. Lawyers usually made very good liars, and Sandy was no exception.
"Well, then why don't we get started." Mrs. Dawson said, as she took out a pad and a pen from her briefcase. She looked around the office. Her eyes quickly settled on a number of photos on the desk.
"Nice pictures." She commented.
"Thank you." Sandy said as he picked up the first photo. "This one was our holiday picture, for our holiday cards. It came out so nice that Kirsten made copies. One for my office, one for hers and one for home."
"These two," he continued, "are the boys' school photos. In case you didn't know, this one is Seth and this one is Ryan."
"This other one was taken at one of Ryan's soccer games. Again, since it was such a good picture, Kirsten had copies made." Sandy finished explaining. He thought it a little odd that Mrs. Dawson would start by making small talk about the photos on his desk. He also couldn't figure out why he felt the need to ramble on about them.
"So, Ryan played soccer?" Mrs. Dawson asked, noting that there were no sports photos of Seth on the desk. "Was he any good?"
"Yes. He was very good." Sandy said, proudly. "It was a really great to watch him play. We're hoping he'll try out for the baseball team in a few weeks as well."
"So, you went to his games?" Mrs. Dawson asked. When Sandy just nodded, Mrs. Dawson continued,
"All of them, some of them, how many would you say you went to, and when did you start going to them? From the beginning of the season, or when?"
Sandy smiled. He actually knew what Mrs. Dawson was trying to get to. She would have in her file from Harbor that Ryan was suspended for the first two games by the coach for illegally hitting Luke during one of the practices in the very beginning of the season.
"Well," he explained to Mrs. Dawson, "we went to all of the home games, including the two that Ryan was benched for, as well as many of his away games. Like I said, we enjoyed watching him play, be a part of the team."
"So, what happened that Ryan was benched? What did he do, and what did you do?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"As your file would indicate," Sandy said, "Ryan's coach felt Ryan was a little too aggressive towards one of his team mates during practice, and benched Ryan for the first two games. As for what I did, when his coach called and told me what happened, I talked to Ryan. Well, I lectured Ryan. He apologized to the boy, and that was the end of the matter. He and the boy, Luke, are now good friends."
Mrs. Dawson made some notes in her pad, and then continued,
"Does that happen often? Does Ryan get aggressive a lot?"
"No, not a lot." Sandy explained, "On occasion, he does have a temper, and he has been known to act a little impulsively sometimes, but on the whole, no, Ryan is not often aggressive."
"Well, how often did he and this boy, Luke fight?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
Sandy was very carefully trying to pick all the right words, so it took him a minute before he answered,
"Like I said, now they're friends. Good friends. By in the beginning, Luke and Ryan were both attracted to the same girl, so they argued. Luke was usually the aggressor, however. Not Ryan. The only time that I know of where Ryan started anything first was when Luke and some of his friends were beating up on Seth. Then Ryan jumped in, to protect Seth."
"Then and when he attacked Luke on the soccer field." Mrs. Dawson corrected.
"But what about this other kid, Oliver?" she continued, "It's my understanding that Oliver didn't start the fight with Ryan. Actually, I understand that Oliver didn't fight back at all. That Ryan attacked him. What do you know about that?"
"I know what the school told me, and I know what Ryan told me." Sandy told her. "Yes, the school said that Ryan attacked Oliver and that it took a couple of people to separate them, and it appeared to them to be unprovoked. But I also know what Ryan said. He knew that Oliver was troubled, and looking at the outcome of the whole situation, I'd say Ryan was correct. Ryan was wrong in trying to handle it all by himself, which I believe is what led to his attack on Oliver. He was frustrated by the whole situation, and when Oliver approached Ryan in the student center, it was to egg Ryan on, to instigate more trouble between the two of them. I'm sure you've also looked into this kid Oliver. You know about his past, his previous mental breakdowns, his obsessive-compulsive behavior. I'm sure you know, he was not the perfect kid."
Mrs. Dawson nodded, but told Sandy,
"But I'm not here to investigate Oliver. I'm here because of Ryan. I need to know what happened with Ryan, and if you and your wife are capable of handling a teenager with such obvious problems."
"Now," she continued, "prior to this attack, Ryan was caught breaking into the file room at the school. How did you and your wife handle that?"
Sandy let out a sigh. This was not easy, reliving this over and over for this woman to pick apart.
"When we got the call from Dr. Kim the day after the break in, Ryan had already left for school. He was in Dr. Kim's office when we got there. We met with her, and we all talked to Ryan. At the time, it seemed like his jealousy was getting the best of him, which is what led him into making a very unwise choice. Dr. Kim gave Ryan detention until the disciplinary committee met. And we talked to Ryan again that night, and we also grounded him."
"You talked to him? Is that it?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Well, it was more like we yelled and lectured him and then we grounded him." Sandy said.
"But that's it? No one hit him, did they?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"No, of course not. I would never hit either one of my boys." Sandy told her, appalled that she would even ask such a question.
"Your boys? Is that how you usually refer to them?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Yes." Sandy responded, unsure of where she was going with this, "Either the boys, the kids or my sons, why?"
"What I mean is do you usually refer to them together? Or do you distinguish the difference?" Mrs. Dawson explained.
"Difference? What difference?" Sandy asked.
"The difference between the two. Seth is your son...." Mrs. Dawson started to say.
"And so is Ryan." Sandy interrupted.
"Ryan is your foster son. You and Mrs. Cohen are his legal guardians." Mrs. Dawson went on to say. Sandy wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he knew he didn't like it.
"Technically, that may be true. On paper. But we stopped thinking of ourselves as Ryan's legal guardians months ago. He's as much a part of my family as any of us. And prior to your visit, my associate and I were working on the paperwork for Kirsten and I to adopt Ryan." Sandy said, reaching for Ryan's file to show her.
Sandy pulled out all of the paperwork and handed it to Mrs. Dawson as he explained,
"As you can see, Mr. Atwood has already signed away his parental rights to Ryan, and we were finally able to locate Mrs. Atwood. She is apparently now living in Austin, Texas. She took off without so much as a word to Ryan. So, Ryan has no one but us. We're his family."
Mrs. Dawson didn't immediately respond to this new bit of information that Sandy handed her. She was too busy making notes in her notepad. After she was done, she handed the papers back to Sandy and said,
"Adoption? Mr. Cohen, I find that to be a little presumptuous on your part. You're starting adoption proceedings before even knowing if you will be allowed continued custody of Ryan. May I ask why the sudden rush to adopt Ryan?"
Sandy was surprised to find Mrs. Dawson annoyed at the idea that they would want to adopt Ryan. Usually, social workers liked the idea of permanent placements and adoptions. It was their job to find good homes for kids like Ryan. She should, therefore, be happy, Sandy thought.
"Mrs. Dawson," he started, "I wouldn't exactly call it a sudden rush. Ryan needs a stable home, a loving home. We're able to provide that for him. We want to provide that for him. I know everything that happened with Oliver looks bad. But they were extraordinary circumstances. And we dealt with them. It wasn't easy, and we made mistakes. We all made mistakes, but we all learned from them. That's one reason we're all seeing Dr. Colefield. As you know from her report, Ryan usually goes one day and then Kirsten and I go the next day. I have a copy of her report right here, in case you need to see it."
Sandy reached into the file to find Dr. Colefield's report. He had already read it, so he knew Dr. Colefield agreed that Ryan was were he should be, where she felt he would get the most help. He, therefore, couldn't help but remind Mrs. Dawson of that fact.
"No, Mr. Cohen, I don't need to see a copy." Mrs. Dawson said, "I've read her report, and I know what her opinion is. I've also spoken to her on the telephone. I'm not questioning that. But it's my job to investigate what happened, and to see to it that nothing like it ever happens again. And to insure nothing like this happens again, I need to decide if Ryan is better off with you or in another foster home or maybe even a group home. What assurances can you give me that Ryan will not get into any more trouble if he is allowed to stay with you?"
Again, Sandy found himself carefully choosing his words.
"Well," he finally said, "I think now that Ryan knows he doesn't have to take on the whole world by himself, that he has a family to depend on, I believe he now knows that he can turn to us when he needs help. He is turning to us when he needs help. We also plan on continuing to see Dr. Colefield, for as long as we need in order to help Ryan over come some of the problems he's faced in his life. Given what Ryan has gone through so far in only sixteen years, I'm not surprised we've had some problems. You're asking Ryan to commit to a whole new life style. One that is definitely better for him, but still a whole new way of life. You can't expect him to suddenly be perfect. We can't suddenly expect him to be perfect, and we don't. We know Ryan has had some trouble adjusting to this all, and we're here to help him."
Mrs. Dawson nodded and made notes in her pad during Sandy's speech and then asked him,
"So, if you say you know he's not perfect, do you anticipate him getting into any more trouble?"
"Do I think he'll do anything illegal? No." Sandy told her, "but do I think he'll try to skip school, break his curfew, disobey us on occasion? Then, yes, I do. Not because he's a bad kid, but because he's a sixteen year old kid. Again, Mrs. Dawson, I don't expect him to be perfect, in much the same way I don't expect Seth to be perfect. Because they're teenage boys, and I would be lying if I said I didn't expect them to act like teenage boys. Hell, for once in Ryan's life, I'm hoping he's able to be just that – a normal sixteen year old kid."
"And how do you punish a normal sixteen year old kid, one who's disobeyed you as you said?" Mrs. Dawson asked him.
"Well, that depends on what he did. It doesn't matter if it's Seth or Ryan. Depending on what he did would depend on the punishment." Sandy said.
"Give me an example." Mrs. Dawson said, "Not counting the problems relevant to the Oliver matter."
"An example?" Sandy asked. He didn't really want to go into it with her, but felt he really didn't have much of a choice.
"Well, right now," he continued, "Ryan is grounded for the next two weeks. After finding out about your investigation, he got upset, and decided he didn't want to go to school, so he cut with some friends."
"And..." Mrs. Dawson said. She wanted to hear more.
"And," Sandy went on, "the school called me at my office, and I called Ryan home where I yelled at him and lectured him and I grounded him."
"And you still feel you have control over him, over his behavior?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Yes, I do. We do, Kirsten and I both." Sandy snapped. He didn't mean to snap at her, but he was beginning to find her line of questioning insulting. He quickly calmed himself down, telling himself that it wouldn't help Ryan for him to lose his temper.
"Mrs. Dawson," Sandy calmly began, "Trying to skip school is normal. As is getting caught. I don't approve of Ryan cutting school, which is why he's grounded, but I understand why he did it. Remember, the last time Child Services came into his life, he ran away. This time, he skipped school. Big difference in his reactions, wouldn't you say? This time, he came home, he was punished, and that's the end of it. Do I think he'll try to cut school again? He may. Will he be punished for it if he's caught? Yes. If that means we don't have control over him, then we don't have control over Seth, either. No parent ever has complete control over his child, especially a teenager. It's not possible."
Mrs. Dawson again made notes on her pad and then asked,
"Well, does he abide by the terms of his punishment? How does he react?"
Sandy actually smiled thinking about it.
"He abides. He's gone to school every day the rest of this week. He then comes straight home from school, and does his homework, and then makes dinner at night." Sandy told her.
"Makes dinner?" Mrs. Dawson asked, "Is that part of his punishment? To cook your family dinner?"
"No," Sandy told her, "He's not allowed to watch television or play video games or talk on the phone or hang out with his friends, so instead of sitting in his room at night, he makes dinner. If he didn't want to, we wouldn't force him. He seems to like to cook, and he's pretty good at it."
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Mrs. Dawson then asked, "I'd like to ask one more thing, Mr. Cohen. I'd like to ask you to describe Ryan."
Describe Ryan? Sandy thought. Isn't that what I've been doing?
"Well, he's a good kid," Sandy said, "who has had a real crummy life until now. He's got some problems. He's not perfect, but we're working with him. We're doing what we can to give him a good life with a real family. After years of abuse and neglect, he deserves that."
Ok, thank you, Mr. Cohen," Mrs. Dawson said, putting her pad and pen back into her briefcase. "Now, I'd like to know if it's possible to meet with Mrs. Cohen, Seth and Ryan this afternoon."
"I don't think that would be a problem," Sandy lied, "Kirsten is expecting my call after our meeting. I'm sure she would have no problem meeting you whereever you'd like. The boys get out of school at 3:00 o'clock. I know Ryan will be home, and I'm sure if I call Seth, he'll make sure he's home, too. Unless of course, he has a meeting with the literary magazine he belongs to, or a date with his girlfriend."
Mrs. Dawson again smiled. Sandy was beginning to think it was a fake smile. "There's no need to call Seth. If he's busy, I can meet with him at a later time. Why don't you ask Mrs. Cohen to meet us at your house? I can talk to everyone else there."
Sandy called Kirsten, and told her to meet them back at the house. Since Mrs. Dawson stood there and listened to the conversation, he couldn't tell her anything else. Kirsten promised to wrap up the meeting she had with the subcontractor and get home as quickly as possible. She also said she would try to call Seth and warn him about the visit, and to make sure Ryan was there. Great minds, Sandy thought as he and Mrs. Dawson headed out the office door.
We can get through this, Sandy kept saying to himself, over and over as he drove home, with Mrs. Dawson following close behind. It's almost over. We can get through this.
He told Rachel that he would be the one to draft the letter to Dawn advising her what they wanted to do, and explaining the documents she needed to sign. Sandy also knew he had to be the one who sat down with Ryan, and explained to the boy that Dawn had once again left him. That talk he figured could wait until after Mrs. Dawson finished her investigation the following week. Ryan had enough on his mind, and Sandy was worried about how much more Ryan could take.
Sandy was also finally able to get in touch with his mother in New York. Occasionally, it did help to have a mother who had been a social worker for forty years. Sophie Cohen was able to tell Sandy what she felt the social worker would be looking for, what she wanted to hear, and what her decision would be based on. Sophie also told him that no one ever wanted to remove a child from a home, unless it was a truly unhappy, unhealthy environment, and that was very obviously not the case in their home. It also helped that no one pressed any criminal charges against Ryan, Sophie told him. Ryan was still a good kid, who had some problems, and as long as Sandy and Kirsten recognized those problems and were getting Ryan some help, then they should be ok. She also agreed that adopting Ryan was the smartest move they could make. Not only would it make Ryan a permanent member of their family, but it would help prove to Ryan that he had a real family, one who would never give up on him, never abandon him.
Sandy was almost looking forward to meeting with Mrs. Dawson the following week. It was about time to put this all behind them and move on. Sandy had just hung up the phone with Kirsten after telling her everything he had learned from both his mother and Rachel when his secretary buzzed him to tell him that there was a Mrs. Dawson waiting for him on the other line.
"Hello, Sandy Cohen," he said when he answered the phone. He figured she was calling to set up the day and time to meet with them.
"Mr. Cohen, this is Heidi Dawson, from Child Services." He heard her say. "I'm in the area this afternoon, and would like to stop by your office to discuss your case. I could be there within the next half hour. Is that acceptable to you?"
Sandy was surprised. Madeline said that Mrs. Dawson would not be coming until the following week. Obviously, Madeline was wrong, again. Sandy told Mrs. Dawson that it would be fine for her to come by his office, and after verifying that she knew where he was located, hung up the phone and called Kirsten again.
Now he was no longer looking forward to meeting with Mrs. Dawson. Not now that she was actually coming. He found this surprise visit to be very unsettling. He promised Kirsten that he would call her as soon as he could. He then had his secretary clear his schedule for the rest of the afternoon, and informed Rachel about the upcoming meeting. He debated calling the boys over at school, but decided against it. For one, they were both in class, and he knew the teachers wouldn't appreciate cell phones ringing, and second, he was worried that if Ryan knew, he might do something stupid, like run. After that, all he could do was wait.
It was shortly after 2 o'clock when his secretary again buzzed Sandy's office. This time to tell him that Mrs. Dawson was there. Sandy realized his palms were sweating when his secretary showed Mrs. Dawson into his office, and he had to wipe them off on his pants before extending his hand to Mrs. Dawson.
"It's very nice to finally meet you," Mrs. Dawson said, with a smile.
"Yes. It's nice to meet you, too." Sandy lied. He nervously pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk for Mrs. Dawson to sit in before sitting back down in his chair. He sifted around in his chair for a few minutes, trying to find a comfortable position to start the inquisition.
"I can see you're surprised by my visit." Mrs. Dawson said, again with a smile, "You don't have a problem with my stopping by, I hope. You see, my afternoon opened up, and I was in the area so I decided to work on your case again. Is that ok?"
Sandy tried to return Mrs. Dawson's smile. Somehow he knew she was lying. This was the surprise visit he always heard about. She was trying to catch them off guard, to see what they were really like.
"No, of course I don't have a problem with your visit, Mrs. Dawson. It's so nice that you can fit us into your schedule. My wife and I were just talking about how anxious we were to meet with you and put this whole matter behind us." Sandy said. Lawyers usually made very good liars, and Sandy was no exception.
"Well, then why don't we get started." Mrs. Dawson said, as she took out a pad and a pen from her briefcase. She looked around the office. Her eyes quickly settled on a number of photos on the desk.
"Nice pictures." She commented.
"Thank you." Sandy said as he picked up the first photo. "This one was our holiday picture, for our holiday cards. It came out so nice that Kirsten made copies. One for my office, one for hers and one for home."
"These two," he continued, "are the boys' school photos. In case you didn't know, this one is Seth and this one is Ryan."
"This other one was taken at one of Ryan's soccer games. Again, since it was such a good picture, Kirsten had copies made." Sandy finished explaining. He thought it a little odd that Mrs. Dawson would start by making small talk about the photos on his desk. He also couldn't figure out why he felt the need to ramble on about them.
"So, Ryan played soccer?" Mrs. Dawson asked, noting that there were no sports photos of Seth on the desk. "Was he any good?"
"Yes. He was very good." Sandy said, proudly. "It was a really great to watch him play. We're hoping he'll try out for the baseball team in a few weeks as well."
"So, you went to his games?" Mrs. Dawson asked. When Sandy just nodded, Mrs. Dawson continued,
"All of them, some of them, how many would you say you went to, and when did you start going to them? From the beginning of the season, or when?"
Sandy smiled. He actually knew what Mrs. Dawson was trying to get to. She would have in her file from Harbor that Ryan was suspended for the first two games by the coach for illegally hitting Luke during one of the practices in the very beginning of the season.
"Well," he explained to Mrs. Dawson, "we went to all of the home games, including the two that Ryan was benched for, as well as many of his away games. Like I said, we enjoyed watching him play, be a part of the team."
"So, what happened that Ryan was benched? What did he do, and what did you do?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"As your file would indicate," Sandy said, "Ryan's coach felt Ryan was a little too aggressive towards one of his team mates during practice, and benched Ryan for the first two games. As for what I did, when his coach called and told me what happened, I talked to Ryan. Well, I lectured Ryan. He apologized to the boy, and that was the end of the matter. He and the boy, Luke, are now good friends."
Mrs. Dawson made some notes in her pad, and then continued,
"Does that happen often? Does Ryan get aggressive a lot?"
"No, not a lot." Sandy explained, "On occasion, he does have a temper, and he has been known to act a little impulsively sometimes, but on the whole, no, Ryan is not often aggressive."
"Well, how often did he and this boy, Luke fight?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
Sandy was very carefully trying to pick all the right words, so it took him a minute before he answered,
"Like I said, now they're friends. Good friends. By in the beginning, Luke and Ryan were both attracted to the same girl, so they argued. Luke was usually the aggressor, however. Not Ryan. The only time that I know of where Ryan started anything first was when Luke and some of his friends were beating up on Seth. Then Ryan jumped in, to protect Seth."
"Then and when he attacked Luke on the soccer field." Mrs. Dawson corrected.
"But what about this other kid, Oliver?" she continued, "It's my understanding that Oliver didn't start the fight with Ryan. Actually, I understand that Oliver didn't fight back at all. That Ryan attacked him. What do you know about that?"
"I know what the school told me, and I know what Ryan told me." Sandy told her. "Yes, the school said that Ryan attacked Oliver and that it took a couple of people to separate them, and it appeared to them to be unprovoked. But I also know what Ryan said. He knew that Oliver was troubled, and looking at the outcome of the whole situation, I'd say Ryan was correct. Ryan was wrong in trying to handle it all by himself, which I believe is what led to his attack on Oliver. He was frustrated by the whole situation, and when Oliver approached Ryan in the student center, it was to egg Ryan on, to instigate more trouble between the two of them. I'm sure you've also looked into this kid Oliver. You know about his past, his previous mental breakdowns, his obsessive-compulsive behavior. I'm sure you know, he was not the perfect kid."
Mrs. Dawson nodded, but told Sandy,
"But I'm not here to investigate Oliver. I'm here because of Ryan. I need to know what happened with Ryan, and if you and your wife are capable of handling a teenager with such obvious problems."
"Now," she continued, "prior to this attack, Ryan was caught breaking into the file room at the school. How did you and your wife handle that?"
Sandy let out a sigh. This was not easy, reliving this over and over for this woman to pick apart.
"When we got the call from Dr. Kim the day after the break in, Ryan had already left for school. He was in Dr. Kim's office when we got there. We met with her, and we all talked to Ryan. At the time, it seemed like his jealousy was getting the best of him, which is what led him into making a very unwise choice. Dr. Kim gave Ryan detention until the disciplinary committee met. And we talked to Ryan again that night, and we also grounded him."
"You talked to him? Is that it?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Well, it was more like we yelled and lectured him and then we grounded him." Sandy said.
"But that's it? No one hit him, did they?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"No, of course not. I would never hit either one of my boys." Sandy told her, appalled that she would even ask such a question.
"Your boys? Is that how you usually refer to them?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Yes." Sandy responded, unsure of where she was going with this, "Either the boys, the kids or my sons, why?"
"What I mean is do you usually refer to them together? Or do you distinguish the difference?" Mrs. Dawson explained.
"Difference? What difference?" Sandy asked.
"The difference between the two. Seth is your son...." Mrs. Dawson started to say.
"And so is Ryan." Sandy interrupted.
"Ryan is your foster son. You and Mrs. Cohen are his legal guardians." Mrs. Dawson went on to say. Sandy wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he knew he didn't like it.
"Technically, that may be true. On paper. But we stopped thinking of ourselves as Ryan's legal guardians months ago. He's as much a part of my family as any of us. And prior to your visit, my associate and I were working on the paperwork for Kirsten and I to adopt Ryan." Sandy said, reaching for Ryan's file to show her.
Sandy pulled out all of the paperwork and handed it to Mrs. Dawson as he explained,
"As you can see, Mr. Atwood has already signed away his parental rights to Ryan, and we were finally able to locate Mrs. Atwood. She is apparently now living in Austin, Texas. She took off without so much as a word to Ryan. So, Ryan has no one but us. We're his family."
Mrs. Dawson didn't immediately respond to this new bit of information that Sandy handed her. She was too busy making notes in her notepad. After she was done, she handed the papers back to Sandy and said,
"Adoption? Mr. Cohen, I find that to be a little presumptuous on your part. You're starting adoption proceedings before even knowing if you will be allowed continued custody of Ryan. May I ask why the sudden rush to adopt Ryan?"
Sandy was surprised to find Mrs. Dawson annoyed at the idea that they would want to adopt Ryan. Usually, social workers liked the idea of permanent placements and adoptions. It was their job to find good homes for kids like Ryan. She should, therefore, be happy, Sandy thought.
"Mrs. Dawson," he started, "I wouldn't exactly call it a sudden rush. Ryan needs a stable home, a loving home. We're able to provide that for him. We want to provide that for him. I know everything that happened with Oliver looks bad. But they were extraordinary circumstances. And we dealt with them. It wasn't easy, and we made mistakes. We all made mistakes, but we all learned from them. That's one reason we're all seeing Dr. Colefield. As you know from her report, Ryan usually goes one day and then Kirsten and I go the next day. I have a copy of her report right here, in case you need to see it."
Sandy reached into the file to find Dr. Colefield's report. He had already read it, so he knew Dr. Colefield agreed that Ryan was were he should be, where she felt he would get the most help. He, therefore, couldn't help but remind Mrs. Dawson of that fact.
"No, Mr. Cohen, I don't need to see a copy." Mrs. Dawson said, "I've read her report, and I know what her opinion is. I've also spoken to her on the telephone. I'm not questioning that. But it's my job to investigate what happened, and to see to it that nothing like it ever happens again. And to insure nothing like this happens again, I need to decide if Ryan is better off with you or in another foster home or maybe even a group home. What assurances can you give me that Ryan will not get into any more trouble if he is allowed to stay with you?"
Again, Sandy found himself carefully choosing his words.
"Well," he finally said, "I think now that Ryan knows he doesn't have to take on the whole world by himself, that he has a family to depend on, I believe he now knows that he can turn to us when he needs help. He is turning to us when he needs help. We also plan on continuing to see Dr. Colefield, for as long as we need in order to help Ryan over come some of the problems he's faced in his life. Given what Ryan has gone through so far in only sixteen years, I'm not surprised we've had some problems. You're asking Ryan to commit to a whole new life style. One that is definitely better for him, but still a whole new way of life. You can't expect him to suddenly be perfect. We can't suddenly expect him to be perfect, and we don't. We know Ryan has had some trouble adjusting to this all, and we're here to help him."
Mrs. Dawson nodded and made notes in her pad during Sandy's speech and then asked him,
"So, if you say you know he's not perfect, do you anticipate him getting into any more trouble?"
"Do I think he'll do anything illegal? No." Sandy told her, "but do I think he'll try to skip school, break his curfew, disobey us on occasion? Then, yes, I do. Not because he's a bad kid, but because he's a sixteen year old kid. Again, Mrs. Dawson, I don't expect him to be perfect, in much the same way I don't expect Seth to be perfect. Because they're teenage boys, and I would be lying if I said I didn't expect them to act like teenage boys. Hell, for once in Ryan's life, I'm hoping he's able to be just that – a normal sixteen year old kid."
"And how do you punish a normal sixteen year old kid, one who's disobeyed you as you said?" Mrs. Dawson asked him.
"Well, that depends on what he did. It doesn't matter if it's Seth or Ryan. Depending on what he did would depend on the punishment." Sandy said.
"Give me an example." Mrs. Dawson said, "Not counting the problems relevant to the Oliver matter."
"An example?" Sandy asked. He didn't really want to go into it with her, but felt he really didn't have much of a choice.
"Well, right now," he continued, "Ryan is grounded for the next two weeks. After finding out about your investigation, he got upset, and decided he didn't want to go to school, so he cut with some friends."
"And..." Mrs. Dawson said. She wanted to hear more.
"And," Sandy went on, "the school called me at my office, and I called Ryan home where I yelled at him and lectured him and I grounded him."
"And you still feel you have control over him, over his behavior?" Mrs. Dawson asked.
"Yes, I do. We do, Kirsten and I both." Sandy snapped. He didn't mean to snap at her, but he was beginning to find her line of questioning insulting. He quickly calmed himself down, telling himself that it wouldn't help Ryan for him to lose his temper.
"Mrs. Dawson," Sandy calmly began, "Trying to skip school is normal. As is getting caught. I don't approve of Ryan cutting school, which is why he's grounded, but I understand why he did it. Remember, the last time Child Services came into his life, he ran away. This time, he skipped school. Big difference in his reactions, wouldn't you say? This time, he came home, he was punished, and that's the end of it. Do I think he'll try to cut school again? He may. Will he be punished for it if he's caught? Yes. If that means we don't have control over him, then we don't have control over Seth, either. No parent ever has complete control over his child, especially a teenager. It's not possible."
Mrs. Dawson again made notes on her pad and then asked,
"Well, does he abide by the terms of his punishment? How does he react?"
Sandy actually smiled thinking about it.
"He abides. He's gone to school every day the rest of this week. He then comes straight home from school, and does his homework, and then makes dinner at night." Sandy told her.
"Makes dinner?" Mrs. Dawson asked, "Is that part of his punishment? To cook your family dinner?"
"No," Sandy told her, "He's not allowed to watch television or play video games or talk on the phone or hang out with his friends, so instead of sitting in his room at night, he makes dinner. If he didn't want to, we wouldn't force him. He seems to like to cook, and he's pretty good at it."
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Mrs. Dawson then asked, "I'd like to ask one more thing, Mr. Cohen. I'd like to ask you to describe Ryan."
Describe Ryan? Sandy thought. Isn't that what I've been doing?
"Well, he's a good kid," Sandy said, "who has had a real crummy life until now. He's got some problems. He's not perfect, but we're working with him. We're doing what we can to give him a good life with a real family. After years of abuse and neglect, he deserves that."
Ok, thank you, Mr. Cohen," Mrs. Dawson said, putting her pad and pen back into her briefcase. "Now, I'd like to know if it's possible to meet with Mrs. Cohen, Seth and Ryan this afternoon."
"I don't think that would be a problem," Sandy lied, "Kirsten is expecting my call after our meeting. I'm sure she would have no problem meeting you whereever you'd like. The boys get out of school at 3:00 o'clock. I know Ryan will be home, and I'm sure if I call Seth, he'll make sure he's home, too. Unless of course, he has a meeting with the literary magazine he belongs to, or a date with his girlfriend."
Mrs. Dawson again smiled. Sandy was beginning to think it was a fake smile. "There's no need to call Seth. If he's busy, I can meet with him at a later time. Why don't you ask Mrs. Cohen to meet us at your house? I can talk to everyone else there."
Sandy called Kirsten, and told her to meet them back at the house. Since Mrs. Dawson stood there and listened to the conversation, he couldn't tell her anything else. Kirsten promised to wrap up the meeting she had with the subcontractor and get home as quickly as possible. She also said she would try to call Seth and warn him about the visit, and to make sure Ryan was there. Great minds, Sandy thought as he and Mrs. Dawson headed out the office door.
We can get through this, Sandy kept saying to himself, over and over as he drove home, with Mrs. Dawson following close behind. It's almost over. We can get through this.