Author's Note: I'm almost done with it! Thanks for you patience, I've been trying really hard to find time to write. Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing to tell me how I'm doing, it really helps!

Chapter 13: Adam

Eric and Jack wasted no time in going straight from the airport to the hotel where Cory and Shawn were staying. Jack encountered a break through on the flight, using his lab top; he had located the orphanage where a four year old Adam, a native to Pittsburgh, had recently been moved to. He had found it on the new additions part of the sight, which also claimed that Adam was being considered for adoption by a prominent New York lawyer, Stewart Minkus. The orphanage was actually not far from the hotel, according to the map on the website. If they were to get there by nine, there was a chance that they could see Adam before the adoption process was complete.

Jack called the hotel room immediately after landing, and Eric reminisced about a young boy he had been close to adopting when he was in high school. He remembered how adamantly his parents had wanted him to go to a stable home, where a young mother and father could care for him. It broke Eric's heart to let the little boy go, but he knew he had no other option.

The terminal was easy to get through, and in no time a taxi had let them out in front of the orphanage. Not ten minutes later Cory and Shawn jogged up, clearly on Jack's directions on how to get to the orphanage.

"Let's do this," Corey said, and marched up the steps and into the neat lobby. The entire front wall, by the entrance, were windows full of fingerprints from the countless of orphans that visited prospective parents in the lobby.

There was only one woman at the front desk, smacking hot pink gum and painting her nails in the same color. She raised her eyes to meet Cory's. "What?"

"I'd like to see a little boy named Adam. He's about four…" Cory said.

"I know who Adam is," interrupted the secretary, in a drawling Brooklyn accent. She pushed a button behind the desk. "This guy wants to see Adam,"

Instantly a neat little man came out from the back room. "Mr. Minkus!" he beamed with an I-want-to-suck-up-to-you smile. "You're early; we weren't expecting you for another hour!"

Cory shot a glance at Shawn, who shrugged. "Well, Minkus, it looks like you're early,"

The man ushered Cory to a back room, which was very elegant, and probably the man's personal lounge. On a gold-rimmed coffee table sat a complicated looking toy with beads and lots of loops to push the beads around. It reminded Cory of one of his favorite toys as a child.

"Adam isn't ready yet, but he'll be in shortly." the man promised and bustled away through a side door. The room was very quiet, so quiet that Cory could hear the slow ticking of the clock on the wall across the room. It read nine o'clock exactly.

Cory felt a sudden wave of exhaustion, and dozed off on the couch until he heard the door open fifteen minutes later. A small boy, the one from the dreadful photograph that Minkus had shown him the day before had entered the room. He seemed sort of skittish, and afraid of every sudden move Cory made.

"Hi I'm Cory." Cory said, with a friendly smile.

"You're not the man from before," Adam pouted, sitting down beside Cory on the couch.

"You're very intelligent, just like your mother." Cory laughed.

"I don't have a mother." the boy insisted, and began playing with the toy on the table. He didn't seem all the upset about it.

"Sure you do. She's coming to see you today with the man from before." Cory told him, but the thought of Minkus made his stomach turn. Of course, the fact that he was supposed to be Minkus made him even sicker. Then Cory reached for a heart bead and moved it through the largest loop. Adam turned and stared at him, as if the idea of an adult playing with a toy was a new concept for him.

"Do you like cars?" Adam asked, hurrying across the room to pick up a fire engine. Cory hadn't even noticed the big crate of toys in the corner, but clearly Adam knew the location very well. Cory wondered on how many different occasions Adam had been brought to this room.

"I love cars," Cory admitted, watching Adam roll the fire engine back and forth across the table.

"You like police cars?" Adam inquired, pointing towards an abandoned cop car by the crate. Cory nodded enthustically, and soon became engrossed in the childhood game of rolling cars randomly around the room.

"I want to adopt Adam," Shawn said, after an unsuccessful beating around the bush tactic with the lady at the desk.

The secretary looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm sorry, you can't. Mr. Minkus is already going through the adoption process and has placed a large amount of money in our care to see that Adam is adopted to no other person."

Shawn cursed Minkus silently, as he stood at the desk. It was nearly ten, and the real Minkus was not far away. He wanted to desperately to see Topanga's little boy, as did Jack and Eric but that didn't seem possible.

"Does Adam have any friends that we should know about, that we can talk to?" Shawn demanded. He knew it was a long shot, the boy was only four, and had been in the orphanage's care for about three weeks.

"Actually he does get along with this other little boy, Daniel. They do everything together, arts and crafts, nap time…" the secretary said, not looking at Shawn but typing on the computer.

"Can we see him?" Shawn questioned, his impatience getting the better of him.

"Yeah sure," the secretary said and pushed another button behind the desk. The same little neat man appeared, thought slightly disappointed that it was just Shawn and not a big spender like Minkus.

"Please follow me," he said, and walked quickly through the door that Cory went through. This time, Shawn did not have to go alone; Jack and Eric were permitted to come along. They passed the lounge where Cory and Adam played, and then went to a smaller room with only a few folding chairs and a little table set. Toys littered the floor, from dolls with missing appendages to matchbox cars without wheels. Clearly this room was for the less fortunate orphans. Within minutes, a disgruntled four year old was pushed through the back door.

He appeared alarmed that he was trapped in a room with strangers, showing that he had not gone through this process before, unlike his friend.

"So, are you and Adam friends?" Eric asked, after a few minutes of silence. Daniel looked up, and nodded.

"We're bestest friends," he said, vehemently. Then his eyes watered and he looked down. "The lady said Adam is going away, for good."

"Oh, that's not true," Jack said, and then got a why-did-you-say-that look from Shawn.

"It's not?" the boy looked hopeful, and almost smiled.

"No, you might be going away too, to a place where you can have your own room and see Adam as much as you want," Jack continued. Shawn pulled on his brother's sleeve.

"You can't be saying that we're going to adopt this kid, we don't even know him. He doesn't know us, it would be awkward." Shawn hissed in Jack's ear.

"And you can't be suggesting that we'd leave him here, in an orphanage without his best friend." Jack responded and turned back to the boy with a smile. Eric settled himself on the floor and began playing with a toy. Daniel became entranced and sat across from Eric, while they rolled a giant nerf ball back and forth, Jack and Shawn argued about adoption.

In the end, Jack won, and went triumphantly back to the desk to begin the paperwork.

Topanga's cab arrived about thirty minutes after they left the apartment, after a tedious trip through downtown Manhattan traffic. She had dozed off in the beginning, but the loud honking in the intersections had woken her up. Now she had to prepare to meet her son, and she looked like a wreck.

Stewart Minkus appeared very business like with his hair slicked back and his suit wrinkle free. He strolled into the orphanage like he owned the place, which Topanga guessed that he probably did.

"I'm here to see a little boy named Adam. I believe I had an appointment." Minkus told the secretary at the desk.

"Very funny sir. Mr. Minkus, who did in fact have the appointment, arrived about an hour ago, and is already in a meeting with Adam," the secretary told him, after popping her gum a few times in annoyance.

Topanga was startled when she heard this, and then she remembered her phone call with Eric. He might have found the orphanage and arrived from the airport around nine o'clock. He would have been mistaken for Minkus because no one really knew what Minkus looked like. Thinking fast, Topanga stepped up behind a furious Minkus and said, "Oh, Mr. Minkus is a friend of ours. He's family."

The secretary rolled her eyes and pushed a button. The neat man appeared and took them back. When the door to the lounge swung open Topanga was shocked to see Cory, not Eric, back in the room playing with a little boy. The door shut behind them, practically locking the three of them in the room together.

"MATTHEWS!" bellowed Minkus, who marched over to Cory's side, face red in anger. Adam looked up, and was frightened. He whimpered and hid behind Cory. Their game of cars had ended when Topanga and Minkus arrived.

Cory leaped up and pulled Minkus aside. "I don't care how pissed off you are Minkus. Don't make a scene in front of the kid! For Christ's sake it's not big deal. I wanted to see my wife's kid, I found the orphanage and they let me see him." spat Cory.

Topanga kneeled close to her son. "Don't worry about him," Topanga said, pointing to Minkus, "He's just a little grumpy."

Adam broke into a smile. "Do you want to play cars?"

"Of course," Topanga replied, still in shock that the adorable little boy in front of her was the baby she had given up four years ago. She reached for the police car but the boy took it away.

"That's Cory's car. You can have this one," Adam said and gave her a convertible. While they played, and got to know each other, Minkus and Cory were close to a fight.

"How dare you impersonate me and try to steal my son! Topanga and I are on the verge of starting a family here, something you wouldn't understand." Minkus snarled.

"You think I don't understand family? Topanga's my wife and we've been happily married for two years. Just because she had a love child with you doesn't mean that she's now madly in love with you. Family isn't about blood, Minkus, which I suppose you wouldn't understand. Family is about love, and even though I have only talked to Adam an hour, I know that I love him, and he at least likes me. Then you, his dad, waltzes in, scares the crap out of him, and then is expecting to turn around and have him worship you. After all, what four year old wouldn't love a cold hearted money-loving lawyer who tried to break up a happy family just because he was bullied years ago?" Cory said.

Minkus stared him, at a loss for words. "Well," he said after awhile, "it doesn't matter how much you love him, in a few hours the adoption process will be complete."

"Not if I have a say in it." Cory threatened.

"Oh, I'm sure the orphanage would love to turn a child over to a couple of students at Penbrook, who don't hold steady jobs and who still live in a small apartment. I, however, hold a very high income job, and own a flat in a very upscale neighborhood. With me Adam could receive the best education available, not some public school nightmare that he would go through with you." Minkus answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go have a word with the supervisor. He can't just let any slug in here thinking he's a Minkus,"

Cory blew him off and walked over to Topanga and Adam. He sat down next to her, and watched them play for a few minutes.

"I'm glad you came Cory," she said softly, after Adam ran off to find a new car to play with. Topanga turned to her husband with tears in her eyes.

"I'm glad I came too," Cory said, smiling grimly. He wanted so badly to hold her, but he couldn't, not until she was ready.

"I don't want Adam going with Minkus, I can't leave them alone together. Stewart was right, now that I've met him, I never want to let him go." Topanga said, tears falling down her cheeks. She prayed that she wouldn't have to leave Cory so that she could stay with her child. She prayed that the adoption wouldn't go through. Unconsciously she leaned on Cory's shoulder, knowing that it might be the last moment they had together as husband and wife.

Cory slipped his arm around her. "Minkus won't get Adam, I have a plan to make sure of that." he assured her.

"Cory? I promise I'll never keep something like this from you ever again," Topanga whispered into Cory's shoulder. She hoped that Cory's plan would work, because spending the rest of her life with Minkus was not what she wanted to do.