Shadu: ::stretches:: I love writing, but I love it better when people review! I'll ask you again later in this chapter, but please review.
"Honey, I've been thinking," Mary said to her husband that night before they went to bed, "Mai's always alone, you know. She's always complaining that she never has anyone. So, why don't we adopt someone from here."
"Who do you have in mind?" Mike asked.
"Well, I was thinking that little Seto kid," Mary looked at Mike.
"What, that kid that sits in that corner all the time?" Mike stared at her in disbelief when Mary nodded. "You can't be serious."
"I am Mike, I am," Mary told him. "He's depressed, and scared. And we may not be able to do anything but get him out of here, but isn't that worth anything?"
"I suppose so," Mike grumbled. "But how are we going to tell Mai?"
"Tell her we adopted a kid and he's now her brother," Mary shrugged. "She's smart, I think she'll understand."
"What if she's jealous?" Mike wondered.
"You take Seto and I'll take Mai, that way they both get a parent," Mary stated bluntly.
"I still say no," Mike shook his head. "He's one more mouth to feed."
"He'd be one less here, and they don't have much to spare here whereas we have a bunch to spare," Mary countered.
"Why him?" Mike asked unexpectedly.
"He's the only one that truly needs help," Mary pointed out.
Mike groaned. His wife had such a big heart. He swore up and down that it would one day get her into trouble. She only wanted to help, and he couldn't dispute that. He was too soft with her, and he knew it. He sighed in defeat knowing he couldn't stop Mary once she got something in her mind.
"Alright, we'll adopt the kid before we leave tomorrow," Mike told her.
"Thank you," Mary cried as she hugged Mike.
Mike laid down with a groan and went to sleep, almost dreading waking up the next morning.
The sunlight filtered through the window much too early for Mike's liking. Mary, however, was very excited because she knew that today she was going to help someone. Today, they would take home Seto. The two of them got up and washed up. Mary helped make breakfast and it was during this time that Mary asked the question.
"Hey Alisa, I was wondering something last night," Mary said as they ate.
"Yeah?" Alisa looked up.
"Can kids from this place be adopted?" Mary asked.
"Sure, always, though it's rare," Alisa shrugged. "Why?"
"Well, I was thinking I wanted to adopt one of these kids," Mary stated.
"Oh really, which one?" Alisa asked, her eyebrows raising.
"I'd like to adopt Seto," Mary annouced.
When Alisa heard this, she nearly choked on the food in her mouth. She painfully swallowed the food and looked at Mary.
"What?" she asked after she had gotten over the choking.
"I want to adopt Seto," Mary restated.
"That's what I thought you said," Alisa nodded.
"Is there a problem?" Mike piped up.
"No, no, nothing like that, it's just that no one has ever even looked at Seto, much less want to adopt him," Alisa explained. "If you want to take him home, I will not stop you. You will have to fill out some papers though.
"We can get right on it after breakfast," Mary said happily.
When breakfast ended, Mary went right to work on the papers. Mike entertained the kids. Mary had just finished the papers when the promised supply truck pulled up just outside the orphanage. Mary stood and went over to Seto. She bent down and watched as he tensed up.
"Here there," Mary said to him softly. "I have a question. How would you like to have a home?"
She noticed that Seto's grip tightened and a small tear found its roots in his eye. Mary wasn't going to lose her patience though.
"Would you like to come with me?" she tried again.
This time she got a little response. Seto turned his head towards her a little. Mary would take that as a yes. Mary smiled and rose to her feet, extending her hand to him. Seto didn't even look at the hand, but simply kept his head down. Mary realized that he wouldn't get up on his own. Bending down, Mary scooped up the thin boy, who was incredibly light for his age. Seto tensed. Every muscle in his entire body stiffened. Mary started to speak to him softly, trying to relax him, but it didn't work. Seto remained tense until they set him in the car.
"Alisa said that there's enough in the tank to get us to town and to a gas station," Mike told Mary as he got in the car beside her.
Mary nodded. She couldn't wait to get home. She couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed, or see her little girl. She couldn't wait to introduce Seto to his new home. She just couldn't wait.
Shadu: I'm not going into details about what happened on the car ride. You can understand. Nothing exciting happened, promise. Now, review if you want a new chapter.