I haven't updated in a while. Sorry guys. This was a hard chapter.... I don't know how a courthouse works, so I just guessed at it. I based the courthouse off the DMV office in my town.
Speaking of DMV... I have to take my driver's test again tomorrow... Wish me luck!
Gift From the Sea
Chapter Five
"Ok, you stick the seatbelt through this hole and buckle it through this one. See?" Sally said as she hooked Lian's carrier to the back seat. They were in the parking lot. Sally was showing Wufei how to operate a carseat.
"I understand it now," Wufei said. "If I have trouble later I'll call you."
"Ok," she said.
"Thank you again for all this stuff," he said sticking the black bag in the passenger seat. He turned around to bow and leave, but was grabbed in a hug from her.
His arms were pinned to his sides."Why are you hugging me?" he asked in shock. He started to struggle to get away. "Let me go! Let me go, damn you!"
He broke free of her hold and backed away from her. Sally smiled at him in amusement. "I have to get back to work," she said. "Go to the courthouse soon today," she said. "But stop by your house first and do whatever you have to do then leave, ok?"
"Ok," he said. She smiled at him once more and then ran back into the clinic. Wufei got into the car and drove off towards home.
Once home, he parked in his usual parking spot on the fifth level of the parking garage. He cut off the car and grabbed the baby bag and got out. He put the bag on top of the car and opened Lian's door.
He leaned over her carrier, trying to figure out how to get her out of the carrier. He didn't want to take the whole thing out since he would just have to put it back later that day anyway. He frowned in frustration as he searched for a way to free the baby. He noticed the straps holding her in led down to a button. He pushed the button and instantly the straps came free, allowing him to slip them over her head and pick her up.
He took her out gently and closed the door. He took the bag and started through the garage to the elevators inside to get to the eleventh floor. As he rode the elevator up, he glanced down at Lian in his arms. She was sleeping, her fists resting beside her head.
Wufeigot off the elevator and went to their apartment and went inside. He put Lian down on the bed; she woke up and started to cry, but stopped almost as soon as she started. He changed her diaper and rubbed alcohol on her umbilical cord, then took her into the kitchen so he could make her bottle.
As her bottle warmed up, he held Lian out in front of him, making sure to support her neck like Sally had told him before. He wondered if he was doing everything right, or if he was just doing everything wrong.
When her bottle was finished she drunk some, but not much at all. She couldn't have gotten more than three gulps. He shrugged and put down the bottle.
"Are you not hungry?" he asked. She blinked at him in response. "Hm...I guess that's ok," he said and took the bottle and her to the couch where the black bag lay. He put Lian on the floor on a blanket and studied the bag. It had a huge inner compartment that zipped shut. There were five outer pockets.
"It's a god-damn purse..." he said miserably and tossed it to the floor.
Wufei slid to the floor after it and grabbed two blankets, folded them neatly and placed them in the bottom of the bag. Then he took a pair of Lian's clean clothes, folded them, and put them in there along with another stocking hat. He put a bunch of diapers on top of that and then topped it off with a box of wipes. He closed that part and put three pacifiers in one of the pockets, then put the bottle in another pocket.
He stood up and went into the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror and took down his hair and shook his head letting the silky strands fly free. He got a brush and brushed his hair out, then retied it again. Then he went back to Lian. He wrapped the blanket she was on around her body and picked her up along with the bag and put the strap over his shoulder, then grabbed his wallet before going out the apartment door, locking it behind him.
"Ok, Lian,"Wufei said. "We're here" He got out and got her and the carrier out and took the bag, and started up the steps to the courthouse.
There was hardly a line inside, so he didn't have to wait long. He told the person behind the desk what he wanted. He was asked why he didn't get one at the hospital, and so he told the man the part of the story he had made up earlier that day about Lian getting born while out to sea. The guy nodded and handed him a bunch of papers to fill out. He inwardly groaned, but accepted the papers. He hated paperwork.
He was finally done and took it back to the guy behind the desk. He said to wait another fifteen minutes or so, so they could get it in the computer and make out her birth certificate and make her social security number.
As soon as Wufei was back to where he left Lian, he was called back by the guy. He went back to see what he wanted.
"You didn't fill out who the mother is," the man pointed out.
Wufei scowled. "I don't want my daughter to have anything to do with her mother. She doesn't care about her daughter, so why should I bother?" he said. "I don't even know where she went. She could be dead for all I know."
The guy looked at him. "Sorry, but unless your daughter's a test tube baby, you have to fill out the mother's information."
"Fine," he sighed and took a pen and quickly wrote the first woman's name who came to his mind: Long Meiran. He also wrote her birthdate. He pushed the paper back to the man and went back to Lian. He sat down in a chair and took her out of the carrier. He tried to get her to eat again and this time she did.
The man behind the counter called Wufei back about twenty minutes later. Hearing his name, he stood up again and brought his baby to the front. The man took her from him to make foot imprints.
"That's a twenty dollar charge for the certificate." he said. Wufei handed him the money and was handed a blue piece of paper. It was another copy of her birth certificate. It wasn't the original copy of the birth certificate, but it was just as good, having her social security number on it and such. "Ok, thanks." the man said and Wufei nodded and put Lian back in her carrier and grabbed the baby bag and headed for the car to go home.
"Aaa! I'm so glad all the legal work's done with." Wufei sighed in relief as soon as he sat down on the couch with Lian in his arms sucking contently on a pacifier while she slept.
"You're officially mine now," he said and looked at her. "It says so on your birth certificate. Father: Chang Wufei..."
He looked at the ceiling in thought. ".....Chang Lian.... That sounds good doesn't it."
R&R please! Constructive criticism very welcome! Sorry again about the courthouse! I just guessed. I've also decided to up the rating to PG-13 for language, just to be safe.
