A/N: Yello again. See ZK, I'm updating! Its not always an idle threat! Anywhooo – thanks for all the feedback. Many thanks to: smegginlarge, boogle, Mad Axe Man, Radar-rox, Zombie Kitty, CyborgGarfield!
Sandra stumbled down the last couple of steps, landing ungracefully in front of the prospective adopters, "Hello" she said, somewhat breathless "I'm Sandra" she shook both of their hands, whilst trying not to look too dishevelled. The couple gave her a wary smile as she ushered them into the kitchen "You just sit here, have a cup of coffee, and I'll 'round up the rabble'" Sandra laughed falsely, before rushing off again, cursing under her breath.
She stormed up the stairs, ordering whatever child she saw to go the living room, on her way she bumped into the black haired girl again "Find David now!" she snapped. The girl nodded and scurried away, eager not to be subject to the sharp side of Sandra's tongue any longer.
Meanwhile, amongst the chaos, David was hanging around on the third landing; he made sure no-one was coming before creeping forward. If he could make it to the garden he'd be okay.
A floorboard creaked…and he froze. He stayed still long enough to see Sandra charging about, no doubt in search for him. David gasped, and flung open the nearest door and hurried inside. He quickly clambered into the wardrobe, closing the door behind him.
Kimberly looked up just in time to see David disappear into the wardrobe, she got up off her bed to find out what was going on when Sandra came striding in "Kim" she said, her chest heaving "You haven't seen David have you? The little sods ran off again!"
"David?" said Kimberly, her eyes momentarily flicked to the wardrobe door, that wobbled slightly "Nah, haven't seen him"
Sandra groaned and made to stumble away "But I did here someone say they'd seen him go out the front door, just a few moments ago…" and with that the care worker raced off.
Kimberly waited till she was sure Sandra was out of the way "Okay" she said tapping on the wardrobe door "You can come out now." David climbed cautiously out of the wardrobe "Thanks" he said.
"Don't mention it" said Kimberly, smiling at him "So why were you hiding…shouldn't you be downstairs, gettin' ready to meet that couple?"
David frowned "Don't want to. I don't wanna get adopted…I'd rather stay here." He wandered over to the window and stared at the sky "Who need's parents…."
Kimberly sighed "Everyone. No matter how many times we all say it, the thing we want the most…is a mum and a dad." She sat down on her bed and looked over at the little boy "You should go down and see them y'know…go and say hi. This could be your chance…" she lay down and stared at the ceiling for a second or two, waiting for his reply
"They won't want me…" he said eventually "No-one wants me. I'm defective!"
Kimberly laughed "where've you got a big word like that from?"
"Sandra said I was…she said I'm defective, she calls me lots of things….and she drinks loads too!" explained David, turning away from the window
"Surely you want a mum and dad though?" cried Kim exasperated.
David shook his head "Nope. Me real parents where no good, who says fake ones will be any better!" he crossed his arms stubbornly "I'm alright on me own!"
It was obvious that Kimberly wouldn't be able to change David's mind anytime soon. She didn't like to admit it, not even to herself, but she was jealous of David, and all the other youngsters in the home. Adoptive parents and fosterers wanted toddlers, not teenagers. No-body would want 14 year old Kimberly, with her hang ups and criminal record. She was now facing up to the harsh reality that she may never have a new mum and dad, she'll probably stay here till she was 16 then move onto the 'half way house' and then…well, who knows.
"Kimberly…." said David, she glanced towards him expectantly "Can't…can't you adopt me?" she smiled but shook her head
"I'm too young kiddo…I'm not allowed. But believe me, I would if I could…" David nodded and looked down at the carpet, "Tell you what" she said, standing up "we'll go down, say hi and if we don't like the look of them…we'll leg it? How's that sound?"
David looked at her for a second or two "Alright…" He didn't really want to, but since Kimberly was one of the very few people he actually liked in this place, he made an exception.
It was just unfortunate that half way down the stairs they ran into Sandra, who grabbed David by the shoulders, demanded to know where he'd been before steering him down the stairs before he'd even had chance to reply. He was literally thrown in front of a couple.
"David, this is Mr and Mrs Lister"
He slowly looked up. The man was tall, very tall, but then again all adults seemed tall to David. He had kind eyes though and a friendly smile. The lady had curly dark hair, and gold earrings that sent light bouncing off the walls of the hallway. The pair smiled at David, who just stared back at them.
"Say hello, David" snapped Sandra, giving him a nudge
"Hello David" he said, before running off.
Sandra smiled apologetically, "That was David – our resident funny man. He's not usually that cheeky, especially not with strangers, he just gets a little….excited sometimes…well, I suppose you'll want to take a look around, so I won't keep you. If you need any help, just call me." She smiled again, and wandered off in search of something strong to drink.
The couple turned and looked at each other "D'you think we're ready for this?" asked Mrs Lister
Mr Lister nodded, and tried to make to look as convincing as he could "Oh yeah….we can be parents."
He smiled, before taking his wife by the hand and leading her out into the garden. It was quite a nice day and for once the sun was shining, several children were running around, screaming and laughing. Others just sat back and watched – but all eyes were on the couple. Everyone knew what it meant when adults came wandering round the care home, it mean you had to be on your best behaviour, it meant you had to look as cute/nice/adoptable as humanly possible.
Kimberly and David sat at the end of the garden, watching the couple walk round talking to different children.
"They look nice" she commented,
David just glared at them "I don't like them…."
Kimberly rolled her eyes "You don't like any of the couples that come in here!" she looked back over the pair, seizing them up "They look okay – not too strict, not too boring, not too weird…just nice and normal" she paused "You should go over and say hi"
"No." he replied testily, tearing up a few blades of grass and twisting them round his fingers.
A sudden shadow was cast over the place where David was sat. He knew who it was without even having to look up.
"See you later, David" said Kimberly, rushing off, leaving him completely alone with Mr and Mrs Lister.
After a second or two he looked up…they were smiling down at him. What was it about adoptive parents that made them smile so much? He cocked his head slightly to one side as if to say 'well, what d'you want?'
"Mind if we sit down" asked the man, gesturing to the grass beside him
David shrugged "It's a free country…." He looked over to see Kimberly giving him the 'thumbs up', he smiled before turning his attention back to the couple, who still looked extremely nervous
"It's okay…" he reassured "I'm not half as bad as Sandra makes out…I'm actually quite nice" he paused, looking the couple up and down "So…tell me about yourselves"
Mr and Mrs Lister exchanged confused looks. Shouldn't they be the ones asking the questions? They turned back to the little boy, who was still smiling at them before deciding to just simply 'go with the flow' and see where it leads.
