Jessica was sweeping the area near the entrance, humming softly after Matt had left. The whole interaction went far better than she expected. She hadn't worked at the orphanage long, so they gave her tasks no one wanted to do. Talking with him was one of those tasks.
From what she saw he seemed to be an average, regular, well-adjusted bunny who was volunteering around the orphanage. He seemed to be, in spite of the stories about him. She hadn't seen it, but bunnies would gossip that he had gotten attached to their resident fox. In the beginning, she hadn't really believed it. Bunnies tended to blow things out of proportion. But as time went on her uncertainty disappeared. After the way he had handled Kyle on Friday, in front of so many other mammals, no less, there could be no doubt about it.
So the gears shifted from wondering if he cared about the kit to wondering if he should be as attached to the fox as he was. Most mammals didn't care, but there was also a large portion of them who said that they were too different. Size differences worked against them, and in these dangerous times, prey should be careful around predators. Despite what mammals were saying about Matt behind his back, one thing was certain: No one wanted to break the news to him about what had happened to Kyle.
She was only supposed to tell him that he couldn't visit the kit that day. But her mind suddenly went back to lectures and lessons about how to deal with enraged parents. He was supposed to just be a volunteer, but for the past few weeks he only ever came to the orphanage to visit the fox. She didn't believe that she could talk to him as if he was just a coworker. He was too invested and his judgment would be clouded.
The doors opened, and she turned with a smile. Her rehearsed greeting died in her throat, however, when she saw Matt, and she couldn't move a muscle. He was just standing there. His ears were pale, his eyes were wide and unmoving, his body tense, and he looked ready to snap at a drop of a hat.
She dropped her ears and gulped. He knew. But how? That was bad, really bad. She instinctively held the broom tighter, not sure what he was going to do. He wasn't looking at her. His expression was blank and he didn't seem to notice her. Her first thought was to just leave, but she felt it was her responsibility to contain the situation before it got ugly.
"How can I help you, Matt?" She said with a shaky voice.
His head jerked, jumped up a little and slowly turned towards her as if he just noticed her. On the surface he was devoid of any emotions, but his eyes were telling a different story. Behind that blank expression, there was a single purpose guiding his actions and a single emotion fueling it all.
"Where is he?" He said it slowly, and quietly but each word was ringing from the weight that was put behind them. It sent shivers down her spine.
She quickly said, "I'm sorry. I can't tell you that." while fidgeting nervously.
The weight of his gaze kept her in place and made her feel very small. Matt took a deep breath, which was the first crack in his emotionless mask. The brown bunny was clenching and relaxing his paws rhythmically.
"Who can tell me?" Matt's nose twitched just once.
"Monica."
She squeaked when he finally moved. Her nose was twitching wildly and she stepped back, bracing herself for the worst. She had been shown clips in her training of parents' reactions to the news of their kits having been hurt, and she was mortified that she would be on the receiving end of that same wrath. Should she call for help? She closed her eyes expecting some kind of shouting, at least, but nothing happened. He just moved past her, stopping when he could look down the hallway. But this time he didn't look towards Kyle's room. Instead, he looked towards the nurse's office. He regarded it for a few seconds before facing her.
"You can bring Monica here, or take me to her." Matt stated it calmly, as if it was indisputable fact.
She should have prepared for a situation like this with a supervisor. Her heart was racing. The only saving grace was that he seemed to respect her authority despite his strong emotions. Matt stayed put, and he once again turned towards the nurse office, not waiting for her answer. His ears moved for the first time since he walked in, turning slightly trying to pick up the faintest sound.
Jessica couldn't leave him alone. She highly doubted that he would stay in one place, and she couldn't let him wander around. He was, at the moment, controlling his emotions, and she needed to act fast before that changed. She put the broom against the wall.
"Please follow me." It was her only option. If anyone could handle Matt, it would be Monica.
He just nodded slowly, and followed her while looking over his shoulder at the office. She was taking him to the break room where the staff was having an emergency meeting. It was far out of earshot from where the kits were, so as the two approached the raised voices of a heated discussion could be heard from inside. She was going to knock on the door, but Matt passed her and walked in.
It was a moderately sized break room with a few seats and a coffee table. Around the room were standing approximately fifteen bunnies, all facing Monica. Almost at once everyone turned toward the door to see who had intruded. In an instant the room got quiet. Monica's expression went from angry to shocked.
"Where is he?" Matt addressed only Monica, and he ignored the rest of the room.
Jessica walked in after with a worried look and her ears down. "I am sorry. I…"
Monica was studying Matt's face, judging his state. She lifted her paw to stop Jessica, "It's fine. Matt please calm down. We can explain everything."
Matt gritted his teeth, and everyone heard it in the silent room. Monica was preventing him from seeing his kit. His voice was getting angry, "Where is the fox who was pepper sprayed at your orphanage?"
A very offended female bunny with gray fur in the back of the room said, "Hey! I didn't pepper spray him!"
Matt's head snapped towards her, and he looked at her with an unmatched intensity. He tilted his expressionless muzzle to the side and asked, "I'm sorry?"
"Matt." Monica tried to get his attention but he just kept staring at the bunny in the back of the room. "You shouldn't be here. Could you wait for me in my office?"
"No." Said one of the male employees, standing close by the gray one, "It was his idea. He should be here."
"Yeah! He was the one who suggested the boy was dangerous in the first place!" Shouted another. It hadn't taken long for the initial argument to pick up where it left off. Emotions were running high.
Matt shouted angrily, "I never said that!" How could they even suggest something like that? Kyle was such a sweet boy! They were supposed to protect him!
"Because of you, we have tasers at the orphanage! But Monica won't let us charge them. You even have one on your belt right now!" Bunnies started shouting over each other, and it quickly became too complicated to tell what mammals were shouting to each other.
Monica slammed the paw against the table trying to get this mess under control and shouted, "That is enough!"
Everyone in the room went quiet. Matt's nose twitched as he furrowed his brow. His eyes hadn't left the bunny who attacked the fox.
"Tell me what happened." He demanded.
She angrily replied, "You can't tell me what to do!"
A few bunnies around her nodded accordingly. Matt was shaking. He was clenching his fists and breathing deeply to stop himself from doing something stupid. With a sour expression he turned towards Monica and just lifted his eyebrows.
Monica sighed and looked at the bunny at the end of the room. "Could you tell us once again what happened?"
Begrudgingly, the bunny answered, "Fine. I bought some pepper spray for self defence. Mayor Bellwether authorized its use. She knows that mammals should be able to defend themselves. Monica didn't want us to charge the tasers so I was carrying the spray for my protection." She looked at Matt nervously, but continued explaining as if what she'd done was only natural.
"I heard a weird noise coming from the fox's room and decided to check. I had the spray out just to be safe. When I opened the door I saw him on all fours. He had a ball in his mouth and he was baring his teeth! He looked savage! Kits don't behave like that!" She looked around the room for the support.
"I'm not gonna lose my job over this. Mayor Bellwether said so. I was afraid for my life so I used the spray. And I didn't even hit him! He just hid under the bed and I only sprayed the area. He's at the nurse's office because he started coughing from being around the fumes for so long. He didn't want to get from under the bed until Monica arrived, so it's his fault he stayed there so long! None of this would have happened if he had just listened to us! But he's fine, so what does it matter?"
"Yeah!" Another bunny shouted, "He didn't get hurt! We have the right to defend ourselves."
"If you don't want to make sure that the kits and employees under your care are safe, then we'll do it ourselves!" The offending bunny accused Monica.
"But he's just a kit! We can't treat a kit like that!" Shouted a doe standing close to where Monica stood.
"A fox kit." The gray bunny coldly corrected.
The conversation devolved into a shouting match again. Monica tried to get it under control, but both sides were too heated to listen. Every attempt to quell the fighting fell on deaf ears.
Matt got quiet. Some of them thought that Kyle ending up at the nurse's office was acceptable. The boy was attacked because he was playing in a way that any fox should. He was playing like that because Matt encouraged him to do so. For a brief moment the bunny felt guilty. The boy would be fine if the bunny hadn't bought him those tennis balls. Matt shook his head. No, that wasn't right. The adults were supposed to take care of him. Keep him safe. They failed him.
Matt watched in horror and disgust how many of them agreed with the one who attacked Kyle. This crisis was bringing out the worst in some mammals. In some way he couldn't blame them. They wanted to be safe. It was almost the same as Tom choosing to work from home. But their safety meant that Kyle was unsafe being at the orphanage. So many mammals didn't care about his well-being. He couldn't stay there.
Matt's eyes went wide. It was a crazy idea but there was a way to make sure that Kyle was safe. The bunny licked his lips, which suddenly got very dry. The bunny wasn't really prepared for it, but they could figure it out as they went along. He had thought about it before, but it always felt like a poor decision. What happened changed things. Anything was better than leaving him at the orphanage. Over the shouting bunnies Matt just said, "I'll take him."
The room got eerily quiet. All eyes were on him and most mammals looked shocked. Monica blinked. "What?"
"I'll take him home with me. Today." Matt's heart beat faster. "I'm a licenced foster parent. My apartment passed all the checks. It could be an emergency placement. I'm sure that we can get a few bunnies to sign that they're afraid for their lives and the lives of the kits. It should be enough to qualify for an emergency placement and speed the process along."
Without hesitation the gray bunny shouted, "I'll sign it!"
Another quickly added, "Me, too!"
After that a few more bunnies volunteered. Some almost cheerfully. The mood of the room dramatically improved. A few bunnies looked unsure, but the ones who were against Kyle were just happy to get him out of there. Monica just looked shocked. "You're all dismissed."
Without any fuss, the bunnies left the room in an orderly fashion. The atmosphere had cleared of any tension. A lot of them were smiling and chatting with each other as though nothing had happened. All of them looked at Matt as they passed him by, but no one said a word to him. Only he and Monica stood still, watching each other from across the room.
When the last of the bunnies had cleared the room Monica simply said, "Come with me."
She walked around the table and left the room with Matt hastily following after her. Without a word she led him to her office and she sat behind her desk. She put her paw on her forehead and closed her eyes. Monica took a deep breath and moved her paw up to stroke her ears once for comfort. Matt took a chair in front of her desk. The adrenaline was still flowing through his veins.
"You can't take that back. You let them know that they can request an emergency placement. Kyle will be gone by the end of the week. I'm really sorry." she said sadly.
Matt grabbed the arms of his chair and his eyes went wide from worry. "Why can't I take him?"
Monica furrowed her brow looking even more confused. "Wait. You were serious?"
He weakly said, "Yeah." His small blunt claws were digging into the arms of the wooden chair. Taking Kyle home with him was the only choice.
"If you do that, it's going to be next to impossible to move him back to an orphanage. Nobody's going to want to take a disabled predator right now. On top of that his species has a very low adoption rate. You'll be stuck with him for a long time." She sounded like his mother, explaining to him why he shouldn't have touched a hot pan.
Matt couldn't believe how dry his mouth got. "I know that."
She sighed, "Matt, I know that you care about him but we are talking about months and even years. The system is not willing to take back a kit who was moved to foster care."
"I need to keep him safe."
"You shouldn't make that decision under strong emotions." She looked at his claws digging into the chair. He immediately let go of the chair and slowly placed his paws in his lap.
He straightened up in his chair and tried to look confident, despite the fact that he knew it was a crazy idea. "I am calm. I know that it's the best solution for everyone."
"Not for everyone." Monica got very serious. "You won't be able to get bunny kits while he stays at your house. You'll be over the capacity. Are you really willing to risk that?"
That gave him a pause. The bunny bit his lip. He hadn't thought about that. All that he worried about was Kyle.
"There was a low chance to get a pair to begin with. I wouldn't have had a real chance until I got a bigger apartment, anyway." Matt's voice was shaky. "He needs me right now. It'll motivate me to find him a permanent home quicker, too."
She looked him deep into his eyes. "Are you a hundred percent sure?"
"Yes." Matt nodded slowly. He was two years ahead of his plan to get bunny kits. He'll have to go back to his original plan later. It shouldn't be a big deal but, it still stung a little.
Monica studied his face. He was worried, he was scared, but he also was sure. After what she observed from her employees, she knew that Kyle's stay at the orphanage would be problematic. She hated to admit that but Matt was right. Laws passed by Mayor Bellwether only antagonized the whole situation.
Monica sighed. "Ok. But if you want you can back out at any point while we're filling out the documents."
Monica picked up the phone and made a call. Matt could clearly hear the sound of ringing and then a tired male voice said, "I'm still looking for a place for the fox."
"Good afternoon to you too, Bob." She looked at Matt. "I need you to visit my orphanage."
There was a long pause before the male continued with a nervous voice. "You promised you were gonna give me more time. I can find an orphanage that's better suited for him."
"It wasn't my choice. My staff wants to enact an emergency placement because they're afraid for their lives…"
"They can't just do that! He'll end up in some crappy facility!" He interrupted her angrily. "What kinda heartless monsters…"
This time Monica interrupted him. "I'm looking at a foster parent who is willing to take him in."
Another pause. "Don't let them leave. Don't let them change their mind. I'll be there in half an hour!"
He just hung up. Monica looked at the phone, annoyed. She pressed a button and it was ringing again. This time the female voice answered. "Yes, Monica?"
"Could you get someone to pack Kyle's clothes?" She smiled at Matt. " Also remember to pack the tennis balls and the crutch."
"Sure. I'm on it."
The white bunny put down the phone and started typing on her keyboard. The printer soon came alive. She grabbed the papers and placed them in front of Matt. "Grab a pen and start filling these out so we'll be ready when Bob arrives."
When he finished one form Monica almost instantly gave him another one. On her side of the desk she was filling out forms of her own. Some of the areas were already filled based on the database, but on those documents they needed to confirm that everything was correct.
It was a tedious process which was made even harder by the size of the font. These were legal documents, and to save space they crammed as much text as they could on the pages. And there were alot of documents. It was fine for the first document, but by the time he had finished the third one his head began to hurt. Matt was losing his place on the page and had to start one paragraph over multiple times.
His eyes were still irritated from the gust of pepper spray he got from Kyle's room. The strain of reading over everything made his eyes feel even worse. By the fifth document, he understood why the text was so dense. The stack of papers in front of them kept growing.
He looked over to Monica, who was signing the emergency placement request. He squinted his eyes and she noticed it. "It would be much easier for both of us if it comes from me and not my staff. That way I can decide that it's no longer necessary. It doesn't mean we would take him back, but it would be easier for you to move him if you change your mind."
Matt smiled. He hoped that he wouldn't need that option, but she made sure that he would have one. "Thanks."
It was nice to have someone proficient in that sort of stuff on his side. Of course he knew a lot about it from his training, but Monica had dealt with it everyday.
It took almost forty five minutes to fill in all the forms. Matt had to press his eyes closed to let them rest. He rested his head on the back of the chair enjoying a few seconds of peace when it was interrupted by an energetic knocking and someone rushing in.
Matt opened his tired eyes to see a very frazzled raccoon. He seemed to be a little bit older than Matt, somewhere in his early 30s. He was panting, trying to catch his breath. "I'm sorry for being late… There was a traffic jam."
The racoon looked over the room and his heart sank. He nervously asked, "Did they leave? I was only a couple minutes late. Could you call them and tell them that I arrived?"
The racoon quickly went to her desk and set down his briefcase, pulling some documents from it. Completely ignoring Matt, he said, "Or you can give me their number and I'll call them."
Monica was grinning from ear to ear and looked at Matt which brought him to the raccoon's attention. "Let me introduce you two. Matt Leaper, the potential foster parent. Bob Ringfield, Kyle's social worker."
Bob froze for a second and suddenly seemed to notice all the paperwork on the desk in front of him. He looked at Matt with wide eyes and all that he could say was, "Oh."
It didn't inspire confidence but the bunny smiled and extended his paw. "It's nice to meet you. I've been visiting Kyle for a few weeks. He's a really sweet kit and he deserves a nice home."
Bob returned the smile and eagerly shook Matt's paw. "So that was you. I've heard about you. Nice to meet you, too. Sorry for the shock. You're my first interspecies placement and I'm starting on a high note with fox-bunny mix."
The raccoon looked nervous. He was mostly looking at Monica, along with quick nervous glances at Matt. The bunny shifted nervously in his seat. "Is it really that rare?"
"Yes." Bob slid the document which they recently filled towards himself. The raccoon was checking them over while continuing the conversation. "And on top of that I've only heard about adoptions and placements which follow the interspecies marriage law. So in your case, being a rabbit, I would've expected you to be adopting a hare. Of course, other types are allowed but I personally don't know anyone who's done something like that."
"From what I've heard, hares are the most common target of interspecies adoption for bunnies, but bunnies and hares can't get married." Monica interjected. "We look very similar, and we have some cultural overlap, but genetically we're very different. We can't have kits together, so we can't get married. In the time I've worked here, we've never had an interspecies adoption. Matt will put us on the chart for interspecies placements."
Both Matt and Bob look shocked. The bunny knew that bunnies and hares couldn't have kits, but he had expected that the orphanage would have had at least one example of hares adopting bunnies or other way around. It made Matt nervous. He knew that what he was doing was uncommon, but it couldn't be that uncommon. Matt looked at the stack of papers in front of the raccoon and suddenly felt much less confident about the whole situation.
The raccoon on the other paw swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about that."
With big eyes he looked around the room checking with both rabbits. He met Matt's eyes and they stared at each other in an awkward silence. Monica furrowed her brow and just said, "It's fine."
"Yeah." Matt nodded as his imagination began to run away with him, and he started to picture crazy scenarios in his head.
The raccoon smiled weakly and nodded as he returned to focusing on the paperwork. He pulled out his computer and began cross referencing everything on his laptop. "So up to how many weeks are you willing to take care of him?"
Matt blinked, "What do you mean? Until we'll find a good place for him to stay."
The raccoon slowly lifted his eyes from the document with a blank expression on his muzzle. "Are you willing to provide a more permanent home?"
"Y-Yes." Matt stuttered looking to understand what was wrong. Monica looked at the raccoon confused as well.
Bob's eyes went soft and looked at Matt with a sad smile. "You can't imagine how happy I am to hear that. Kyle has been bounced around a lot, and it would be great for him to stay in one place for a longer period of time. I only wish I could let you. But the law doesn't allow it. I'll double check to make sure."
Matt jumped out of his seat. He was worried about what he was doing but he still wanted to do it. "What! Why?"
Bob ignored the question as he typed furiously on his computer. Monica ears went up and got tense. "Oh. I'd completely forgotten. There are additional rules regarding interspecies adoption and care. I hadn't thought about checking them. Your size alone disqualified you. The general rule is that the caregiver needs to be in the same or bigger size category, so you already break that rule. And I'm sure that with you being prey there are a few more rules which you break. You could try to get a lawyer. It would take a lot of time for you to prove that you could take care of Kyle. "
Matt's muzzle was blank. His legs gave up under him and the bunny just fell back on the chair limply. He licked his lips and his paws were shaking. Matt looked at his paws as if he was going to find an answer there. It was one thing for him to decide that he didn't want to take care of Kyle, but it was an entirely different thing to learn that he couldn't. He was never planning to take care of the fox in the first place, so why did that hurt so much? Maybe because he wouldn't know where the boy would end up after his stay with him. He couldn't guarantee that he would be able to visit him.
"Emergency placement, as the name suggests, is for emergencies, natural disasters or if there was damage to the orphanage. So it is designed to move a large amount of kits in a short time. It's a temporary solution." Monica said softly. "Some guidelines are dismissed in those situations, so we can place him with you for a short amount of time but that's it."
He fucked up again. If Matt could have kept his mouth shut, Kyle would stay at the orphanage. Because of his actions the kit would end up gods know where after his short stay with the bunny. Matt knew that interspecies placement was possible, but because he wasn't that interested in taking Kyle home he had never checked the actual law. He dreaded thinking about what kind of orphanage would take the fox during the crisis. The bunny thought that he was so clever and that he had outsmarted the system and now Kyle would pay the price for his mistake.
Bob stared blankly at the computer screen. His eyes stayed still as he mouthed something to himself. The raccoon looked at Monica in disbelief, "It's on the list."
Monica's ears went up. "You've got to be kidding me."
"To be honest, I'm not sure if I am happy or mad." The raccoon had a lopsided grin on his muzzle.
Matt's head was moving between two mammals. "What are you talking about?"
The raccoon moved from looking happy to borderline ecstatic. "The interspecies adoption and placement is on a list of exceptions for foxes."
Matt furrowed his brow. "I don't follow."
The raccoon went back to checking documents as he was explaining with a big smile. "Most facilities don't want to deal with kits with low adoption rates because they'd get stuck with them. So some brilliant politician decided to add a list of exceptions for species with low adoption rates. Sold it as 'encouraging mammals to adopt and opening new doors for orphanages.' In reality, if you didn't want a fox, less checks and less paperwork won't make you suddenly want a fox. It just made it easier for orphanages to bounce unwanted kits around."
"Normally we wouldn't get a kit of Kyle's size category because most of our staff is smaller than an adult of his size category. That suggests that we wouldn't be able to take care of him properly." Monica explained, "But because this requirement isn't mandatory for Kyle's species, someone was able to place him with us without asking."
Bob laughed nervously. "It was all legal. I deal with unwanted species. So I need to use all tools available to me. I don't have the luxury of being nice about it. This is a great orphanage, you're way under your max capacity, and the last orphanage wanted Kyle gone. I needed to do something and sometimes a little push is needed to get results."
Matt was rubbing his temples. His paws were bumping against the frame of his glasses as he pieced it all together. "So if Kyle was, for example, a bobcat. I wouldn't be able to have him placed with me because, according to the law, I wouldn't be able to properly take care of him. But because he's a fox, they aren't concerned about that?"
"When you put it like that it sounds bad." The raccoon rubbed the back of his head. "It gives more opportunities to species who are often overlooked."
"By potentially endangering them!" Matt couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Are you planning to endanger him?" The raccoon said seriously.
"Well of course not, but that's not the point."
"That is exactly the point. At least for me." The raccoon looked offended. "It's still up to me if someone gets a kit, and I do the best job that I can making sure that kits assigned to me are well taken care of. Are there some social workers who just want to get rid of kits in their care as fast as they can? Yes, there are. Am I happy about it? No, I am not. That list of exceptions just gives me more options."
Matt was speechless. The bunny just stared at the raccoon. "How could anyone compromise on the safety of a kit? That's not right."
"No, it is not right. But it is something that has to be done." The raccoon sighed. "Do you want to take care of him?"
Matt bit his lip. "Yes, he isn't safe here. But according to law I shouldn't be able to take him."
The raccoon blinked. "What do you mean that he isn't safe here?"
Monica dropped her ears. "One of the mammals working here tried to pepper spray him. And since Mayor Bellwether allowed non-lethal self-defence items I can't do anything about it. I can't even put it in her file."
The raccoon's head slowly turned as he clenched his fist and looked at Matt. "So you think that it would be better for Kyle to stay here, where you say he's not safe? Or to be moved to someplace similar?"
"No, but someone better than me should take care of him." Matt's eyes darted nervously around the room.
The raccoon took a deep breath. "There isn't a line of mammal waiting to take care of him, let alone adopt him. I can't afford to turn down willing mammals. I know that you're worried, and you have every right to be. But when you didn't know about these stipulations it didn't matter to you, so what changed?"
Everything changed. The voice in Matt's mind which told him that he wasn't fit to take care of Kyle just got so much louder. It was difficult to ignore. He was happy that he could take care of the fox, but didn't know if he should. In the heat of the moment it seemed like a good idea, but even the government knew that he would have a problem.
"We all want our kit to find a good home, but Matt has every right to change his mind. This is a big decision." Monica said in his defence.
"I'm just presenting him with the reality of the situation. Would it be better for Kyle to be placed with a fox family? Yes, it would. But there isn't one waiting for him. He was so determined a second ago, but now he's hung up on things that don't matter." Bob rubbed his eyes in annoyance. The raccoon sighed. "I'm sorry. I know that I'm coming on a little strong, but I want Kyle to end up in a good home. This is the first time that anyone has shown any interest in him."
The bunny looked nervously at the raccoon. "You don't know anything about me, though. You don't know if I'll be the right fit."
"Well, I've seen your file and everything looks great." The raccoon smiled and pointed at Monica. "She also gave you a glowing recommendation. And she's a hard lady to please. Look. Do you think that some politician knows you better than you know yourself? We're utilizing the laws that were put in place just for this exact situation. With an emergency placement request he's leaving this orphanage one way or another. So why shouldn't he leave it with you? You're a far better option than anything that I can manage on such short notice. And it isn't like I'll leave you alone. I'll check up on him, and I'll still be looking for a proper home for him."
Matt sat in his chair, unsure what to do. Bob was looking at Matt with hopeful eyes. He really wanted the bunny to take Kyle. The raccoon was right. Matt wanted to take care of him, and if they hadn't told him about those laws he would just do that. Kyle needed him.
"Ok. I'll do it. I already decided... I just got a little confused along the way." Matt nodded confidently.
The raccoon clapped his paws and grinned from ear to ear. "That's great news! We'll just need to fill out one additional form because it's an interspecies placement. "
Monica looked worried. "Have you really thought it through, Matt? I'll support it, but I need to be sure that this is really what you want."
Matt paused for a second, and smiled right after. His smile was nervous but there was a conviction in his eyes. "Yes."
Bob was signing the papers which Matt and Monica already finished, and then started to fill out a new set of documents. It took an unsettlingly small amount of time considering how many pages it had. Bob slid it to Matt for him to read and it quickly became clear why that was. There were a lot of sections which asked about species differences, and the top of each section was marked 'non applicable.' It felt so neglectful, even if it was all in accordance with the law. Matt quickly checked if all information was correct, and signed it.
Some kind of tension was released when it happened. He did it. He was officially Kyle's foster parent. It still didn't feel great that he was only able to achieve this thanks to loopholes and emergency procedures, but he had done it.
Matt had thought that it would feel different. He just agreed to take care of the kit and it felt... normal. Monica came around the desk to collect all the documents and separate them into piles. One copy for them and another for him. She pulled out a folder from her desk stamped with the logo of the orphanage and put the documents inside before handing it to Matt.
Matt took it with a shaky paw. It was a rather thick file, but felt unusually light compared to what it contained. He had only been visiting Kyle for a few weeks, and that just changed with him being handed this file. Matt was staring at it when Bob came up to him and slapped the bunny on the back. "The first placement is always the most memorable. It takes some getting used to. In your case it'll be a lot, but I'm sure that you'll do fine. I have seen a lot of mammals with worse files than yours being amazing foster parents. It's scary, but you've got nothing to worry about."
"We should go and get your boy." Monica smiled softly. She still wasn't sure if Matt was doing the right thing, but at least Matt seemed to think he was.
"Yeah." Matt said weakly.
Bob put his own folder in his briefcase and eagerly waited for them by the door to tell Kyle the good news. Matt's legs were shaking as all three of them left the office.
"Today is a good day. It's always amazing when one of my kits gets a home, even if it's just temporary." The raccoon was buzzing with energy.
Matt tried to share the raccoon's enthusiasm but each step was making him more and more nauseous. The bunny had to remind himself that what he was doing was right, and Kyle needed him. But the closer he got to the boy the more doubt was filling his mind.
As they approached the door Matt's ears straightened up when he heard a soft coughing coming from inside of the room. Before he was ready to face the boy, Monica opened the door and walked in.
The room had a few beds and a desk in front of it where a bunny in a nurse's uniform was sitting reading something on her phone. Next to her desk there was a small bag with a crutch covered in drawings on it.
Kyle was sitting on the bed in the corner coughing softly. His eyes were a little red but he wasn't rubbing them which was a good sign. The boy froze when he saw Bob, and Kyle's head began turning between the bag and the raccoon. That stopped when Matt walked in. Before any of them could say anything, a very distressed fox ran towards them on all fours, not caring who saw him. He rushed past Bob and Monica to hug Matt.
"I'm sorry!" Kyle said in a high, panic-filled voice. "I won't be bad! I don't want to leave! I'm sorry!"
Everyone in the room was shocked and the awkward silence was broken by a loud heartfelt laugh. Bob was laughing with a big smile on his muzzle as he looked to Matt. "You'll do just fine."
The raccoon motioned with his paws for Matt to speak. The bunny looked down at the distressed fox that was hugging him and a pleasant warmth filled his body. He gently wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him back. Kyle was there, safe in his arms. In an instant all his doubt disappeared. He had never been so sure of anything in his life. One of his paws gently stroked Kyle's ears which made him look up.
"You have to leave the orphanage." Matt felt Kyle tensing in his arms so he quickly continued with a big warm smile on his muzzle. "But that's fine, because you're coming home with me."
