CHAPTER 3

"You didn't know, did you?" That was the only thing that made sense… if Chip had known, he would've told her earlier. If he had known but hadn't mentioned it, well, that would've been silly. "I told you I was adopted, so-"

"No, I didn't know!" Chip continued to rub his temples, face horribly anxious. "My 'parents' never told me anything! I don't even know who my real parents are-"

"Well, hold on," said Katherine, frowning. "Your mom and dad are your real parents. The ones you don't know are your birth parents-"

"Oh, sure!" sneered Chip. Katherine didn't like him this way, at all. He seemed completely out of it. "They're not my real parents now, Katherine! How could they never tell me that I was adopted?"

Katherine opened her mouth, but found that she didn't have an answer to that. She had never understood the mindset behind not telling your adopted kids the truth until much later- all that was going to do was cause what was happening with Chip right now: emotional distress. It seemed much more logical just to tell your adopted kids the truth once they're old enough to know what it means. Then there would be no loss of trust and no resentment. It appeared to be a no-brainer. But…

"I'm sure they, er, had their reasons," said Katherine, in an attempt to be soothing.

Chip just gave a harsh laugh. "Yeah, reasons for them! My parents hate having to own up to anything! 'No, Chip, everything's fine, I didn't just almost lose my job due to tardiness-"

Katherine winced. It sounded like Chip had many more issues than just the adoption thing. "Well… adoption is normal," she tried, "It's been around forever."

Chip glared at her and sat down on the porch, placing his head on his knees. He gave a strangled sigh, but otherwise seemed to be trying to calm himself down.

"Chip?" asked Katherine cautiously, "Are you… alright?"

"Am I alright." Chip looked up at her as if it was the stupidest question he'd ever heard, which, well, was pretty fair. Suddenly, though, he laughed. "You know something, Katherine?"

"Yes?" asked Katherine, as she gently sat down next to him.

"I'm honestly almost relieved…" Chip shot her a look to see how she handled this. When Katherine managed to keep her face blank, Chip continued, "I didn't want to be related to them- they're both failures in every sense of the word and I was so scared about my future… but now. I have a chance. Without their genes, I could actually do something… but then…. who are my real parents?"

"Birth parents," Katherine corrected. She saw Chip curl in on himself even more at those words.

"Whatever," mumbled Chip, clearly too upset to argue. "It's just… why'd they give me up, Katherine?"

Katherine thought for a minute. This had been something that had haunted her for a while, too, once she'd realized what being adopted truly meant. But she'd just spoken to her parents about it, and they'd reassured her that she was wanted and loved by them. From what it sounded like, Chip didn't have the same support system that Katherine had.

"There's a lot of reasons," said Katherine slowly, "Sometimes, they just can't take care of you… maybe you're adopted from somewhere that's oppressive, and your birth parents wanted you to have a better life." Chip seemed to perk up slightly at this thought, the thought that his birth parents did want him, but just couldn't keep him.

"You could try to find out," Katherine suggested, "You could find the adoption agency and ask them for details."

But at this, Chip scowled again. "My dad-" he said the word with biting sarcasm- "said that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, and that I didn't

to need to know. And when my dad says the case is closed, the case is closed."

Katherine felt anger coming through and she frowned. What kind of parents- She took a deep breath and gently placed a hand on Chip's shoulder. He startled and turned to look at her, and she made sure to keep eye contact. "Your dad said that, but in a few years you'll be an adult and won't have to listen to him anymore. I know that's a long time, so in the meanwhile…" Katherine paused.

"Meanwhile… what?"

"I promise that I will do everything that I can to help you figure it out anyway."