Chapter 8: Questions
Mimi and Stanley had done as the lawyer said. They had put ads in newspapers in Columbus, Cheyenne, and New York City. That was two months ago, and they had yet to get a response. But she knew that there wouldn't be any. At the time that the attack happened it was 8pm, her brother, Mathew, and sister-in-law Jessica were at their home in Alexandria. The blast radius went as far out as Falls Church. Sam and her school group survived because their bus had broke down 15 minutes after leaving historical Jamestown in Williamsburg Virginia. The bus was finally fixed when the world ended.
That was all that they had gotten from Sam. She hadn't talked about anyting between the time that the bomb went off and she showed up here. But they decided to leave it for now, and focus on moving forward. That is why they handed in the adoption papers last week. It was time to look towards the future.
But Mimi was at that moment knee deep in finantial records for the harvest season. She could understand how Stanley had screwed up. It wasn't like normal jobs where the taxes are taken out automatically, they had to do their math right to pay the correct amount of taxes from the surplus crops that they had sold.
There was a knock on the door. Mimi wondered who it was, Stanley and Sam would have walked in, and this far out visitors were limited to James and Emily helping out due to the fact that she was seven month along, and Dr. Hazes had told her to stay off her feet as much as possible to prevent complications. Hense the paperwork.
It took her a minute to get up, and she waddled her way to the door, "Can I help you?" Mimi asked a middle aged man who looked as out of place as she had when she first came here.
"Yes, I'm Alexander Harris, from Social Services, I'm here to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Richmond regarding the adoption of a Miss Samantha Clark."
"Hi, I'm Mimi Richmond, It's sunday,so my husband is at the farmer's market with Sam. I would have gone, but the doctor ordered me off my feet as much as possible."
"Then by all means, let's go sit down. Don't want to defy the doctor."
This man struck her as the southern gentleman type, "Stanley and Sam won't be home for an hour."
"That's okay, why don't we visit until they return," After having sat down, "Now, as you are the only blood relative found for this child, the adoption process is much shorter than it otherwise would be, but I have to ask certain questions, okay?"
"Shoot."
"What is your relation to Miss Samantha Clark?"
"Her father was my brother."
"And have you made attempts to contact your brother and sister-in-law?"
"Yes, we placed newspaper ads in newspapers in Cheyenne, Columbus, and New York City two months ago, there hasn't been a response."
"Why do you want to adopt your niece?"
"Because we love her like she was our own daughter. She lost her parents when the attacks, and it took social services out there nine months to locate me. She kept asking me how long she's staying. I want this to be able to tell her that she can count on forever with us."
The man smiled, "I wish that all my apointments were this good. Next, where is Sam enrolled in school?"
"Sam is enrolled in Jericho Elementry School, she loves her teacher, Miss Henderson, I help her do her homework in the evenings, they're learning how to write their letters, they're on m through o this week."
"Okay, and Sam spends a lot of time outdoors?"
"Stanley taught Sam how to ride our mare, her name is Angel, although she won't be able to ride her as much after next month."
"Why?"
"Angel's pregnant, she's only six months along, but Stanley says she can't be ridden as much starting next month. Sam loves helping Stanley and me caring for the horses, lately just Stanley."
"That's wonderful." The man said, "What is Sam's rouine?"
"We all get up around 5:30. Sam feeds the chicken and collects the eggs. She has helped Stanley prepare the feed for the horses. But Sam knows that she's not allowed to open the stall doors or the gates without me or Stanley."
"That's good."
"Sam meets the bus down the road at 8:30. She goes to school and comes home at 3:30. I work at J&R from 10 to 5 three days a week. During the harvest season Sam would go over Mrs. Green's house until I got off work, but now that the harvest is over Stanley can be at the house with Sam until I get home."
"And who's Mrs. Green?"
"A friend. Her son is Stanley's best friend. Sam calls her Granny Gina."
"Okay, When Stanley gets home with Sam I will interview Stanley and Sam each alone, then all of you together. I will be here for monday and tuesday to observe your daily routine. I will send my report to Cheyenne, and if everything goes through okay, they will send the official adoption papers to your lawyer, they'll get filed, and Sam will be your daughter."
TBC...
A/N: I don't know what the exact protocals are for adopions, what I know I've seen on tv and movies. So if what I've read is wrong, remember a) it's all in my head and b) the Cheyenne Government is run by J&R, and they seem to LOVE burocracy!