Sorry, this should be out sooner, but hey! This is almost 5,000 words! Enjoy!
Chapter 2 – The (Long) Process
After their decision to start a family had been finalized, Arthur fully realized how much they had to do. He and Alfred decided that the best way to start a family was through adoption. The problem was that they had no idea how to the adoption process worked. That's where Alfred's internet skills came into play. The next day Arthur found Alfred on his computer, searching for good adoption agencies nearby. After a few hours of browsing, Alfred decided that the Friends in Adoption Agency, who had an office just outside of Rochester, would be a prime candidate. They were a non-profit agency that helped families in the adoption process. The first step was to go their "Getting Acquainted Workshop". On the following Monday morning, Alfred called up the agency and scheduled an appointment for next Saturday.
The Friday before the appointment, Alfred's football team had their big playoff game. They played well, but the other team was in another league. Their offense couldn't get pass the defense and their defense had a hard time stopping the offense from advancing the ball. They lost 14-0, and Alfred was a little sad, but not disappointed. His team had played well and even if they didn't get to move on the playoffs, he was still very proud of them.
"Maybe it's for the best," Alfred said between bites of his potato chips. He was sitting in the passenger seat munching away on the snacks they had bought at the last gas station. Arthur was intently focused on the road as he made his way across the New Jersey Turnpike.
"Why do you say that?"
"Now I can focus more on getting us a kid."
"Well, that is true. If you were in the playoffs, then it would have been a lot harder to come all the way out to Rochester."
"Yea, seven hour car rides suck."
"Did you find a hotel yet?"
Alfred started flicking through his iPhone.
" Yea, I found a nice hotel near the agency."
"Good, we are going to be tired after we're done."
"Gettng out of the house by five a.m. was horrible."
"You slept most of the way off the island, you git!"
"Well, yea but it still sucks."
"We are going to switch soon, I hope you know. Once we get off this damn Turnpike."
Alfred laughed, "Yes, dear."
~USUKUS~
They had made it into Rochester in good time and had stopped by the hotel room first to get their rooms and drop off their stuff. After a quick pit stop, they left for the adoption office.
They made their way into the office building and walked up to the reception desk.
"Hello, we are the Jones-Kirkland family. We have an appointment at 3 o' clock."
The receptionist clicked away at the keyboard in front of her.
"I see you in here, one of our people will be out for you in just a second."
They took a seat in a couple of chairs on the side wall next to a coffee table with magazines spread across it. Alfred was flipping through Entertainment Weekly as Arthur pulled out the Sherlock Holmes book from his bag. About ten minutes later, a chestnut colored woman with dark brown hair walked into the waiting area.
"Mr. Alfred and Arthur Jones-Kirkland?"
Alfred jumped out of his seat, "That's us!"
"Hello, my name is Angelique. I'm a social worker here at Friends in Adoption and I'll be giving you the introduction to our organization today."
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Alfred! And this here is my husband Arthur! We are really excited to work with you!"
Arthur nodded, "It's a pleasure to work with you, dear."
"Thank you and I'm glad you're excited. We really need serious couples to adopt the children that come through our facility."
She walked them through a long hallway, into a small conference room.
"Now before I get started, I'll tell you what we are about here. We are a non-profit organization that has been working for over thirty years to help couples make responsible decisions in the adoption process. Our mission is composed of three parts: Keep the central focus of the adoption plan on the needs of the baby or child, give attention to the unique needs of each individual involved in the adoption plan and recognize that adoption is a life-long process based on trust, honesty and mutual responsibility. We here at Friends in Adoption believe in the importance of the open adoption. All of our adoptions are open. Is that going to be a problem for you two?"
Arthur was the first to speak.
"No, I don't think that will be a problem. What about you Alfred?"
"No, I don't have a problem with that. It helps if problems pop up in the future and we need family medical history."
"Exactly, but more importantly, it's better for the child and their biological parents to know one another and have some sort of working relationship. I have seen many successful adoptions through our process. Next, we need to talk about the costs. Adoptions aren't easy, as you can see. I heard you came all the way in from the Island today."
Alfred nodded, "Yea, it was a long ride in, but I think this will all be worth it in the end."
Angelique smiled, "Yes, you guys are making the right decision. You will make a child very happy."
"That's what we hope to do," Arthur replied.
"The average adoption through us costs around $25,000 to $45,000. Is that going to be hard for you two to handle?"
Arthur shook his head, "No, we talked about it on the way here. We will be able to handle it."
Arthur last few fantasy novels had been quite successful, pulling in large amounts of money after being published. He was currently working on the sequel to his last bestseller, and the publishing house was talking about putting a large sum upfront for the manuscript.
"That's wonderful to hear, it means you're serious. Now we need to talk about the actual process. You have a long journey in front of you, boys. The first thing you need to do is go through a Financial and Credit check, to make sure that you have financial stability for the child."
"Like we said, it shouldn't be a problem," said Alfred.
"Good. The next thing is you will both have to have a physical to make sure you both are in good health. We are not too strict on the physical, just that you both don't have life threatening diseases that could affect the future of the child."
Arthur crossed his legs and nodded, "I assure you, we are both in good health."
Angelique smiled, "Good, now then, you will then have to go to Foster Certification Classes that will help you understand raising an adopted child. It will teach you about foster children and their life in the foster system. There is a place in the city which I would recommend; will this be a problem for you two?"
Arthur looked over at Alfred and smiled.
"I don't think it will."
"Fantastic. Now then, you will be required to be CPR certified."
Alfred chuckled, "I've already been CPR certified, but my husband here is not."
Alfred decided a long time ago to become CPR certified since he was a teacher. He felt that you never knew when you would need it, even when only teaching high school.
Angelique chuckled, "Well, you're halfway there then."
Angelique reached under the table and pulled out a large box, which was filled with paperwork. She dropped it on the table with a thudand sat there for a second as Alfred and Arthur curiously looked at the box in front of him.
"This is the amount of paperwork you will be filling out, gentleman. You will be filling out paperwork until you are sick. One of these is a 12-15 page questionnaire that will ask almost everything about you. We need you to be very detailed with this, for it helps us gage you as a couple and make a working psychological profile. We need to know that you're mentally fit for handling a child, and it also helps us build a profile to give to different agents to start making matches for you two. Have I scared you away yet?"
Alfred sat there in shock at the large amount of paperwork, but he eventually snapped out of his trance and answered.
"No, a hero will overcome any obstacle!"
Arthur couldn't help but face palm, thinking not in public Alfred.
Angelique couldn't hold back her snickering any longer and busted out laughing. She wiped the tears away from her face, trying to gain composure.
"That's great! I love your enthusiasm. Now that we have that covered, your next step would be homestudy. A social worker will come and visit your house and go over your psychological analysis. They will tell you what you need to work on and what needs to be done before you can become adoptive parents. Will you be comfortable having someone visit every week or so?"
Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand and nodded. "We can handle it."
Angelique smiled.
"Sounds great. After that, if you qualify, we will send you your 8-9 page profile, which we will also be sending to different agents throughout the state. From there, we will match you with a biological parent and their child. We really want you to have a good relationship with the biological parent for this open adoption to work, so we will be working to find you a good match. Once we find that match, we will start talking about meeting the mothers caring the child, or in other cases the child themselves. After that, you will pick the match you like and we'll work from there. For the first 6 months you will only be the foster parents of the child, but after that you will be able to become the legal parents of the child. Is there any questions?"
Arthur started shifting in his seat.
Alfred looked over at him and noticed he looked a little worried.
"What is it Arthur?"
"I just-I'm just worried about our situation as a, you know, a gay couple. Will it be harder for us to qualify?"
Angelique gave him a warm smile.
"No dear, gay couples adopt through us all the time and we've had tremendous success working with them. You shouldn't have a problem. We pride ourselves at Friends in Adoption on serving all kinds of families, even same-sex ones. It is good you came to us; you are lucky. I have heard horror stories about other agencies scaring off same-sex parents because they found them "unsuitable" but don't worry, you will be treated with the respect that you deserve throughout this process. I promise you that. In fact," she said, "I have a social worker who will be perfect for you two. I will put in a recommendation for her."
"Thank you for all your help," Alfred said.
"No, thank you. It always wonderful to have people come into our office looking to adopt."
Alfred beamed a smile and shot her a thumbs up.
"Hope to be working with you in the future."
Angelique laughed, "I'm sure you will, please if there is anything you need help with, just call my number."
She handed Arthur a business card out of her bag.
"I'll be seeing you two then."
Arthur reached out and shook her hand, "Thank you."
"No problem and good luck. You'll need that and more. You have a lot to do."
~USUKUS~
First thing Sunday morning, Alfred pulled out the piece of paper that Angelique had given them with the list of contacts he would need in the approval process. The first number he dialed was the number for the background check company. That Wednesday, Arthur and Alfred walked into the office for their background checks. A rather large blonde man had taken their finger prints and took down their information. Arthur was a little intimidated by this German man, whose name was Ludwig, but Alfred wasn't fazed by the man's stature. After they were done, they went to the front desk and paid the fee.
Later that week, Alfred and Arthur visited their physician Dr. Yao. He immediately got on to Arthur about not seeing him sooner.
"It has been three years Arthur!"
"Sorry, I've been kind of busy."
"You work from home; you have plenty of time!"
"S-sorry."
"It says here that you don't smoke anymore. Is that true?"
"Yes doctor, I quit about a year ago."
"Huh, I've been telling you that for years. What changed your mind?"
"Alfred finally convinced me, something about wanting me to stick around as long as I can."
"I think he did the right thing in stopping you."
Arthur smiled, "Yea, he did."
Alfred had been bothering him about his smoking since they first started dating. At first he didn't really seem to mind, a comment here or two about it being unhealthy but never anything degrading. It wasn't until they first started getting serious that Alfred started bugging him about quitting. Arthur tried to explain to him that when you've been smoking since you were 16, it's hard to stop. Alfred wasn't hearing any of it and finally bugged him enough to try quitting. Much do to Alfred's pestering, Arthur finally quit. He actually liked not smelling like smoke all the time and he loved the extra bit of cash in his pocket every week. He did feel healthier and he couldn't ever thank Alfred enough for that.
Dr. Yao cleared him with a clean bill of health.
Next up was Alfred. Dr. Yao took his weight, checked his blood pressure, the works. He seemed to be happy with the results, well accept for one thing.
"Alfred, you got to cut the cholesterol from your diet"
Alfred huffed, "No, that's the best part."
"Alfred, you need to cut down on the fats while you're still young so it doesn't become an issue later on."
"I'm not that bad, Dr. Yao."
"He eats McDonald's three times a week," Arthur blurted.
Alfred gasped, "Traitor!"
Dr. Yao smirked, "Alfred, you'll have to cut it down to once a week…at least."
Alfred pouted.
"It's not going to work, Alfred, you're going to have to listen for once."
"But-"
"No buts Alfred. You're going to stop eating so much junk food."
Alfred huffed, and mumbled an "okay".
~USUKUS~
Two weeks later, Arthur walked out of the local community center with a certificate certifying him in CPR. Alfred had given him the information for the classes locally in town. Arthur stared at the crisp piece of paper and smiled. Arthur couldn't help but feel somewhat accomplished. He was another step closer at being qualified for adoption. He looked at his watch and checked the time. It was about 2 o' clock and Alfred's last class ended at 2:45. If he left now, he would probably beat him home by about 15 minutes. That's when he heard his cell chirp in his back pocket. He pulled it out and checked the phone display.
From: Alfred
Sorry Artie, I have to watch over detention today. Laaammmmeee.
Of course it would be like Alfred to forget he had detention duty today.
From: Artie
It's okay, love. Have fun in detention.
He chucked, he knew that Alfred hated detention duty. He had gotten in trouble last time for playing cards with some of the students. His boss wasn't too happy when he found out and ended up berating him. He was given strict instructions for next time, "In detention there is no talking, texting, sleeping and definitely no having fun, Mr. Jones," as quoted by Alfred of course. On the other hand, it made Alfred the most popular detention teacher. Most of the kids would find out what days he had detention duty, so they knew when to sign up to serve their detention time.
From: Alfred
Haha, funny Artie. This going to be the longest 2 hours of my life, I swear to god.
From: Artie
You'll survive. You're an adult, start acting like one. Grade papers or something.
From: Alfred
Boooorrrriinnng.
From: Artie
Belt up, you git.
From: Alfred
Don't wanna and not gonna.
From: Artie
Ignoring your improper grammar, you are and you're going to like it mister.
From: Alfred
Ugh, okay. Still rather go home and snuggle with you ;)
A blush immediately spread across Arthur's face as he read the message. Before he could type anything, he got another message.
From: Alfred
You're blushing aren't you?
From: Artie
No, no I'm not.
From: Alfred
I could tell you about all the fun stuff we're doing tonight ;D and when I say fun stuff, I mean sex.
From: Artie
DON'T YOU DARE ALFRED. NO SEXTING DURING SCHOOL HOURS.
From: Alfred
You're no fun :(
From: Artie
You're right, I'm no fun, but I know that it's not the proper thing to do. You get fired for stuff like that you know.
From: Alfred
I guess Artie, I love you :
From: Artie
Love you too, dear. No go be a responsible adult and watch over those hooligans.
From: Alfred
Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say.
Arthur took this as an opportunity to go to the strip mall for a bite to eat at the local sandwich shop there. They surprisingly enough made a decent cup of tea. As he was parking the car, he noticed a small shop tucked away in the corner of the strip. It was a quaint little toy store. It must have been fairly new, for he hadn't noticed it before. He parked the car and made his way over toward the little shop. When he entered, he noticed the shelves surrounding the store were filled to the brim with all kinds of different toys, ranging from toy cars to dolls to model plans. The store pretty much had everything. Arthur made his way to the back of the store and spotted a whole wall dedicated to stuffed animals. The section had many different types of plushies: bears, dogs, cats and other assorted animals, but one in particularly caught his attention. There was a stuffed animal that wasn't quite like the rest. It was a mint green color, and looked like a bunny with wings. Arthur couldn't help but find it rather cute.
"May I help you find something?"
Arthur turned around to find a small Asian woman with long, dark brown hair with a pink flower pinned above her ear. She was wearing a matching pink dress.
"Oh, I was just looking at this plushie here."
She smiled, "That one is quite adorable, if I do say so myself. He is part of a line of magical creature toys. He was shipped in from Taiwan last week."
Arthur picked it up and examined it. He couldn't help but find the little eyes and the button nose utterly adorable.
"I'll take him."
"Great! I'll ring you up over here."
After Arthur purchased the plushie, he made his way over to the sandwich shop. He got a few looks as people noticed the plushie sitting in front of Arthur as he ate his turkey and Swiss sandwich and drank his cup of earl grey.
~USUKUS~
That following weekend, Arthur and Alfred found themselves driving back into the city to take the Foster Verification Classes. Angelique informed them that it would probably be easiest to come back out to Rochester for the weekend to take the two all day classes held in a place nearby the agency's office. Alfred was currently grading tests in the passenger's set.
"How are they looking dear?"
"Pretty good. Grades have improved from the last test."
"That's because they have a great teacher."
"Aww, shucks Artie. You're too kind. Did you suck up to all your teachers in school? I'm guessing you were quite the teacher's pet."
"Shut it, you git! No, I was not-"
"Yes you were, admit it."
"No, no I was wasn't!"
"Don't lie Artie, you were."
"I couldn't help it if they happen to take a liking to me."
"See you were!"
"I was not, but if I had you as a teacher, I might have been."
"Oh really?"
"Yes and I wouldn't have paid any attention in class, because I'd be too busy staring at your amazing arse."
Alfred made a mocking gasp, "I can't believe you! You would undress me with your eyes, in the middle of class!"
"Yes, yes I would."
Alfred laughed, "I actually had a crush on a teacher once. He was my Latin teacher. He was an Italian immigrant named Romulus. Most of us in the class would just call him Rome. Between his accent and his physique, I'm surprised I paid any attention at all. He was the sexiest teacher I ever had."
Arthur's eyes grew wide, "Really?"
Alfred giggled, "Yea, the weirdest part is I still see him everyone in awhile. Come to find out, he is Feliciano's grandfather. I knew he was old, but not that old. Though, he still looks good for his age."
Arthur laughed, "Now Alfred, don't go cheating on me with your old crush now…"
Alfred could help but bust into a fit of laughter, "Trust me, that's not going to happen. Besides, I'm now married to the sexiest person I know."
A furious blush appeared across Arthur's face. "Stop lying Alfred."
"I'm not lying. I'm being serious."
"Stop sucking up then."
"I'm not sucking up. I think everything about you is wonderful: your hair, your eyes, your hands, your back, your smile and even you eyebrows."
Arthur sat in the driver's seat, flabbergasted. "Th-thanks, I guess."
"No problem Artie, I'll tell you as much as you want!"
"Now you're just being cheesy, stop it."
He laughed, "You love it Artie."
Arthur could have sworn he hadn't stopped blushing in the last five minutes, "Mmm…maybe a little."
Alfred leaned over the center console and planted a kiss on Arthur's check. "You're adorable. I hope you know that. "
"Whatever. Just keep grading those papers so I don't have to hear your whining later."
"Yes dear."
~USUKUS~
The class went without a hitch. They had spent most of the time watching videos about kids in the adoption system and even had some guest speakers who were once part of the foster system themselves. They talked about their stories and experiences in the system and how they felt about the whole process. They participated in a few group exercises with other couples in the class. They were partnered with a couple named Berwald and Tino. At first, Arthur found Berwald a little intimidating. He had a hard gaze and he never smiled, but after talking to him and his partner, he warmed up to him. Alfred didn't seem to be fazed by Berwald's stoic demeanor and instantly started cheerfully chatting away with him. At one point, Arthur could have sworn he saw Berwald crack a smile at one of Alfred's jokes. It was sort of terrifying. Arthur found it easy to talk to Tino, for he was cheerful and always had a smile on his face. At the end of the class, they exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch and tell each other how their adoption process was going. They hoped to make plans to meet up in the future.
The next week brought the hardest part of their qualification process: the paperwork. There were tons to be look through and filled out. The worst part was the fifteen page questionnaire that seemed to ask the most personal questions that anyone has ever asked. How were you raised? How were you punished as a child? What was your family life like?This was more difficult than anything they faced so far, especially for Arthur. He didn't know how to respond to the questions in front of him; he had to be honest but he was afraid of what the truth might do to their chances. Arthur knew that he had a rough upbringing but he feared that it would raise some questions later during their evaluation period. He sat there all morning staring at the fifteen page questionnaire, contemplating how he was going to answer the questions in front of him. He had not been able to properly answer a single question and it was making him frustrated. The longer he sat there, the more irritated he became. Alfred slipped into the kitchen to find Arthur hunched over the stack of papers with one hand in his mop of hair and another tightly clasped around a cup full of Irish breakfast tea. "What you doing sweetheart?" Alfred asked.
"Trying to answer these bloody questions, though I don't understand why they have to delve so deep into our personal lives. They are rather intrusive."
"Have you gotten to the questions about our sex life yet?"
"Huh, what?" Arthur yelped, "Why in god's name would they need to know about that?"
Alfred laughed, "Chillax Artie, it's fine. Just answer the questions."
"Well that's easy for you to say."
"Arthur, you'll be fine."
"I've told you about my childhood, Alfred. That won't look so good on paper."
Alfred paused and looked down at the table, "Yea, you've told me, but you still shouldn't worry so much."
"They are looking for people who've had a happy, cheery, Brady-esque upbringing, not someone whose mother walked out when they were three and whose father was a drunk most of their life."
"Artie, as long as you explain to them that you understand that you had a rough childhood, there should be nothing to worry about."
"But what if they do care, Alfred?"
"Artie," Alfred leaned down behind Arthur and wrapped his arms around his waist, placing his cheek on the top of his head, "Everything will be okay, I promise. They just don't disqualify a person for anything. There would have to be a good reason. They're not looking for perfect parents, just those who will strive to do the best they can."
Art sighed, "I guess you're right. Still not happy about this, but alright."
"Aww Artie, take it as a good thing. At least they care about who they give these kids away to."
"That's true, I guess."
Oscar jumped on the table and started rubbing himself against Arthur's forearm. Bear tried to follow suit but in the process of jumping onto the chair to get to the table, he missed and crashed to the floor. Arthur and burst into a fit of laughter. Alfred eventually checked to see if he was alright, after he was able to catch his breath. He scooped up Bear into his arms and gently patted his head, trying to soothe him.
"You're cat is fat Alfred, you need to start thinking about putting him on a diet."
"Aww Artie, talk about insult to injury. He just fell on his face, now you're telling him he's fat and needs to lose weight."
"Then at least stop feeding him table scraps."
Alfred gasped, "Now that's too cruel!"
"He's not supposed to be eating that stuff anyway!"
Alfred looked down at the pitiful cat in his arms, "See what he is trying to do. He's trying to starve you."
Arthur rolled his eyes, "And you tell me I spoil Oscar."
"I thought you said 'no cats on the kitchen table' or something along those lines before."
"I did, but Oscar is only trying to comfort me in my stressful situation."
"Yea, yea whatever Artie. Now get him off the table and get back to work on that questionnaire."
"Yes Coach Jones."
"Haha, funny. Don't make me send you to the principal's office Arthur. Better yet, I'll make you serve after school detention, in myoffice."
Arthur smirked, "Oh really? What are you going to make me do in this so called 'after school detention' Coach Jones?"
"If you finish that questionnaire, maybe you'll find out."
Arthur finished the questionnaire in less than an hour.
A/N: "Friends in Adoption" is a real place in Rochester, NY and most of the information is real. Though, I did make up a lot of it. This is pretty much what an actual adoption looks like. Hopefully, I will have the third chapter out by the 24th, maybe even earlier if I push myself.
Oh and Angelique is Seychelles, the Asian shopkeeper is Taiwan, Dr. Yao is China, and of course Berwald and Tino are Sweden and Finland.
OH AND PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU CAN - the good, the bad, and the ugly I don't care.