A few days passed and Miko bet up with Rafael in a quiet spot to talk
"So Raf, how is your family?" Miko asked
"Fine" Raf replied "why…?"
"Curious, I saw Jo today, why didn't you say she was Asian"
Raf groaned things were coming unraveled. He would yell at Jo if she told Miko, Jo knew that Raf didn't want them to know.
"We're not actually related"
"How did that happen?" Miko wondered curiously "was one of you adopted perhaps"
"No, I live in a foster home!" Rafael practically yelled which completely floored Miko
"Why didn't you tell us?" Miko asked
"I'm not proud of it, Miko" Raf replied getting hostile with the Japanese teen
"Miko Nakadai, what is wrong with you?" Jack demanded
"She found out that I've been omitting details about my family" Raf sighed
"What kind of details, and you stay out of this Miko"
"They aren't my actual family, just a foster family" Raf sighed looking away from the older boy
"Raf, why didn't you tell us?" Jack asked bringing himself to Raf's level
"Because… I didn't want pity, I want real friends and I figured if I told you now you wouldn't trust me anymore"
"Raf, just because you live in a foster home doesn't mean we see you any different" Jack said "you're still the same genius we've always known, right Miko?"
Miko nodded
"Bumblebee already knows about this but he promised he wouldn't tell. So far I think he's kept his word"
"Promised he wouldn't tell what?"
Rafael froze it was Optimus
"What secret has my scout been keeping?" Optimus asked
"You won't be too angry with him, will you?" Raf asked
"No Rafael, Bumblebee knows what secrets he can keep and what he needs to report to me"
"Well my family, we're not really related to me"
"You were adopted" Optimus assumed
"I wish" Raf said dejectedly "I actually live in a foster home"
"While I wish that you had felt you could be honest with us I understand that here on Earth there are many stigmatisms associated with your current situation. Some of them are true and some are not… the problem is it's hard to tell the difference"
"I didn't want pity, I wanted to know that people wanted to be around me because they liked me not because they felt sorry for me" Raf sighed
Optimus felt a pang in his spark, the way Raf spoke made him think that had occurred prior that he had been presented with the situation of having false friends that only put up with him because of pity.
"I have one person outside of this base I think of as real family, her name is Jo Pak. I… I want to tell her about Bumblebee and all of you but I can't tell her. I don't like lying to Jo, I've told her everything until now and you don't know how hard it is for me to keep this lie in place"
Optimus sighed, as much as he didn't want to involve another human he realized that this secret had been eating at Rafael for too long already
"If you believe Miss Pak to be completely trustworthy then you may tell her of us and bring her here to meet the others that you consider your family."
June sighed as she looked at Rafael's photo. Jo's words lingered in June's mind and broke her heart. Raf knew that it wasn't likely for him to get adopted and he did everything to hide that fact due to the fact that kids treated him like he needed pity because of it. June smiled as she held the picture to her heart; she knew what she was going to do.
Jo sighed then smiled at her brother's enthusiasm
"Raf what are we waiting for?" she asked
"You'll see" Raf replied practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as the yellow and black muscle car pulled up
"Raf, who is driving this car…?"
"Bee doesn't need a driver" Rafael laughed as Bumblebee beeped out a greeting
"He says he's happy to meet you"
"I'll take your word for it" Jo paused "so this is a talking car that drives itself"
"Bee is so much more than that"
Bumblebee transformed and Jo's jaw dropped
"Jojo, are you okay?" Raf asked
"Yes, I'm fine, Rafael… is he the only one?"
"No, he's just the youngest, kind of like me at our house" Raf shrugged
"Where are these others?" Jo asked as Bumblebee returned to vehicle mode
"Get in, I'll introduce you to the others" Raf said
"Do they actually…"
"Yeah they talk, Bee would too, but his vocal processor was damaged beyond repair"
Jo got in the car with Rafael and they started towards the Autobot base.
"Are you sure he knows where he's going?"
"We've made this trip hundreds of times, Jojo" Raf laughed slightly "Look to your right, that motorcycle is another Autobot"
"Really…"
"Yeah, her name is Arcee"
"Isn't that Jack Darby?" Jo asked as the teen on the bike looked over at them
"Yeah, that's Jack" Raf replied
They got inside and the first bot Jo saw was Optimus Prime.
"Welcome, Jo, I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots"
"Thank you for allowing me in" Jo smiled as she followed Rafael onto the Platform
"This is Ratchet and Bulkhead. I assume by the greetings you know Jack and Miko" Optimus observed
"I've met Jack in passing a few times at school and I know Miko more by reputation than anything else if that makes sense"
"So she has a reputation outside of us, why am I not surprised" Arcee stated completely unsurprised by what Jo had said
"Yep, she's actually considered quite the troublemaker around school"
"No I'm not" Miko protested
"Um… let's see last Tuesday you cut out of detention early and the week before that you tried to get in on a stink bomb prank" Jo said "I don't forget so I can continue if you like"
"Preposterous, everyone forgets things" Ratchet snapped
"No, I really don't forget; I can't, it's a memory condition often referred to as Superior Autobiographical Memory; it is extremely rare. There are only six confirmed cases in the world" Jo explained
"Impressive, I searched that term as you were explaining it and it is real… like you said extremely rare, but it is real and is being studied by universities around the country to try to figure out its origins" Ratchet said
"So… how old were you when you met Raf the first time, and how old was he?" Miko asked
Jo first looked at Rafael then replied, "I was eight years old. It was two weeks after my birthday so he hadn't quite turned four years old, his birthday is two months after mine"
"Wow, she does remember everything" Miko retorted
June watched as Jo interacted with Raf, Miko and Jack. She was a wonderful girl and it was surprising to June that Jo hadn't been adopted. She wondered if Jo's memory might have something to do with her not being adopted
Jo spent quite a while getting to know the bots and kids, she then turned to June
"Mrs. Darby, if you have a question just ask"
"I'm trying to figure out why you stayed in the system all this time, you're a great girl seem to get along with everyone"
Jo sighed "A bit of it is my memory condition, but most of it was I was seven when I came into the system and right around my thirteenth birthday I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, we beat it that time. Then on my fifteenth birthday I relapsed. I am considered in remission right now, but a third relapse would mean I would need a bone marrow transplant" Jo explained
June's expression softened as she placed her hands on Jo's shoulders
"I'm okay Mrs. Darby" Jo replied "It's been two years now and besides Mrs. Garza said she would help me however she could"
June smiled slightly as Jo explained her situation in a way that would soothe her worries. She then looked at Rafael. He had told her about his situation. He didn't know she already knew and she felt it was best that he think he was the one that told her. She already had it in her mind and heart what she was going to do the last thing she needed to do before starting the paperwork was tell Jack.
June went home and began to prepare herself to let Jack in on her plan.
Jack arrived home that evening and left Arcee to rest in the garage, he figured after all that happened that day she'd fall into recharge pretty quickly. He figured he would have his dinner finish up that last bit of homework then go to bed. Then he noticed that his mom had made a special meal
"Mom, what's going on?" he asked
"Jack, I have some news. I know I acted like I just found out about Rafael, but I've known for several days and after a lot of thought I've made a decision" June paused "I want to adopt Rafael"
To Be Continued…