Time went on. Otabek made sure that Yuri got to his exam on time. Viktor and Yuuri had a lovely time up in the mountains. Instagram was flooded with pictures of the two newlyweds looking love sick. When they got back training resumed in full force now that Yuri was done school. There was a very tearful goodbye at the airport as Otabek prepared to go back to Kazakhstan to prepare for the season. This season was a big one as the Olympics were to take place in February. That meant that there was a lot of prep work to do. Their competitions were all one after the other. Although because of their scores from the last season they got a free ride to the Team Canada figure skating team! Skate Canada was happy to have them. They were an asset to the team. Anything to kick America's butt. They were training and like crazy, and all three of them were thinking of gala programs. They decided to keep it simple so that they could pull out all the stops at the Olympics.
This day was one of their rare days off. Yuri had been whisked away by his friends to go shopping and to get poutine. Yuuri and Viktor decided to go explore the downtown area. They wanted to take a look at Steven Avenue, a pedestrian only walking road. It was a lovely afternoon. The sun was out after days of rain and tornado warnings. Yuuri and Viktor walked side by side, hand in hand, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. There were flowers everywhere and bright shops lined the streets. It reminded Yuuri a bit of back home, but with more noise.
They were making their way down First Street when their life made another new turn. As they passed an alleyway Viktor and Yuuri heard a large crash. They turned to the direction of the sound and saw a trashcan lid roll across the alley. Viktor and Yuuri looked at each other and began to walk towards the noise. It was probably a lost dog that needed help. Viktor rounded the corner of a large bin and was confronted with one of the saddest sights he had ever seen. Huddled on the dirty ground was a small child looking to be no more than 5. Their hair was shoulder length and so caked in mud that it was impossible to tell what colour it was. The child was clad in dirty shorts and a tee-shirt. They were crying their eyes out. Viktor and Yuuri didn't know what to do, so they tried their best to comfort the child.
"Hey little one, where're your parents?" asked Viktor. The child looked up at the duo with bright blue eyes full of tears. They shook their head no and continued crying.
"Sweetie, do you think you could tell us your name?" Yuuri crouched down next to the child.
"I don't know!" wailed the child. They cried even harder. Yuuri continued to ask questions.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" They shook their head no.
"Here why don't we take you to some people who can help you? Theirs a police station at the end of the street. They're always there to help out." Suggested Viktor. The child nodded their head and whispered: "peas don't leave me." Before launching themselves at Yuuri and gripping his shirt tightly. The two men looked at each other in dismay. Who would just leave their child out on the street like this? Yuuri picked up the child him his arms and they began to walk to the station. When they arrived they walked up to the front desk.
"Hello gentlemen, how may I help you today?"
"We need your help officer. We were walking and we heard a crash in the alleyway just down the block. When we went to investigate we found this child crying alone. Since you were so close we decided to bring them here." Explained Yuuri.
"Thank you for bringing the child here. I'll have dispatch contact CFS and have them come over here. In the meantime how about we take the child to the back room. It's quieter and we can check for injuries." The officer led them to a room in the back with comfy chairs and a small table with a lamp.
"I'm Officer Maria Shelly by the way. Thank you once again for stepping in to help. We need more people like you two. What are your names by the way?"
"Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov"
"Viktor Katsuki-Nikiforov"
They all sat down with the child still clinging to Yuuri with no signs of letting go. Officer Shelly kneeled down so that she was at the same height that the child was at.
"Hey there sweetie. Do you think you can tell me your name?"
"Don't have one."
"You don't have one! Well, that's ok. We can all think of a really good one alright. Do you know how old you are or when your birthday is?"
The child held up 4 fingers and said "June 30th" really quietly. The whole time clinging to Yuuri while he rubbed her back. The whole while Officer Shelly was taking notes.
"Do you think you could let me check you for any booboos? You don't have to leave Yuuri's lap ok." The child turned around to face Officer Shelly while Yuuri and Viktor held their hands. Officer Shelly checked their arms and legs for major injuries. When she got to poking their belly the child began to giggle. That made everyone smile.
"Well, it looks like you don't have any big booboos. That's very good. Have you thought of a name yet?" The child shook their head vigorously.
"What did you think of?" smiled Viktor
"Alex!" shouted the child.
"Alexandra is a good name." commented Officer Shelly.
"No! Not Alexandra! That's a girl's name!" shouted Alex.
"Sorry, Alexander."
"No! That's a boy's name! Just Alex!"
"Well just Alex, Do you have girl parts or boy parts?" asked Shelly
"Girl, but I'm not a girl. I'm just me!" chirped Alex. Officer Shelly looked a bit confused. Yuuri and Viktor understood exactly what was going on.
"It's good that you just want to be yourself Alex. Hey Alex, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I be diiiiiiiiiis big!" Alex stretched their arms out as big as they could go. Yuuri and Viktor continued to entertain Alex while Officer Shelly went to go greet the child protection officer. When they entered the room, Alex became shy and hid into Yuuri's chest.
"Thank you for finding this young girl and bringing her to get help. It is much appreciated. If you could just pass her over here we can take over from here." The officer motion to grab Alex and they immediately began to cry and thrash around.
"No No No no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" screamed Alex. They gripped Yuuri tighter and they all had to take a break to allow Alex to calm down.
"Alex," began Viktor, "Why don't you want to go with the nice officer?"
"I want to stay with you. You understand me."
The four adults in the room looked at each other. The protection officer took out some official looking paper and a pen and looked to the couple.
"Do you two happen to have any experience with children?"
"Yes we do." Answered Yuuri. "We have a son who's 16 and we teach at the skating rink in Shawnessy."
"Pull up their file. If they teach they'll be in the system." Said the officer to Shelly. The officer began to question about their home life and jobs. Yuuri and Viktor answered the best they could. They could sense what was going on and Yuuri was beginning to get anxious. Were they really ready for another kid? Sure they had Yuri but he had pretty self-sufficient. Alex was still young and would depend on them for most things. Yuuri tried his best to stay as calm as possible. Alex could feel that something was up and gave Yuuri a big hug and cuddles up close.
"Something I've come to understand in my years of work is that children can be incredibly perceptive. They instinctively know who they can trust. I think you would be great candidates for a foster to adoption. We have no record of Alex even being born or who her parents are."
"Their." Piped up Yuuri
"Excuse me?"
"Their parents. Alex has expressed to us that they don't feel like a girl or a boy. We should respect that. Even though Alex is still young, they know about who they are. Alex deserves the same respect that people give adults of the same situation." Viktor looked a Yuuri and fell even more in love.
"You seem to know what you're talking about."
"Our son is trans. We love him just the same and treat him as any other teenage boy." Piped in Viktor. The officer turned to Alex and said: "Well it seems that we've found you a family Alex." Alex just curled up closer to Yuuri. "We just need your help filling out this paperwork and then you can take Alex home to have a bath." Viktor and Yuuri looked at each other. Well, it would seem that their little family was about to grow by one more. They all worked together to fill out the papers which included a new birth certificate for Alex. Alex Jordan Katsuki-Nikiforov. A big name for such a small child.
"Well now that we've got all the paperwork out of the way you three can go. We'll keep in touch and expect a home visit in the next week." Viktor and Yuuri thanked the Officer and Officer Shell for all that they had done to help Alex before walking back to their car. They had to stop at a children's store to get Alex some new clothes and a car seat. On the way, Viktor drove while Yuuri texted Yuri to tell him that they were on their way to pick him up from Samantha's place. They decided the keep Alex a secret.
They drove up to the house and Viktor honked the horn. They could hear Yuri shout "See ya guys later!" before running out to the car.
"Yuri! We have a surprise!" exclaimed Viktor "Yuri meet Alex. Alex is going to be living with us now." Yuri looked wide-eyed but smiled at Alex and got into the car next to them.
"Hi Alex. My name is Yuri. I guess I'm your brother now." Alex smiled as they drove back home. Yuri ran up to his room to tell Otabek what had just happened while Viktor and Yuuri wrangled the four year old into the bath. Once Alex was clean they could see that they had hair like Yuri's. They took them out of the bath and got them into some nice warn PJ's. They walked down the hall to the room next to Yuri's and opened the door.
"This is your room Alex. We'll go out tomorrow to get you some new sheets and toys and you can even pick out what colour you want the walls." Said Viktor
"Really?! All for me!"
"Yes, all for you." Yuuri picked Alex up and swung her around. Yuuri and Viktor brought Alex downstairs to make dinner. They had decided on a light stir-fry. Once it was done they all set the table and Viktor called Yuri down for dinner. They all ate together with Alex asking many questions. It didn't take long for Alex to tire out and start to nod off during dinner. Yuuri carried them up to bed before joining his boys back downstairs.
"So, would one of you guys care to explain what is going on?"
"Well…" So Viktor and Yuuri began to explain what had happened, and how Alex would be staying with them now.
"Wait… so I'm not an only child anymore!? This is so cool!"
"Don't post anything yet." Said Viktor "We want to keep it on the down low until we get the final papers signed."
"Fine, well I'm gunna go talk to Beka for a bit." And with that Yuri excused himself and left Viktor and Yuuri in the living room. Yuuri let out a shaky sigh and leaned against Viktor. Viktor held him close as Yuuri began to panic.
"Viktor, what did we get ourselves into?"
"It's ok Yuuri love. We don't need to be perfect parents. All we need to do is show Alex that we love them and we care. You stood up for them earlier. That's what counts. We can do this Yuuri. I love you some much. We can do this, together." Yuuri curled up closer to Viktor as they sat in silence on the couch. Yuuri was still very worried, but he knew that as long as Viktor was by his side he could manage.
Hey peeps! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wanted to grow their little family for a while. I know that the situation is not realistic but still… Well I worked hard on this so I hope you enjoyed it! -Shadows