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Chapter 18: Adoption Plans

A few days later, Ned was thinking about taking Jonah, Hawk, Cyrus, Sam and Travis in the McDodd household and adopt them there. He's hoping that they'll be in a much safer, calm and happier household. Ned made a good decision to fire Paul from City Hall after witnessing beating up his stepsons...twice. He suddenly got a call from Sally on the phone as he picks up and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, honey. I may have found the solution to adopt them." Sally said.

"You did? How?"

"A social worker."

Ned froze for a bit and asked, "A social worker?"

"Yes. One of my friends from college is actually a social worker and I told her the story of these boys and she was gonna help bring them in for adoption."

"I don't think we can afford a social worker, Sal."

"Well, she said it won't cost much. She's gonna do everything we can to help these boys out."

Ned sighed heavily that Sally hired a social worker to help out with the adoption process, but he realized that he's doing this for the sake of the kids, because they don't want them to be scared and live in fear forever. He took a deep breath and said, "Okay. I'll give this social worker a shot."

"Thanks, Neddie."

A few hours later, Sally came home with her old college friend, who's a social worker, dark brown and light brown striped fur, wears a trenchcoat, a blue and purple dress, a little taller, brown eyes, has dark black hair and wears a gold earring, coming in the house. Sally sat down with Ned as the social worker sat down and she introduced her to him.

"This is my husband, Ned McDodd. Ned, this is Andrea Harmond."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Harmond."

"Nice meeting you as well. You know, Sally has told me a few things about you."

"Like what?"

"You're the mayor of Whoville."

"Yes, indeedy I am."

"And then, she said you both have 97 children."

"Yes, that's right."

"Are they all adopted or birth?"

"Birth." they both answered.

"Perfect. Well, tell me about those five boys."

"Well, there's Jonah, Sam, Cyrus, Hawk and Travis Mosley. They live across the street from us, about five and a half minutes from us."

"Are there any issues there?"

Ned clears his throat and said, "Their stepfather, Paul, constantly harms these kids. Emotionally, metally and physically, he abuses them and they live in constant fear because he wanted their 'respect' towards him."

"I see. How often does he harm them?"

"Everyday." Sally answered.

"Me and my son Jojo, dropped them off one night and as soon as we were about to head home, we heard some arguing and loud noises coming from behind and we wanted to see what it was and in our eyes, we saw these kids being harmed, beatings, bruises, throwing furniture at them, punches. It was horrible to actually see that."

Andrea took some notes to sort of keep in track of what they're saying. Then, she asked, "How old are they?'

"Well, the first two are twins and they're 15 and the others are triplets and they're 14."

"Names?"

"Jonah Mosley, Cyrus Mosley, Sam Mosley, Hawk Mosley and Travis Mosley."

"And you want to adopt them?"

"Yes, we do. Cause we wanted to have a bigger family, anyways." Sally said.

"What number were you planning on going to?"

"Probably about 105 or 110."

"That's a lot. Well, if you can just tell me where they live and I'll interview all five of them."

"How about we bring them here?" asked Ned.

"Bring them here, Ned?"

"Well, Jojo's taking them over to our house anyway for a little visit."

"Sounds like a great opportunity."

"Would you like anything, Ms. Harmond?"

"Yes, I would like some water, please."

"Of course."

He stands up and walks to the kitchen to get some water. As soon as he left, Andrea takes off her glasses and Sally asked, "So, how've you been, Andrea?"

"Pretty good, Sally. How'd you ever meet up with Ned?" asked Andrea.

"Well, we met in high school. He was a junior and I was a sophomore. There was something about him that I liked, but he seemed so weird. Plus, he makes me laugh at times."

"Who would've thought that my roomate ever ended up with a husband that could end up being mayor here? I always knew you could find someone this great."

"Anyways, thanks again for setting me up on that blind date to meet him again while I was in college. It seemed like the worst date, but it actually turned out great."

"Like I told you, you'll thank me for this."

Ned returned to the living room with a glass of water and he hands it over to Andrea. She grabs the glass and said, "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome."

As Ned sat down, he looks at Andrea's brown eyes and in a strange way, he seemed familiarized. He asked, "Not to be rude or anything, but have I seen you before?"

"Whoville University?"

Then, Ned was surprised and asked, "Drea?"

"It's An-drea now."

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

"I see you haven't changed a bit. How've you been?"

"Great. I can still remember that blind date you set up with me while we were in college."

"Well, I wanted you guys to reunite again."

"There was something special between us, right?"

"Yeah, there is."

"So, what's with having 97 kids? Seems as though you seemed very busy lately."

"We wanted a big family and now we have a bigger family-to adopt, of course."

Then, the door opens and in comes Jojo and the rest-Jonah, Cyrus, Sam, Travis and Hawk- in the house. As soon as they came in, Ned called out his name and Jojo comes in the living room along with them. He asked, "What's up, dad?"

"Jojo, this is Ms. Andrea Harmond. Andrea, this is our son, Jojo."

He looks at her and said, "Nice to meet you."

"The same to you. Are you the only boy?"

"Pretty much. I have 96 sisters, so I'm the oldest."

"And these are-"

"That's Jonah, Travis, Sam, Hawk and Cyrus Mosley."

"Great! They're just the five I need to see."

"What for?" asked Jonah.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. McDodd came up with an idea that they should take you in their house to live with them."

They all froze and most of them were surprised at this. Jonah looked at Jojo and said, "Your parents are gonna...take us in?"

"Well, yeah. This means we could be brothers."

Jonah chuckled and said, "I have no idea what to say."

"Well, I'm gonna have to interview you five, though. If that's all right with you."

"Definitely."

Jonah was up first to interview them as Andrea asks some questions for him. She asks, "What's your whole name?"

"Jonah Patrick Mosley."

"And how old are you?"

"15."

"How long have you lived in Whoville?"

"A week. We just moved in from Whereville."

"Do you live with anyone?"

"Just me and my brothers and our stepfather, Paul."

"Do you have any parents?"

"Both my mom and dad are dead."

"Sorry to hear that. Reasons?"

"My dad died of a heart attack and my mom was killed by our stepfather."

"How long ago?"

"My dad died when I was 9 or 10 and our mom died when I was almost 11. It was terrifying. Being able to witness it is horrible, even when you're a kid."

"How often does your stepdad beat you?"

"Everyday. It started when my mom was dating him when we were younger, but it turned sour and violent. There were fights every night and sometimes, I would be scared to go to sleep at night, because I was afraid that Paul would come in and hurt me. When she broke up with him, he didn't take it well and she couldn't stand getting abused and us getting abused as well. After they got married, the abuse continues and...it ended up with my mom being shot by our stepdad. We actually witnessed it and it was horrible and terrible. After that, he took out all his anger on all of us. We were the victims of his 'stress reliever'."

"Whas was your fear?"

"Being killed by him. We all were terrified of him and we tried to respect him, but in his case, it wasn't good enough. Then, he pressured me into doing sports when I know I have no need to, because I want to do music and songwriting."

"How often do you write?"

"Everytime I get mad, depressed, sad and stuff. It just gives me a way to let out all my feelings on paper instead of screaming."

"Were you scared if anything happened to you?"

"Yeah, I was scared of him, as also my brothers. I was scared if something bad happened to me and I was also scared for my brothers. I'm the oldest and I wanted to look out for them as much as I can."

Then, it was Cyrus' turn to take the stand. Andrea asked him, "What's your full name?"

"Jacob Cyrus Mosley. I like to keep 'Cyrus', because I don't like the name 'Jacob' so I decided to use 'Cyrus'. My brothers like to call me 'Cyrus' all the time." Cyrus replied.

"How often are you friends with Jojo?"

"We've been very good friends since we moved in here the past week. We go to school together and that's pretty much it."

"What's your age?"

"15."

"If you were adopted here, how would you and your brothers feel?"

"Happy, because living with Paul is a total nightmare for all of us. We've been through this road for a number of years. The road of abuse."

"Does he abuse you?"

"Mostly. Only when he takes it out on us. I see him take it out on Jonah and it scares me."

"What kind of things he would do to harm you?"

"Crowbar, furniture, his hands-whatever he could use. Push and shove us to the wall and throw us across the room further as he could."

"Do you feel hate towards him?"

"Everyday. Huge hate. We hated being abused by him. And I think Travis has had a fear of Paul and he was scared for Jonah, because in a strange way, he relies on him a lot, because he's the sensitive one of the triplets."

"How do you deal with it?"

"We just let it all out...without Paul seeing it. We just let it out in private."

Sam was up next for the interview. He sits down and Andrea asked him, "What's your full name?"

"Samuel Curtis Mosley. My brothers call me 'Sam', 'Sammy' or 'Samson', but mostly, 'Sam'."

"How old are you?"

"14."

"How close are you to your brothers?"

"Very close, but of course. You get a little bit of sibling rivalry at some times. But, when we're around Paul, we're in constant fear and we just try to respect him, because he can sense fear from a mile away."

"How does he sense it?"

"Our emotions. When he sees us being scared, he just yells at us and slaps our faces so hard."

"Do you ever wish you can stop it?"

"At times I would, but if I do, then he would be totally mad at us after dealing with a tough day. I'm not so sure what's the cause of it was anyway."

"What do you do when this happens?"

"I hide in my room, cry a few times and also write songs about it. It just helps to let it all out."

"Was it hard to see your brothers take a beating?"

"Definitely hard. Jonah was the one he takes out his anger on, him and sometimes Travis. I was not only scared for Jonah, but for Travis as well. Travis is the youngest of the triplets and somewhat the 'baby' of the bunch."

"If you were a father, would you break the cycle?"

"Yeah, I would. I would never do the same thing to my kids or stepkids the same way Paul did it to us. I don't want them to be afraid of me."

Hawk was up next to take part of the interview as he sat down. Andrea looks at him and asked, "Nervous?"

"Kinda."

"Full name, please."

"Daniel Hawk Mosley. My mom gave me the middle name when I was born, and as I got older, I decided to use my middle name rather than my first name and my brothers call me 'Hawk' and it stuck."

"What's the story behind that name?"

"My mom said I have eyes like a hawk."

"Fair enough. What was your impression of Paul when you first saw him?"

"Well, Paul was kinda tough and somewhat like a scary dude, like he wants a piece of us."

"Explain that, please."

"I can tell by the look from his eyes like he wants us to be scared of him. And he can sense fear from us kids and he wants us to swallow it, but looking at him, it's kinda hard to do that."

"Did you know that it was a bad idea to have him as a stepfather?"

"I was so young, but I had a gut feeling that he might harm us, intentionally. But as soon as they got married, that fear definitely came true. There was arguing, fights, screaming every night while we were sleeping. I was the one waking up to that every night and it just scared me to death. And at that point, I knew from there that having him as my mom's boyfriend was a bad idea from the start."

"Does he disapprove of you?"

"Our personalities he definitely disapprove. We're not trying to be someone we're not. We're just being oursevles, cause it's all we are."

"How old are you?"

"14."

"Are you musically involved?"

"My mom used to teach us guitar and piano when we were young, I think about 5 or 6. And we also learned how to write songs when we were about 11, I guess. It's a good way to release your inner frustrations, sorrow and sadness by song."

"How does it feel, your songwriting?"

"Makes us feel better after that. It's better than keeping it bottling up inside for a short time."

Finally, Travis was the last one to do the interview as he sits down on the chair. He seemed kinda nervous and Andrea asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm a little frightened right now." Travis replied.

"Don't be scared. Full name, please?"

Travis gulped hard and replied, "Travis Ryan Mosley."

"How old are you?"

"14."

"And you're the last born of the family."

"Yeah and also the third of the triplets. It's kinda weird, but it helps, anyway."

"So, you're the sensitive of the bunch?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"How do you feel towards Paul?"

"Scared. Like something bad might happen to all of us, especially me."

"Why?"

"Like I'm afraid that I might not live to see tomorrow."

"How does your personality affects everyone else?"

"My brothers were kinda used to it, but my stepfather...not so much. He would often verbally abuse, threaten me with serious harm, and physically hurt me. It's like a wound that's in my heart what won't be healed."

"Do you often put in a brave face?"

"Not really. I'm basically a loner, an outcast."

"Do you feel a sense of protection between your brothers?"

"Jonah. I always look up to him and he's like the best brother I ever had in my life and often times, I would be so scared for him when Paul takes out his anger on him. Whenever I hear Jonah scream and see Paul take him down, I just feel so afraid that he might kill him. I would scream, but Paul would beat me up if I did."

Travis' eyes were filled with tears and he tried to wipe them away, because it was all too much for him to take. He looked up at Andrea and said, "Sorry."

"It's okay." she whispered.

"You know, since the tragedy between losing both my mom and dad, I grew into a very deep part of depression and I grieve over this every single day. When I see their faces, I would just break down in tears, curl myself in a little ball and just let it out."

"So, you're a lonely person?"

"Well, sometimes. But yeah. I can get lonely sometimes when I'm alone. I've been dealt with being an outcast in school and stuff. It was hard to deal with moving on when my parents died and all I got is my abusive stepfather and there were days when I thought why is he in our lives, anyway and 'why are we stuck with him?'. And making new friends is sometimes harder to do, because I'm used to loneliness and they wouldn't want a dark cloud like me for a friend."

"Do you get bullied often?"

"Yeah, me and my brothers get bullied back in Whereville. In middle school, I was an 'emo' freak, because I look and dress and act like one, when I'm only being myself. I've had some 14-year old girls make fun of me and say that I could just 'kill myself'. You have no idea how hard it is to actually hear that and to have them call you a 'loser', 'nobody', 'piece of crap' and throw you in a trash heap."

"Do you tell anyone about it?"

"I remember going to Paul one time to vent about it, but he just shoved me away. I was crying and he didn't want to hear about it. So, he just slapped me in the face and kicked me out of the room. I ended up sulking in my room and just crying. It was the only way I can deal with it on my own, so I kept it to myself, cause I knew that nobody would care."

"What would happen if you and your brothers would actually live here?"

"I think it would be a great thing, because it's been a heavy burden for all of us, so to live in a safe environment like this would mean a lot to us."

"You're one of the most sensitive people I've known."

"Yeah, I am."

Shortly after, Ned, Sally and Jojo went in the living room with Andrea as she went out of the door and she said, "Thank you for letting me come here."

"You're welcome. So, what do we do? I mean, how long are we gonna hear from you?" Ned asked.

"Not too long. As soon as I print up the adoption papers later this week, I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks."

"Nice meeting you again. Take care of yourself."

"You too."

She turned her attention on Jojo and said, "It was nice meeting you."

"Nice to meet you, too." Jojo said.

Then, she looked at the boys and said, "You guys were amazing with my questions and I hope things will go smoothly for you."

"We hope so." Jonah said.

When she walked out, Jonah and the others were starting to head for home. Jonah turned to Jojo and said, "See you in school tomorrow."

"Bye, guys."

They walked out of the McDodd house, feeling a sense of hope that they'll get away from Paul and get into the McDodd house where they can bea part of a huge family.

Looks like this is gonna be cool. You know who's not gonna be cool about it? You guessed it, Paul. The reaction...until next chapter!