The next day at lunch Jason was waiting for them at the table they had claimed.
"Well?" Alfred asked, anxious to hear what had happened.
"They said yes."
Both boys cheered and Alfred hugged him tightly, giving him a hard kiss.
"Thank you, Jason! Thank you so much!"
"When they heard that your dads had been put in jail and you all in an orphanage, they agreed immediately. They offered to take all of you actually…"
Alfred started to say something but Matthew cut him off.
"That was very kind of them," he started. "But we can manage. We were only worried about Chelle since she is so young and alone. We don't want to put your parents out after all."
The boy nodded.
"Okay. We're going to go after swim practice lets out and pick her up."
Leaning close to him, Alfred put a hand on Jason's stomach and felt his abs.
"Well you need to keep those swimmers' abs," he whispered with a smirk and kissed him.
Quickly getting uncomfortable, Matthew looked away and tried to ignore them.
As they were walking home Alfred was carrying Chelle.
"Hey Chellie, guess what?"
"What, Al?"
"Do you remember Jason?"
She nodded sleepily.
"Yeah. He's your boyfriend."
"Uh huh. He goes to Mattie's and my school. Do you know what he did?"
She shook her head, starting to drift off.
"He talked to his parents and they're going to adopt you!"
"What?!" she cried out, waking up instantly. "But I don't wanna be adopted! I wanna stay with you and Mattie and Peter and Steven! I wanna be with Daddy and Papa!"
Alfred moved her gently off his back and into his arms.
"I know Chellie, but Daddy and Papa can't get to us right now and all of us can't even spend time with you. Jason's mommy and daddy will take you in and be nice. Don't worry. You'll still get to see Steven at school and it will only be for a little bit. It won't for forever." Her eyes teared up and he hugged her. "I know you don't like it but we wouldn't do this if we didn't think it would be good for you. We love you."
"I know Alfie…" she replied, sadly.
That evening at six o'clock a car pulled into the driveway of the orphanage causing a stir.
"Everyone be on your best behavior and I might actually be able to get rid of one or two of you little brats!" the woman yelled as she ran to wait by the door.
Outside Jason got out of the backseat of the car while his mother and father stepped out of the front. They walked up the shabby walk to the front door and pressed the button on the crumbling wall.
"They're living /here/?" Jason's mother asked in shock putting her hand over her chest and staring at the dilapidated old building. "And we can't take them all away?"
"Yes, Mom," Jason replied. "And no. They're just worried about getting Chelle out of this place."
His mother sighed.
"Fine."
The door was pulled open then and the woman who ran the orphanage welcomed them, showing them to the office.
"Hello there! Welcome to Mother Gertrude's Home for Needy Children! Can I help you find a child or are you dropping off this one?"
"We are here to find our boy a little sister," his mother said with a big fake smile. "Do you have any little girls? Maybe about five?"
"Oh yes! We have a couple! I'll go get them! Wait here for just a few minutes please!"
The woman hurried out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a few young girls.
All of them formed a line and Chelle was at the end.
"Go on dear," Jason's father said to his mother. "Choose one that seems nice."
Nodding, his mother stepped forward, walking down the line until she reached Chelle.
"What's your name, sweetie?" she asked as she knelt down.
"Ch-Chelle…"
"Well Chelle, do you want to go home with us?"
She nervously looked over at Jason who nodded to her.
"Y-Yes," she replied, looking back at the lady in front of her. "I-I w-would…"
Smiling, Jason's mother turned to the woman.
"We would like to adopt her."
"Wonderful! If the children want to wait outside we can fill out the necessary paperwork."
Jason picked Chelle up and headed for the door, the other girls following them.
"We won't be far," he said as he walked out.
The two of them waited in the entryway and in a few minutes Alfred walked up to them.
"Alfie!" Chelle called when she saw her brother.
Coming up to them, Alfred took Chelle from Jason and hugged her.
"Hey there, Chellie. We're gonna miss you but Jason and his family are going to take good care of you. We'll see you again before you know it. Daddy and Papa are going to get us really soon and then we'll get you from Jason, okay?"
She sniffled and nodded.
"O-Okay…"
Jason's parents walked out a few minutes later followed by the woman in charge so Alfred quickly put Chelle down and hurried away, avoiding the woman's angry glare.
"Let's go sweetie," Jason's mother said to Chelle. "We're going home now."
Chelle nodded again and looked at Alfred one last time before following the family out of the building.
AN: I finally managed to get this chapter finished! I was having a hard time writing the ending and it was driving me crazy. But now it's done and the next chapter is in progress. It's going to be a Francis and Arthur chapter and things will start to change.
See ya then!