Chapter 41: The Next Generation Begins.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters.

AN: Please leave LOTS of reviews. I decided to start the new arc this chapter instead of the next one.

Connor's POV (December 10th, 2021):

The last year and six months has brought with it a lot of new things.

Our album's success brought with it a considerable amount of money. It debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 55,000 in the first week of availability.

Our first tour was supposed to be us supporting Testament, but since our album had exploded, it was changed so that Testament was supporting us while we were given the headlining spot. The tour started on August 1st at a music festival in San Francisco, to a crowd of 15,000 people. It was quite a change, going from playing in clubs to playing a fucking stadium full of screaming fans, all chanting the band's name.

I don't think any of us were truly prepared for a concert tour of this size right off the back. It was originally supposed to be a short tour of California, with maybe ten or twelve dates. When the album was released and reached the top 10, twenty dates were added and the tour was expanded to a country wide tour. With every subsequent show, as we got used to it, it got easier. Now I see why bands love playing live. The energy of the crowds, the thrill of the show, was like the ultimate drug. We finished out the tour back where the band began in San Diego on New Year's Eve, playing to a sold out arena.

Jude and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary together on May 15th 2021 by doing something we had both wanted to do since we were kids. We went to Paris for the week. I don't know how I'm going to top a candle lit dinner and dancing at the top of the Eiffel Tower for our next anniversary.

When we got back we started the process to get our foster care licenses. We received our licenses on October 17th 2021. We got in contact with Jude's old social worker, Bill, and told him that we were looking to adopt whoever we fostered and that we were looking for an older boy, maybe ten to twelve years old. He told us that as soon as he had a possible match, he would get in contact with us.

We started work on our second album the following day. We decided to take our time with the album, which we could definitely afford to do.

On Jude's twenty first birthday, I had snuck off while he was at the studio laying down vocal tracks with Castor to take delivery of his present. When Jude got home that day, his present was lounging lazily on the couch, staring at me with wide brown eyes, licking its lips every few seconds. It had soft black hair, with a tuft of white on its chin. It yawned at me, and cocked its tiny little head, as if to ask why I wasn't petting it. Every few seconds its puffy little tail would wag a little bit.

I had gotten Jude a puppy. I went to a breeder and picked this one out. Or rather, he picked me out. As soon as I walked in the door of the breeders house, he pranced up to me and started hopping up and down, as if to say "pick me, pick me!", and I knew he was the one. He's a teacup poodle, Jude's favorite kind of dog. I used to tease Jude about how stereotypical that was, but I couldn't disagree about how cute the little guy was.

Jude reacted by nearly strangling me in a bear hug, before scooping the tiny dog into his arms, where the dog tucked its head underneath Jude's chin.

A day later, that dog had fallen absolutely in love with him, and was following him around everywhere. I made the joke that the dog followed him around like his own personal minion of darkness.

So off course, Jude named him Minion. Mini for short.

Anyway, to the present.

Today, we take an important step as a couple.

It finally happened. Today we await the arrival of our foster son.

We had received the call a few days previously from Bill, the same social worker that was responsible for Jude's placement with the Fosters. Jude and I had just been sitting down to dinner when we received the call.

Jude had just sat down at the table when his cell phone started ringing. This immediately caused Minion to start barking, because the ringing startled him. Jude shushed the dog and looked at the caller ID. His eyes widened.

"Oh my god. It's Bill." He said, answering the phone and putting it on speaker phone, "Hey Bill."

"Sup Bill!" I said.

"Hello you two. I didn't catch you at a bad time did I?" He asked.

"No, why?" I asked.

"We might have something." Bill said, "We may have a match for you guys. I need to know if you can meet with me tomorrow to discuss it."

"Yeah, tomorrow's perfect." I said, "Drop by around noon. We'll be here."

When Jude hung up the phone we shared a look of excitement.

The next day, Bill arrived at exactly noon.

"You said you find a potential match?" I asked as we ushered him into the kitchen.

"His name is Walter Daniels. Everybody calls him Wally for short." Bill started, producing a file from his briefcase and handing it to Jude, "He's had a really hard life."

"How old is he?" Jude asked.

"He's ten." Bill answered, "He was born October 3rd 2011. He entered the system on January 5th 2015. His mother died in child birth, and in his grief the father turned to drugs and alcohol. He ended up getting shot by a drug dealer he was trying to buy cocaine from. To date, he's been in six different foster homes, three of them with less than stellar results."

"How bad?" Jude said.

"The first two were alright." Bill said, "He was moved from the first one because the couple couldn't afford to keep him anymore, and he was moved from the second one because the couple had to move out of state. In the third home, the foster mother beat him after she caught him playing dress up with her daughters. The foster father reported it and she was arrested the next day. He was moved to another home, which turned out to be bad as well. The foster father was neglectful, and didn't care for him properly. The teachers at his school noticed that he looked malnourished and reported it and he was removed. His fifth foster home was decent. They were going to adopt him, but their house burnt down and the adoption fell through. His last foster home was probably the most deplorable I've seen in a long time. He's been in the hospital for the past two weeks. The foster mother was alright, but the foster father treated Walter badly. Smacked him around a lot, but that isn't even the worst of it."

"What else happened?" Jude asked, gripping his drinking glass tightly.

"He tried to molest him and sprained his ankle when he resisted..." Bill revealed sadly.

The glass shattered in Jude's hand.

"Sorry." Jude said, a thunderstruck look on his face as he moved to clean up the glass fragments.

"It's understandable." Bill assured him, "After what happened to you and Callie."

"Yeah." Jude said, "Anyway, who found out about it?"

"The foster mother walked in on it and called the police. The foster father was arrested." Bill continued, "Walter was removed and taken to the hospital, where he's been for the past two weeks. We received word yesterday that the foster father was found stabbed to death in his prison cell. Apparently word got out about what he tried to do."

"Good. The bastard deserved it." Jude said, "People who hurt children never last long in prison."

"You guys are the first people I thought of when I was assigned to be his social worker after his old one retired. Are you guys willing to take him in?" Bill asked hopefully.

"Of course. He's perfect. He's exactly what we want." Jude said immediately, "When is he being released from the hospital?"

"They expect to release him in four days." Bill answered, "That should give you enough time to get ready for it."

He stayed for another half hour discussing stuff, telling us a little about Walter's personality, all of his allergies, some of his interest. He showed us a picture of Walter, and Jude and I both knew that he was the one. We signed all the papers that needed to be signed and Bill took his leave. We spent the next few days preparing the spare bedroom for his arrival.

Now the day had finally arrived.

We heard a knock on the door.

I turned to Jude.

"This is it." He said.

"Yeah. Nervous?" I asked.

"Terrified." He admitted, "But excited."

I went and answered the door, ushering Bill inside. He was followed closely by a small, rail thin boy clutching a small backpack, and simultaneously Jude and my hearts melted. He was adorable. The boy was about four foot ten inches tall, and his clothes were at least two sizes too big. He had a mop of wild, curly naturally black hair, and the bluest eyes I have ever seen, which widened upon seeing us. He looked scared, and extremely nervous, and his eyes were flying all around the room, looking for an exit if he needed it. Bill ushered him forward, and Mini immediately rushed forward haughtily to inspect the new arrival. The boy smiled softly at the tiny dog as Mini began to sniff him enthusiastically, and reached out and scratched the top of the dogs head.

"Hi there." Jude said to him, kneeling down in front of him, "I'm Jude. This is my husband Connor."

"The little ball of fluff sniffing your pant leg is Minion." I commented.

Minion barked at the sound of his name.

He looked between us, eyeing us timidly.

"M-my n-name's Wally." He said quietly, barely louder than a whisper.

"Nice to meet you, Wally." I said, "We're happy you're here."

"R-really?" He asked timidly.

"Really." We assured him.

"You be good for them Wally, okay?" Bill said to him.

Wally nodded nervously.

"I'll call to check in on him in a couple of days." Bill told us, "I've gotta run, I've got a home visit at 1:00."

"Thanks Bill." Jude and I said.

After he left, we turned to Wally. He looked scared.

"You hungry?" Jude asked.

"A little." Wally answered.

"Let's show you to your room, and then we'll get you something to eat, okay?"

Wally nodded shyly and followed us to his bedroom door with a noticeable limp.

"This'll be your room." Jude said, opening the door.

Wally stared at the room with his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Jude and I had gone all out in furnishing the room. We decided that since we were gonna be adopting Wally, we were gonna spoil him rotten. Up against the wall was a desk, with a computer sitting on top of it. Attached to the wall was a plasma screen television, with my old XBOX One hooked up to it.

"I get my own TV?" He asked excitedly as he bounced into the room, "And a computer? This is SO cool!"

"Glad you like it, kiddo." I said, smiling at his enthusiasm, "There's still a few things left to get, but we wanted to let you pick out a few things for yourself. We'll go shopping later if you want to."

Wally sat his backpack down in the desk chair, and then plopped down on the bed, bounced twice, and stood back up.

"C-can I show you guys something?" Wally asked.

"Of course." I said.

He limped across the room to where his backpack sat on the desk chair, and pulled something out and held it out to me.

I was surprised to see him clutching a copy of our album.

It was signed by all the band members too.

Jude and I smiled in surprise.

"I was at the first show." He said, "August 1st of last year in San Francisco. My foster dad took me. He had backstage passes. The whole band signed it for me. I did have pictures, but they got lost in the fire that destroyed the house."

He looked down sadly.

"Your music helped me through that." He continued, "Whenever I would get really sad or scared in the last foster home, I would listen to this CD. The music helped calm me down. It made everything seem... it made everything seem okay, you know?"

He moved to stand by the window.

"When I heard that you guys wanted to take me in, I thought I was dreaming." He said.

"Why's that?" Jude asked.

"They told me you were looking to adopt me. It seemed too good to be true." Wally said sadly.

"I know how that feels. The suspicion. You know, I was a foster kid once too." Jude told him sympathetically. He looked up at him in shock.

"Really?" He asked timidly. I nodded.

"Yeah. It ain't fun." Jude said, "You and I have a lot in common. Bill said you've been in six different homes?"

Wally nodded.

"A lot of them were really mean." He said.

I slowly reached out and took his little hand into mine, caressing the back of it with my thumb.

"My older sister Callie I had been in seven foster homes, and more often than not, they were horrible." Jude said, "We went into the system when I was six, stayed there until I was adopted by my family when I was thirteen. It took Callie almost a whole year more to be adopted because of certain circumstances, but everything worked out eventually. It always does."

"I hope so." Wally said.

"This'll be the final home for you. I promise." Jude said, "I know you've had a rough life, but that's over now. You're safe here. We'll always protect you. We'll never hurt you."

"They all started out nice." He said sadly, "But it never lasted. They either turned mean or I was moved."

"That'll never happen with us." I assured him, "This is a place where you can be safe. We will defend you till our dying breaths, with everything we have. We will never send you away, no what you do."

"P-promise?"

His hopeful tone broke my heart. It was the sound of a child who had been through far too much in his short life. I looked at him, and for a second it was like I was seeing Jude on that day at Anchor Beach all those years ago.

"Come here, buddy." I said softly, motioning to him.

He slowly moved to stand in front of us. I kneeled in front of him again, Jude joining me this time.

"We promise." I said, tears threatening to fall, "When we first saw your picture, we knew you were the one. You've only been here for ten minutes, and we already adore you. You deserve a loving home. And in this house, that's the one thing we will never run out of. There'll always be plenty of love to go around."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Jude and I pulled Wally into a hug. I felt him stiffen, but after a minute, he relaxed and sunk into the embrace.

"Your ours now, kiddo." Jude said, "You never have to worry about anything again. If it's what you want, you'll be our son."

"Are you sure?" He whimpered.

"We've never been more sure about anything in our lives, Wally." I said, placing a kiss to the side of his head, "As soon as we possibly can, we're gonna adopt you. And nothing is gonna stop us, we promise."

Overwhelmed with everything, Wally began to cry. He clung to Jude and I as though he thought we would disappear as soon as he released us.

"It's okay, buddy." Jude said soothingly, rubbing circles in his back, "Let it out."

"Th-thank y-you." He whimpered, "Th-thank you, s-so much."

"You never have to thank us." Jude said.

"I t-t-think I'm g-gonna l-love it here." Wally sniffled, still clinging to us.

Him saying that is what set the tears flowing for Jude and I.

I could not believe I could grow to love a human being so much in such a short amount of time. I didn't need a piece of paper for Wally to be my son. As far as Jude and I were concerned, he was our son the moment he crossed the threshold of our house. This child was ours now, and we would defend him with everything that we had. Any and all who tried to hurt him would suffer our wrath.

I placed another kiss to the side of my new son's head.

At that moment, I had everything I had ever wanted.

I finally had a family of my own.

AN#2: And the next generation begins.

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