Chapter 47 - Committed

Jon wasn't sure what he had expected of the first day back in Pennsylvania. He might have pictured unpacking, grocery shopping, maybe a little school shopping.

In reality, he and Shawn both slept through most of the day. They'd flown through through turbulence and not managed to catch a wink of sleep on the flight, arriving at their apartment at ten in the morning—though it was three in the afternoon Wales time.

Jon wasn't sure what time it felt like to him when he woke up to the phone ringing. The clock said 4:15.

He rubbed his face and picked up. "Hello?"

"Jonthan Turner. This is Marisa Cortez."

He blinked. "Oh, hi."

"Good, you're home. I wanted to let you know that the TPR went through. I'd like to meet with you and Shawn as soon as possible."

"Of course." Jon swallowed. "Uh. We're both pretty jet lagged . . ."

"Tomorrow morning? 9:30?"

Jon sighed. "Sure."

"I'll see you then."

Slowly, Jon hung up the phone. He shuffled over to the fridge to make something to eat before remembering that they'd basically emptied it before going on their trip, and his next call was for pizza delivery.

Jon and Shawn ate pizza in front of the TV that night in a bit of a fog. When the food and soda were gone and the movie they were half watching came to an end, Jon turned off the TV and turned to Shawn. "Your social worker's coming to talk to us in the morning."

Shawn just nodded.

"She's gonna want to talk about a permanent plan for you."

Shawn smiled just slightly. "Don't worry, man. I got it covered."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see."

Jon really, really didn't want to wait and see. "You gonna tell her you want to stay?"

"I mean, if I don't, I get tossed around from home to home again, right?"

It might have been true, but it wasn't exactly encouraging. "Shawn, I want you here, but you don't have to stay."

"Just trust me. I know what to say."

Jon sighed and went to put his plate in the sink. "I'm gonna turn in early."

"Yeah, me too," Shawn said, following him.

The three of them exchanged pleasantries when Marisa entered the house, but other than that, it was straight to business. She informed them that she'd like to talk to Shawn first, so Jon went up to his own room, picking up one of his favorite comic books.

Of course, he couldn't read a line of it. He could hear talking from downstairs, but he couldn't make out a word either of them said. He finally lay back in bed and tried to relax. He almost wished he had Ashley here, but she may or may not have been ready to lay in bed with him.

It felt like hours passed before a knock came at his door, and it swung open. Shawn peeked inside. "She wants to talk to you."

Jon nodded and sat up, rubbing his face before getting out of bed and heading toward the stairs.

As he passed Shawn, Shawn gave him a couple of friendly pats on the back. "I told you, I got this in the bag."

"Very reassuring," Jon muttered.

Marisa was still writing on a clipboard, sitting on his couch. Shawn had pulled up a chair across from her; Jon sat there. "Thanks for coming," Jon said.

"Thank you for meeting with me." She looked up from her notes. "How was your trip?"

"It was good. I think Shawn needed the chance to unwind."

"No complications with any of his injuries from the accident?"

"Not that we saw. He's doing really well."

"And you?"

"Better than I've been in a while. But, ah, Shawn has a lot of questions about his future."

Jon had been thinking those words for a long time, but saying them aloud, he suddenly realized the power of them. Shawn lived in the moment. He never thought or cared about the future. Shawn had grown up through all of this—though whether that was a good or a bad thing, Jon couldn't quite say.

"I'm sure." Marisa glanced down at her notes. "I've had a chance to speak with Shawn's lawyer, as well as the licensing worker for adoptions. They both made the same recommendation."

"What's that?"

"To wait it out."

Jon blinked. "To wait what out?"

"Shawn will be seventeen in two months. His father's parental rights have been terminated, but there's still the matter of searching for the biological mother, contacting family members, and your completion of the adoption licensing requirements. By the time all of this is complete—"

"Shawn will have aged out." A different kind of weight settled onto Jon's chest. Somehow, he felt like he'd failed the kid again, even though everything that had happened over the past year had been fully out of his control.

"More importantly, he'll have finished high school."

"Well, is it still legal for me to adopt him if he's eighteen?"

"It's . . . legal."

"So what's the issue?"

She looked down at her notes, and then up at him. "Mr. Turner, I know this year hasn't been easy for you. You don't need to feel under any obligation . . ."

"So, what, we put this kid through hell and back, terminate his dad's rights, and now we're not even gonna try to give him a home? Sorry, Shawn, it's too late, you got too old for anyone to care about. Is that it?"

"Mr. Turner, think practically—"

"I am thinking practically. You think just because he'll be eighteen, he's gonna be ready to be out on his own? That kid needs a family. He needs someone to call when he's off at college, or—or at his first job, he needs someplace to go for Thanksgiving and Christmas, he needs . . ."

Jon trailed off when he saw Marisa was just smiling at him.

"You know that, don't you?"

She nodded. "I had to make sure you did."

Jon glanced toward the staircase, then back at her. "Can you tell me what Shawn said?"

"Not everything. But he did tell me you had a long term girlfriend you've been keeping secret."

"He said what?"

"He said you've been dating a young woman for close to a year now and that you plan to marry her."

"I . . . I met her a year ago—"

"There is a woman?"

Jon swallowed. "Yes. But we haven't been dating for long, officially."

Marisa chuckled. "Here I thought Shawn made the whole thing up."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was worried we wouldn't approve you to adopt him."

"As a single man." Jon winced. "I never should have mentioned that to him."

"It's a point in your favor. He trusts you, and he wants to stay with you."

Jon smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"And you sound certain you want to adopt him."

"I am."

"Like I've said before, there's no laws against it. And I'll be putting in a good word for you. The judge makes the final decision, of course, but Shawn's word will hold some weight, like it did at the last hearing you attended."

Jon lowered his head. He couldn't believe they had come so far.

"There's also no rules about you dating, but if the relationship is serious . . ."

He smiled, but his heart was pounding. "It is."

"Then your licensing worker will want to speak to the woman as well."

"I hear you." He knew that wouldn't be a problem at all.

"It sounds like Shawn admires her."

"He does." Anything beyond that, he figured he'd let Shawn say. Enough voice had been taken away from Shawn as it was.

She nodded. "Well, then, let's go over some of the licensing requirements. If possible, it would be best to aim for everything to go through before Shawn turns eighteen."

Jon felt his smile broaden.

Marisa talked him through the licensing requirements, and Jon spent a little time looking back over the checklist and making a mental plan of how to get everything done as quickly as possible, before he headed up the stairs and knocked on Shawn's door.

"Come in," Shawn said, and Jon peeked in.

"Hunter . . ."

Shawn grinned. "I was right, wasn't I?"

Jon sighed, but he couldn't quite keep the smile off his face. "Get dressed. I wanna take you back-to-school shopping."

"The mall won't open until 11."

"Yeah, but I figure we gotta drive to the one across town."

"Oh." Shawn shrugged. "We don't have to do that."

Jon raised his eyebrows. "You won't die of embarrassment if we see one of your friends?"

"Nah." Shawn grinned. "I'll just pretend I don't know you."

"Get dressed, Hunter." Jon left Shawn's room, closing the door behind himself, and he went to grab his wallet and keys.