Part 66
Thursday morning, Ash went to the courthouse with the twins. Tyler accompanied her for moral support.
Mr. Russell, a distinguished warthog, met them outside the family court. "Today is bittersweet…" he sighed. "How are you doing?"
Ash shook her head. "I'll be fine so long as no one asks me that for the rest of the day." She took a deep breath. "This is Tyler. He's a mutual friend."
The lawyer acknowledged him. "Shall we?" He led them into the courtroom.
"Now hearing the case of Custody of the Beaumont Children. Judge Marilyn Mars presiding," the bailiff called out.
Russell stood with Ash and the children while Tyler took a gallery seat directly behind her.
The judge looked around. "I see we are missing both the mother and the father… I'm going to need some explanation."
Mr. Russell addressed the judge. "Your Honor, sadly, Mr. Beaumont is not able to join us. He passed away last Saturday. I'm now representing both him and his widow, who would like to adopt Raquel and Lance."
Judge Mars nodded. "My deepest condolences. And what of the mother?"
Becky's lawyer shrugged. "She called and said she wouldn't be coming."
The judge nodded. "Well… this is most unorthodox…"
Ash nodded. "I know but it didn't make sense to not just get this over with. I want to adopt these two." She was tempted to tell both lawyers and the judge what Becky said but she was afraid it would cause more harm than good.
"Children," the magistrate addressed the twins. "Would you like to be adopted by this woman?"
Raquelle nodded and grabbed Ash by the hand. "Ash is our mommy now," she said definitively.
The judge nodded. "You'll need to have a home visit, of course, but I appreciate your do-it-to-it attitude." She picked up her gavel. "I award temporary custody of these children to Ash Beaumont pending a home visit. Case dismissed."
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The Happy Hills Children's Home appeared to be a happy place with 7 children playing on the equipment in the fenced-off front yard. A young leopard cub played alone, hanging upside-down from the jungle gym. His eyes were drawn to the two men coming up the path. He jumped down and ran up to the fence. The tiger looked over at him and waved.
He snuck past the playground monitor and back into the home. Quietly, he slipped through the kitchen and dining room until he came to the office.
"Good morning, Misters Hunter-Green, welcome to Happy Hills. I'm Ms. Treble. We spoke on the phone. Please pull up a seat. Can I get you anything?" An elderly otter asked kindly.
"No, thank you," one of the two visitors replied. "I'm Johnny, this is my husband, Ryan. We brought everything you asked for." The gorilla put a thick tan folder on the desk.
The little boy heard the folder open. "Oh! I thought you looked familiar. We took the kids to see the show the other night. It's so adorable." She giggled as she flipped through everything. "So many letters of recommendation. Wow… even one from Nana Noodleman."
"We have so many friends," the tiger said. "They all want to help us in our wish to become parents."
"I can see that. I've rarely met prospective parents more prepared than the pair of you." The chair could be heard rolling away from the desk as she stood up. "Come with me. You came during Outside Play Time, it's the perfect chance for you to see the children." She led them out, stopping when she saw the little boy hiding behind a chair. "Neo? What are you doing inside, dear?"
The cub grinned sheepishly at being caught. "I wanted a drink of water," he fibbed.
She turned to the couple. "This is Neo. He's seven years old."
Ryan smiled. "Hi, Neo. I'm Ryan and this is my hubby, Johnny."
He ducked behind the chair shyly. "Hello."
Ms. Treble chuckled. "Neo, we have guests. How do we greet them?"
Neo came out from behind the chair. "Thank you for coming."
"Neo, why don't you take them outside and show them our playground. We just had a new slide put in," she said.
The leopard cub nodded and led them to the playground.
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After leaving the courthouse, Ash and Tyler took the kids to Pizza Planet for lunch. She watched them playing in the ball pit.
"I envy them. Kids are so resilient," she said as she ate a slice. "Thanks for coming with us today."
Tyler nodded. "How are they doing?"
She shook her head. "At least they're young. All they really understand is he's gone and he's not coming back." She sighed.
He nodded. "I lost both of my parents when I was about their age. Alphonso's parents gave me a home so I wouldn't go into the system. I guess I kind of feel responsible for them. I want to help."
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Outside in the play yard, Johnny and Ryan watched the children playing on the equipment. Neo took Ryan to the middle where a tall tree stood. "This is my favorite place." He began climbing. "Come on up!"
Johnny looked up at him then to Ryan. "Want to?"
Ryan laughed. "I'll race ya." He jumped and grabbed onto the lowest branch and started the arduous climb.
Johnny chuckled and watched his lover climb into the tree after the cub. He followed until all three of them were at the top. Johnny's mouth fell open. "Ryan, are you seeing this?"
"It's amazing!" Ryan acknowledged.
Neo laughed. "You can see the whole city from here."
"So, Neo, how long have you been here?" Johnny asked.
"For as long as I can remember," he replied. "Since I was a baby. But Ms. Treble is nice. A lot nicer than some. So, what kinda kid are you guys looking for?"
Tiger and Gorilla exchanged a glance. "What do you mean?"
Neo nodded. "Look, I've been here awhile. I know how it works. And I know you don't want me, I'm too old, but I can tell you about everyone here." He pointed. "That's Avery the African civet. She's four. Her parents died in a house fire. There's Raphael, the turtle and his brothers."
Ryan touched Neo's shoulder. "Have you been told that you're too old?"
Neo shrugged. "I hear it a lot," he admitted. "It's okay, I understand. There aren't any babies right now. Everyone wants babies." He rolled his eyes.
Johnny grinned at Ryan. "Well, we've never done this before. I don't think you're too old."
"He's right. It might be helpful if our first child was a little older than normal," Ryan took Johnny's hand and squeezed. "Do you want to be adopted?" It was a fair question.
Neo looked as though he didn't dare to hope. "Well, yeah… but… look, don't feel sorry for me. I don't need anyone's pity."
Johnny chuckled. "We don't. We don't have much. It's just a small family apartment above our dance studio. But you'd have your own room. Would you like to come home with us?"
The clouded leopard had to get control of his breathing as he understood. "Really? Really? You really want me?"
Ryan nodded. "If you're okay with having two dads, yeah." He smiled at the boy who launched himself at him.
"Yes! I want to be adopted! I want to go home with you!" He pleaded. "Please!"
Johnny laughed. "Well then, let's go back inside and talk to Ms. Treble." Carefully, they climbed down.
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At the theater, Gunter and Eddie sat at their computers typing up their plans for the Easter show.
"I got an email from the Grand Opera House in Galveston. They'd love to have us come do a show. They ask if we could play for the two weeks of Spring Break," Eddie peaked around his computer.
Gunter nodded. "Sounds great!" He looked up as Miss Crawly came in with cups of coffee.
"How are my two favorite boys?" She asked with a maternal smile. "Gunter, there's someone downstairs who wants to talk to you."
The hog cocked an eyebrow. Who would want to talk to him? Other than their friends who would just come on up to the office. "Who?"
"He didn't say. He just said he needs to talk to you," she said again. "He's dressed all fancy, like a lawyer or something."
Gunter and Eddie traded glances and shrugged before going downstairs. The man, a tall pig dressed in a fine suit with a monocle over one eye, stood examining the statue of Buster. He straightened up when he saw Gunter. "Ahhh, Mr. Schweinsteiger, you are a difficult man to track down."
"Why were you tracking me down? Who are you?" Gunter asked before a letter was shoved in his face.
"I am your family's lawyer. This letter will explain everything," he replied.
Gunter opened the letter and read it. Eddie peered over his shoulder. He couldn't understand the text. However, he could understand his expression as it changed from confused to shocked to sad. "My sister, Gertrude, she and her husband… in a house fire…" He visibly trembled for several minutes.
Eddie rubbed his back. "I'm so sorry."
Gunter kept reading quietly. "Of course. Of course, I'll take her. Gerhardt couldn't take care of a fish even with the fish giving him instructions." He looked at Eddie. "My 8 year old niece, Sara, needs a home." He explained.
The sheep nodded in understanding. "Well, yeah. She's welcome here. Where is she?"
The lawyer gestured. "She's outside waiting. I didn't want to just spring her on you."
They looked outside. A piglet in a red dress with white polka dots stood waving at them, a single leather suitcase at her side. When the lawyer motioned at her, she came in. "Onkel Gunter?" she asked shyly.
He nodded. "Ja, that's me." He opened his arm a little, giving a gentle invitation. She didn't need anything else before running forward, hugging him.
The solicitor smiled. "Glad to see my mission has been a success. Sara, I wish you well. I'll tell your Uncle Gerhardt that you are settled. He will expect a letter from you, of course." He tipped his hat and left.
Sara waved. "Auf Wiedersehen." She looked at Gunter. "Mama hat mir so viel von dir erzählt."
Gunter smiled. "Ich hatte Angst, dass sie mich hassen würde, weil ich gegangen bin."
Eddie scratched his head. He regretted not taking German in high school or college. Maybe he should look into it. He looked at Miss. Crawly. "I guess we need to sort out a bedroom."
Miss. Crawly smiled. "Not to worry. The little lass can bunk with me. And I bet she's hungry." She went over.
Gunter looked at the crazy old lizard. "Sara, this is Miss. Crawly, she's a really good friend of mine. Why don't you follow her and she can be getting you food to eat."
Sara looked between Gunter and Miss. Crawly a few times before nodding. "Okay… I'm Sara."
The hog looked at Eddie. "I'm sorry. I had no idea. Thank you for letting her live here."
The polled sheep shook his head. "I couldn't do anything else. I'd never toss a child out in the cold." He smiled at Gunter. "It'll be fun having a kid around here. She can play with Caspar when he comes with Mama. Come on, let's go call her." Rosita would be able to give them some guidance.
AN: Okay wow, sorry, this chapter just would not come together. I think I'm running out of ideas. I'm trying but wow. Any thoughts?