The Twins
Chapter 58 : The Twins
A few weeks had gone since the family dinner, and everything had gone well. In the secret bunker, Anya, Raven and Lexa had been working their asses off to find everything they could on the Skaikru Company, as well as hacking every files related to the Azgeda Company.
Nia hadn’t made another move, so times had been quite peaceful.
Lexa, Clarke and Ayden had fallen into a rhythm, and everything was going smoothly. It was often Clarke who was dropping Ayden at school, as she usually had afternoon shifts at the hospital, and Lexa who was picking the boy up, as she had more manageable hours. If her work wasn’t done, then Anya or Bellamy was picking Ayden up from school and was bringing him to Lexa’s office. Ayden then was quietly waiting for Lexa to be done working while playing with a few toys Lexa had brought especially for him, in her office. Then, they would often go pick up Clarke from work before heading home all together.
Raven had begun to go to the hospital for her surgery; it required a lot a psychological preparation beforehand, as they were literally going to cut her leg off and put a prosthetic instead. Thankfully, Clarke was there for almost every appointment, and the few times she wasn’t available, Anya offered to come along.
Bellamy and Echo were working well together; the crime rate had dropped down, and they had been able to dismantle three others drugs dealers from the city – with the secret help of Octavia and the Trikru’s spies -. Bellamy was still intrigued by Echo; the girl sometimes seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, the exact way Clarke had often looked. He was sensing there was more to the story that Echo was telling him; but he was respectful, and had never tried to obtain answers to his questions if she wasn’t the one initiating the discussion.
Octavia and Lincoln had been watching over Ayden some nights, when Lexa and Clarke would go out on date nights; and more and more, they were finding themselves wanting to have kids of their own. The only problem was that Octavia couldn’t afford to carry it; she couldn’t take so much time off of work. And even if she could, a part of them kind of wanted to adopt instead; Octavia had seen so many lost kids like herself, and she knew that if people hadn’t took Bellamy and herself in after their mother’s death, they probably wouldn’t be part of this world anymore. So, she was finding herself wanting to give what she had been given years ago back to a lost kid; so they could have a better life, because children had the right to stay children, and so many had to grow faster than others; and it wasn’t fair. Octavia had seen how her brother had to be the adult at barely twelve years old; and if she could prevent another kid to have to, she would.
Lincoln had agreed, of course; he also, had seen people having to carry great responsibilities way too early; Anya, for example, who had lost her parents, and had to take care of her baby cousin. He didn’t know, back then, that this cousin was Lexa, but still; he had seen Anya struggling with dealing with her parents’ deaths and having to take care of someone else when she herself was still a kid. He didn’t want that for any child, either, so if they could protect at least one from this, he was all in.
That’s how they had found themselves looking on adoption’s websites, and going to social services, gathering as much information as they could about procedures and stuff.
As Lincoln had a stable job, and Octavia was now making enough money too, they could provide a kid with anything he needed. Thanks to Lexa and the renovation of the building made by Lexa’s company, they now had a spare bedroom, which could really been turned into a child’s room.
They had gone through a lot of files and kids, and they had agreed on taking a kid who was not younger than three or four; not because they believed they could care for a baby, but rather because it was often kids who already had seen or lived enough to be mad at everything, but who hadn’t lost their child’s naivety; it was an age where everything was possible, and where mistakes and wounds from the past could be erased and build into something much much better. Also, they had agreed it was a plus if the child was around Ayden’s age, so they could play together.
They had been warned it would take time for them to find a potential child to adopt; so, to not raise their hopes up, they hadn’t told the group about their adoption project yet, waiting for when it would be more official.
So imagine their surprise when Lincoln’s phone rang with the social worker’s number on it, on a Sunday afternoon, while they were all in Arcadia for a barbecue Sunday with everyone.
He quickly got up, and walked away from everyone to take the call.
“Hello?”
“Hi Lincoln it’s Jeremy. How are you doing?” The man on the phone said. Jeremy was the social worker Lincoln and Octavia had been talking to for a while now; the one is charge of their case.
“Well, thank you. What’s up?” Lincoln asked, not wanting to do small talk.
“Well I’m coming because a file came up on my desk this morning. It’s an extra-ordinary case, so that’s why I’m calling you on a Sunday” Jeremy explained.
“What about this case?” Lincoln frowned, not really understanding what Jeremy was trying to say.
“This case covers all of your expectations” Jeremy said, “But there’s a catch.”
“Which one?” Lincoln asked, getting interested.
“There’s two of them.”
“Two?”
“Yes. Twins. We got them out for domestic violence yesterday” Jeremy explained, “And we’re looking for a foster home, but not a single one can afford to take two more kids, and we are trying to keep them together”.
“Siblings recover better together” Lincoln agreed. “But what does it have to do with us?”
“Well, we were hoping you could foster them.” Jeremy said.
“Foster them?” Lincoln said, surprised.
“Yes” Jeremy confirmed, “Basically means that you’ll take them under your roof.”
“You said it would take time, maybe years for our case to be reviewed” Lincoln exclaimed, “We weren’t expecting to hear from you so soon, and now you want us to take two kids in? I don’t know if we’re ready for this, Jeremy...”
“I know, but I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t think you were incapable of it, and I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t think it was one of the only option I had” Jeremy explained himself.
“What are the other options?” Lincoln asked.
“Frankly? Separating them, and putting them in different foster homes” Jeremy honestly answered, “Or sending them back to their home.”
“But you can’t” Lincoln frowned, “Not if they are victims of domestic violence!”
“Sadly, there is no legislation over this” Jeremy sighed on the phone. “If no one can take them in, they are given back to their old families.”
“What kind of government can allow this?” Lincoln growled.
“That is why I’m fighting for those kids” Jeremy said, “That is why I’m asking you.”
“Can we think about it?” Lincoln asked, “I have to talk with Octavia about it first”.
“Yes, of course” Jeremy nodded, “Take your time, it is not an easy decision. I’ll stay available; call me when you’ve taken a decision.”
“Okay. Bye, Jeremy.”
“Bye!”.
Lincoln hung up, suddenly feeling years older than he really was. He looked towards the group, seeing that Octavia had already her eyes on him, trying to see if it was an important call or not; in the group, they had a pretty bad history with unexpected phone calls, so she was a bit worried.
Lincoln gestured for her to come join him in the kitchen, so she got up, a frown on her face.
“What’s up? Who was it?” Octavia asked.
“Jeremy called” Lincoln explained. “He found a case for us.”
“Already?” Octavia exclaimed, “He said it would take months!”
“That’s what I said to him” Lincoln chuckled, “But it’s a special case. There’s two kids.”
“Two?”
“Yeah, twins apparently. They want to keep them together, but the foster homes can’t take both of them”. Lincoln answered.
“So what? He wants us to foster them?” Octavia asked, to be sure she had understood.
“Basically, yes” Lincoln nodded.
“I don’t know” Octavia sighed, “Are we ready? I mean, it wasn’t supposed to happen already, and two? Can we handle two kids?”
“I think we can” Lincoln shrugged, “I think we’ve been ready for a while.”
“But foster them, Linc?” Octavia said again, “Does it mean they’re going to live with us while waiting to be adopted by someone else? What if they stay with us for a year and someone takes them away?”
“Well we could ask Jeremy if it’s possible to adopt them, if they like living with us?” Lincoln suggested.
“Could we do that?”
“I don’t know. Let me call Jeremy” Lincoln said, getting his phone out and dialling Jeremy’s number.
“Lincoln, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon” The man chuckled.
“Octavia and I have questions” Lincoln said.
“I’m all ears.”
“So, how does this work?” Lincoln asked, “Do we take them home, while they wait to be adopted? Or can we adopt them, if it goes well?”
“Well, if you just want to be foster parents, then yes they will live with you while they wait for adoption by someone else” Jeremy explained, “But if you want to adopt them if it goes well, then it’s possible too!”
“When would they be there?” Octavia asked.
“As soon as it’s possible for you” Jeremy said, “The sooner the better.”
“Are we really going to do this?” Octavia whispered to Lincoln.
“I know it is a lot to ask” Jeremy said again, “But frankly I am running out of options.”
“We could still take them with us, while they find a better solution for them” Lincoln suggested, “But if we want to keep them longer well, we’ll see then?”
“Yes, of course” Jeremy confirmed, “Everything is possible.”
Octavia and Lincoln looked at each other, trying to take a decision; although they both know they had already taken it.
“We’ll do it” Lincoln finally said. “Can you give us until Tuesday, so we can set everything we need for them?”
Yes, of course. Thank you a lot. I’m sending you their files. You’ll see, they are interesting kids” Jeremy answered.
“Alright, thank you Jeremy, we will call you tomorrow for the details” Octavia said.
They hung up, as Octavia and Lincoln stayed silent for a bit.
“Two kids” Octavia chuckled, “When I thought we would have to wait months to only have one”.
“Well, I like to think it’s destiny” Lincoln smiled.
“Destiny. Right” Octavia playfully rolled her eyes. “But now, we have to tell the others about it, we can’t hide it any longer.”
Lincoln hummed. He took Octavia’s hand in his, and they walked back to their friends to tell them the news
Jeremy hung up his phone, feeling a bit relieved with Octavia’s and Lincoln’s agreement. He took a few seconds to send them the twins’ files to them, and he went into the house to tell the twins about where they would be sent to live.
They were in their bedroom, quietly playing with the few toys they had; a ripped teddy bear, two old small toy cars and a plastic giraffe which had practically lost all colours.
“Guys, I have news for you” Jeremy said, after having lightly knocked on the door.
The twins looked up, waiting for him to speak.
“A very nice couple accepted to take you in” Jeremy said, “So you will leave on Tuesday to go stay with them.”
“The both of us?” The little boy asked, looking suspicious. He had learned they always was a catch, and even if Jeremy was a nice guy who hadn’t do anything to deserve their mistrust, he knew je couldn’t trust anyone who wasn’t his sister.
“Yes” Jeremy said, “The both of you.”
“Do they have other kids?” The little girl asked, more shy and reserved than her brother.
“No, you’ll be the only ones. And who knows? If it goes well, they might keep you guys.” Jeremy smiled, trying to cheer them up.
“Whatever” The boy sighed. He had long stopped believing they would find a family for the both of them.
“They really are nice people, Sam” Jeremy gently said to the kid, “And they are part of a big family. I think you’ll be fine, there.”
“We’ll see.” Samuel answered, not really convinced. Other social workers had said the same things to him over ten times now, so to him, it was really trustworthy, even coming from Jeremy.
“Two kids? But when? How?” Raven exclaimed, not having expected to hear this kind of news.
“We built our case a couple of months ago” Octavia explained. “The social worker said we would probably have to wait months for our case to be looked upon, but he just called, and said he had twins for us.”
“Well that was fast” Lexa said, wiping barbecue sauce from Ayden’s chin with a napkin, “What is the emergency with those two?”
“They’ve just been rescued from domestic violence” Lincoln explained, not missing the way they all tried not to look at Ayden and Clarke, “And since there’s no room in foster homes for the both of them, he asked us.”
“How old are they?” Monty asked.
“A bit under six” Octavia informed them, “Samuel and Emma.”
“So, a boy and a girl” Raven hummed, “What else do you know about them?”
“Well, Jeremy says Samuel is the braver one; he acts tough, always looks after his sister” Lincoln read from the kids’ files on his phone, “Always seems angry, and isn’t afraid to face adults”.
“Well, he does sound like Bellamy” Emori said, making the group laugh a little.
“Emma’s more quiet, but intelligent nonetheless. She’s shy and doesn’t talk much, but is a real sweetheart once she begins to open up.” Octavia said.
“Do you even have room for two kids?” Jasper frowned, “I mean, I can barely walk into my apartment”.
“That’s because you have stuff everywhere, Jas” Harper playfully scowled him.
“True” He shrugged as the group was laughing.
“Thanks to Lexa,” Octavia said, “We have a spare room. So we can turn it into the kids’ room”.
“Do you need help?” Clarke asked, “I could help you with the painting and stuff.”
“That would be great” Octavia nodded, “Maybe you boys could go buy us some beds for them?” She asked Bellamy and Lincoln, “They’re only six so don’t take too big ones for now, we don’t know how long they’ll be staying.”
“And if they stay? Will you adopt them?” Anya asked.
“We can, yes” Lincoln nodded. He knew well what Anya had asked; nothing was more heartbreaking for a foster kid than to get used to the house you were living in and grow attached to the owners and having to leave because they wouldn’t adopt you in the end.
“Isn’t it a rushed decision?” Murphy then said, throwing his hands up when Emori shot him a death glare “I mean, you don’t even know those kids, maybe there’re hard to live with”.
“Maybe” Lincoln shrugged, “but I think every kid deserves a second chance, whatever his past is made of. And as we said, it doesn’t engage us for anything, if we are not ready to adopt, we just foster them until a family wants to adopt them.”
“Well, I guess there’s work to do before those two come to ravage our world!” Raven said, getting up to clean the table.
They chuckled, getting up to set the twins’ arrival into motion.