Chapter Text
Some New Thoughts
By PattRose
Summary: Evan wants to talk to Keith about adoption. We’ll see what Keith thinks of that.
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As they were driving home from the hospital, Evan asked, “Can I talk to you about something very important?”
“Of course, you can. You can discuss anything with me. What do you think about the surrogate that Shea might know?
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. I think we should fill all the paperwork out for adoption or even foster care. Some of these little kids need help in the toughest sort of way. They even have babies, if that’s what you’d like to do.”
“Why are you so turned off with the surrogate idea?”
Evan smiled. “I know you want your own baby, but to me, an adopted baby would be both of ours, not just yours.”
“It doesn’t have to be my own baby, Evan. I don’t care if either of us was the father. I just thought that would be one way of getting a baby.”
“Haven’t you seen all those sad stories about the surrogates that decide to keep the baby? It’s really scary if you ask me. And you did ask me, so this is why I’m turned off on the idea.”
“You think we’d have a chance at getting a baby? I want a small baby in the worst way, so we can help him or her see that we are his parents. By the time he’s three, he or she will understand that he has two fathers. But I’m not opposed to having two children either. Maybe a set of siblings from a terrible place. What do you think about that, Evan?”
“I think it’s great. We’ll fill the paperwork out tomorrow. We’re not working, we’ll get cleaned up and go first thing in the morning. Then we’ll stop by Shea and Terry’s house to let them know what we’re planning.”
Evan said, “Too bad I’m driving, I would have loved to hug you and kiss you for this decision. I guess we have to wait till we’re home.”
Keith smiled and said, “Anytime, Evan, just anytime.”
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The following day led them to the state building for adoption office and they went in for an appointment. They had to wait because they didn’t have one made, but they didn’t mind. Finally, after arriving at 8:00 that morning, they got called to the back at 1:00. Both men thought the waiting was fine.
The woman behind the desk in the room they took Evan and Keith to, smiled and said, “Sit down, gentlemen. I’m Angie Benson. I’m going to be your case worker for foster care approval and followed by adoption approval. Now you’ll need to fill these papers out, as quickly as you can and then we’ll discuss everything in great detail. Don’t mind me, I’m going to catch up on some work and you just hand me your forms when they’re done.
Evan and Keith were writing fast and furiously to get done quickly. They helped each other through rough spots but continued on until they were done. Man, they had asked a lot of personal questions. But both men filled everything out and hoped they had a chance.
Keith handed both sets of forms to Angie and said, “We’re finally all done.”
“Sit, relax and get ready to ask questions when I’m done telling you about this program.”
Evan and Keith were both sitting straight up in their chairs and on alert at all times. They didn’t want to screw this up.
“First of all, we have to have your house inspected. It’s not a big deal, but we need to know that the child or children would go to a decent house to live. Next, we have these forms that you need to be filled out by your friends, neighbors if you know them and last but not least, the people you work with. Once they fill them out, bring to me and we can get this show on the road.”
“How long do you think it’ll take us to get a child?” Keith asked.
“It just depends, Keith on how long it takes to inspect everything and also depending on what you put down as the only children you would take. If you put some older children, sometimes its much easier. But that’s up to you.”
Evan smiled and asked, “Maybe a year or so?”
“Evan, I don’t do the guessing games well. We’ll get everything in order and you’ll be getting calls maybe within six months.”
Both men looked at each other and smiled. It was exactly what they wanted to hear.
“We better get going, if we need these filled out by today. We’ll see you later today or early tomorrow morning. Thank you for being so kind to us,” Keith said.
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They stopped off at Shea and Terry’s house and dropped off the papers. They assured Keith and Evan that they would have it done in an hour or so. Keith and Evan stopped in and looked quietly at Beau in his new crib. Then they left to find the filming crew. Once they did, they all filled out the papers with no worries. Evan took them all and put them into a manilla envelope for later that day.
“Keith, do you think we can ask neighbors for help? I don’t feel like we know them well enough. How do you feel about it?”
“With Terry and Shea’s forms, that will give us 11 forms filled out. I think that’s perfect. We don’t have any family in town so this will have to do,” Keith guessed.
Shea called and said the forms were done. They rushed over to pick up the papers before the state office closed for the day.
When they arrived at Terry’s house, they rushed in, got the papers and rushed out. Then they were on the road to deliver them all.
When they arrived at the state office, they asked if they could leave the manilla envelope for Angie Benson. The girl took them all and told them thank you.
Keith and Evan went back to the truck and started home. Keith looked over at Evan and said, “We need to baby proof our home. Let’s stop at the store and get everything we could need.”
“Sounds good, Keith. This is going to take a while, but I’m glad we’re done filling out the papers. Now, we just have to wait.”
“Well, if we were having a child, we’d have to wait 9 months for that too. I don’t mind waiting at all.”
When they pulled up to their house, they got out and walked hand in hand into the house. Once inside, Evan kissed Keith and said, “Good luck to both of us.”
TBC