Adopted by Hamilton

Chapter 47 - Lets Get Down To Business

Although it was Thursday I wasn't in school. I had a pre-adoption hearing meeting apparently. I don't know whether I should be annoyed by this, or completely thrilled. The meeting was from 10 to 2, Lin and Vanessa are supposed to get here in 20 minutes.

I was kind of nervous. I didn't know what was going to happen, the closest I ever got to adoption was with Marjie and Jim when I was 13, and then I realized they didn't really care that much. After them I went through 3 more families. Let me tell you a little about them.

Alright, the Smiths. So I moved in with them on my 13th birthday. Yeah, I have been in Foster Care as long as I've been a teen. I lived with them in Oregon. Honestly, they were great, but, they were going to have their own kid, and they passed me off December 20th.

From them I went to a short term placement house. I was there for a week before I moved in with Mark and Katie Brown. Mark and Katie had problems, I don't know how they got cleared for Foster Care, because they were both drug addicts. One of my social workers found out. This family was over my 14th birthday, which they did not remember. I was taken out of their home 2 months after my 14th birthday, on July 27th.

After the Browns, I moved in with the Clarke's. After 2 months with them, I moved to New York. That was fantastic, I loved New York, but as most families do, they got rid of me on December 21st. I got close to Christmas, never got there though. This was when I was introduced to the Graham Windham organization. However they had no control of the government placing me in with the Princes.

The Princes were my first family with kids. I lived with them until May 30th. I had my first interaction with siblings. Not a fan. It's hard for kids whose parents are foster parents. They feel neglected, they feel abandoned, they feel like their parents care more about the new kid than them. Obviously, I was in the wrong, it's not like I was feeling those things as well. So I left the Princes and moved in with the Walters. The rest, is history.

I have been through drug addicts, spoiled siblings, people who wanted me for the money, abusive homes. And now someone wanted to adopt me.

I sat in the backseat of the car, I was nervous, they could decide against keeping me, something could come up that would prevent them from keeping me. It could be too expensive, it could be too much work. A lot can go wrong at this stage. I had never been in this stage before, but I've known kids who've been here, and then everything went to hell.

"Oh, they found Guenevere
With her bold cavalier
And as swords rang through the hall
Lance escaped them, one and all!!" Lin sang from the drivers seat of the car. This is what driving with Lin was like. There was a lot of Kendrick Lamar, a lot of Man of La Mancha, a lot of Camelot. I don't want anything to go wrong, I loved this.

"Early dawn was the time
She would pay for her crime
Or would Lancelot reappear
Come and rescue Guenevere?" All 3 of us sang. I loved Camelot so much.

We pulled up in front of The Mandel Law Firm, I was terrified, anything you can think of that could possibly go wrong, I have seen go wrong.

"You'll like Steve, he's the lawyer."

"Yeah, he's the best." Vanessa added.

"How long have you been talking to lawyers? Just wondering."

"5 months." Lin responded, opening the door. I pondered that for a couple seconds. He started talking to lawyers in October?! He took me in December...

"Wait? October?"

"Yeah, like October 2nd or 3rd. After I saw you at Edison's Diner."

"Oh. Dang." I shut up a little, and walked into the office.

"Hey Steve," Lin walked in and shook the lawyers hand, "This is Abigail, the girl we were telling you about."

"Hi." I said softly, and shyly.

"This shouldn't take that long. The hearing is mostly ceremonial, this is where we need to work out the legal kinks. You have the file?" He nodded to Lin, who had a manila envelope. "You did the paperwork?" Lin nodded.

"Yeah, 2 days ago." He put the envelope on the table and pulled out a stack of papers, he handed some of them to Mr. Mandel. I sifted through the remaining papers. My report cards were there, my doctors files, and my birth certificate. I quickly shuffled my birth certificate back under the other papers. I didn't want to see my parents signatures, my real name.

"Ok, we should get started. So the transition from Foster Care to adoption is exciting, and it means you'll have the same custody as if you were her birth parents." Oh crap haven't thought about them in a while. It's been almost 3 years. "So," he said thumbing through some papers, "can we briefly go over your permanent record?" He looked up at me.

"Um, yeah. Sure."

"So, you've been in 5 homes, others than this one." I nodded, "all but 2 resulted in parental termination."

"Yes."

"One, the," he checked his papers, "Browns, due to drug abuse, and two, more recently the Walters, due to youth substance abuse, and physical abuse."

"Yeah, that sounds right."

"So, you confirm the reports of physical abuse?"

"oh, um..." I stuttered but Vanessa and Lin cut me off simultaneously.

"Yes."

"Thank you Mr. Miranda and Mrs. Nadal, but I do need to hear it from Abigail." They turned towards me.

"Yes. There was physical abuse in my last Foster family." That was satisfying.

"Thank you, that's really helpful." He made marks on the paper he had in front of him.

They discussed some really boring legal stuff, Vanessa loved it.

"And now, your parents," Mr. Mandel turned to me, "they are still living, but not in the picture. They don't have any custody, but have been informed."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Fun for them."

"Now, housing, am I right in my knowledge  that she will be living with the 2 of you?" Vanessa and Lin nodded. "And," he flipped through a couple of papers, "your home study was completed, 2 weeks ago." I looked at Lin and Vanessa. I didn't know I was moving, well? It's not like I've never moved before.

"Now, the name change, that's up to you Abigail." This caught my attention, "you can remain Abigail Leigh Edminston, or take Mr. Miranda's last name, so Abigail Leigh Miranda."

"I'll change my last name." Pfft. No brainer. I don't want a connection to my drunk gambling parents.

"Right, that will happen at the hearing. We're all set, thank you so much for coming in, I look forward to seeing you there. March 7th." With that we left and I couldn't believe it, I saw the papers, the signed papers saying that they intended to adopt. I saw the adoption petition, well a copy. The original was sent to the court months ago, before placement even. This was real.

Thanks for reading!

-Abi

(Hey guys! Quick Question: the hearing is 11 days from this chapter, should I skip to it? At does anyone have any good ideas for a chapter in between them? I'm updating again tonight...)