Transformers: Where You Belong

Chapter 25

Dave had never had a social worker before, he'd never had a reason to. But now that he was in Foster Care, like every ward of the state, he required one. But this was the first time he was actually meeting his Social Worker, and it only made it that much more nervous. Maybe it was that, or the fact that he and Optimus were getting more and more serious about hopefully adopting him as each day passed. He stared at the Social Worker's name tag slightly, it read "DONALD REESE", he wasn't sure what to call him, Donald, Don, Mr. Reese, but he didn't bother to ask either.

Reese stared down at the papers, then over his desk at the fidgeting teen. He sighed, and set the papers down. "It's rather odd that over the course of a month, you've just gotten into the system, and he's thinking adoption. I'm going to start with that." He stated bluntly, standing up in his chair "You two haven't even had the time to truly get to know each other. I'm not saying he has ulterior motives in mind, I highly doubt that." He looked at Dave square in the eyes "But you have a full year with this man, David. That's the maximum time he signed up to take you. Unless we find someone interested in adopting you." He noted "You need to slow things down." He added.

"Optimus is interested in eventually adopting me. If that's the point of this, what's the problem?" Dave asked, perplexed.

Reese sighed, it was always the new kids who didn't understand. Reese took a deep breath, leaned back, and stared at Dave. "How do I put this gently? He's a giant alien ROBOT, David." Dave stared at Reese, confused "Generally these types of adoptions don't happen. That kid Ben was a one and a billion exception due to that BOND of theirs." He looked at Dave with a sigh "Personally, I'm looking for a good HUMAN family who would be willing to take you." He explained.

"They aren't going to love me the way I know Optimus does." Dave replied, giving Reese a sharp look "He's the first person to really care about me in my entire life, Mr. Reese. What the hell does it matter if he's not human?" Dave shook his head, a little frustrated "I thought the whole POINT of Foster Care was to find safe and loving homes for kids in need. That's exactly what I have right now with that "ROBOT"." He explained.

Reese rubbed the temples of his forehead, getting even more frustrated than Dave was at this point. "Look, David. NOTHING has been signed in the way of adoption, you're still a ward of the state." He leaned forward, and stared David in the eyes "You need to understand that Foster Homes are temporary. And that even if this doesn't work out, there are TONS of loving families looking for children out there." He explained.

Dave stared at Reese slowly, he really hated Foster Care, that much was now official. "Yeah, because there are a lot of people out there looking or an abused and molested fourteen year old." Dave replied, his eyes growing hard "My Dad ran an 'orphanage', even if it was CRAP, he did adopt kids out. It's ALWAYS the young, innocent kids that get adopted, period." He shook his head "So don't sit here and LIE to me, alright? If I get out of Optimus's care, I'm in and out of homes for the rest of my childhood." He added.

Reese stared at Dave, he sighed a bit, realizing this boy was dead set on Optimus adopting him. Reese knew he was partly right, not a lot of people wanted older kids who had been through so much but some people did seek them out. Optimus may have been one of those people, people who wanted to give children like that a chance, but they were so rare, Reese had no way of knowing. "And what happens if Optimus ends up NOT wanting you?" Those words hit Dave hard, he stared up at Reese slowly "He's thinking about it, Dave. But a lot of people like that don't do it. You need to be prepared for whatever happens." He explained.

That one hit Dave hard, he wouldn't, he tried to tell himself. Optimus had proven time and time again that he was coming to love him, that wasn't going to change, it would never change. But the logical side of his brain knew his Social Worker was right, Optimus's mind could change at any time. As much as it would destroy him, it could. "Yes sir." Dave muttered.