Chapter 1

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~Brendon~

I came home to find Sarah sitting on the couch. She looked upset. I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. I asked her why she looked so upset.

"The house is too quiet. Too big. I'm tired of it, Bren. I need something." She looked at me desperately. I knew what she was talking about. The house was always too quiet, even when we had a bunch of people over for dinner. Even when we had people talking and drinking and being noisy. It always felt quiet. "Bren, we need a child. Whether one of our own or we adopt. I don't care. I need someone to take care of besides you and myself and the pups." I nodded.

"I agree. We could go to the adoption event tomorrow and take a look. And if we don't find anyone there, we'll get an adoption agent and search far and wide for the perfect kid. One that will make us happy and keep us busy. One that will make our lives more complete." I hugged my wife to my side and kissed her temple. She was right, after all. A child would definitely liven up our life more than it already was with my band. And it doesn't seem like it's going to tone down anytime soon, so it's now or never.

Sarah nodded and we got up off the couch. Sarah started dinner while I ran upstairs to shower after a long day. After dinner, we crawled into bed. I dreamed of a kid who would be perfect. I didn't care if it was a little boy or a little girl. I didn't care if it was a teenager. I didn't care if they were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or anything else. They would be perfect no matter who they turned out to be.

~Rilynn~

On Adoption Day, I dragged myself out of bed and put on my nicest dress. I didn't like dresses much, but I was taught to be lady like. And ladies wore dresses. They wore their best on special occasions. Then I walked downstairs to the kitchen and sat at the table of my foster home. I ate with my fellow foster kids before we were loaded into the van and taken to the Community Center that this year's Adoption Day was taking place. It wasn't too far from home. When we arrived, we clambered out of the van and were led inside by our foster parents. We went to a table and got name tags with our names written on them. The name tags were put on our clothes where the potential adopters could see them.

We were then led into the main room and told to stay within the sights of the people who would be coming. I didn't pay much attention. I'd gone through enough of these that I already knew what to expect. I expected to not get adopted. I practiced what I would say all the time. I thought of questions I could be asked. I thought of answers to those questions. But I didn't think I would ever get adopted. 

When Adoption Day began, the room filled with people looking to adopt. I held my stuffed dog close as I pushed through the people towards a wall. I sat against it and hugged my toy tightly as couples and foster parents pushed around each other. After awhile, I stood up and began walking through the crowd. I didn't see the tall man and his wife walking towards me.

~Brendon~

We got to the adoption event and walked around inside, looking at all of the children. We were so occupied with the older ones that we saw walking around and talking with other couples, that we didn't notice the little girl walking our way. I ran into her and she tumbled backwards. I grabbed her wrist right before she hit the ground and helped her steady herself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," I smiled. I figured she had just lost her parents, who were looking to adopt, but then I saw her name tag. It broke my heart that such a young girl was at this adoption event and no one cared that she'd ended up here.

"It's okay," she murmured, brushing the dirt off her dress. She bent down to pick up her stuffed toy dog and stood back up with it clutched tightly in her left arm. 

"Do you need help finding your family?" Sarah asked her. 

"No," she replied. "My foster parents don't care if I walk around." She didn't look up at us. Her hair was a honey brown color. Her hands small. Her name tag read Rilynn. I nodded and had to practically drag Sarah away from her.

"She doesn't need our help, and there's other kids here we haven't met yet," I whispered as I led her away. I didn't like leaving her, but she seemed to be a child with trust issues. It was understandable, of course. Who wouldn't have trust issues at such a young age, having to be in a foster home?

When the event was almost over, the kids went back to their foster families to await their fates. We heard someone calling a name I recognized. Rilynn. A man and a woman were walking around looking for her, calling her name. I looked at Sarah and she looked back at me, slightly alarmed. We hadn't seen her since we'd run into her almost two hours before. I left the room while Sarah helped them look inside. I walked down the hallway, glancing into doors and other halls as I walked. I finally found her standing by a vending machine, looking up at all the snacks.

"You want something?" I asked, pulling out my wallet as I stood next to her. She looked up in alarm, but then nodded and pointed to a bag of mini chocolate chip cookies. 

I slid in a dollar into the machine and pushed the button for the cookies. They came out the bottom and I opened them before handing her the package. She sat against the wall and started to eat them, so I slid down next to her, my knees against my chest.

"Your family is in there looking for you," I said, looking down at her while she ate. She looked up and swallowed the cookie that had been in her mouth.

"Why? They should be glad to have one less kid to look after," she said. She sounded so young.

"Maybe they miss you. Or maybe someone's going to adopt you," I replied. It was the only thing I could think of on the spot like that. She shook her head.

"They don't like me very much," she said. "And I've been to seven of these already, nobody would adopt me. They're probably hoping another foster family will take me, so they don't have to deal with me." It broke my heart to hear her say that. At that moment, I knew she was the one. She was the kid that would make our lives better. She was one we needed.

"Well, how about I take you back?" I asked. "Maybe there is something good for you."

"I guess," she said, finishing her cookies. We stood up and I held her hand while we walked back to the main room.

*This new fanfic shall be interesting, I promise. And hopefully still different from my others. I have a couple chapters written already, but I'm actually going to edit them BEFORE I publish them, unlike what I do with my others. Then they'll actually be well written and have like 0 grammar mistakes (hopefully). Enjoy <3

- A

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