Good Company

Prologue

~April 1973~

'Mister May, isn't it? So wonderful to have a clever young man like you picking up one of our kids. The ones that care for orphans and outcasts are usually single forty year old ladies who wish to have some joy in their miserable lives, and they aren't often the parent the child needs. You, on the other hand, mister May, you are well educated, you have access to the perfect living environment for a child, and, the most important one, you are not addicted to those horrible cigarettes. Yes, you'll make a fine father.'

Brian's cheeks flushed as the lady in front of him, who had introduced herself as Julia, complimented him, for he didn't think it was that big a deal. He fiddled with his ring, given to him by his mother just moments before she passed away, not knowing if he should give some sort of anwer or remark, but that appeared not to be necessary as Julia happily continued rambling. 

'I currently have eleven kids ready for adoption. They're dolls, every single one of them. There's Darcy, she loves to draw, and Jane, the sweetheart, cares about the environment, so she's regularly colleting trash outside and inside the house. She always insists on going with me to the grocery store to make sure that the animals of which I buy meat have had good lives, and that I buy enough veggies. Bob is our little musical star. He climbs onto a table whenever he gets the opportunity and sings his favourite songs while encouraging his friends to join him, it's adorable. Then there's Freddie, he's precious. He doesn't really interact with the other kids except for John. Sometimes I find myself thinking that he's adopted John as his brother, but that's crazy, right? Anyway, I'll take you upstairs if you like?'

'Yeah, sure.' Brian hastily got up from his chair and followed Julia upstairs. He had heard the children laughing and talking when he arrived, and now he managed to fish out some recognisable words. 

She turned around after walking down the hallway and opened the door, exposing a bright coloured room where young and older kids played in harmony (except when they had a fight, that happened often). She whistled a short tune to get the children's attention and made them aware of why Brian was there. 

One little girl made her way to Brian while the woman was talking and tapped him on his leg to get his attention. 'Excuse me sir, are you related to Shawn the Sheep from television?' 

'No, sweetheart, unfortunately I'm not. What's your name?' Brian crouched down to get on the girl's level.  

'Jane. Like Jane Goodall. I want to work with animals too, when I'm older.' She ran back to the woman, blushing, and hid behind the big skirt, so the only thing visible was the top of her head. 

Brian got to his feet and smiled at Julia. 'I like her already. How are we going to handle the getting-to-know-each-other-part, do they come to me or should I go talk to them?' 

'You can go talk to them yourself, no need to wait for them to come to you. I'm going to get some coffee, would you like some?' Brian nodded and watched as Julia closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in a room full of kids. 

The children soon resumed their games, and Brian decided to watch them for a bit before approaching one of them. Little boys were playing with older kids, constantly bragging to look cool. A few girls tried to put a poor boy's hair in a ponytail. Some other girls were drawing and talking peacefully. One scene caught his eye: there were two kids who didn't seem to care about the others. They were playing with toy cars and dolls, probably imagining and acting out an entire life story in half an hour.  Brian went to sit beside the boys and informed what they were playing. 

'We're playing famous music show. The cars are intruments and the dolls are singers and the band. This is Elton John, he's going to sing in New York. That's very far away.' 

'I'm guessing you're Freddie?' The boy nodded. 

'And you must be John.' Brian turned his attention to the other boy, who had been quiet the whole time. When Brian looked at him, he hid his face in the stuffed tiger he was holding. 

'He's a little shy. You mustn't hurt him though, or he'll be angry. I'll be angry. Who are you?'

'I'm... Brian.' He was stunned by the guts of this boy. It's not easy to make small talk with an adult, not to mention a stranger. 

The door opened and Julia appeared with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Brian. 'So, have you met some of the children?' 

'Yeah, I had a nice talk with Freddie and John. Well, mostly Freddie. John wasn't very talkative.'

Julia smiled. 'That's great! Have you made a decision? It can be tough, but you seem relaxed, so I thought...'

'I have, actually. I would love to take in John.'