RONAN'S PICK-UP TRUCK ran on a prayer. The engine sputtered, the brakes squeaked, and a concerning clack resounded every few minutes. Gwenn kept to her corner on the passenger side of the leather, black bench seat. An arm resting by the window, she let the metal warm her skin as she leaned her forehead against the glass.
"We should be getting there soon," Ronan announced, turning right. The truck responded with a loud screech. Gwenn winced, looking out at every building and bridge they passed, driving closer to the edge of Lockfell. "I saw online they accept walk-ins."
She was about to ask more, but Ronan parked in front of the center before she could say anything. Her eyes wandered over the quaint building painted white with dark gray borders.
Ronan shut off his truck. "Let's go get some answers."
Gwenn didn't have time before he marched to the glass sliding doors. Without a plan, she followed behind him. A colorful explosion of flowers covered the main wall in the lobby. Petals of tangerine, coral, and bright yellow jumped out into her vision. A distinct memory of splattering the walls of her room with a collection of paint came flooding back.
"Hello, how can I help you today?" The lady at the front desk said once Ronan came up. He waved Gwenn over, so she walked up, bright eyed and nervous. A tiny thrill swept through her spine.
"Hi, we looked up your adoption center, and we decided to come check it out for ourselves," Ronan started. Gwenn looked up at him, appreciating how he took the lead without hesitation. She leaned over the sleek white desk, ignoring the biting cold on the skin of her forearms, confident they would find out the best steps to find her biological mother.
"Looking to adopt?" The lady asked, standing from her chair. Her tight ponytail swished behind her as she grabbed a brochure.
Gwenn was about to say no, but Ronan grabbed her shoulder, successfully startling her. Her lips parted as he looked directly at the lady.
"Yes," he announced. "My wife and I really want kids, but we've been having issues." The lady nodded, her expression molding down into pity. "We decided to adopt rather than go through such a hard time with procedures."
Gwenn's throat closed up, her eyes widening at Ronan. He smiled down at her, grabbing onto her hand. Her cheeks warmed, and she sent the lady a shy smile.
"Well, here's the brochure, but we can start the process right now, if you'd like," the lady said. "My name's Cameron if you need anything, but I'll have one of our supervisors take you through the center and orient you to see if we'll be a good fit for you."
She could feel her pulse skipping. Cameron pressed a clipboard towards them, a pen at the ready over it.
"Please write your names here, and we'll start right away."
Gwenn didn't get to show her fear because Ronan grabbed the pen like it was second nature. She leaned towards him, watching him write down Robin and Gail Prince in his tiny handwriting.
Protest got buried beneath her clogged throat when he gave Cameron the clipboard back. A sudden heaviness settled into her stomach as their fake names were accepted.
"Follow me, Mr. and Mrs. Prince," Cameron said, a bright smile on her face.
Ronan tugged at her hand, his icy eyes piercing into her. An unspoken conversation passed between them just as Cameron escorted them into a separate room.
A wooden desk stood in the middle, with two armchairs angled in front of it. No one sat at the other side, where a desktop computer and a pile of folders waited. Cameron's heels clicked on the tiled floors behind them, still holding onto the door.
"I'll have someone meet with you two," she spoke. Gwenn could only nod, hand still intertwined with Ronan's. When the door shut, she jumped out of his grasp. He had his arms up in surrender quick before she could open her mouth.
"Gail?" she whispered.
Ronan grimaced. "I panicked!"
"We're married?" she continued, her voice never daring to go above a whisper.
"And we want kids," he added, pointing at her chest. "So you better be head over heels madly in love with me when that supervisor comes in."
Gwenn widened her eyes. "Do you even have a plan?"
The door to the office opened, interrupting them. A middle-aged woman gave them the widest smile, eyes glimmering in excitement as she came inside. Gwenn straightened up, swallowing down her unsaid words.
"Mr. and Mrs. Prince," the woman greeted them. "How lovely to meet you. I'm Stephanie Xu. I hear you're here to see if you can adopt a little one."
Ronan cleared his throat. "Yes, we decided we would give adoption a try." He reached out for Gwenn, hand rubbing her shoulder. She opted to keep her lips sealed as Stephanie waltzed over to her desk, a thin manila folder in her freshly manicured hands.
"The first step would be to know if you're willing to cover the costs," Stephanie started. Her nails clacked over her keyboard, logging into her computer. "Then we would start the application process to see if you're fit to be parents—don't take it the wrong way, this is just standard procedure—and then we'll get into finding the right child for you."
Gwenn nodded along, blinking every few minutes to show she was conscious and not crazy. But inside her system was short-circuiting slowly, degrading and deteriorating, waiting for the right moment to collapse into a heap beside Ronan. All the lies, the idea that she would be adopting, or being married to the tattooed man beside her prowled into her brain like an unwanted virus wrecking havoc. Her fragile heart could not handle more.
"We've got the costs covered," Ronan reassured Stephanie. He grabbed onto Gwenn's hands, squeezing her fingers tightly in his. "We're ready to become parents."
Stephanie smiled, tucking a strand of her dark, short hair behind her ear. "You two are such a lovely couple. I hope you go through the process quickly so you can enjoy the joys of parenthood."
Gwenn smiled, her mind wandering to a hopeful future. A bundle in her arms. A house for her and her family. Her sitting on a rocking chair, looking at the flower field painted on the nursery walls. Sunflowers blowing through wind, the sun shining down on all of them, brightening the room even on the darkest, sleepless nights. Steps and ruckus would resound from outside, the presence of a husband she did not yet know of.
"Thank you," Ronan said, bringing her back to reality. "We hope to have a little one for ourselves soon." He turned to her, his icy eyes staring deep into her soul. She nodded, unable to say anything else to confirm his words.
"The application can take between six months to a year to fully process," Stephanie revealed. She went back to her desktop computer, typing some more. "I can start you up on it, but that's your decision. If you'd like to research more about us to see if we're the right fit for you, I can get you that information to you immediately."
Ronan looked over at Gwenn, as if asking permission. She breathed in and faced Stephanie. "I'd like some information, if you don't mind. We really want to make the right decision here."
Stephanie nodded. "Of course, let me guide you outside and I'll get you all the documents. If you make a decision, you can make an appointment or walk-in, and I'll be more than happy to get you started on the application." She stood up, closing the manila folder with a flick of her finger. "Follow me, Mr. and Mrs. Prince."
Gwenn caught Ronan's hand in hers, digging her nails into the sun tattoo on the back of his hand. Stephanie opened the door to the office, leading back out into the hallway.
"Stay right here while I get those documents for you," she said as she walked them back to the lobby. They both nodded and watched her go off. Gwenn spied Cameron at the front desk, ponytail bobbing from the top of her computer screen.
Ronan turned to her. "This is really bad timing, but I have to use the restroom." He said it like it was the worst news he could possibly give. Gwenn pursed her lips.
"I'm sure there's a public restroom around here," she said, turning at every direction for a sign.
Cameron looked up from her work. "Oh, it's down the hall. Take a left at the end, and it'll be there."
"Thanks," Ronan said. He let his gaze fall down to her, letting his fingers trail down her spine. She suppressed a shiver. "Come with me?"
Gwenn didn't even say anything as she set off to walk back down the hall. Ronan caught up to her, jogging as if desperate to relieve himself. Passing by the obvious restroom sign, Ronan grinned and grabbed the knob to the next door.
"Mrs. Prince," he began. "Do you dare sneak into this room with me for some fun?"
All the oxygen in her lungs fell out like she was punched. "What?"
In response, he pulled her inside the room. His chest broke her fall, her forehead smacking into him. She was about to exclaim, but he steadied her and held a finger over her lips, stopping her.
"We found the file room," he announced, motioning to the room before them.
Blue-gray metal archives spread across the room. They stood in a series of rows, closed, their handles glinting with the last of the evening sun rays filtering through a skylight. Gwenn inhaled sharply through her nose, a sense of wrong settling into her chest.
"Ronan," she whispered. "What if we get caught?"
He snorted. "We won't. Now let's find what we're here for."
Not an ounce of hesitation graced his actions as he strode over to the cabinets, reading the labels. Gwenn, rooted to the ground, quietly groaned and unfroze from her position. Ronan traced every label, passing by the J cabinet, then the I cabinet, then the F. She was about to ask what he looked for, but he stopped right in front of the D cabinet.
"Alright, let's see if we find your parents, honey." Ronan pulled out the first drawer all the way to his chest. Hundreds of files popped up. Gwenn watched as he got to sifting, reading each label like his life depended on him going through all of them. She blinked when he found the first Davidson file.
"Is that it?" Gwenn asked.
Ronan opened the file in front of them. "Are your parents Marcus and Jane Davidson?"
Disappointment flooded her body. "Malcolm and Meredith Davidson."
He closed the file in a haste and went back to looking. A few seconds later, he brought out another file, her parent's names staring up at her. Their information was all laid up there. The profile they had made so they could adopt her as a baby.
Ronan skimmed through it. "Damn, your parents make some serious dough," he commented. "Your mother in particular with that job."
Gwenn snatched the file from his hands. Her parent's jobs were written under their personal information—her father as a programmer and her mother as an executive assistant of Compass. "What are we looking for?"
"Information on your biological parents," he said, grasping the edge of the folder so he could see better. "It should be here." He flipped the page over, and her name came up. Her heart skipped a beat.
A part of her wondered if her biological mother's name would be listed right there, waiting for her eyes to glance over it, reading it, and devouring it whole. But there was nothing there, the page was mostly empty.
"Well," Ronan started. "We have the non-identifying information of your biological mother." His finger tapped over the small bullet points a few lines below her name.
Appearance: five foot two, blonde, blue eyes, white
Education: High school graduate
Employment: Unemployed
A spark ignited inside. The little information, the confirmation, that her mother might look like her created like a buzzing through her body. Gwenn wished to find her immediately.
"Is there...more about her?" she asked. Not like she had to because the rest of the file was empty.
Footsteps neared the file room. They both whipped their heads to the door, then at each other. Ronan hurried to shove the file back in its corresponding place. Gwenn felt her heart wanting to squeeze itself up her throat so she could spit it out.
No one opened the room, their steps echoing far from them. Ronan closed the drawer slowly, careful not to slam it too hard. He then turned to the door, waving at her to follow him.
They came out of the room, Ronan clicking the door shut like a whisper.
"There you are!" Stephanie exclaimed. Gwenn jumped, grabbing onto Ronan's arm for stability.
"Oh," Ronan sighed. "I apologize. We got lost for a second there." He walked up to Stephanie, Gwenn still curled up against his side.
"He was looking for the restroom," Gwenn explained. "He's the worst at directions." She finished off with a roll of her eyes worthy of Scarlet Turner.
Stephanie chuckled, then produced documents for them to take. "Well, I'm glad you found your way out. Here is the information you will need, and I hope you decide to come back."
Ronan grinned. "We most likely will."
They traded goodbyes, and Stephanie led them back to the lobby. Gwenn waved towards Cameron, who smiled enthusiastically. Ronan held the door open into the early night.
Once she sat inside Ronan's pick-up truck, her breathing leveled. The engine sputtered and roared to life, and they backed out of the property. The stack of papers on how to adopt a child sat on her lap, and an overwhelming wave of uncertainty came back to shower her, but she didn't dare vocalize it.
Ronan turned left, driving further away from A Chosen Bond. "We're gonna need to get you a DNA test. There's no other way."
Her eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. "I already told you my problem with that."
"Don't worry, honey," he met her gaze when he stopped at a red light, "I know a guy."