JJ knew that when the day came and he stood before the gates to heaven, he would have to face God and answer for all his actions during his time on earth, a lot of them dumb and stupid and thoughtless, especially during his teenage years. He also knew that after a one-hour session with Ms. Lizzie Wells, facing God would be a walk in the park.
Simon had arrived home on the dot and was faced with the steely gaze from Ms Wells and an agitated one from his boyfriend. Ever since then it had been question after question.
"Which school will Ethan be attending?"
"Well, we haven't quite decided yet..."
"You are aware that many have a waiting list?"
"Well, kind of...but..."
"What about the days when you are out late? Do you have someone that can pick him up and care for him?"
"Well, the girl who looks after Tobi should be fine to take on extras ...."
"You are 'YouTubers'. Do you think this is a suitable career choice to be taking on extra responsibility?"
"Well, I reckon that...that..."
"Has he had his immunisations? Has he had any of the childhood illnesses? Who is his paediatrician?"
"Well, I guess we could find out..."
"Where does Ethan stay on the nights you want to 'entertain' guests? What time does he go to bed? Do you have a plan to help him with his dyslexia? Do you monitor what he watches on television? How much time does he spend in front of the television? Does he eat well-balanced meals? Do you allow him to have junk food? How are his teeth? What are his current school assessment levels?"
Finally, only the ticking of a clock filled the otherwise silent house. Ethan had fallen asleep at the beginning of the interview after eating just one cookie and drinking a half a glass of milk. He lay stretched out on the sofa with his head resting on JJ's lap, one arm draped across the man's leg. JJ stared down at the child, letting his hand rub gently across the small shoulders. He was trying very hard not to think about how empty their life was going to be when Ethan was gone. Don't get him wrong he loved Tobi and Simon with all his heart, but this little boy was just so loud and so full of life that it was going to be strange without him running around. Because while it had been made painfully obvious to him that there were a lot of things he didn't know, one fact had become crystal clear; there was no way that they were going to be approved for a child like Ethan. JJ was even worried the lady might decide to snatch Tobi from them.
Ms. Wells watched the silent exchange and truly regretted having to make her decision. The love that JJ and Simon already felt towards Ethan was easy to see but the two men were simply unprepared to take on another child so demanding. They had even admitted to the fact they weren't planning getting another child so soon if it hadn't been for fate. Perhaps, in a few years time, when the two young men had grown up and more mature themselves could they consider it.
"Sirs..."
"JJ. You can call us JJ and Simon and you don't have to say it. We know we didn't pass the test. Shit. I've never been that great at tests anyway." JJ glanced up briefly to flash Lizzie Wells a quick smile to let her know that he wasn't really blaming her and there were no hard feelings. "I guess we were just having so much fun with the little guy we didn't stop to think that there might actually be work involved with keeping him."
Beside him Simon was silent. But that did not mean he wasn't upset either. If they couldn't even get approved to have Ethan what did that mean for the chances of taking in Josh?
"Is that why you want to be his foster parent, for the fun of it?" Ms Wells asked the question to his boyfriend.
"Well, sure. I mean, why else would a person have a kid?"
"Some people settle for dogs."
"Nah. We get a few strays that wonder in sometimes. Just not the same." JJ gave a quiet, sorrowful kind of laugh. "Dogs don't wake you up at two in the morning wanting a drink of water and a bedtime story. And they don't eat their waffles with peanut butter and applesauce or try to hatch chicken eggs with a heating pad under a couch cushion."
Beside him Simon smiled wistfully. He'd been spending so much time with Josh he'd missed a lot of the mayhem. Now it looked like he was never going to get to experience it.
Shaking his head, JJ sighed as he continued to watch Ethan sleeping in his lap. "I'm sorry Simon, I've let you down." He gestured to his boyfriend for the social worker's sake. "My man here is the proper dad around this place, and he would have been able to answer all those questions if he wasn't too busy with helping another little boy. I know now I shouldn't have been trusted to look after Ethan and Tobi more. I guess I just wasn't thinking in the long run. Or not thinking at all. Just feeling. Felt good having the little guy here. Can't tell you what it's been like hearing him laugh, seeing him smile up at me, watching him play...I don't think I've ever seen Tobi laugh so much for so long. There's no dog on earth can give you that kind of feeling."
Next to him Simon's eyes were filling with tears. He placed a comforting hand on JJ's arm. "Hey, don't you dare blame yourself. I shouldn't have just expected you to cope fine by yourself all of a sudden. Anyone would have become a bit flustered."
Watching the two men's exchange, Lizzie looked down at the notepad in her lap with all the angry red check marks and actually felt a pang of regret. She made tough decisions all the time so why should this one be any different? As she closed her book, she caught sight of the manila envelope given to her by their son, Tobi. Her brow wrinkled in confusion and she remembered his words as she opened it and pulled out the papers. "If, when you're interviewing them, you start to think my dads won't be able to handle another kid..."
Ms. Wells didn't know what she expected to find but it certainly wasn't documents outlining a very generous savings account set up in Ethan Payne's name. Or an investment portfolio. Looking at this, the child would have no problem paying for university when he turned eighteen. Would probably even be able to afford to buy his own car! Lizzie quickly scanned through the rest of the papers and found medical records for Ethan Payne obtained at the request of a Callum McGinley as well as a completed enrollment form for a nearby school completed by a certain Deji Olatunji. There was even a neatly organised contact list of people and the times they were available for babysitting.
"Mr. Olatu...JJ, those gentlemen who were here earlier..."
"Oh, they're great and we trust both of them with our lives but we wouldn't go so far at to call'em gentlemen."
"Your son Tobi..."
"Well...he likes to pretend he's a mini gentleman."
"Were you aware he has schemed with your brother and friend to see there is stuff set up for Ethan?" Lizzie saw the surprise and confusion on both mens faces. "It would seem that your family and friends have taken it upon themselves to make the arrangements that you were too busy having fun to think about."
Simon stared open mouthed at the documents as JJ took the thick wad of papers and slowly read through them. Shaking his head sadly, he finally handed them back to Ms. Wells so that she could replace them in the envelope.
"Yeah, they're a great bunch of lads. Sorry I let'em down so bad." JJ gave Ethan a light pat on the shoulder. "Even more sorry I let this little guy down." Looking back up, he tried to meet Ms. Wells' eyes but found himself too embarrassed. Clearing his throat, he decided it was time to bring the session to its obvious conclusion. "Do you have to take him with you when you go or can he stay for just a little while longer? I'm sure the guys would like to see him one more time and I...I kind of would like a chance to try and...explain things to him. Let him know it's all for the best and...and stuff."
Simon was also giving her the big eyes. "Please Ms Wells', don't take him away from us straight away...we...we need time to say goodbye properly."
Lizzie Wells slowly folded the tabs closed on the envelope and was shocked to discover that her fingers were actually trembling. "Oh for God's sake!"
JJ's head jerked up, a comically surprised look on his face and even Ethan stirred at the sudden outburst but did not quite awaken.
"Both of you," she pointed to each surprised young man individually. "There is one statement that you made today that was absolutely correct, you didn't think before you applied for guardianship of Ethan. But lucky for you, you have friends and a wonderful son who don't seem to mind doing the thinking for you. Now, I suggest you go put Ethan in his bed and start a fresh pot of coffee because we have a lot of territory to cover."
"What...why...?"
"You are about to get a make-up exam and believe you me," Lizzie shook her finger at the stammering young men. "This time you are going to pass."
Three hours later...
The front door opened on their third knock finally allowing Cal and Deji to enter the farmhouse. It was close to nine and seeing the dazed look on their friends faces, the two men assumed the worst.
Deji put a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder. "Well bro, I'm sure you gave it your best try."
JJ simply nodded his head and gestured for his friends to follow them into the great room.
"What's all this?" Cal was surprised to see books and papers scattered across the once clean coffee table and floor.
He bent over and picked up one of the volumes, reading the title out loud. "Raising An Above Average Child, What Every Parent Should Know."
Deji scooped up another book and read its title. "Be A Better Parent, Raise Your Child By Example."
Out of nowhere Tobi appeared with a grin, holing up two more books for the men to see. "Fast Fun Foods For Healthy Kids." and "Is Your Home Safe? A Complete Guide to Childproofing." He laughed, "No one made them read this much when I came to live with them! I'm offended!"
Both turned to stare in shock at the Simon and JJ sitting in a daze amidst all the clutter.
"You mean...?"
"You get to keep...?"
"She actually approved you to...?"
"Boys, we've only got one thing to say." JJ looked at each of his friends and his smile slowly grew into a grin. "Thanks. For everything. Just...thanks."
Simon pulled Tobi into his lap, grinning when the boy tried to wriggle away. "And thank you Tobi. You're a little legend."
Cal and Deji smiled. "Yeah you should really thank Tobi for everything, he was the one who told us about all the stuff social services were going to want from you."
"Why didn't you just remind me in the first place?" JJ asked his son.
The nine year old shrugged with a smirk. "Well...I would have." He paused, his grin widening. "But I was just having too much fun watching you chase naked Ethan around the house!"
Everybody started laughing then, a lot of it was out of relief for JJ and hope for Simon. One down, the blond man thought. One down and one more to go. Then he could finally rest easy at night.
Question: I'm currently in the process of working on a new SDMN book which will have quite a few side characters. So, which other YouTubers would you like to see in there?