Tango's Parents Chapter 5
#5 of Tango’s Parents
Blu waits patiently at the booth for Nate to arrive. He arrives with a relieved look on his face. It's been a while since Blu visited last.
"Blu!" Nate says joyfully. He has a big smile on his face and his tail wags.
"Hi, honey!" She replies with the same amount of happiness in her voice.
"Wh-where have you been?" He asks excitedly. He's focused on her and doesn't notice the blanketed mass in her arms.
"Just at home. But hey, I brought someone to see you." She says with a giddy tone.
"Really? Where? I don't see anyone else..." He's confused as he looks behind her. Then he finally sees that she's holding something.
"What's that?" He asks curiously. He fixates on it. Somehow, it doesn't cross his mind that it could be his baby.
"Really? You don't know?" She asks in confusion. A bit surprised.
"Wait...is that...?" He's slowly starting to realize.
She unwraps the blanket to reveal Tango. He's sleeping with his head laid back.
"It's our son." She says proudly. "It's Tango." She smiles big as she presents him to Nate.
Nate's eyes widen a bit. He's stunned for a moment as he processes what he's seeing.
"Tango..." His voice is a bit wobbly and it looks like he's about to cry.
"Wake up little man..." Blu says gently as she nudges him a few times. He wakes up without the aid of food this time. He yawns, letting out a small screech as he does. He licks Blu a few times then notices Nate behind the glass. He immediately gets curious as this is the second person he's ever seen.
Nate puts his hand on the glass.
"My son..." His voice breaks as he starts crying. He can't hold back his emotions as he smiles the hardest he's smiled in his life. The same immeasurable sense of pride and joy fills him as it did Blu.
"We made this, Nate." She says quietly, also filled with emotions.
Tango licks at the glass where Nate's hand is. A deep longing to be with Tango fills Nate. A desire so deep that it hurts to think about.
"I wish I could be with you..." He says sadly.
"Just ten more months, Honey. Ten more and we can live as a family..." She's on the brink of crying too as she tries to be comforting to Nate.
Another inmate walks by and sees what's going on.
"Yoooo Nate! Is that your kid?" The inmate asks with a sense of fascination in his voice.
"Yes...yes he is..." Nate replies. Still in a state of emotional shock.
"Dawg yo baby is hella cute." The inmate says. He smiles and observes Tango. Tango stares at them both.
"Ayy y'all come look at this baby!" The inmate motions to some other inmates. They all crowd around the booth. A mix of ooos and awws arise from the crowd as the inmates react. It's a very emotional moment for Nate and Blu. They bask in the joy of the moment a while longer. Soon enough, their time is up, and Blu goes back home with Tango.
The days go by. Days followed by months.
Eventually, Blu realizes a problem. Her medical leave ends about 4 months before Nate gets out. She'll need to hire someone to watch Tango. Can she afford that? Her terror slowly builds as she fears what may happen. Her demeanor slowly gets quieter and stressed out.
Her leave ends and she goes back to her job. She remembers why she hated it and the stress starts building. Luckily for her, Tango seems to be a heavy sleeper. So, she gets good sleep at night. However, she has to hire babysitters during the day.
If she had a better job, things would be fine. However, her fast-food job pays barely enough for her to support herself. Let alone Tango as well. The money is starting to run out...Something needs to change.
"I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry..." She says with a somber tone. Like usual, Tango doesn't understand her. He sits in the back of her car. They're going somewhere.
"Why did it have to come to this...?" She asks herself. She's crying silently as they ride to wherever it is they're going.
Eventually, they make it to their destination. It's an adoption center. Someone is adopting Tango. She has no other choice.
"Cmon sweetie...let's go..." She says to him. Her voice is oddly calm but overall extremely sad.
She picks him up and disappears within the building. She waits patiently for Tango's new parent.
Soon enough, she arrives. She's a raccoon. A bit shorter than Blu.
"Hello! You must be Blu?" She says with a cheery tone.
"Y-yes..." She responds gloomily. She's frowning and almost doesn't look up at her.
"Well, I'm Francine. It's nice to meet you." She looks at Blu, a bit concerned.
"..." Blu stays silent. She just looks at Tango, who happens to have fallen asleep in her arms.
"Hey...are you ok...?" Francine asks. Her cheery tone is replaced with concern.
"I'm...I don't think so..." Her voice is shaky and she starts crying again.
Francine sits down next to her. She hugs her and tries to make her feel better.
"It's ok girl..." She says in a calming voice.
"You're here for T-Tango right?" She manages to say. She's obviously distressed.
"Yes. I'm the one adopting him." She says almost regretfully.
"H-here..." She hands Tango to her.
"Oh wow. He's heavy." She says, surprised.
"H-heh...yeah..." Blu says calmly, still crying.
"He's adorable! Anything I should know?" She asks. Trying to lighten the mood.
Blu sniffs a bit before she responds.
"He likes grapes and mutton. He eats quite a bit. Oh, and if you need to wake him up, hover some food in front of him. The smell wakes him up." She lists. She's stopped crying but she's still very sad.
"That's amazing. Well, I'm gonna take very good care of him ok? You don't have to worry." Francine says, in as soothing a tone as she can manage.
"Th-thank you..." Blu starts crying again. "Thank you..." She hugs Francine fully.
She embraces her a moment more, then lets go.
"Here..." Francine gives Blu a slip of paper. It has a phone number on it. "You can call me and check on him whenever you want, ok?" She says in a reassuring tone.
Blu smiles a bit and takes it.
"O-ok..." She brushes Tango's face a few more times. "Goodbye...my beautiful boy..." Her voice breaks as her crying picks up.
"We'll talk soon, girl..." Francine says, frowning. She feels bad.
They say their goodbyes, and Francine leaves with Tango. Leaving Blu alone to sob in the lobby.
After a while she drives home, feeling horribly depressed. The house feels immensely alone. Blu cries herself to sleep and gets up for work the next day. She works through the day in silence. She only speaks when she has to and it's obvious that she's depressed.
She gets home after work and immediately gets her phone out. Then she realizes something...
"W-wait...where...?" Her eyes widen a bit as she realizes...
"N-no no no no!" She can't find the paper with the number. Her heart sinks as she realizes that she may never see or speak to Tango again.
"NooOOOO!" She frantically looks around to no avail. She can't find it. It's gone.
"AGHH!" She collapses on the floor and hyperventilates for a bit.
She just sobs on the floor in fetal position until she passes out. Her only way to see or talk to her son is gone.
She doesn't show up to work for a few days. The emotional burden is too heavy for her to do anything for a while.
When she finally does go back to work, everyone is curious as to why she was gone. She tells her co-workers what happened. She seems soulless now. The only thing that keeps her from shutting down completely is the support from her co-workers. She avoids seeing Nate. She doesn't want him to know. Despite knowing he will eventually find out. She trudges on, although she's not sure why.
The months go by, and soon enough, the day comes. It's time to pick Nate up from prison.
She gathers herself and gets in the car. She's a bit more stable emotion wise, although still filled with immense grief.
"Blu! I'm so happy to see you!" Nate says as he gets in the car. "Where's Tango?" He asks excitedly.
"..." She doesn't respond. She sits and stares forward, frowning.
"Blu? Are you alright?" He asks. Concerned.
"Let's just go home." She says in a flat tone. Her voice has a twinge of sadness in it.
"H-hey...what is it?" He asks. He sounds soothing but it doesn't work. Blu doesn't respond.
Nate just decides to stay silent. Confused. He assumes Tango is asleep at home or something of the sorts.
They arrive home and Nate follows Blu inside.
"Soooo where is he?" Nate asks again.
"Nate...I..." She's struggling to hold herself together.
"What...what is it...?" Nate asks in a worried tone.
"I'm sorry...I'm s-sor...ry..." She barely finishes before she breaks down sobbing.
"Hey...hey what is it?" He hugs her as she sobs hard. Not sure what to think.
"T-Tango...I...I had to...p-...put him up for adoption....a-and.....I...l-lost the lady's n-number....s..so now....we're never gonna see him again...." She struggles to say. She hugs him tightly and continues to sob wildly.
"Wh...what?" He says. A look of shock on his face. "N-no...." His eyes start to water as he processes the information.
"C-come here..." She guides him to the couch. "I m-made this for us..." She plays something on the tv. It's a collection of videos she recorded of Tango.
They both sit on the couch and watch.
"No..." Nate starts to cry. "NO!" His cries turn into sobs as he and Blu hold each other on the couch.
"W-WHY!?" He cries. There's no good answer to that question.
They watch. Their souls are broken. Their happiness taken away. They weep.