From Friend to Family
My first shot at writing and first actual submission! I was in a bad mood when I started writing and tried really hard to make the beginning kinda sad. It gets happy, though. I originally just wanted to explore my fursona, but I guess I also wanted to develop another character to interact with him and gauge my ability as a writer.
In short, the story is about a kid who's family adopts his orphaned-at-birth best friend at school. Both sadness and happiness (hopefully) ensue.
I would love any constructive criticism.
PS, I apologize in advanced if what I wrote is horribly inaccurate or offensive to anyone who's been involved in the adoption process. I tried my best to make an emotional story while being sensitive about it. ^^;
_ There was a light pitter-patter of rain on the window and the occasional rumbling of thunder in the distance. In the newborn 's room, two somber voices could be faintly heard over the sleeping canine's steady breathing._
_ _ "What should we do _...?_" a woman asked.
_ _ "What CAN we do? We can _'t support him! Hell, I don_'t even think we can support ourselves at the rate things are going for us! _" a man howled in frustration. A moment of silence passed until the man suddenly burst into tears. Whimpering, he cried_"It was all supposed to be so perfect! We _'ve been looking forward to this for years and spent so much time and energy preparing for this and_ - and - I just wish we didn't have to do this to him..."
_ After a long pause the woman 's eyes began to water as well,_ _"Alright... We 'll go first thing in the morning, then...?_"
_ _ "Yeah _... First thing in the morning_..."
A door opened and footsteps quietly approached the pup _'s room and stopped outside the door. With a heavy heart and regret in his voice, the man whispered through the door,_ "We love you, Deklan."
"Breakfast time, children! Breakfast!" an elderly fox sung as she paced the halls ringing a bell, signifying the start of the day. A young culpeo was woken as he was slowly brought back to reality. Sighing, he sat up in his bed. Blocking the sun with his paw, he noticed his roommate had already left the room. He stared at a crack in the old worn walls surrounding him as he tried to recall his dream. As he replayed its events, his pointed ears slowly folded back and he quietly whimpered as he realized it was the same recurring dream he's had for as long as he can remember.
The culpeo slowly got out of his bed to get dressed. Opening a drawer to fetch a pair of pants, he paused for a moment and pulled out a folded piece of paper instead. Unfolding it, one could see that it has clearly had its fair share of use. The creases were old and worn, threatening to rip. One could also see spots where the paper seems to have been wrinkled and the hastily scribbled ink slightly smeared from the tears of multiple furs. Despite having read the nine-year-old note countless times in the past, the culpeo's paws trembled as he read it once more.
Deklan,
We're so sorry we abandoned you at the orphanage. We never meant for this to happen to you, but the circumstances at the time left us with no other choice. At first it was an accident, but we quickly found out that you were the part of our lives that we were missing and so desperately wanted. We were both excited and ready to bring you into this world, but fate seems to have wanted it a different way. It's okay if you hate us for what we've done to you. We understand and take all the blame. We won't ask you to forgive us... we just want you to know that this isn't how we meant for it to be. We will always love you from the bottom of our hearts. Please keep your hopes up and know that one day, the right family will adopt you.
Your parents,
James and Anna Rosemer
Deklan usually tried to avoid thinking about his parents but whenever he does, he's only ever left confused and heartbroken for the rest of the day. Despite the fact that his species is extremely uncommon in the region and having both his parents' names, he's had no success in contacting them for answers. It was as if they disappeared...
With tears now running down his creamy cheeks, Deklan whimpered and wiped three new teardrops off of the note before folding it back up and putting it away. As he did so, Deklan could hear the old fox calling for breakfast a second time and remembered that he still had one more day of school before the weekend. The culpeo wiped the tears out of his bloodshot eyes and donned his best clothes. Taking a moment to inspect himself, he gave himself a silent nod of approval after ignoring a few holes riddling his shirt and jeans. Still whimpering, he trudged his way downstairs.
Deklan slowly made his way into the dining room, paying no mind to the numerous other kids in the room making a mess, laughing, and talking amongst each other. He got himself a bowl of plain cereal from one of the caretakers and took a seat beside his roommate.
"Morning, sleepyhead! What took you so long?" the rabbit grinned as he greeted his roommate.
"Oh, nothing..." Deklan replied while holding back more tears and staring at his cereal to avoid eye contact.
Finishing up his own cereal, the rabbit - oblivious to Deklan's bloodshot eyes - got up to put his bowl away and said, "Alrighty then. I'm gonna start heading off for school. Do you want me to wait for you?"
"Nah, go on without me," Deklan said, still staring at his cereal. After his roommate left, Deklan finished off his cereal, grabbed his backpack, and started his walk to school. Luckily, it was only about a fifteen-minute walk from the orphanage.
It was 7:40 by the time Deklan arrived to school. He was ten minutes late. Interrupting his teacher by walking into the classroom, Deklan flatly apologized to her and ignored the giggles from his peers. He simply accepted his tardy attendance mark and took his seat by his best friend. The young feline made a mental note to mark him tardy and continued her lesson. An hour and a half passed and she finally gave her students permission to talk amongst themselves during a short break between subjects. The navy and greenish wolf next to Deklan quickly turned around and wasted no time in catching up with his best friend.
"Hey, Dek! How come you were late today? You're never late!" wagging his tail as he asked, excited to finally be able to talk to his friend.
"Hi, Kazan!" Deklan tried to perk up to hide his heartache as he replied, "I just slept in a bit."
Having known Deklan for almost three years now, Kazan immediately noticed something was off about Deklan. His tail fell as he suddenly noticed how red his friend's eyes were. Trying to be sensitive, Kazan paused for a moment and decided against probing Deklan further. Instead, he changed the topic to something less personal. "Do you get any of this stuff?" he asked in reference to the material their instructor had just finished teaching, "I just don't get how we're supposed to write about a story and not just retell it."
"Mm... Not really. I don't get it either," replied a clearly distracted Deklan.
Cocking his head to the side, Kazan was surprised since Deklan had always been his go-to person for language arts help. "Oh... Okay. Uh... What did you think of the math homework?"
"It was okay."
Frustrated and running out of ideas, Kazan's ears pinned back as he grew more and more concerned about his friend. Before he could say anything else, their teacher started a new lesson on probability that neither of the cubs could focus on. Kazan couldn't help but turn to check on his friend every few minutes and Deklan's thoughts were still on last night's dream. A couple of hours passed and the lunch bell finally rang. To Kazan's relief, Deklan seemed to have cheered up a bit, although not by much.
Deklan followed Kazan out of their classroom to the cafeteria. The two furs stood in line silently, got their food, and found somewhere to sit. Kazan simply couldn't take it anymore and expressed his concern, "Deklan, are you okay? You've been acting kinda weird all morning."
"Oh, sorry... It's just that I had that dream again last night..." Deklan solemnly explained.
"Oh..." Kazan said. Although Deklan has told him about his recurring dream in the past, Kazan never knew what to say in response. Kazan has never known the grief and hardships his friend faces on a daily basis - judging by his clearly handed down clothes - and he didn't want to upset him further.
With that, their conversation abruptly ended and they quietly finished their lunches. After what felt like hours of silent contemplation, the bell finally rang signaling the end of the lunch period. On the way back to class, Kazan suddenly blurted out an idea he had, "Hey Deklan, I was thinking... What if my parents were to uh - adopt you...?" Deklan instantly stopped dead in his tracks and stared straight into Kazan's big green eyes with his muzzle hanging open. Kazan gulped and folded his ears back as soon as he realized what had just come out of his mouth. He was about to apologize but after a brief pause, Deklan seemed to snap himself out of his trance and continued walking like nothing happened. The two canines didn't say a word for the rest of the day. Only as they were splitting ways on their walk home did Kazan say anything, "See you on Monday."
After a few minutes, the culpeo finally made his way back to his room at the orphanage. His roommate wasn't back yet. He sat on his bed and lay against the wall mulling over what his friend had said earlier that day. Did he really mean it? He wanted it more than anything in the world, to escape the orphanage after living here for as long as he can remember. He wanted to believe Kazan, but it just seemed too good to be true. With his muzzle hung low to his chest and his back slouched against the wall, bits of drool fell onto his porous shirt and he slowly fell asleep, daydreaming about what his life might be like if he was adopted.
Little did Deklan know, Kazan truly did mean what he said. Kazan had actually thought about this once in the past, but that's been long forgotten to him. The young wolf pondered the possibility as he worked on the day's homework in his room. A few hours passed and he suddenly heard a low rumbling as the garage door opened and closed, signaling his father had returned from work. Not a minute later, Kazan heard paws climb the stairs and a knock on his door before his father stepped into the room to greet the only cub.
"Hey there, champ! Whatcha up to?" the wolf's father greeted him.
"Hi, dad!" Kazan exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat to hug his father, "I was just finishing up my homework."
"What'd you learn in school today?"
"We're doing probability right now."
"Oh that's tough! Do you need any help?"
Kazan took a second to respond as he realized he barely recalled anything from the day's lesson. "No, I think I get it," he lied.
"Well alright then. Let me know if you need anything. I'll be in my office."
"Mmk." Kazan's father started to walk off but Kazan called him back after taking another moment to think about his best friend, "Hey, dad?"
"Hmm?" said Kazan's father as he turned around.
"You know Deklan...?" Kazan asked, staring at the ground and fiddling with his fingers.
"Yeah? What about him?"
"You know how he's an orphan and all, right...?" Kazan sheepishly looked up to his dad's face, "I was wondering... Do you think we could adopt him and stuff...?"
"Uh..." The man was lost in thought as he remembered a similar conversation the two had shared nearly a year ago.
"It's just... he was really sad today... and... I felt sort of bad..." Kazan murmured, rubbing his arm and staring at the ground again.
"U-Umm..." the man stuttered unsure of how to respond, "Y-your mother and I will think about it..."
"Okay..." Kazan replied as his father turned around and started back toward his office.
Once alone, he took a seat at his desk and opened his briefcase to produce a form adorned with a bright red stamp of approval. While perusing the paper with the utmost care, he recalled the day that started it all.
Kazan _'s father had just gotten home from work. As he walked by the living room, he saw his son lying half-asleep on the couch watching TV with his ears flopped over._ "Hey, Kazan! What've you been up to today?" the older wolf asked as he set his things down and sat beside his son.
Kazan sighed and said, "Not much _... Just some video games and TV." There was never much for him to do during summer break. He usually can __'t play with the few friends he has for one reason or another, whether they live too far away, they're out of town with their family, or something else. He didn_'t have any siblings either so Kazan was often left to entertain himself while his parents were working.
Feeling somewhat guilty and responsible for the boy _'s situation, the father feebly tried to cheer him up,_ "School's starting in a week. Are you ready? You _'re gonna be in the fourth grade now! Isn_'t that exciting?"
"Yeah, I guess _..." A few minutes passed as the two of them were hypnotized by the TV. Still staring at it, Kazan interrupted its droning with his half-conscious mumbling,_ "Dad, I miss Deklan... How come I can never play with him outside of school?"
Kazan _'s father thought for a moment to word his answer sensitively,_ "Well, son... It _'s probably just because it_'s easier for the folks at the orphanage to keep track of the kids when they _'re not all running around outside._"
Growing even sleepier, Kazan mumbled back, "I guess _... Can_'t we just adopt him or something then? Summer is so boring..."
Before his father had a chance to answer, Kazan had fallen asleep. The man was silent for a while then whispered under his breath, "I _'ll think about it_..." He turned off the TV and stood watch over his sleeping son before finally leaving the room.
Returning from his daydream, the man opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a thick manila folder labeled "Adoption" and placed the new form on top of the existing stack of papers. His mate and he had been working on preparing to adopt Deklan for nearly a year now and they were just about ready. Flipping through countless other forms and resources in the folder, he knew the only thing left to do now was to make the final decision.
As if on cue, there was a second rumbling coming from the garage, letting the wolf know his mate was home from work as well. He got up from his chair to head downstairs and noticed that his son was now downstairs watching TV.
"Welcome home, honey," his tail wagging steadily as he greeted his mate.
"James," she smiled as they shared a brief kiss.
"Can we talk upstairs?" James asked.
"Sure... What's this about?"
Looking over his shoulder to make sure their son was still in the other room, James whispered, "It's about Deklan."
"Oh, of course," she smiled.
Approaching the stairs, the two wolves passed by their son. Too absorbed by the TV, Kazan hardly turned his head to greet his mother, "Hi, mom."
Before following her mate up the stairs, she walked over to peck her cub on the cheek and rustle his spiky green hair, "Hi, sweetie."
With the two adults upstairs in the office, James led his mate to his desk and presented her the new form. Holding his mate's paws, James looked her straight in the eyes. She pulled herself into his warm embrace as tears of joy trickled down her face. After an emotional moment, the man finally pulled away and whispered, "It's time to decide."
"I know we've been waiting for this day for almost a year now, but I think we should make sure that this is really what we want to do," she told her mate.
James paused before nodding, "Yeah... But have we ever not been sure about this...? I was talking to Kazan earlier and it sounded like Deklan was really troubled at school today... He asked if we could adopt him again but this time he wasn't half-asleep. I really think we're doing the right thing..."
"Me too... I think it would be good for both Deklan and Kazan, too. He's always so lonely around the house while we're at work - especially in the summer. I just feel really guilty for leaving him by himself all the time."
"Definitely... Not to mention how close they are at school."
There was another pause as the two were thinking things over. Noticing the time, James pointed out, "Well, we won't be able to do anything about it till Monday anyway. We still have the weekend to think about it. Besides, we need to start preparing dinner."
The weekend passed by almost painfully slowly for Kazan's family but Sunday night finally came. Neither of the adults found any reason to change their minds and their son was beginning to suspect they were hiding something from him. As Kazan was getting ready to go to bed, he heard a soft knocking on his door.
"Yeah?" the boy called out.
His father entered through the door, followed by his mother. "Kazan," his father began, "Your mother and I have some really exciting news for you."
With ears pointed at full attention, Kazan cocked his head to the side and started wagging his tail. "Huh?" he wondered excitedly. His parents sat down beside him on his bed.
"You might not remember from last year, but you mentioned it again on Friday..." - Kazan was stumped - "We've spent a lot of time thinking about it and we've finally made up our mind." Kazan's eyes grew wide and his tail began moving faster and faster as he put two and two together.
"Your father and I have decided that it would be in everyone's best interest," Kazan's mother turned to her mate who simply smiled back, "to adopt Deklan."
Kazan's eyes were as wide as saucers as he just sat silently with his muzzle agape. A few seconds passed until he suddenly leaped up from the bed in excitement, "REALLY?! NO WAY!" They only gave a broad smile and nodded in response. The cub squeezed his parents with glee, "When can we bring him home?"
"We'll call the orphanage tomorrow as soon as we can, but it'll probably take a few days to make it all official so we all need to be patient. We're both as excited as you are." Kazan's father thought for a moment before continuing, "Now, Kazan... You have to keep in mind that Deklan is gonna be your brother now. I need you to promise me that you'll share your things with him, play with him, and - most importantly - treat him as your brother, okay? He's going to be part of our family."
"I promise!" Kazan exclaimed with an enthusiastic nod.
"Alright, then," James said, satisfied with the boy's response. "Try to get some sleep, Kazan. Good night!" he said as he exited the room with his mate.
It was 7:20 in the morning. Deklan had just arrived to school and he was still drowsy.
"DEKLAN! DEKLAN! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!" cried Kazan as he sprinted to the startled cub.
Deklan's fur stood on edge as he jumped in surprise to find his friend bounding toward him from their classroom. Still somewhat taken aback by the time they were face-to-face, Deklan yelped, "Kazan! You scared me out of my fur!"
"Sorry - but I have something - really - really important - to tell you!" Kazan panted as his tail blurred with how fast it was wagging.
"O - kay... What is it?" Deklan asked curiously.
"Do you remember what I said on Friday?" Kazan asked.
"Uh... Yeah...?" Deklan slowly nodded, maintaining eye contact with the wolf.
"So, I asked my dad about it after school and my parents said yes last night! We're gonna be brothers, Dek!" Kazan exclaimed with a wide grin.
Deklan was at a loss for words. He was dead silent and completely motionless. His face scrunched up in a fruitless attempt to fight back his tears.
"Uh... Deklan...? Are you okay...?" Kazan asked with concern. The innocent cub didn't understand the gravity of the situation for his brother-to-be.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Deklan pulled Kazan into a hug tighter than the wolf thought was possible and wept uncontrollably into his shoulder. Confused and embarrassed, Kazan glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Luckily, there was no one else nearby and he simply returned the hug. Nearly an entire minute had passed before Deklan managed to calm down enough to pull away and say anything. "Thank you, K-Kazan. Thank you so much," he stammered in between sniffles, "You have no idea what this means to me. I've lived in that orphanage my whole life... Without a family... Without anyone who loved me... Without anyone to love back... Every day is just the same thing over and over again in there. Coming to school and seeing you all the time is the only thing that ever takes my mind off of that. And now... To finally have a family... Your family! I just - I just can't express how grateful I am." He pulled the wolf back in and began sobbing anew. Kazan's ears fell and his eyes grew wide as he was stunned and overwhelmed by the show of emotion. He was both heartbroken and honored by what he was told. Instead of responding, Kazan simply returned the hug again and consoled the culpeo as he let it all out.
A few minutes passed and the two canines were now quietly sitting on the ground resting against a wall. Deklan was finally out of shock and began to share Kazan's initial excitement. His tail slowly started wagging and his ears and face perked up. Kazan noticed as he glanced over and reciprocated the expression. Before either of the cubs could say anything though, the warning bell rang and roused them from their trance-like state, reminding them that they still had an entire day of school ahead of them. They walked to their classroom and took their seats as the other students filed in as well. Hours passed and neither could focus in class. They spent what little time they had during recess and lunch gleefully discussing all the things they would finally be able to do together. Once the last bell finally rang, the two canines were reluctantly separated on their ways home.
Upon entering the orphanage, Deklan was pulled aside by one of the caretakers for a word. "Deklan, do you have a moment? We have some wonderful news for you!" the young deer asked, unaware that the boy already knew what she had to say.
"Sure, Ms. Cunningham," Deklan replied cheerfully with his tail wagging as he followed the deer down a hallway, "But I already know!"
Before the deer could reply, the two had already reached their destination. She knocked on a door and ushered the boy in before closing the door behind her as she left. He was greeted by a friendly husky sitting behind a worn desk. The man gestured for Deklan to take a seat and greeted him, "Hello, Deklan. How was school today?"
"Hi, Mr. Martin. School was great! My best friend told me all about what's going on," said Deklan. Seeing the husky clearly bewildered, the boy explained, "Kazan told me his parents are adopting me!"
The husky swore that name was familiar. "Uh... Hold on," he said as he flipped through the folder in front of him. He quickly found Deklan's foster family information and - sure enough - there he was, Kazan Kesuo... Age 10. "Unbelievable..." the husky whispered under his breath. Astonished, he looked back up to see Deklan grinning and confirmed, "Your best friend's family is adopting you?"
"Mhm!" Deklan nodded.
"That is incredible..." the husky said, still in disbelief, "Well, if you already know, then I guess all I need to tell you is that it's going to take some time to make the adoption official. So, you have a few more days to pack up your things and get ready for your new family."
"Okay."
As he stood up from his seat and escorted the boy out of the room, the husky couldn't help but be happy for the boy. Never in all his years working in the orphanage did he ever witness such a touching adoption.
It was passed 6 o'clock and Kazan's parents were finally home from work. Since it was a little late to start cooking, his parents decided to go out to a small Italian restaurant for dinner instead. "So how was school, son?" Kazan's father asked -already anticipating Kazan's answer -once they were seated and had their orders taken.
"It was great!" the cub said enthusiastically, "I told Deklan all about what's happening!"
The older wolves simply chuckled in response.
"When will Deklan be able to come home with us?" Kazan asked impatiently.
"Well, we called the orphanage earlier today and there are still a few forms that need to be processed," Kazan's mother began, "But they said everything should be ready by Friday."
"Aww... We have to wait until Friday?" the boy complained.
"Don't worry, Kazan. Just be patient. We'll get off work early, pick you up at home, and head to the orphanage as soon as we can," his father smiled.
"Okay... Wait, where will Deklan sleep? Can we share my room together?" Kazan pointed out, excited at the idea of living with his best friend.
"Of course!" - there was actually nowhere else he could sleep - "Actually, we need to go shopping this week to get some new furniture for him," Kazan's father said as their food arrived.
To Kazan's surprise, the rest of the week passed by rather quickly. Deklan made it clear to him that he didn't want to make a big deal about it at school, so they just went about school as if Monday never happened. For the next couple of days, Kazan helped his parents pick out and assemble new furniture for his brother-to-be, all while keeping it a secret from him. He wanted it to be a surprise for Deklan when he finally came home. By Thursday night, Kazan's room had been rearranged to accommodate an extra bed, desk, and chest just for Deklan. They were ready to welcome the culpeo into their family.
Friday had finally arrived and Deklan had just gotten back from school. Word had long since spread among the other orphans that Deklan was being adopted. As Deklan made his way to his room, the other kids couldn't help but gossip about him in a hushed tone, but none of them ever approached him about it since he wasn't particularly close with any of them. Not to say that Deklan didn't have any friends at the orphanage, it's just that none of them came close to Kazan in terms of friendship. He even left his roommate in the dark about it.
"How come you never said anything, Deklan? This is exciting!" the rabbit exclaimed.
"Sorry, I didn't wanna make it a big deal..." Deklan replied.
"So... You're leaving tonight...?" the rabbit asked as his ears fell a little.
"I think, but it could be earlier. I dunno."
"Well, I'm happy for you, Deklan. I'll miss you," he said with a soft smile despite feeling a hint of jealousy.
Although Deklan never spent much time with his roommate, he had to admit that he would miss him too. "Thanks, Alex. I'll miss you too," he said before giving him a hug. "Oh, shoot! I forgot I still have to pack!"
As if on cue, there was a gentle knock on the door and Ms. Cunningham poking her head in. She gave the rabbit a nod before turning to the culpeo. "Deklan, they're here," she said with a smile.
Deklan was completely taken by surprise as he didn't expect Kazan's family to arrive for a few more hours. "Already?! Uh - um... Okay..." he said frantically before following the deer out of the room nervously.
Despite having seen Kazan hundreds of times at school, Deklan was still painfully anxious about meeting him and his parents at the orphanage. As the two of them made their way downstairs, Deklan tried to avoid eye contact with the other children watching them. After what felt like hours, they finally made it to the husky's office. The deer knocked before stepping in with Deklan in tow.
Kazan's ears perked up upon hearing the knocking and started wagging his tail as he turned around in his chair knowing exactly who it was. As soon as the culpeo entered the room, Kazan hopped out of his seat to greet him with a quick hug, "Deklan!"
"Have a seat, Deklan," the husky said in a gentle voice as he pointed to an empty seat next to Kazan's. Deklan sat down with his heart racing and gave a nervous smile as the husky continued, "Deklan, this is your new family." The husky gestured toward Kazan and his parents.
"Hi, Deklan," both parents said with an inviting smile. "Kazan's told us all about you. We're very excited to finally meet you," the woman continued lovingly.
"Um... Hi - Uh -" Deklan blushed, unsure of how he should address his new parents.
"Don't worry, Deklan. We're all family now," his new father said soothingly as he noticed how uncomfortable Deklan was getting. He thought it would be best to let him out to breathe, "Kazan, why don't you go help Deklan get his things while we finish talking with Mr. Martin?" Deklan turned to the husky to make sure it was okay with him. After being given a nod, the two cubs left the adults to their business.
"So this is where you grew up...?" Kazan asked once they left the office. He was slightly taken aback by the poor condition of the building and the furniture inside it.
"Yeah... It's not great, but it's good enough I guess," Deklan answered. As they walked to Deklan's room, Deklan noticed the other kids whispering amongst each other and staring at the unfamiliar wolf walking by and whispered to Kazan, "Don't mind them, they're just curious."
"Do they know?"
"Yeah they know. They're just not used to seeing new faces here. We don't get many visitors."
The two of them finally made it to Deklan's room. Deklan opened the door and was somewhat relieved to see his roommate wasn't there anymore. Once inside, he quickly realized there really wasn't much that he had to pack. All he had to his name were a few sets of old clothes, some school supplies, and a few toys. As his new brother packed, Kazan looked around the room and his ears fell a little as he noticed his room was no different from the rest of the orphanage. From the beds to the walls to the desks to the floorboards, everything was just old and worn.
As the culpeo emptied the drawers of his clothes, he once again found the old note under a pair of jeans. He stared at the folded paper for a moment and reread its contents by heart. Fighting back a few tears, Deklan carefully placed the note down his pocket before he continued packing. Within a few minutes, he managed to cram all his things into his backpack. Standing up, he took one last look around his side of the room to check if he forgot anything. "I think that's everything," Deklan said.
"That's it? Just your backpack?" Kazan asked expecting him to have more stuff.
"Yeah, that's it," Deklan said.
Deklan put on his backpack and the two brothers went back down to see if their parents were ready to go. As they approached the husky's office, the door opened and the adults stepped out of the room. They joined the two cubs and the husky bid Deklan a final farewell, "Well Deklan, I guess this is goodbye. I hope for only the best in your future. We'll miss you." He offered a paw to the boy who looked up and firmly shook it.
On his way to the exit, Deklan turned around to see some of his friends gathered to see him off. "Bye, Deklan!" they all said in unison as they waved. He smiled and waved back, but his roommate reminded him that he'll still be able to see them all at school, "See you around school, Deklan!"
It was only beginning to get dark outside as the four canines arrived home. Deklan stepped out of the car and stared at his new home with his muzzle hanging open. Suddenly, he felt a paw on his shoulder and looked up. It was his father.
"Do you like it?" the older wolf asked.
Deklan gave a slow nod in response.
"Come on. Let's go inside so we can show you around."
Nodding again, the culpeo followed his family into his new home. His muzzle still agape as he was shown every room in the modest house. After a few minutes, the tour finally ended with Kazan's room - now Deklan's as well. Looking around the seemingly untouched side of the room, Deklan marveled at everything from the new furniture to the plush carpet. His new home was like a mansion compared to the rundown orphanage.
"Is this - is this all for me...?" Deklan asked in disbelief.
"Yup! Welcome home, Deklan," his father said.
Deklan started tearing up as he was overwhelmed by the past week's events. No longer able to control himself, he embraced his new parents before expressing his gratitude, "Thank you... Mom and dad... Thank you for everything."
"You don't worry about it anymore, Deklan. Like I said earlier, we're family now. It's what we're here for," his father replied returning the hug, "Why don't you take some time to settle in a bit? Let us know when you boys are ready and we'll all go out for a nice dinner to celebrate."
"Okay!" Kazan said cheerfully.
After their parents left the room, the two cubs began unpacking Deklan's things. Once they finished, Kazan asked, "So how do you like everything?"
"This is all just unbelievable, Kazan. Everything here is amazing! I don't know how I'll ever repay you for getting your parents to adopt me."
"Stop talking like that, Deklan!" Kazan exclaimed with a wide grin, "All that stuff is over! We're brothers now!"
Finally convinced to put his concerns behind him, Deklan squeezed his new brother tightly and the two of them went to find their parents to celebrate the momentous occasion.