FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Zane and Kira sat quietly in the back of Mr. Sune's car, the Espeon talking calmly with Zane's mother in the front seat as they drove down Kendall Boulevard to the local town center. There were several strip malls at the Kendall - Terrehaute intersection, though one had a little movie theater and indie art galleries instead of shops, and another had more civic services available - and that was where Mr. Sune was driving them that first Friday of January.

They pulled in to the parking lot in front of the DMV office, their destination two doors down, just past the Clerk's office - the Family Services Center, which covered all sorts of different services. It was the tallest building in this section, basically an office building between shops covering marriage counseling, daycare, women's health, adoption, foster care, and even a small walk-in family care clinic. Zane got distracted looking at the directory just inside the front door while the other three went to the front desk and arrange a short meeting with the adoption agency.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in a formal office with a warm-smiled Togetic woman. Zane and Kira sat in the two chairs immediately opposite her desk, their respective parents seated farther back in the room, having already been introduced to the social worker whose name (Melissa Hendershot) was displayed on a small plaque.

"Well, welcome, welcome. Since you're here, I know you're interested in adoption, and I can hazard a guess as to why, but what exactly can I help you with, miss Kira?"

"Well... umm... I guess I'm just looking for information and advice...."

"Okay, what for specifically? You don't seem very far along, so I'm guessing it's quite early to get into the paperwork for placing your child with the agency."

"Well, my due date is around June 18th, I think, so yes it's very early... but I'm really hoping there are parents ready to take care of my kid right at the outset, all paperwork and such already done... In fact, I'm still not entirely sure I want to use an agency, I haven't ruled out doing an independent adoption... I was under the impression you have a lot more freedom to make your terms that way."

"That you do... Things are a lot more secure going through an agency, of course, in theory at least."

"I know... That's why I'm just wanting information on all the different styles of adoption and such, and which would work best for what I'm thinking..."

"Well, what exactly are you thinking, hun?"

Kira didn't answer immediately, taking a bit of a steadying breath. Zane reached over and lightly brushed her leg, and she answered "I... I don't know how workable this is, since it doesn't line up exactly with any of the open/closed/semi-open stuff I've read, but... I want to get to know whoever will adopt our kid, really know they'll be loved and taken care of, so I want to have a lot of contact before the birth. At the same time, I'm not in any position to try being a mother at all, and I think..." She trailed off, casting a glance to the side.

"I'm no dad, either," Zane quickly supplied. "We've both got school and lots of growing up to still do."

"So I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to really have any contact once the birth happens... Cut it clean, you know? Out of sight, out of mind? I don't want to feel like I need to be involved in helping the new parents... I don't even have a car or a job to do so, so if we were involved at all it would have to involve our parents, too..."

"Have they said they don't want to be involved, or see you taking time for the kid?" Ms. Hendershot asked, glancing up from the two young teens to the two parents sitting in the back.

"I have my own preferences, but at the same time this is my daughter's child, I've let her make her own decisions on all this," Mr. Sune answered.

Zane's mother shrugged lightly and added "I've just heard bits and pieces from Christopher and Howard, I'm here for support."

"It's more than me getting... I hate to say "distracted", like it's a bad thing... by having updates and such after birth. I... I still feel somewhat guilty about giving the kid up, like I'm depriving them of a connection or something, but I also feel like if they know who I am too soon, it might... Set a bad example? I - I don't know, even if they do meet me before they're the age I am now, I think it might be years before I'm ready to face a - a kid I'd giv-ven up-p..."

Zane leaned over and embraced the Vulpix, who was doing her best to hold back a surge of upwelling emotion. Ms. Hendershot held of trying to speak over the comforting display, calmly waiting for Kira to regain her composure and begin speaking again.

"...So, I guess what I'm saying is that I like the idea of having an open adoption before the birth but a closed adoption after birth... I don't want an agency as an intermediary for my interaction with the new parents like with semi-open adoption, and what I said earlier wasn't even the setup of a semi-open adoption anyway..."

"It definitely sounds like organizing an independent adoption would be the way to get what you're looking for," the Togetic said, looking over the young Vulpix perceptively. She could see the fire-type hadn't said everything on her mind, so she led "...but..."

"Yes, but I know how hard it is to find good parents... I would really trust an agency to do a better job of screening people that I would. Not to mention that searching through adoption classifieds just seems like a weird concept to me... Like w wrong concept to me. I'm not selling this kid. I just want the kid to be taken care of by the right family. I mean, I'm sure if we hired a good personal representative/lawyer/clerk/whatever, that would work well enough too, but that would be our parents' money, and I'm not sure..."

She trailed off, not finishing the thought, but Zane knew where she was going - both of them had single parents, so it wasn't like either family had much extra money to go around. Mr. Sune did well enough for Kira and Keith, but there probably wasn't much wiggle room there, and the Electrike's own family was also comfortable enough, but that was only because Zane's brother was his family's much-needed second income.

"Going through the agency here would definitely be cheaper than individually hiring someone to help you out, that's true," the fairy-type confirmed. She paused for a moment to think, then added "That overall is a perfectly understandable set of desires to have about adoption for someone like you, but you are right in that it's a difficult situation... I will also say that, even though I know you want your kid to be settled in a home right after birth, there are a few potential issues with that. First, getting new parents to agree to an adoption before there's a baby there to adopt is always a tougher sell... There's always the potential for miscarriage, birth complications, other unknown health issues, or the mother backing out. And for someone as young as yourself - ah, well, how much have you discussed with your doctor? Has your father taken you to see one?"

"Uh, yes, I've had a few visits already, actually... I got the basic run-down of how the whole nine months would go, had the extra check-ups, even had an ultrasound or two by now..."

"Very good. Did your doctor tell you about the potential for premature birth?"

Kira looked partially confused, partially worried at the mention of that, the Vulpix's gaze starting to dart between others in the room. "Uuhh, no, should - ?"

"I went and asked her doctor about it," Mr. Sune cut in. "I did some reading myself early on... Kira, just because you're younger and smaller, you have a higher chance of having a preme. Since you're healthy and Dr. Swinton didn't see anything wrong, I thought it wasn't worth mentioning - give you one less thing to worry about. No point in crossing that bridge unless we come to it."

"Oh... Well, okay..."

Ms. Hendershot reached over to lightly pat Kira's shoulder. "Well, now you know, but I agree it's not something for YOU to worry about - from a medical standpoint - unless it actually happens. That said, it would be good for you to understand that delivering well before your due date could cause any number of issues with an existing agreement you might've made."

"O-oh..." Kira slumped slightly, simply looking down into her lap, earning another pat on her leg from Zane.

The Togetic held a contemplative look as she stared at the young couple for a moment, eventually asking "Kira, if I may, how long have you two been a couple?"

The Vulpix's head popped up at that, her face covered with a look of confusion at the sudden question. "I - uh - ..."

Zane could tell when she was caught off guard and drawing a blank, whether she was trying to do the math or just simply having taken-by-surprise-forgetfulness. "We met at the beginning of fourth grade and hit it off pretty quickly, so three and a half years now," he said as he saw Kira give a little wiggle, shaking her brain back into a functioning state.

"Yeah, we met at my birthday party in August that year."

"Her and her brother's birthday party - they're twins," Zane quickly added. "I'd met Keith in third grade through soccer."

"Oh! Right," Kira said, giving a quiet, embarrassed chuckle as she facepawed. "He didn't just randomly show up at my birthday party and suddenly became my boyfriend - that definitely would've been weird, right Zane?"

"Yeah, that would raise some eyebrows," the Electrike answered, giving a light chuckle, glad to see Kira was at least relaxing a little.

"I guess Keith and I are similar enough that it makes sense we both like Zane... The three of us are always hanging out together. It's a very nice setup, if you ask me..." Kira said, smiling a bit and laying a hand on top of Zane's.

"Boyfriend to one, best friend to the other?" the fairy-type asked with a smirk, addressing the question to the Electrike.

Zane glanced away momentarily in a bit of nerviness, but smiled and answered "Of course Keith doesn't own Kira, but it certainly helps me to have the brother's approval."

"And Zane has an older brother himself, so I can definitely agree with that statement," Kira added, smiling at the electric-type as well.

"Wait, has Marc ever giving you grief, joking or otherwise?" Zane asked, turning to face her with a half-worried, half-angry look.

The Vulpix genuinely laughed at her boyfriend's protectiveness. "Nope! I'm just glad at how nice he is around me and Keith, and how comfortable his is giving you and Keith grief! Besides, after he and his friends took down that Facebook group making fun of me, I'm definitely glad to have him on our side."

Zane relaxed, glad that his brother had never given Kira the protective-over-my-younger-sibling treatment - then he smirked, teasing to no one in particular "Well darn, I was hoping to have an excuse to get him back for Christmas Eve Day!"

There was some light chuckling at that before a warm momentary silence fell.

Ms. Hendershot smiled, then leaned back in her chair. "Well, you two are certainly cute. And even looking for information as you were, Kira, it definitely sounds like you came about as prepared as you could have been. Tell you what," she said, shuffling some papers on her desk before finding a notepad which she started jotting notes on. "You're certainly a rather unique situation with how young you are. I'm willing to help you - as an adoption-savvy social worker, not as an agency employee - in trying to get as close as we can to the adoption you want."

Kira gasped slightly at that, and even Zane's eyes went a bit wider than normal at the offer. "Really??" the Vulpix breathed excitedly.

The Togetic nodded. "I'm sure I can tap some connections, or at least convince someone senior that you're a special case."

"Oh, thank you!"

"That's very generous of you," Kira's father added. "That's much appreciated."

"I make no guarantees, of course, but I'll do my best."

"Of course; thank you very much. What information do you need from us now, in that case?"

"Well, since we won't be doing any of these forms, at least not right now, I think I'll be fine with just your contact information. He's mine, by the way," she said, taking two business cards from the side of her desk and handing one each to the two young teens in front of her. "In the meantime, I would recommend going over to the clerk's office next door and looking in to what paperwork you - we - would need to go through for an independent adoption. I don't have any of those papers since I normally do everything through the agency here..."

"You won't get in trouble with your boss for coordinating something outside the agency?" Zane's mother asked.

Ms. Hendershot shrugged with a smile. "I've coordinated two independent options before in my eleven years here. Not a worry!"

"If you say so! We don't want to get you in trouble or anything."

The fairy type laughed brightly as she (and everyone else) stood up. "Well thank you! You all are very nice."

Mr Sune stepped forward to shake the social worker's hand. "You too, Mr. Hendershot. So -"

"Oh please, call me Melissa!"

"Ah, okay; so you said you want my contact information, if I can just write it down for you on something here..." he said, looking over her desk.

Zane and Kira escorted themselves out of the room, Zane's mother waiting in the doorway while Kira's father tied up loose ends. Kira and Zane held hands the rest of their errand run, then went back to the Sunes' house for dinner. Zane and Keith had some fun with League Master 3 - Keith had, in the span of a week, already unlocked all the unlockable athletes, arenas, and music available - but this Friday, "for once" Keith joked, Zane went back home instead of staying with the two fire-types for the night.