FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Mr. Sune and Kira pulled up in front of the correct address. They were in a quiet neighborhood, suburban but small, with a nice gridded network of streets broken up only by a community park. It was the kind of place you could see kids biking or playing games in the streets - even the thoroughfares bordering the neighborhood were fairly clam.

The day was dreary, though, with medium-grey overcast skies and a constant drizzle, the curse of Hassenburg winters. Several of the houses in the neighborhood were missing grass in their front yards as well, some houses still for sale.

"At least the houses are different enough," Kira commented as she got out of the front passenger's seat of the car. "I like this one," she added, looking over the thin, two-story home in front of her. It had a warm, earthy color on its façade, the second level of the house slightly recessed from the lower level, and a small porch at ground level in front of the front door. Kira was the one to walk up and ring the doorbell, her father hanging just behind.

She heard a pair of yells and some loud bumps from inside as the couple apparently was getting some last-minute preparations done; a minute or so later, the front door opened, revealing an attractive young Houndoom, maybe in his early thirties or even late twenties, wearing thing jeans and a small short-sleeve polo shirt. Kira couldn't help but think he looked rather dapper.

"Hi! You must be Kira and Howard. Come in, come in!" he said brightly, ever so slightly out of breath (based on minute movements Kira noticed in his chest) but doing a great job of keeping his voice steady and not panting at all. "My name is Kenneth Clarke, and my wife - Dear, are you downstairs yet?? - her name is Laine."

"In the dining room, Kent!" came a call from just out of view. Kira thought that, whatever Laine looked like, she had a lovely voice - not too high, not too low, and very smooth.

The Houndoom led his guests into the den, inviting them to sit on the couch as Kira took a quick look around. Everything seemed relatively neat and in its place, even if the furniture was slightly mismatched. The air was even fresh and clean, with just a hint of whatever was in the slow-cooker wafting in from the kitchen. A moment later, Kenneth's wife entered the room as she dried her hands on a washcloth. "Sorry, we've been cleaning up ahead of our anniversary vacation. Welcome! My name's Laine, nice to meet both of you!"

She was a Mightyena with a runner's build, a little on the short side but very fit. She, like Kira, had a shiny mostly-gold coat, though one swathe of her mane was black, as was one of her handpaws. The young Vulpix didn't directly register this at first, though, as she noticed a sizeable telltale bump in the woman's midsection beneath her shirt where Kira would have otherwise expected to see a nice set of abs, or at least a flat stomach.

Laine followed Kira's (and her father's) gaze and giggled a little bit. "As you can see, I've got a bun in the oven myself. I assume you probably want to know why we're interested in adoption if I've got one soon on the way, yes?"

"That... is a good question, yes," Kira responded, a confused look on her face.

"Well, you see, my mother managed to have a whole litter's worth of kids; my parents were having trouble conceiving, so they tried IVF, and suddenly my mom was having quadruplets! It was a bit rough on her I'm sure, (especially two years later when she had my younger siblings, twins surprisingly conceived naturally,) but it was great for us kids, as we all had a ready set of friends to grow up with and grow as individuals."

"Six kids, wow..." Kira muttered quietly, awestruck.

"Yeah, our house was hectic, and food was - oh, food! Or not food, but drink - I'm sorry, I'm being a terrible host, do either of you want something to drink? We have water, milk, a tropical juice blend, iced tea, some soda..." Kenneth stood up as she said this, apparently ready to go get drinks for the four of them.

"Oh, um..." Kira glanced to her side to see her father's reaction.

He seemed fairly relaxed, though still holding reservation, as he responded "I guess I could go for some iced tea."

"Water's fine for me," Kira added, which Laine echoed to her husband.

"Thank you, Kent," the Mightyena said sweetly, giving him an appreciative pat on the small of the back just before he left arm's reach. "Anyway, where was I... Oh, right, siblings! Well, as I was saying, I loved having siblings, so when we found out I'm only growing one little one in here, I talked Kent into the idea of adoption so our both kids would have someone their age to grow up with!"

Kira found herself nodding along. "I guess that sounds good... I definitely agree that having a sibling is really nice, since I have a twin brother and I can't imagine not growing up with him."

"Ah, you're a multi-birth product, too!" the golden Mightyena exclaimed happily. "Isn't it wonderful? Sibling teasing aside, of course - or included, since it does have its own twisted sort of charm, doesn't it?"

Kira chuckled a little bit. "It's nice enough, definitely."

Kenneth reappeared at that point, divvying out the requested drinks, earning a nod and a "thank you, Kenneth" from Mr. Sune as he took his iced tea. The Houndoom sat back down in the chair next to his wife, the Mightyena lightly patting his knee as he said "So I heard you're a twinsie, too! You and Laine have a lot in common, including your coats."

"Yours is gorgeous, by the way," Laine added, "and I love that cute little curl of red in your hair and tail."

"Oh, aahh, thanks I guess..." the Vulpix replied meekly, shifting a little bit in her seat.

"See, Laine compliments it on someone else, but if you try and tell her that her sections of black fur look stunning, she acts the same way!" Kenneth chuckled and shook his head with a good-natured smirk. "There are some things about girls I'll never get... For what it's worth, Kira, I think your dashes of red are beautiful, too, just like I love my girl's bits of black."

"Oh Kent, hush!" the Mightyena said, giving his knee a light slap, though returning to patting it soon enough. "Anyway, that's the long way of saying why I'm hoping to be a mother of two soon instead of just one."

"I see... If I may ask, when is your due date? Mine is June 18th."

"Ah, okay. May 5th for me, so five or six weeks sooner. Not quite as close as we were hoping, I guess, but maybe a month of run-up might be a good idea anyway."

"You wanted the births as close as possible?" Kira asked.

"Ultimately, yes, that was what we decided on. Took us a while to get there, though." Laine answered.

"How long we wanted to be raising just one kid was a touch question to answer," Kenneth began explaining, "though being similar in age was always part of the equation. At one end of the spectrum, we could have waited until our kid was at an age to really begin forming memories before adopting their sibling. It would be easier on us, and would potentially be easier to look for a kid who's already two or three and in the system."

The Mightyena took her turn, continuing "The more we thought about it, though, the more we realized that probably wouldn't be good for either kid. For our kid, we thought we should introduce a sibling either before they're used to being an only child or after they're old enough to actually realize the significance of gaining a sibling."

"And we know that so much important development happens before age two, so leaving some kid to remain in the system, potentially bouncing around without consistent parental interaction, didn't seem like a kind option," the Houndoom concluded. "So adopting early, with birthdays as close as possible, came down to be the better option in our mind. You could argue about how many months' delay would be best, but we kept coming back to the idea that not having to switch routines at all might be easiest, so the less time we had just one baby, the better."

There was a normal moment's pause after he finished, but Laine seemed to be hanging on the Sunes' reaction to their explanation. "So, ah... that's not crazy of us, is it?"

"No! No, perfectly reasonable," Kira said quickly, smiling to make her rapid response seem less knee-jerk since she honestly followed and like the logic. "Just a little surprising to hear of having a blended family right from birth, not something I would've thought of myself. But I like it!"

""Blended" is for entering new marriages with kids already, Kira," her father kindly corrected.

"Oh, uh..."

"That's okay!" Laine said, smiling and waving it off. "We know what you meant!"

"Anyway, we jumped right in to some deeper stuff, there," Kenneth said, "skipped over the proper introductions! I know you probably didn't get incredibly much information on us from Melissa. We've already done names, but how about jobs? I work as a cook rotating between several restaurants downtown - Plum Drop, Emiliano's, nothing too fancy - and Laine here is a programmer at the Hassenburg branch of RiverMax Games."

"Isn't RiverMax a board- and card-game company?" Kira asked.

"Traditionally, yes," the Mightyena answered, "but we've been making CD versions of several of our biggest board games for years, and the Hassenburg branch here started up with the intent of digitizing more, as well as starting to develop our own video and mobile games. Have you heard of the TypeFlash mobile game?"

"Yeah, I think my brother actually tried it out for a little while."

"That's a RIverMax original."

"Ah, nice! That's cool you're a video game programmer," Kira said with admiration. "That must be fun."

"It is! I get to work on all sorts of engaging, creative little projects. Also, being a programmer means I can do my work anywhere I can bring my laptop, which will help a lot when we have two little ones to take care of!"

"She'll work from home full time, and I'll probably cut back a little on my hours too," the Houndoom added.

"We're still trying to decide which room should be my office... Between our master bedroom and the nursery so everything is a bit more centralized, or downstairs here on the other side of the kitchen, so I can really focus on work when I'm in there... We'll have cribs and such in the den anyway, so I wouldn't be too incredibly far if need be... Do you want to see the nursery?"

"Oh! Uh, sure," the Vulpix answered, a bit surprised at the offer to be shown around.

"Laine is really proud of how we've made the nursery so far," Kenneth said, helping his wife stand up as he explained. They began leading the Sunes through the house, Laine commenting here and there about the layout of the house, the colors of the walls and other decorations. They made their way up the carpeted stairs to an upper hallway - if you wanted to call it that, which Laine did but Kenneth just smirked at, as it was closer to a landing with all the doors essentially equidistant from each other.

"Okay, that's the master bedroom, that's the guest room we're thinking of maybe turning into my office, and heeeerrreee..." She opened the next door with sweeping grace, "is our nursery!"

Kira stepped inside and instantly felt like this was a room to encourage growth. The lighting was not too bright, with a medium-sized window with felt blinds in a recessed area of one wall. The room currently had just one crib and changing stand, but they were tellingly up against just one wall, with plenty of space in the room for a second crib and second changing station, with room to spare even if those were present. After taking in all of those details, Kira then noticed the subtle application of colors as well, with a light-green-light-blue patterned carpet, brown wainscot paneling on the lower walls, a darker green whimsical pattern on the upper walls, finally returning to light blue on the ceiling with a circle of pastel yellow circle around the ceiling light fixture. It already smelled slightly of baby powder, masking an even smaller hint of clean-soap smell.

"Nice atmosphere in here," the young fire-type commented, looking around and realizing it had relaxed her a bit as well.

"Laine gets all the credit for that," the Houndoom commented, smiling. "I had suggested either a plain room or a more beach-like design, but I definitely like this too."

"Thanks hun," the Mightyena said, chuckled and linking an arm with her husband. "I've always like trees and the serenity of a forest."

"Definitely nice," Kira repeated, slowly turning to take the whole room in.

"Glad you like it! Anyway, part of me wants to turn the guest bedroom next door into an office, but we have a room perfect for an office downstairs as well, and it's right next to the den."

"If you want my advice," Mr. Sune spoke up with the kind authority of someone who's raised kids before, "keep the guest bedroom. It's nice to have an area of the house just for sleep, and it'll be that much more convenient if you two have your own parents or older siblings recruited to help with this kids in the first year."

"Ooohhh, that's a good point," Laine said, realization settling in. She turned her head to face her husband, continuing "That sounds like a good idea to me. Are you okay with that plan, Kent?"

Before the Houndoom could answer, though, Kira gasped a little, drawing the attention of the three adults as she looked down, her paws going to her belly.

"...Kira?" the Espeon asked after an anxious silence.

The Vulpix didn't speak immediately, though slowly looked up at the others with a mix of awe, fear, and warmth on her face. "I... I think... I felt..."

"The first kick?" Laine asked excitedly, a big, understanding smile blooming across her face as well, earning a timid nod from the teen. "Isn't it wonderful? You haven't felt anything before now?" Kira shook her head slowly.

"Really?" Kenneth asked, contemplative. "Let's see, if your due date is June 18th, that means you're in week... um, mental math..."

"Twenty-one," Kira supplied quietly, still trying to fully process the sensation she felt moments before.

"Ah, that's right on time," Laine said, more to her husband than to the Sunes. "I think that's exactly when I felt our boy moving around for the first time, too."

Kira made a little "eep" again, but this time it was muted, almost expected, as a smile truly spread across the teen's face. Her eyes got a bit watery, the teen losing herself in the warm, fuzzy feeling she was getting from taking in those movements inside of her.

"Ah, well my bad then," Kenneth said in response to his wife. He then turned to Kira, waiting a little bit to give the teen her moment before joking around with "well, your little guy seems like he likes it in here, huh?"

"...yeah, I guess so..." Kira said quietly, still feeling over her belly a little bit before coming back to reality. "Though I don't know if it's a boy or a girl."

"You don't?" the Houndoom asked, curious and slightly surprised.

"Here, let's head back downstairs so us two Miltank can sit," the Mightyena cut in with a chuckle and a huff - not to stop the conversation, just because it sounded like she simply wanted to sit.

"No, I don't... Zane and I decided we want as little connection to the kid as possible," the Vulpix explained as the group headed back downstairs, though Laine led them to the kitchen instead of back to the living room. Kira set her drink down on the table and continued "I mean, maybe at some point in the further future we could reconnect, but in the foreseeable future I think it's better if there's no contact at all... Zane and I need to focus on school and such; I don't think either of us feel like we could adequately deal with a kid, even remotely, until we're actually adults. And, just from my own point of view, I don't think I want our kid to know about us until they're older than we are now... You know, just to not give the idea that having a kid this early is okay..."

She trailed off with the last sentence, obviously feeling a bit guilty, causing her father to reach out and rub her back. "I love you, goldie, and I'm proud of how maturely you've been dealing with all this."

"Thanks, daddy..." the Vulpix mumbled, leaving the table silent for a moment.

Laine finally spoke up saying "I think you clearly have your heart in the right place, Kira. Everyone makes bad choices here and there, and you're doing a great job of making the best of one of the toughest mistakes out there."

"Thanks..."

Kenneth tried to change tacks so Kira didn't linger on the so-called mistake, returning to the previous thread of conversation. "So, you basically want a closed adoption in the future, and you want to know as little about your kid as possible even now for the same reason?"

Kira nodded. "I figure that the less we know about the kid now, the less we'll want to know about the kid after I give birth. There's only one thing I want to know about the kid now, and that's just that the kid is healthy... I don't want to deliver a whole set of problems to the new parents if it can be avoided."

"As long as you keep yourself healthy, I'm sure the kid will be fine," Laine commented comfortingly. "Modern medicine is a wonderful thing, after all."

"Speaking of which, we're perfectly willing to help cover the medical expenses if you want," Kenneth added. "We'd want the kid to be healthy as much as you do. Do you have a doctor and OBGYN and such already?"

"She does," Mr. Sune answered, "I wasn't going to let her go throughout this without professional help every step of the way."

"Well, as Kent said, we're willing to help with whatever we can, in as far as much as you want," Laine confirmed.

"Thank you."

Kira had a thought hit her and added "And, honestly, if you pay for the medical expenses and such, I wouldn't mind having you come along to a checkup or two, in case you want to ask for information about the kid that I won't be asking. I guess that'd just be gender, but if you think of anything else, that's fine too."

"I bet Laine would love to see an ultrasound," Kenneth commented, accompanied by a smiling Laine. "She gushes over those things. She's also already planning on what baby blue things to get for our boy, as well as planning the birth announcements, so if we're adopting a second one I know getting on top of the planning would be nice. We have a short list of names ready for our boy, too; assume you haven't even given a thought to names if you want to keep yours kind of at a distance?"

Kira nodded again. "Right, that would be completely up to you."

"Well, up to us if you decide you want us to adopt your kid," Laine commented. "I know just meeting us here wasn't supposed to be binding or anything."

"Ah, right," Kira said, catching herself. She realized she might have been going on auto-pilot a bit, as comfortable as she was with the Clarkes here. A little voice in the back of her head told her that maybe the level of comfort was indicative, but she reeled herself back a little bit. "Can't get too ahead of ourselves, I guess..."

"Do you have any other questions for us? Would you like some more to drink?" the Mightyena asked, noticing the Sunes' empty glasses.

"Oh, yes! And yes," Kira said, handing over her glass to the golden dark-type.

"I'll have just water now, thanks," Mr. Sune responded as Laine got about refilling everyone's drinks.

"Well, um, lemme think..." Kira continued, trying to come up with some other questions based on what she'd heard with the other two couples. "How big do you want your family to be eventually?"

"We hadn't really thought that far," Kenneth answered as Laine gave full glasses back to the Sunes. "I think we'd certainly be happy with two for a while. If a third happens at some point in the future, we'll welcome it, but I think we'd be happy with two and would certainly stop after three."

"I love my parents and my five siblings," the Mightyena added with a chuckle, " but I do NOT think I can handle a family with four or more kids!"

"Un-der-standable," Kira replied, emphasizing the word and rolling her eyes a bit at the thought of such a large family before taking a swing of her water. "Not only does that sound completely hectic, but I'm sure that's a strain with covering for supplies when they're young, clothes in general, activities when they're older, and all the food... Though you two sound like you are pretty well-covered with your jobs. This house was a recent thing, right?"

The Clarkes exchanged a slightly guilty look. Kenneth answered "Well... We've actually been here nearly a year now... But between our jobs and our social activities, we haven't been that quick on really turning it in to our home. Having a real family will probably force us into speeding that process up."

"That nursery was an empty, plain room a month ago," Laine added, a hint of guilt there, though that was mostly covered by pride in her ability to transform the room.

"What kind of social activities?" Kira asked.

"Several of the young couples in our apartment building got together regularly for random events," Laine explained, "usually just going out to meals together, though the movies or the park were also fun options. Occasionally we would go to a concert or sports game."

"We still hang out with that group a fair amount, though not quite as much as when we were living directly in the same building," Kenneth added. "We also were in some rec sports leagues - basketball and volleyball - though now that we've moved, we stopped playing basketball and switched volleyball teams. We'll go to a few of the basketball games, though, we can't completely give it up."

"Kent also convinced me at one point to join a book club with him," Laine added, playfully elbowing her husband. "He's much more of a bookworm than I am."

"I also do like playing video games still," the Houndoom said a bit sheepishly. "Laine like video games, obviously, though not as much actually playing them."

"So we have game nights occasionally, sometimes with friends and sometimes just the two of us; those ones are usually just me watching Kent play through whatever his latest game is."

"AND providing a running commentary about graphics, design, user interface, and what else not!" Kenneth took a verbal jab at his wife, the Mightyena suddenly looking innocently in every direction except at her husband.

Kira giggled a little bit at the young couple's jests. "Gotcha, gotcha... So do any of your friends have kids already?"

Laine playfully elbowed her faux-glaring husband again before answering "Some do, some don't. The ones who do have kids that are still pretty young; they've offered playdate swapping, but in terms of getting direct help, only two of my child-less friends have offered real help as babysitting or tag-teaming or what else not."

"Well, that's still nice to have the offers," Kira said.

"It is! Though I know they haven't actually read up on taking care of infants or anything similar. I'd prefer someone with the experience of several years of parenthood would help."

"It'll be fine, hun," the Houndoom said, draping an arm over her shoulder.

"I know, I know; just mother thoughts..."

"And you'll be a great mother," Kenneth consoled, giving his wife a kiss.

Kira and her father let the Clarkes have their moment, simply drinking their water. Conversation after that was mostly pleasantries, ranging from Kira's studies to a little about Zane to a few of the "pregnancy issues" the two girls had shared - that latter making the two guys present to feel slightly out-of-place. Kira didn't bond with Laine the same was she had with Sam, but she definitely liked the Mightyena, sharing a hug with the dark-type when it was time for her and her father to leave.

Later that evening over dinner, after Keith and Zane came back from school, was when Kira decided to open up about all three sets of potential parents - with a little prompting.

"So, Kira," Mr. Sune started, "I take it you told Keith and Zane about our visit to the Clarkes already?"

"Actually, aside from a few quick comments, no," the golden Vulpix answered as she served herself some pasta, "we got into homework pretty quickly."

"Well, kinda," Zane qualified. "History Bowl is starting to really get ready for our regional competition in the first week of March, so I went on about that for a while before we transitioned into actually doing our history work."

"Close enough," Keith commented through a mouthful.

"Keith, swallow your food," the Espeon said plainly. "Well then, you want give us your take on things?"

"Sure!" she said brightly. "Well, they seemed really nice... Mrs. Clarke was already pregnant, actually, and -"

"She was?" Zane asked, skeptical.

"Yes, and the reason being was that she's only pregnant with one kid at the moment, and both of them thought it would be a good idea for their kid to have a basically-same-age sibling. Kinda like Keith and, I guess, and like Mrs. Clarke herself."

"Oh. That makes sense, I guess," the Electrike said, nodding a bit and going back to his food.

"Yup. Then then showed us around the house a bit - they're doing a good job of getting it baby-ready - and then we just kinda chatted for a while after that. Mrs. Clarke and I have a fair amount in common, actually - she's got a mostly-shiny coat, too."

"Oooo, you mean like black highlights on a gold coat?" Keith asked.

"Exactly. She was great - both of them were, actually. A little skittish at the idea of being parents, I think, but also very excited for it. Oh! Right - Zane, I felt our kid kick for the first time today! It was such an incredible feeling..."

"The kit kicked? Wow... That must've been really cool and really weird at the same time."

"Yeah, it was..."

"The baby kicked while you were in their house?" Keith asked, clarifying.

"Yup - in their nursery, in fact."

"Hehheh seems like the kid liked it in there, huh?"

"That's exactly what Mr. Clarke said," Kira replied, chuckling a little about it.

"So how do you think they compare to Eccles, then?" Zane asked.

Kira paused to consider the question for a moment. "Well... They're two very different couples. Both very keen on having kids, and very kind as well, but otherwise I think very different. The Eccles clearly have so much experience, while the Clarkes clearly have none. The Clarkes seem like two peas in a pod, while the Eccles are more the idea of "opposites attract". They're in two good but very different school districts. The Clarkes are very much active, young professionals and put a lot of energy into everything they do, while the Eccles are more laid-back and home-bodies. It's... really hard to compare, I guess is what I'm saying. They both have pros and cons - more pros than cons for both, but different sets of pros for both too."

Zane met Kira's gaze for a minute, thinking. "Sooo... Do you prefer one over the other? Or even thinking we should keep looking?"

The Vulpix's jaw waggled from side to side a bit, the fire-type looking down at her plate deep in thought. The table was quiet for more than a minute as she thought.

"Well... I think they both would be fine parents, so no need to look for anyone else at this point. As for preference... From a completely objective standpoint, I think they're both fine choices," (Zane dutifully kept his mouth shut at what he still thought were Victoria's wandering eyes,) "but I think I just like the Clarkes much more... They seem like a better fit for the kind of family I would want to have, so a better fit for what I want for my kid. Well, our kid, but you asked my opinion."

"Oh, of course."

"So, if I had to choose, I'd definitely go with the Clarkes... Daddy, what do you think?"

"Me?" Mr. Sune asked, taken slightly aback at suddenly being included in the conversation. "You want my opinion on all this?" Kira nodded, causing her father to set down his silverware carefully and take a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well... If you want my honest opinion, I think that Patricia and Victoria are the safer bet. Kent and Laine are inexperienced, are going to have their lives turned upside-down in a way no parent can adequately prepare for, and they haven't been married incredibly long. Being as cynical as possible, they're less likely to still be together down the road than the Eccles are, I think. However, that IS being as cynical as possible. I think the Eccles are the safer bet, but only slightly so. I'm dealing in completely hypotheticals here, and to be fair to the Clarkes, I didn't see anything in the way they interacted to suggest their marriage isn't as strong as it could be. With some couples you can tell they're going to have problems; not the Clarkes. So you're right, from an objective standpoint, I think both are excellent choices, and I think you should be free to pick either. My own personal opinion is based on a rather uncertain, minor point; it's basically a roll of the die."

When it was clear her father was done, Kira looked down at her plate again in thought. "Hmm... Well, I'll have to think about it a bit more, I guess. Probably not a good idea to make a decision the same day you get all the information, right? Sleep on it and all that jazz."

"Whatever you're comfortable with, hun," the Espeon said. "I'm ready to call Melissa at any point whenever and whatever you decide."

"Thanks, daddy," Kira said, looking up with a smile before returning to her pasta. The subject was dropped for the rest of the night

---

"Hi Zane! What's up?"

"Hi Kira! Just wanted to call and check up on you, see how you were doing after yesterday, especially after your dad kinda shut you down at dinner last night."

"Well, no... Er, I mean... I had asked what his opinion was, and he gave it. Nothing more than that. And it IS good to take time making big decisions like this."

"I guess that's true. I just know you seemed really happy to have met the Clarkes, and then kinda muted afterward."

"Yes, I know - and I still feel that way, even after sleeping on it."

"Ah, really?"

"Yeah; I just have this gut feeling, you know? I feel like they're the right choice for our kit."

"Okay. So are you gonna tell your dad today?"

"Actually, I was kinda hoping to do it Monday with you - and maybe your mom, just so she's up to speed - at dinner with us. I'm glad you called, actually, just so I could extend the invite."

"Oh, uh, yeah I can definitely be there! I'll ask my mom if she wants to come. Oh, I know Marc is always doing his own thing, but in case he's around, is he invited too?"

"Mmmm... Well, I guess if he'd otherwise be home alone, not that that's a problem for him, but yes I guess he's invited too."

"Not that I necessarily want him tagging along, but I'm betting my mom would ask. Heck, I bet he wouldn't want to tag along anyway."

"Oh, of course, of course. Gotta be proper and all, even with that goof! Hehheh. I will take no offense whatsoever if he wants home alone time!"

"Rightright. Anyway, that was essentially all I wanted to call about, make sure you're doing well."

"Thank you, Chris! Mjwah!"

"I'll see you Monday after school, then?"

"Yup! Give Keith a rough time at battle club, he's been sticking his head into my room every ten minutes to say something completely random today..."

"Haha duly noted!"

---

Keith was sporting a band-aid over his left eyebrow at dinner that Monday from a slightly-misjudged ThunderPunch, but still in rather good spirits as he pigged out on Ms. McKenzie's mushroom casserole. She had dropped it off earlier, having already had dinner plans with her coworkers that night, so like last Friday it was just the Sunes and Zane.

After a while of normal chatting and eating, Mr. Sune said "Well, Kira, I'm assuming you've had enough time over the weekend to think about the adoption? I'm guessing you had wanted Zane's mom here so we could all talk about it together."

"Well, yeah... I've been thinking about it all over the weekend; I'm more or less decided now, but I just wanted to make sure everyone knew and let her maybe give some input like she has on other things over the past few months."

"I barely got to see her when she swung by earlier; you answered the door, right? Did you tell her anything about your choice?"

"Ah, yes, I answered the door, and we talked for a couple minutes about the adoption, yes. I think I want to give the kid to the Clarkes."

The Espeon was silent for a moment, working on his latest mouthful. He swallowed, then said "That's what I was expecting. Very personable and very ready to be parents. You want me to call Ms. Hendershot tomorrow or e-mail her tonight?"

"Oh, um, I don't really care. Just as long as we start all the official paperwork and trade contact information... I think they'll be really happy."

"And how about you?" Zane asked quietly. "Are you happy with the decision?"

Kira smiled, giving a nonvocal "heh" before turning to him and replying "I'm very happy. I think they're definitely the ones... All the uncertainty is gone, our kid is going to be in a good home, and people I like are going to be so appreciative and excited; everything's worked out the best way I can think of. So I'm very happy."

"Good," Zane answered simply, reaching over to lightly rub his girlfriend's arm.

Keith looked over to his father and flatly said "Dad, they're being mushy again."

The Espeon didn't look up from his food. "You may want to take a leaf out of Zane's book, young man; you'll have trouble getting a girl in the future for yourself if you don't have any smooth moves of your own."

The red Vulpix gave a "Psh, girls have cooties! Bachelor for life!" as he waved off the criticism, though the other two teens were definitely smirking and holding back giggles at the shut-down.