Chapter Text
Michael wiped his sweating hands on his pant legs and pushed the taxi door shut. The case worker assigned to him from Child Protection and Family Support, Ms. Fordalle, stepped forward and gave him a tight smile. “Mr. Clifford. I hope you slept well.” She extended her hand. Michael gave a final swipe to his own and shook it.
“Not really,” he laughed a bit self-consciously. “I was pretty excited.”
Ms. Fordalle pressed her lips together and her face went stern. “Mr. Clifford,” she began, clutching her manila file folder tightly. “I have to warn you. We’ve spoken about both children in a rather abstract manner, thus far. My supervisors made it very clear that I was to do so.”
Michael frowned. “Is there something wrong? Do they need special care?”
Ms. Fordalle sighed and glanced down at her folder. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose that would not be far from the truth. Mr. Clifford,” she stated, looking pained. “These children have a history that was not fully disclosed to you. Granted, it’s wonderful to make a fresh start with a new family, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t warn you.”
Michael gave a nervous laugh. “You’re scaring me, Ms. Fordalle.”
She shook her head and looked toward the house, where the foster parents had stepped out onto the porch, frowns on their own faces. “The smaller one, Eleanor, is an absolute delight,” Mrs. Fordalle lowered her voice a bit. “She’s such a dear child and she would have been adopted long before now if she hadn’t thrown such a fuss at being separated from her older sister.”
Michael frowned, confused. “Okay, but why would you want to separate them?”
“To be quite frank, Mr. Clifford, the older child is a hellion,” Ms. Fordalle raised her chin. “She’s rude, disrespectful, angry, and at times violent.”
Michael blinked, rapidly. “Is there a reason you waited until we were in the foster parents’ front yard to tell me this?” he asked, a bit frustrated.
Ms. Fordalle sighed and looked back to the house, where two little girls had joined the adults on the porch. The small one, her smile shining brightly. The older one, glaring back at the caseworker. “I was warned not to tell you at all,” she retorted. “But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t give you the option.”
“What option?” Michael continued frowning, looking at the two little girls as well. They both had long, blonde hair and were very petite. If he didn’t know better from the ages on the paperwork, he’d never have guessed the elder was ten. She looked at least two years younger. Until you got to the nasty glare on her face. Then she actually looked a bit more worldly than ten.
“I wanted to give you the option of choosing to only adopt Eleanor.” If Michael had any doubt whether or not the girls could hear them that far away, it was washed away in that moment. Eleanor’s face crumpled. The elder, Lily, sneered, baring her teeth as she pulled her sister closer to her.
Michael turned incredulously to the caseworker. “Are you serious, right now?”
The woman pressed her lips together again, narrowing her eyes. “I am very serious, Mr. Clifford. It would only be a moment to tear up those particular papers. No one would think worse of you for it. We are determined to get Eleanor adopted. She deserves a good home with good parents and the opportunity to grow and thrive. She cannot get that if her sister continues to be a weight around her neck.”
She pinned her eyes on Lily. “That…child is the worst kind of news. I am not the first caseworker to attempt to place her. I’m not even the 10th caseworker. She’s chosen her path, and it’s not one that little Eleanor deserves to be dragged down. So,” she straightened up, looking right into Michael’s horrified eyes. “I am telling you right now, both to clear my conscience and to give that little girl a chance, that it is an option for you to adopt only Eleanor.”
Michael looked back to the porch. The parents were frowning unhappily and muttering between themselves. The woman had placed her hands on Eleanor’s shoulders and tugged her away from Lily. Lily was still glaring, but her eyes were full of resigned sadness, as though she were just protesting because it was expected.
He turned back to the caseworker. “I don’t even know what to say to you, right now,” Michael shook his head. “That is singularly the shittiest thing I have ever heard uttered in my life. I have never been so disgusted by another human being as I am right now by you, and I work in the entertainment business.”
The caseworker went bright red and began huffing. “Mr. Cliff-”
“No! Hell, no,” Michael cut her off. “I don’t want to hear another word out of your fucking mouth. You disgust me. I think the problem here is you. Your job right now is to give me my two girls, and then you can get the hell away from us and never worry about them again.”
She pulled herself up and pointed her nose into the air. “Very well, Mr. Clifford,” she said, coldly. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She spun away from him and marched up to the porch. “Eleanor. Lily. Come meet your new adopted father.”
The little one leaped off of the porch, pulling out of the foster mother’s grip, and threw herself at Michael. He grinned at her and knelt down to wrap his arms around her. She practically vibrated in his arms and he was reminded of Luke and his sheer joy to experience the world. “Hi, Eleanor,” he said into her curls.
“Lily calls me Ellie,” she announced, pulling back to beam at him.
“Okay, then. Ellie, it is!” he grinned at her. “I’m Michael. Are you ready for a long plane ride this morning?”
She bounced in his arms and squealed. “I’ve never been on a plane before! Lily!” she turned in the circle of his arms and waved her sister forward. “Lily, we get to ride on a plane!”
Michael watched the older sister pick up two fairly small suitcases and snarl at the caseworker as she descended the stairs. She moved to about six feet away from Michael and dropped the suitcases, folding her arms. “Michael, is it?” she asked, a chill in her voice.
Michael smiled and nodded anyway. “Yep, that’s me. And you’re Lily?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
Michael bit the inside of his cheek, but forced the smile to stay on his face. “I’ll put your suitcases in the taxi if you want to go say goodbye to your foster parents,” he offered, standing up. “Are the rest on the porch?”
Lily gave a snort and snatched the bags up out from under Michael’s reaching hands. “This is all we have. And I have no desire whatsoever to say goodbye to those people. C’mon, Ellie,” she ordered as she turned away. Ellie shrugged, and fell in behind her, waving at the couple on the porch. Michael looked up at the adults, a bit saddened and confused that all these two girls owned fit in two tiny suitcases. The parents turned and went back into the house. The caseworker gave a smirk and mouthed ‘told you’ before making her way to her own car.
And just like that, Michael became a dad.