Work Text:
“Hey, it’s okay, there’s nothing to be scared of love.” Phil reassured Dan whilst driving. Dan was looking particularly pale and Phil could tell when he was nervous—pale complexion, mouth pressed in a straight line, and his eyes darting around were all dead giveaways. He messed with his hair even more than usual which was saying a lot.
“But what if he doesn’t like us? What if we’re awful parents?” Dan worried. They were on their way to the adoption center to meet the boy they were going to adopt and to say that Dan was nervous would be an understatement.
Phil proposed to Dan in February 2018 and they had gotten married that summer. Talk soon turned to maybe having a kid or two, and they filled out the adoption applications later that year. They both semi-retired from Youtube and made videos only once every month or so and opted to focus more energy on Radio 1. Now they were on their way to the adoption center and the whole thing seemed surreal. Almost a year and a half was spent waiting until the adoption process was finalized. Of course they were beyond excited, but Dan had his worries.
Phil pulled the car into the parking lot of A Future of Hope Adoption Agencies and squeezed Dan’s hand, out of both excitement and wanting to comfort him. They got out of the car and faced the ten-story building ahead. It looked friendly enough, the sign on the building was brightly colored and there were flower bushes all around. Even the air had a hint of lavender in it. Their lives would change the moment they walked in.
“Deep breath Dan.” Phil whispered to him. Dan listened and linked Phil’s hand with his own, and started to walk through the glass double doors.
The receptionist at the front desk smiled at them as they walked in, “Names please?” she chirped in a high-pitched, clear voice.
“Dan and Phil Lester-Howell. We’re here to meet Dilon.” Phil answered.
“Oh how exciting! How did the adoption process go for you guys?”
Dan was still a bit on edge, the tapping of his toes and squeezing Phil’s hand perhaps a little too tight were indicators of that, and preferred to let Phil answer.
“It took a while, but other than that, it went pretty smoothly which was great as Dan and I aren’t like,”Phil struggled for the right words, “um most other couples, and we expected a few more problems, but everything was good.”
“I’m glad to hear the process went okay.” the receptionist, whose name tag read Clarise, replied. She took a look at something on the computer monitor she sat in front of and typed a few things before informing Dan and Phil that, “Dilon will be down in a few minutes, you can take a seat on the sofa over there if you’d like.”
Dan half pulled Phil over to the sofas and plopped down on the cushion before patting the seat next to him, prompting Phil to sit too. Phil pecked Dan’s cheek and let him rest his head on his shoulder. The lobby was nicely decorated, it looked professional but not too stuffy. Some bright paintings were hung on the cream colored walls, and potted plants were at each corner of the room. The minutes passed and a door near the back of the lobby opened and out stepped a toddler followed by a retinue of smiling people behind him. An amiable looking woman stepped forward and introduced herself as Amelia Song, the president of the adoption agency. “Little Dilon here is only three years old as I’m sure you two already know; you won’t need to worry about sending him to primary school for another year or so. My husband and I are constantly running back and forth from our kid’s schools and afterschool extracurriculars, treasure the years without having to drive to a school twice a day, boys.” she advised them.
Dan chuckled, thinking about what it’d be like running around the house in the morning if he and Phil ever adopted more kids, “Will do ma’am.” he was clearly more relaxed than he was when he walked into the building.
“Would you like to say ‘hi’ Dilon?” Amelia asked him.
Dilon waved shyly at Dan and Phil and said a soft “hi.” Phil looked over at Dan to see that he had the widest smile on his face and this reaffirmed Phil’s belief that this was the best decision he and Dan had ever made.
Amelia and some others from the agency took the next hour to tell Dan and Phil about Dilon and the ins and outs of raising an adopted kid. The clock soon struck 3pm and it was time to take Dilon home. They all said their goodbyes to Amelia and the rest. Dilon had one hand in Phil’s hand and another in Dan’s as he toddled towards the door with his new family.