My New Life in TBATE

Jaron...

"He-e what?" Vincent adjusts his glasses as if expecting them to answer his question, while looking back and forth from Meredith to Jaron.

"You heard me. He awoke yesterday about an hour after you left." Meredith answers while staring at Vincent unflinchingly. Pulling at the collar of his shirt, he clears his throat before leaning on to his desks with his elbow hands clutched together in front of his face.

"This is honestly unheard of...I do however have a proposal." He finally speaks, but you could see the nervousness in his eyes.

"Well, what is it?" Meredith urged him to continue.

"I would like to adopt Jaron." I feel Meredith's hand tighten on my shoulder as she glares at Vincent.

"Now now, no need to get angry. Yes, this is for selfish reasons, but I do truly mean it. I would adopt Jaron completely, name and all. You know me and Tabitha aren't mages, so it's highly likely that Lilia won't be as well. Besides who else in this city could give the boy a better life than us?" Vincent finished almost pleadingly.

Meredith was frowning, but I didn't think it was from what he said. I think it was a sadness of me getting adopted. She knew Vincent wouldn't force her to let him adopt me, but she also knew that it truly was my best option. Vincent and Tabitha were great people who could give me the loving and caring home any orphan hopes for.

A sad smile forms on her face as she caresses the top of my head and looks down at me.

"What do you think Jaron?" I look up at her to see tears already welling up in her eyes, and a jolt of sadness goes through me. Though I know I could visit them any time, it would no longer be how it had been these last 2 years. While I could probably still progress fairly well while staying in the orphanage, it's no lie that the resources I could get by becoming a Helstea would be a huge boon.

I only mull over it a few more seconds before I turn around to face the head mother, grabbing both her hands in mine.

"Don't be sad head mother, I can always visit the orphanage. Besides the Helstea's are a very nice family, I'm lucky such a good one wants me."

The tears in her eyes had already started to fall as soon as I turned around. I guess she already anticipated this answer. She nods slowly before speaking as well.

"You're quite right, and I do expect you to visit often, as often as you can." I give a bright smile and nod, before turning back around to face Vincent.

"Please take care of me from now on, Mr. Vincent. Or should I say "Dad" now?" I finish with a slight head tilt. Vincent had a big genuine smile on his face as he stood up and knelt down on one knee in front of me.

"I would be honored if you would call me "Dad", son." He leaned forward the rest of the way and gave me a brief hug. He quickly stood back up and took one step back and I was confused for all of one second before both head mother and Maeve smothered me in hugs of their own. This moment continued for a few moments until head mother cleared her throat and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief that magically appeared.

"Well, we might as well make it official." She reaches into a pocket tucked away inside her dress and pulls out a few sheets of paper.

"I never leave home without this, you never know what might happen." She said with a sad smile as she stepped towards the desk and signed her name at the bottom before passing it to Vincent. He briefly read it before signing as well and then lastly there was me. The 5-6 steps to the desk seemed oddly substantial, I never would have thought getting adopted would have this much of an impact on me.

In my past life after my parents died when I was 5, I lived with my grand parents until they too were no longer capable of taking care of me due to illness. This caused me to enter the foster system until the age of 18 when I moved out on my own. All those years as a kid bouncing between homes this is something I had dreamed about until eventually I had given up hope as the older you get the less likely to get adopted.