Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

2. Brendon

Sarah and I pulled up to the Children's Home and looked at each other.

"Ready?" I asked. I still couldn't believe we were doing this. After years of saying we didn't want children, we'd decided to adopt. We'd agreed on an older child, knowing that could mean we were also going to be dealing with bigger problems than a baby would likely have. Older kids might have years of abuse, distrust, histories of drug use even.  But we also knew how much love we had and how much we had to offer.

We went into the home and into the reception area where a few other couples were already registering. There was a large window into a waiting area where we could see kids sitting and waiting, talking, playing.  They all looked clean and well cared for. I saw one girl off in the back corner by herself and wondered what her story was. I pointed her out to Sarah.

"She looks so sad," Sarah said. "She's adorable, though."

"We'll have to make sure to talk to her," I said.

Once we were registered, we were able to go into the room to meet the kids.

Immediately a girl came running up to us.

"Oh my god! You're Brendon Urie!  You're, like, my hero!  I love you!  I'm Natasha, and I'm 14. I love your music and I know every song! You should totally adopt me! I'd be like the best daughter!"

"Uh, ok. Well. We want to talk with other people first.  How did you wind up here?"

"My parents lost their rights when they got addicted to drugs."

"Uh huh," I said.

Natasha went on and on about everything she knew about me and the band and our music. It got to be a little creepy.

"Okay, Um, thanks," I said. We turned around and I looked at Sarah. We both let out a breath we hadn't noticed we were holding. "No way,"

"Oof," I said. "That was creepy."

We looked around the room and talked to a small girl with brown hair. She was shy, but just, not right. We talked to a couple other kids and then Sarah reminded me of the sad girl in the corner. We went over and sat down in front of her.

"Hi. I'm Brendon and this is my wife, Sarah. What's your name?"

The girl just looked at us. Then, she put up her hand, shook her head and covered her ears. She handed us a notebook turned to the front page.

'Hi, I'm Callie. I'm 12 and I'm deaf. Sorry, but I can't hear you.'

Well, that explained some things. I pulled out my phone and opened the Notes app.

'Hi Callie. That's a beautiful name. I'm Brendon and this is my wife Sarah.'

She looked a little stunned. Had no one thought to use notes to talk with her?

She waved at us and smiled. I started typing again.

'So you're 12. How long have you been here?'

'Four years,' she wrote. 'I was in and out of foster homes before.'

'Why so many homes before here?' I typed.

'No one wants the deaf kid,' she wrote. 'Foster parents said I was too hard.'

I frowned.

Just then, the director came over.

"Mr and Mrs Urie, you haven't seen all the children. You don't want Callie. She's a lot of work, and being deaf, she requires so much extra attention to make sure she gets up on time and so on. She's more trouble than she's worth. Honestly. You'd be happier with a different child."

I looked back at Callie, who was watching what was going on. I wondered if she could read lips and if she could, if she was following what the director was saying about her. Sarah looked at Callie and frowned at Miss Jones. Sarah and I exchanged a glance. Sarah gave me a slight nod. We were adopting Callie.

"We want to adopt Callie," I said.

"No you don't," Miss Jones said. "Believe me, you don't. She's been here four years. No one wants to adopt her."

"We do," I reiterated. Miss Jones rolled her eyes and threw up her hands.

I turned to Callie and typed on my phone:

"We'd like to adopt you, if you'll have us."

She nodded at us, with a slight smile.

Sarah made a writing motion and Callie handed her her notepad.

"Would you like help packing?" I read as she returned the notepad to Callie.

Callie nodded and two of them headed out of the room. The girl, Natasha, looked livid. Oh boy.

I followed Miss Jones to sign the adoption papers.

Sarah came back down a few minutes later and asked if there was a suitcase Callie could use. Miss Jones handed her a box of garbage bags and told her she could use those. How horrible. I frowned.

With everything signed, Sarah and I went back upstairs to Callie's room. I could hear shouting and screaming coming from a room with an open door.

"That's Callie's room!" Sarah said, running. I ran after her and was shocked by what I saw. The girl, Natasha, was screaming at Callie and had pushed her onto a bed and was punching her.

"You stupid deaf kid! You don't deserve them as parents! You don't even hear music! The lyrics are the most important part! They should have chosen me!"

I grabbed Natasha around the waist and pulled her off Callie. But not before she punched Callie so hard I saw her eyes roll up into her head before she went unconscious. Sarah rushed to her side.

I was furious at this girl.

"How dare you?" I shouted at her. "Why would you do that?"

"You don't want her! She's stupid! She says she likes music, but she can't even hear it! You're wasting your time with her! You should have adopted me!"

"And with this display, why would you think we'd even want to adopt someone like you? You have no empathy!" I said. She looked like I'd slapped her.

"I hate you," she spat at me and ran from the room. Miss Jones walked in just then.

"What kind of a place are you running where kids are beating up other kids?" I shouted at the woman.

She barely gave Callie a glance.

"We don't tolerate that. But that's what you can expect from a girl like Callie," she said.

"Really? Did you not notice that Callie is the one unconscious on the bed?"

I turned my back on the woman and sat on Callie's other side, willing her to wake up.