(Sean's POV)
Sunday, Ivann was up before the sun was. He could barely contain himself as we waited out the hours until our appointment. He tried to distract himself by doing things around the house - mostly cleaning, cleaning things that didn't really need to be cleaned - to get rid of some of his excitement and to distract his mind from thinking about it. That strategy worked for him for a while, but it eventually wore off, two hours before we were to leave.
"Ivann, calm down," I told him, after watching him pace back and forth from the kitchen to the living room for twenty minutes.
"I'm trying too, but it's not working," he said as he rearranged the remotes on the coffee table - the third time he's rearranged them. "This could change everything for us. How can you be so calm?"
I got up and walked over to him. "I know it could and my hopes are high that it will," I said as I grabbed his fidgeting hands. "But I'm also aware that it might not, that this could be a dead end. I hope it's not, though," I told him as I pulled him into me and wrapped my arms around him. Thinking of and preparing for the worst-case scenarios was all that was keeping my hopes lower than his.
"I hope it's not, too," he said as he nuzzled against my chest.
We took my truck and drove to the Haven Homes' office. The building wasn't as extravagant as the fertility clinic, about half the size and in need of some repairs. Ivann didn't rush to drag me into the building. I think it could have something to do with me telling him that this could be a dead end. Instead, he walked slowly up to the doors and waited for me to open them before he stepped inside. He took a moment and looked around the place. It was small and clean, not as sterile as the fertility clinic, but clean. There were paintings and drawings, some letters and poems on the walls, some in frames and a lot of them pinned up on boards, from all the cubs that had come through the place. To me, the place had a friendly feeling to it, kind of warm and homely.
"Sir's, can I help you?" A female squirrel asked as she looked at us from behind her desk.
Ivann's ears perked at the sound of her voice and he walked over to her, with me beside him. "Yes. I spoke to you yesterday and set up an appointment for today."
"Oh, you must be Ivann, with two N's," she said, smiling. "And that must mean that you are Sean?" she asked as she looked up at me.
"Yes, I'm Sean, the husband," I answered, nodding and smiling.
"I'm Anna," she introduced as she stuck her hand out to me.
"It's nice to meet you, Anna," I said, taking her small hand gently in my hand.
"And it's nice to meet you, in person, Ivann," she told him, after I let go of her hand, and then she held it out to him.
"It's nice to meet you, as well," he told her as he shook her hand.
"I'm so sorry, but it seems like the caseworker whom you two are scheduled with is still with other clients," she said, her ears falling slightly as she looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost fifteen minutes past our scheduled appointment. "If you two wouldn't mind, could you wait over there and I'll let you know when they're done?"
"Yeah, that's okay. We'll wait," Ivann told her, and then we walked over to the waiting area and sat down.
His ears and tail didn't have a nervous twitch like they did when we were at the fertility clinic. Instead, he just sat there still as he glanced around. "Are you all right?" I asked as I studied him and his unusual stillness.
"Yeah," he answered, looking over at me with a small smile. "I'm just thinking that this could be a dead end, like you said," he confessed, his ears dropping back.
