A Tronnor Collection

Chosen.

AN: You'll notice this doesn't even include Troye specifically. I didn't write it to be a fanfic. I wrote it shortly after Connor came out because I wanted to imagine the beautiful family he'd have in the future. I know that when some people come out, they feel they've lost the chance to have the family they've dreamed of. This for me was a look at fulfilling those dreams.

They've been married for 2 years when they decide it's time. To start the process. To become more than a couple, to become a family.

So they fill out applications and ask all their friends and family to write references, and everyone is happy for them. And the references pour in from England, Minnesota, New York, Australia, and most of all, Los Angeles. An outpouring of love for the two boys who everyone can picture being incredible dads. And they put it all together and submit it to the social worker, and as she begins to go through it, she can't help but smile at the amazing community of love this couple has.

And they go through interviews. Background checks. They are nervous at every step, despite having nothing to be afraid of. Every interviewer, social worker, and counsellor is astonished at the couples connection, at how well they know each other, at how in tune they are. And despite their professional obligation to remain impartial, everyone at the adoption office is rooting for them.

One day, they get a call. There's a girl. A teenager, scared and alone, who wants to find a family to love her baby. The social worker has recommended them. So they go to a meeting, nervous and anxious because the girl is 8 months pregnant, and it's happening all so fast but they are too full of joy to be scared. But when they meet the girl, her parents object. No grandchild of theirs is going to be raised by two men. And their hearts are broken, because all they want to give is love. And the world is broken, because people still don't understand.

Time passes. Months. A year. Calls come in, but nothing ever pans out. A child in foster care gets moved back to their family only a week before they finalize the paperwork. So they say goodbye. A young boy in a group home is reunited with his parents. And even though they loved him, they want him to have the best life, so they let go, and try to move on. Chances are taken. It feels like everything is broken. They are ready to give up.

But they don't. It's been 2 years since they submitted the initial paperwork. Connor is sitting on a bench outside a courtroom. He's in denial. He just finished signing an adoption contract. A judge told him he'll be an excellent father. His husband held his hand while they walked away, looking at the newly pressed birth certificate in their hands. But it isn't real. He can't let it be real, because his heart is in a million pieces from all the children he's nearly called his own. So he sits, staring at his feet, fingers intertwined with those of the boy he loves. He won't believe it until he holds his child in his arms. He's never made it to that point before. And despite having more hope in front of him than ever, he feels nothing but loss.

Then a gentle squeeze of his hand brings his heart back out of his stomach, and it rises and settles in his throat as he looks down the long drab hallway at their social worker, approaching with an infant's car seat swinging in her hand. She stops in front of them, sits beside Connor, and turns. This is it. This is the moment they've been waiting for.

"I know you've met her before. At the hospital three months ago when she was born. In the foster home when you called me in tears to report the horrid conditions. And just last week in the judge's chambers. But today, she has a new story. So, Connor, I'd like you to meet, your daughter."

There are no words to describe the love he feels as he leans down, unzips the carrier cover, and looks at the peaceful sleeping face nestled in buckles and blankets. His. Daughter. His baby.

No, their baby. He tightens his grip on his husband's slender fingers before releasing them, reaching down, and lifting their little girl onto his shoulder. She's here, she's real. And she's so so loved.

The child, nestled between the two men, doesn't realize what is happening. She doesn't know that she is more loved than any other child she'll meet. She doesn't understand that while these two found together by chance, they searched for her with a passion, and they chose her. She will grow to know. She's theirs.