les sequelles - Eric Coulter 1

104. Adopting A Child

Imagine: Eric bringing home a Factionless boy and the two of you decide to adopt him.

Warning: Brief mentions of child abuse and infertility!

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Eric's POV

I sprint through the alleyway; the factionless man runs ahead of me, "Stop or I'll shoot!"

"If you want it back, then shoot!" Robberies were on the rise in the Factionless, and I was sent to take care of a group of people who stole an important piece of technology that was being transported from Erudite to Amity.

"You don't want to do this," I say as another shot rings out from somewhere behind me, "Put it down."

He drops the box slowly and suddenly charges at me, out of instinct, I shoot. He stops, realization of being shot draws on his face, he moans and clutches at his bleeding stomach before dropping to his knees.

The chaos dies down and a couple of other Dauntless guards take the package from me to finish the delivery. Just as I'm about to make my way out of the alleyway, I hear a whimper from behind the dumpster.

Confused, I make my way towards the source of the sound. I find a little boy, no more than 5-years-old, in ragged clothes crouching behind the dumpster. I kneel down next to him, "What're you doing here kiddo?"

He doesn't respond, instead he just continues to cry, "Where's your parents?"

With a shaking finger he points to the corpse of the man I shot. The reality of the situation hits me, I never really thought about the people I killed. They could have been the parents of innocent children, or the children of unexpecting parents. Now I was left to face the child of the man I just murdered.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know he was your father," I run my hand through my hair, not knowing what to do or say, "Um, where's your mom?"

He just shakes his head, "I don't have one."

"Do you have any other family?" He shakes his head again, "I'm so sorry, I- goddamn it, come with me, we'll figure something out."

I take his hand and guide him out of the alleyway, "He was a bad man you know."

I look down in surprise when the boy makes this comment, "What do you mean?"

He pulls up his shirt and reveals a large scar on his tiny torso, surrounded by smaller burns and bruises, "He did this. He did the same to my mom before she-"

His voice breaks and he begins crying. I kneel down next to him again, "You're safe now."

"Thank you," He says in a small voice, "Thank you for saving me from him. He was a monster."

I nod in agreement with him, and I'm suddenly taken aback when he wraps his arms around my neck and hugs me, "What's your name?"

"Charlie."

"Well Charlie, I'm Eric, and I'm going to take care of you so don't worry."

"Will you take me with you Eric?" He asks timidly, "I don't want to stay here."

"I-" I pause for a moment, thinking how my wife Y/N might react if I brought this child home. This is my fault, I need to fix it, "Yes Charlie, I'll take you with me."

After collecting a few necessary pieces of paperwork in hopes that Y/N would actually agree to keeping the child, I head off to my apartment with Charlie sleeping in my arms.

Y/N opens the door and looks at me with an incredibly confused look on her face, "Um hi Eric... Who's this?"

"This is Charlie," I sigh, "Y/N, we need to talk."

I eventually explain the whole story to her, and she is completely supportive through the whole thing. Once I finally finish she responds with, "I-I don't know what to do Eric, but until we can figure that out, Charlie can stay with us."

A few weeks go by and Charlie and Y/N have become incredibly close. He rarely leaves her side, and she adores his company.

One evening, after putting Charlie to bed she comes up to me, "Eric?"

"Yeah babe?"

"I think I'm ready to sign those adoption papers," I instantly put my laptop down and look at her hopefully, "We've been trying for ages to have a kid of our own and we can't. Maybe this is meant to be. Charlie hasn't been in our lives for long, but I've fallen in love with the kid, and I can tell that you have as well. Maybe it's time that we officially became his parents."

I can't help but place a gentle kiss on her lips, "That's great babe. We'll send in the papers first thing in the morning."

I guess it was finally time to call myself a father.

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From book-boys-are-my-guilty-pleasure on Tumblr.