Dayton

Chaper 33

"Baby, no," Ajax instantly replies, pulling me around to hug me with a frown. "I really am sorry, I should not have teased you as much as I have been. I really want to do this today with you, I should not have been teasing you over this."

"No, it is fine," I mumble as the first tear slips down my face. "I am being annoying over this, and pushed for this instead of keeping this to myself. Let's go home, I do not think we should do this anymore."

"Fuck, I screwed this up," he mumbles as I move away from him toward the car again, ignoring his comment.

Trying to discreetly wipe away the tears because I do not want Ajax to see how upset I am about leaving without going through the process. Guess it is best to know this now instead of later.

Ajax softly sighs as he lightly grips my hips to turn me around to face him; "Dayton, I promise I want to do this with you now. Please, can we just go inside?"

He gently wipes the tears from my face with a timid smile, and I shrug, and let him escort me inside the building. I want this, but now I am second guessing a lot of things right now. We sit with the director of the agency, and she goes over the policies of the agency. She gives us a stack of paperwork to fill out, and some of this is also information on the agency. Then she shows us a binder with all of the children there, and the information on the children.

"Please, look through the binder, and see if there is anyone who fits what you are looking for," she says, handing Ajax the white binder.

While we look through the pages, there is a soft knock on the closed office door before it opens to reveal an employee with a young child around ten or eleven, and he has a fresh looking black eye.

"I am sorry for interrupting Mrs. McCoy, but I was wondering if you could speak with Orion for a moment, please?" the adult asks with an apologetic smile toward us.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ajax give them an encouraging smile, but I cannot help but smile at the boy. He is staring back at me, and I feel as if we have an instant connection. I know that this sounds stupid, but that is how I feel. The three of them step into the hall, but leave the door open slightly, and Ajax nudges me in the arm with his hand. Turning my attention to him, he has a page of the binder open toward me.

Taking the binder from him to read the information on the page: Name: Orion Victor Williams. Age: 10-years-old. Ethnicity: Caucasian/Cherokee. Health Concerns: Yes. Health Issues: Has Social Anxiety and possible ADHD. Siblings: No, but would like to have a sibling or two. Any Information Known About Birth Parents: Yes. Mom is a drug user, and Dad is an alcoholic and abusive. Any Other Relatives: Yes. Maternal Grandmother - Cannot take care of him, but would like to have contact if the adoptive parent(s) permit this. Reason(s) For Being In The System: Was Neglected/Abused.

My eyes become misty at the information, but it also makes me feel that he is meant to become a part of our family. Meeting Ajax's gaze, he nods, and softly tells me that he thinks Orion might be our future child. Mrs. McCoy joins us then, apologizing for the interruption as she sits back down in her seat behind her desk.

"So, do you have any questions before we tour the facility?" she asks, warmly smiling at us.

"Um, I actually have one," I reply with a shaky smile. "We have found a child in the binder that we feel might be a good fit for our family, so could we possibly meet him?"

"Sure, part of the tour is meeting the children, but who is the one that caught your attention?" she replies curiously.

"Orion Williams," Ajax answers, showing her his page in the binder, and she nods in understanding, and says that we can spend an extra few minutes with him while we are mingling with the children.

Wandering the facility with Mrs. McCoy, she explains everything to us, and what the daily activities are for the fifteen children there. The children are currently playing in the backyard when we join everyone, and we mingle with the children, and we find Orion, and decide to spend the extra time with him now.

"Hi Orion, how are you? Do you mind if my partner and I join you?" I ask him as I tentatively sit down at the table he is sitting at while he works on his drawing of a huge detailed dragon. "My name is Dayton, and my partner's name is Ajax."

Ajax sits down next to me as we are sitting across from him, and he is the only person sitting at the six-person table. I am wondering if he has not made any friends with any of the children here.

Orion lifts his head slightly to look at me in surprise; "Um, hi? Are you sure you want to be seen with me? There are better kids here that are more worthy of adopting than me."

His voice is soft and sweet, but definitely holds confusion, and I gently smile at him; "Yes, we are sure we want to be seen with you. I am sure you are just as wonderful as the other children here. We just wanted to spend time with you, and get to know you if that is okay with you?"

Orion shrugs as he looks between Ajax and I before looking back at me; "Are you guys married, or?"

"We are not married," Ajax answers him with a soft smile. "You can ask us anything you would like, and we will answer the best we can."

"How old are you guys? Do you have any kids?" he curiously asks, and places his pencil down on the table.

"I am twenty, and Ajax is twenty-eight," I answer for us with a smile. "We have a 2-year-old son named Darien."

"Can I ask a serious question?" he asks with a tiny smile.

Ajax and I nod in agreement, so he asks while gesturing toward his eye; "Why would you even consider adopting me? I get bullied, obviously, so I cannot teach your son how to defend himself."

"We believe non-violence is the best answer, and we are not big on fighting, but we understand that sometimes fighting back is the last option available," Ajax replies warmly.