Mitch and Noah

Noah~ Boyfriend

"Here's a fresh bottle I rinsed out as best I could for you."

The woman walked in briskly and placed the bottle, a small packet of formula, and a water on top of her desk as she invited them to sit opposite her.

Noah took over making the bottle as the woman sat and smiled through the aura of anger being radiated from Mitch's steely glare her direction.

"My name's Shae Hunt, and I've been Rowan's caseworker since almost birth, though I already set up a new worker for the little guy over where you live, and his name is...."

She looked around her and found a card on the far left of her desk, which she proceeded to hand to Noah, who put it on the down in front of Mitch so he could scrutinize it as she continued.

"-Issac Suarez. I spoke with him over the phone, and he's overjoyed that you are going to be adopting him out of the system versus most kids in this situation who have to wait in temporary foster homes a lot of their lives."

While she looked to the baby in his arms as if he was the most precious thing in the world, Mitch didn't respond except to nod stiffly as he continued to angrily brood.

Noah loved that Mitch wasn't hiding his disdain for the woman who obviously wasn't doing her job well, considering she suspected the child was being drugged and had let him continue to live in that environment. He'd also noticed Mitch had not even flinched when she spoke of him adopting Rowan, and for some reason it started a small glimmer of hope to spread in Noah's chest.

"There's really no other contacts that we could reach out to, except for your Mother, Professor Ferguson, and she refused to hear us out, hanging up on Michelle, our desk lady, before she could even really explain anything."

"Shocker. That woman HATES kids. Always has."

Noah could feel the anger building even more in Mitch and as he reached over to hand him the bottle, he draped his arm on his. After the bottle was taken, he moved his hand to caress Mitch's arm in circular motions, just as he'd been taught the comfort of through his back the night before.

His mind wandered again to the feel of Mitch's commanding lips and firm body on his, a thought that kept randomly popping up since the incident with no rhyme or reason except to get Noah all hot and bothered at the wrong times.

The woman looked disgusted at their intimate gesture before masking it with a smile once again, making Noah removing his hand fast to put both in his lap.

"I'm sorry to hear that about your mother. I really hope that you adopting Rowan works out. He's been through a lot of heartache and pain from what I would gather, and he needs stability in his life more than anything. Proper parents do wonders for a child."

Noah didn't miss the emphasis on proper as the woman turned sideways to start typing things into the computer as she continued.

"If you have need of baby supplies, we have a small gift basket available that a local woman puts together for the babies and toddlers in the system that have nothing when they arrive. I found one that was just Rowan's size, if that would be helpful?"

Mitch looked like he wanted to say no, like he couldn't wait to take Rowan and run out of the stuffy, stale office and never look back. Instead, he nodded again curtly.

"Yes, Thank you."

Noah said the words he knew Mitch couldn't, and Mitch looked towards him gratefully.

"Of course. Let me go get it real quick."

The woman had offered, yet groaned as if they were troubling her more than ever as she rose from her seat and left the room.

"You'd think she'd have brought it in here, y'know? This woman is..."

As Mitch shook his head, he didn't have to say another word before Noah nodded in agreement and finished his sentence.

"-something else, seriously. Maybe she thought you are some snobby, hotshot lawyer that wants Gucci or something for your new baby."

Noah chuckled while Mitch laughed heartily for a second and then stopped himself as little Rowan again began to stir.

"That would be wrong on all counts. She seems like she's probably wayyy too... Kansas to be someone I'd want to hang around."

They both laughed again.

"Here we are."

The woman whisked back into the room with a bulky, brown paper bag, and looked towards them warily, as if she sensed they'd been taking smack about her. She put it down with a thud in front of them and sat back at her computer to clack loudly as she spoke.

"I have a lot of the paperwork here, though I would like to make copies of your ID for records, and maybe even your boyfriend's."

The woman looked at them side-eyed as she waited for Mitch to confirm or deny her sly, nosy, inquiry.

"My boyfriend is here for moral support, there's no need."

Noah felt the panic that had been building in his stomach at her request dissipate almost instantly at Mitch calling him his boyfriend. He excitedly looked towards Mitch, who was calmly looking straight ahead.

"Hmmm."

Mitch shifted Rowan to one arm as he reached behind and grabbed his wallet to hand to Noah, who helped remove his ID from the clear sleeve and place it on the desk. Shae looked at it and typed.

"Perfect, O.K. that's good. I'll need any information that might have changed with your phone or address."

"Nope. The information from a few days ago has not changed."

"Perfect."

They sat in an awkward silence as the woman clacked a few more things.

"Okay! Looks like that's all I need from you on my end. Is there anything you need from me?"

She sounded as if she really hoped there wasn't, and Noah and Mitch both shook their heads as Shae suddenly stood and walked over to unceremoniously jostle Rowan.

"Rowan, honey. It's Mrs. Shae-Shae. Rise and shine honey. Your new Daddy is here to pick you up."

Rowan's eyes finally opened to slits as he slowly wriggled awake in Mitch's arms.