𝐃𝐞́𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐫 || 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐒𝐨𝐨

Chapter 4

Joshua had hoped he’d never have to set foot through the Omega House’s door again but only a few hours after he’d left, he found himself back there.

Not one to waste time, he gathered Yuna, the lead psychologist and head of the house’s team of staff, and Nathan, who oversaw the day-to-day running of the house. The three of them sat down together so Joshua could get up to speed on everything.

“I’m not planning to stay in this role,” he was quick to tell them. “I have priorities elsewhere. As soon as I can find someone suitable to take my place, I will. Until then, let’s try and keep things running on an even keel. What are the House’s numbers at the moment?”

“We have three children in full-time care at present,” Yuna said. “And four in our day program.”

Joshua was surprised at the numbers.

“That’s a lot fewer than when I was growing up. It doesn’t sound like we’re near capacity.”

“There’s good reason for that,” Yuna said, a little uncertain as she spoke.

Joshua didn’t blame her. Yuna hadn’t even started working there when he’d left all those years before. He was a virtual stranger to her and the rest of the staff. For him to suddenly be in charge—it must have been jarring, to say the least.

“Go on,” he prompted.

“Well, your father’s methods to promote positive omega childhood development are now well-established and backed up by the literature. They began rolling the program out nationwide almost three years ago. Our intake numbers have steadily dropped since then, as routine cases are managed by the state. Adoption levels are the highest they’ve been in fifty years.”

“These days, the only omega kids we take in here are the tough cases,” Nathan added. “The ones the state-run facilities can’t manage to adopt out, kids who need specialist care.”

“Okay, so tell me about your three charges then. What stages are they at?”

“Sawyer is the eldest, he’s just turned three. He’s at the latter stages of the adoption process. We’ve started a phased move to living full-time with his adoptive family, and he will likely have transitioned out fully within a month.”

That sounded positive and left Joshua hopeful this might be easier than it looked.

“The next is Eric, he’s two and a half. He’s in the early stages of the adoption process. A family has been found and screened. He’s about four months from completion of his adoption,” Yuna said.

“But there’s a problem,” Nathan was quick to add.

“What sort of problem?” Joshua asked, schooling his expression to hide the sinking feeling in his stomach.

“His prospective adoptive family made contact right after the funeral. They’re having second thoughts, what with your father gone.”

That was something they’d need to act on. It was important for them to reassure the family that the situation hadn’t changed.

“Who has been their primary liaison?”

“That’s Eunbi,” Nathan said. “She’s with the kids right now.”

“Tell Eunbi to contact the family this morning, offer plenty of support and reassurance. Make sure they know that nothing has changed, and they’ll have exactly the same level of support as they would have if my father was still with us.”