Adopting twins; Zalfie.

Chapter 5

                                                                                  Early November 2017 

Zoe's POV:

I held Alfie's hand as we walked up the cobbled driveway and knocked on the front door of the foster home. Marion, the woman who runs it all, let us in. "Hello again!" She bellowed happily, hugging each of us. "Zoe!" little Tommy cheered, racing up to me and wrapping her arms around my legs. I patted him on the back and smiled. "Are you here to play?" he asked, looking up. I shook my head, "not today, we're here to have a chat with Marion." His face drooped for a moment, but he was immediately distracted by Erin luring him away with a chocolate biscuit. "Thank you." I mouthed, walking down the hallway and into the office.

Alfie and I sat down on the opposite side of the desk to Marion, taking off our many layers of coats and scarfs and placing them on the back of the chair. "So, what are we thinking then? Do you know if there is any child in particular that you've really clicked with or are we struggling a bit?" Marion asked. "It's been quite difficult for us because, obviously, it's a really big decision to make," Alfie started, "And these past two weeks we've gone through a big change on how we're feeling about everything. Going into this, we mutually felt that a younger child would be a good fit for us." Marion nodded, "But not anymore?" I replied, "Well, no, not really. Coming here and meeting all the children, especially the little ones, has really made reality hit. This is an entire person, this is their life that they'd essentially be putting into our hands. And with all that has happened this year, we don't know if we could handle the responsibility of a child that is quite young."

"I completely understand." Marion said. "But not just that, we also feel that we click a lot better with the older ones." Alfie added. "Any in particular?" We turned to each other and smiled. "We'd really love to get to know Erin and Alexis a bit more." I told her, a smile creeping up on my face. Marion grinned excitedly, and you could tell this is something she'd been wishing for. "That's amazing. They are truly lovely girls and they have had such a tough life so far. I really want to see them happy." She told us. My heart welled up. "Before we can go any further, however, you'll need to have a read of their files. They haven't had the most ordinary childhood and carry a lot of emotional baggage. You need to be prepared to handle all of that if you want to continue this process with them."

She handed us two files, and we spent the next twenty minutes reading through them. I found a few stray tears fall down my face as I uncovered the horrifying things that they had experienced. The fact that they had gone through all that they had and still got up in the morning and soldiered on was astonishing. I wanted to run and hug those girls and never let go. "Wow." I whispered, placing the file down on the desk and drying my damp cheek. "Any second thoughts?" Marion asked. "No." we answered in unison. Under the table, Alfie grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze. "We want these girls." I said, smiling. "Okay, I'll have a talk to them later this afternoon and i'll be in contact." And with that, we left, the excitement of possibly being parents in the near future lighting up our faces.