Chances - 1D KidFic

I Wasn't Expecting You

*TW: mention of suicide; mentions of death*

*Liam's POV*

"Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting you until next week," Carrie says. "I... You're not scheduled for an appointment. So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

"We're so sorry. I know we should have called first. My parents have the boys for the day so we had some time. We've been thinking," well, more me than Louis, "and we wanted to um... I guess talk a bit about Zayn."

"Come into my office and we'll talk quickly. I have another appointment in 15 minutes," Carrie says, inviting us in.

"Thank you," Louis says.

Once we get into her office Carrie immediately gets to work. "Now, are you inquiring about adoption? Or are you just here to ask questions. If it's the latter, I really can't give out information about him. You've been here before and we trust you, but I can't give out legal or confidential information about any of the children here."

"Well..." Louis starts.

"We don't know. We've thought about it. Well, I've thought about it and convinced Louis to think about it. There's just a lot we don't know about him. You said he's been through a lot and some parents aren't willing to put in the 'work' required to have a child like that."

"I guess, we wanted to know what kind of 'work' that would be and if we're qualified to do it," Louis says.

"He's a good kid and we want to make sure he has the best. He was so good with Niall, and I'm sure he'd love Harry too. We've thought about bringing him home, but if we're not right for him, we kinda want to know. You know?"

"Well, I wish you would have made an appointment so I could bring up some documents on him, but here's what I can say off the top of my head. He's very quiet. He does not respond well to yelling, so if that is how you discipline, you can't do that with him. He may not always tell you if something is wrong. He has nightmares, probably more than we know of. He takes a long time to open up. A very long time. You have to be patient with him. If you are seriously considering bringing Zayn into your family, you absolutely need to have a talk with Harry beforehand. He and Zayn are two completely different people. I don't want him to be upset if Zayn doesn't talk to him right away or if he favors Niall, because he probably will," Carrie says.

"How is he, like, with other kids? Does he play with him? Does he interact okay?" Louis asks.

"He very rarely interacts with anybody, child or adult. There's some of the kids who probably don't even know Zayn exists. He tends to hide. He's never said it, but I think crowds and large groups make him nervous. The most interaction he has is with the babies. There's not much conversation involved in that. He plays with them a little bit and helps us feed them every once in a while," Carrie answers.

"And I'm assuming he goes to some type of school? What is he like there? Does he have friends? Is he... okay at school?" I ask.

"To be completely honest, I really don't know. All the children go to local schools. They are aware of the children's situation. They report back to us. He's doing okay in school. He's very smart, very creative. He doodles a lot. He just doesn't really talk. He only talks when he has to. He stays back from recess a lot and helps his teacher tidy up the class room. To my knowledge, he doesn't have many friends, if he has any at all."

"Is he being bullied?" I ask.

"If he is, he hasn't said anything and the teachers haven't noticed or said anything," Carrie answers.