My dad walked out, closing the door behind him, and Bennie immediately clutched at Nico, leaning over my arm, reaching for him. Nico grabbed Bennie by his armpits, pulling the boy to him.
"Thank you." Bennie whispered, his small hands clinging to Nico's collar.
Nico didn't reply, only held the crying five year old closer, burying his face in the fluffy black hair. I shifted, wrapping my arms around Nico, my chest to Bennie's back. Nico's wings enveloped us, mine following shortly after.
***
Nico had managed to convince my dad to release him early, which was the only reason we were standing in front of Kayla at the desk, Bennie on Nico's hip. "OK Nico, just sign here, and you're free to go." Nico grinned, quickly signing his name in smooth curls, under my dad's scrawled signature.
"Nico," I sighed, and he hurriedly thrust the clipboard back to Kayla, as if I'd could grab it from him, before he could. Kayla laughed, nodding to us, and Nico practically ran out the sliding doors. I hung back, shooting Kayla a playful glare, as she laughed harder.
"Will, dad wants you to take the car. He'll fly home." Kayla said, once she had managed to calm down.
"OK," I nodded, "Thanks." I took the keys from her, and I walked outside, the automatic door sliding open.
"Dad's letting us take the car,"
Nico nodded, looking at me suspiciously. "Do I trust you with driving?"
I gave him a pointed look. "C'mon. Really?"
He laughed, both of us remembering that Nico was the one that was a crazy driver. Think Gibbs, or Ziva from NCIS He caught up to me, and grabbed my hand with his free one, the other still holding Bennie, who had wrapped his arms around Nico's neck, resting his head on Nico's shoulder, and fallen asleep.
I unlocked the car and Nico sat in the backseat, gently shifting Bennie until the boy was straddling Nico, head still on his shoulder. I took the belt, and reaching over both of them, gently buckled them in. I closed the door and walked to the driver's side, and slid in.
I glanced up at the rear view mirror as I rolled to a stop at a light, to see Nico with his arms around Bennie's waist, head on his shoulder, eyes closed. Bennie's hands had slipped from around his neck to Nico's chest. Nico's eyes fluttered open, and he met my gaze in the mirror, before he focused on the view out the window. I looked ahead of me, the light turning green, and I eased forwards, bringing the car up to the speed limit.
I pulled into the lot, circling the small area until I found a spot. Turning the car off, I unclipped my seat belt, turning around and looking at Nico.
"Ready?"
He nodded, and I opened my door, walking to his. I opened it, and reaching across him, unbuckled him, and lead the belt back towards the door, before gently taking Bennie from Nico, so my boyfriend could get out of the car. Nico took Bennie back as soon as the door was closed, and held him tightly. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and could feel the protectiveness rolling off of Nico in waves. I wrapped my arm around Nico's waist, pulling him to my side as we walked, ignoring Bennie's tennis shoe that was rubbing against my side.
The lobby was eerily quiet, as I leaned on the receptionist's counter, Nico standing next to me, looking around the room. It had two chairs on one side of the sliding doors we walked in from, and four on the other. A small table was placed in front of the chairs.
"May I help you?" An overly sweet voice voice came from next to us.
Nico and I turned to look, and sitting behind the counter Nico and I were standing against, was a young woman. She looked me over, and fluttered her eyelashes OK, I'm sorry, I need at least one person to hit on Will! as she stood, leaning against her hands as she leaned over the desk, closer to the counter. She was probably no older than I, and a curvy woman, but thin, with big blue eyes, and (fake) eyelashes, and her ombre hair in a high ponytail. "The names Taressa, by the way." She had a playful smile on her full, slightly pouted, lips, as she looked up at me, from underneath her long eyelashes.
"Yes. We'd like to adopt." Nico cut in, not looking at her.
"Oh." The girl's lips tightened as she sat back down into the swivel chair, yanking out paper. She reached up, and pushed the papers towards us. "Just fill these out, and we'll consider it." Her eyes drifted to Nico, and her eyes widened. "Bennie?!"
Nico shushed her, pulling away, and angling away from her slightly, arms tightening around Bennie.
"Over protective much?" Taressa muttered, blinking in surprise, and glancing at me in confusion. I shrugged but mentally agreed with her, wrapping an arm around Nico's shoulders, and drawing him to me.
"Um," I started, looking over the papers on the counter. "Do you have a pen, and a clipboard?" The woman handed me two of each, the spark of interest gone. I took the objects and papers, and steered Nico to the chairs. I don't know how this works, please correct me
"Hey," I whispered, setting up the two clipboards with the applications. "here, take this, and this." I handed him the clipboard and pen, balancing mine on my knee. For awhile, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Nico and I's pens scratching on the paper, and the clacking of the keyboard as Taressa typed.
"Will?" Nico broke the silence, speaking quietly, nervously.
"Yeah?"
Nico hesitated, "What do I say? They ask what I am."
I blanched. Nico couldn't say he was an angel, his wings were black, but at the same time, he can't say he's a demon, his wings have white tipped feathers.
"Um, you could just say you're a nephalem. . .?"
Nico hesitated, before writing it down, as best he could with Bennie sitting 'spider' on his lap.
"But my da- Hades is still out there, and," Nico trailed off, falling silent, as I put my hand to his cheek, and he sighed, leaning into me. Because he wasn't talking about what to write down anymore. He was talking about the entire thing. Whether or not adopting Bennie would be a good idea, a safe idea.
"Nico, it's OK. Do you really want Bennie to go back to that woman?" I searched his eyes, and he shook his head. "Good. Me neither."
Once we finished, I brought the clipboards up to Taressa. "Here you go. When do we know if we can adopt him or not?"
Taressa glanced up at me, the clacking of the keyboard under her long nails not stopping as she replied. "We call you."
I nodded, waiting for her to continue. She let out an exasperated sigh, and stopped typing, turning to face me. "We'll call you, and let you know whether or not you're eligible to adopt."
"We'd like to take Bennie with us." Nico said, appearing at my side. Taressa hesitated, before nodding slowly. "Look, usually I wouldn't allow it, but, Bennie, he's a special case."
"Oh?" I inquired. "How so?"
"He, nobody wants him, OK? No. One. Why do you think he's still under our care? People have fostered him, but he always ends up back here. He's five now! Most kids, well babies, are out of here by one."
Nico and I glanced at each other, and I saw that Nico had already made his decision, and there was no changing his mind.
"We'd like to adopt Bennie." Nico said, his tone of voice saying this was nonnegotiable. "And that's final."
YOU ARE READING
Angels And Demons
Fanfiction"But it was his wings, his huge, furling delicate white wings that told what he really was. An outcast. Born from one of the most powerful demon families, and Nico, was an angel." This is a Solangelo fanfic, but it doesn't seem like it! It can also...
