Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•••
FP and Alice sat in a room awaiting Sister Woodhouse. FP noticed that Alice was nervous so he reached his hand out and grabbed her hand. He gave it a soft squeeze. "This is crazy. We're really doing it."
"I haven't been here in years. It was months worth of nightmares for me."
"It was years ago, Al. It's all over." He scoots his chair closer to her and hugs her. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You did what you had to to make sure Charles grew up a happy boy. Maybe I couldn't give you both that."
"But you could have. If I had just told you," She whimpered into his arm.
"Alice. I already told you it's okay. You did the best for him and I can't be mad with you for doing the right thing." The door opened and Alice wiped her face on his sleeve. FP adjusted her head on his shoulder. "Cheer up, baby. We're going to find out more about our son." FP whispered softly into her ear. Baby came out of his mouth without hesitation. It felt natural. Alice was slightly stunned by it but she liked it. It made her feel like she did back then.
"I have his file right here," Sister Woodhouse walked over to her desk. She placed the folder on her desk and opens it. "Sister Livingston and I were very familiar with Charles Smith." The nun unclipped the images of their boy and hands them over to them. They each took one to look at. "That's him in his teenage years. I believe around sixteen."
The parents stared at the pictures. It was really their son. FP was out of words. This is the very first time he'd seen his boy visually. Alice compared the picture to the baby picture she had at home. Charles has grown up in the past twenty five years. "Can you tell us about him?"
"What nice family adopted him?" Alice added in. She wanted to know everything about him and the family that took him in. Sister Woodhouse shook her head. "I'm sorry miss. Charles never got adopted."
"He didn't?" Alice felt her heart shatter into multiple pieces. FP jumped in to ask further questions. "What was he like? Where is he now?"
"He had always been a very polite young man. He helped many of his mates. As for where he is now I can't answer that for you. We lost track of him after he left." Sister Woodhouse allowed him to grab the file. He examined it. He hoped they'd be able to find a way to contact him.
"He was a brainiac just like you," FP pointed to his transcripts. He made sure Alice was able to give it a look.
"My, my baby." She croaked out. He put the file back down and held her close.
"Smart just like you. I bet he's somewhere out there being successful just for you." FP gave her a warm smile to make her feel better. It didn't seem to be enough. "Do you want to go outside for fresh air?" Alice nods and FP leads her out the door. She kept her arms latched around his waist as they walked down the hall.
