But Now We're Stressed Out

A single pale buttercup

angsT angST anGST aNGST ANGST

AAAANNNNGGGSSSSTTTT

Evan calls Asura Mom and Ophelia Mama to help clear things up in this chapter

TRIGGER WARNINGS : talks about lots of child abuse, seizures, epilepsy, derogatory terms, a lot of blatant homophobia and forced gender norms

IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO ABUSE (especially that of being beaten with a belt), THERE ARE PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER THAT DEPICT DETAILED FIRST PERSON POV OF ABUSE
If this upsets you, please skip anything that is italicized like this

~~~like ten years ago~~~

Ophelia POV
"I'm so excited,"  I squealed, holding Asura's hand tightly. 

"I'm just glad we found an agency that will let us adopt,"  Asura commented.

I looked happily up at the adoption agency in front of me.  After almost a year of classes, we were finally eligible to adopt a child.

"I hope whichever child we choose will love us,"  Asura mumbled. 

"I'm sure they will,"  I told her, giving her a quick kiss.  "Now c'mon."

Asura led the way and we quickly headed up to the front doors.  I pushed them open and then headed to the front desk. 

"Hello,"  Asura said.  She slid the appointment papers across the desk. 

"Welcome,"  The receptionist smiled up at us.  She quickly looked over the papers.  "What age of child are you looking to adopt."

"A younger child would be preferable,"  I answered.  "Under ten years old."

"Follow me,"  She smiled and got up.

We followed her down a hallway.  I looked into some of the rooms to see teenagers lounging around in them.

Eventually we reached a door with some flowers painted on it.  The receptionist opened the door and let us in.

"You don't have to make any decisions today,"  She told us with a smile.  "Come back to the front desk when you're ready to leave."

"Thank you,"  Asura said. 

I entered the room and looked around.  There were tons of children toys everywhere. Other couples and workers were walking around. 

Children were running around and screaming.  There were large garage doors that were open and led out to a large playground and yard area.

"Do we want a boy or a girl?"  I turned to Asura. 

"Well, based on what we discussed,"  She said.  "As lesbians, it'd be easier to raise a girl."

I smiled and headed towards were a group of little girls were sitting.  Asura started talking to them but something pulled at my skirt.

When I turned, I saw a little boy holding onto my skirt.  He had pale skin and lots of freckles.  His hair was ash brown and fairly wavy.  He had bright green eyes like mine.  There was a small buttercup tucked behind his ear. He was very tiny and looked to be five or six.

"You're skirt is very pretty,"  He told me.

"Thank you,"  I smiled and knelt down.  He was very small. 

"I wanna wear a skirt like that,"  He frowned.  "But they don't let me do that."

"I'm very sorry,"  I said. 

"It's okay, this place is better than home,"  He said with a smile.  I frowned even more at that.

"What's your name?"  I asked him, motioning Asura over to us.