Adopt Me [HIATUS]

Chapter 1: Consider this

Shadow grumbled at his desk, doing the most boring thing he could ever do in this job. Paperwork. In all honesty, he'd rather be out on the field sweating and struggling to get the jump on his enemy. But alas, there were no field missions available. So he was stuck behind the desk, dreading the day until he could go home. He knew there wouldn't be field missions available for a while, so he would have to be stuck behind a desk doing paperwork until then.

After finishing signing yet another paper he sighed in annoyance and slumped back in his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. This was the most boring part of his job, and he'd rather be fighting one hundred of the doctor's robots over this.

As he sat there groaning, he heard the door open, signifying that someone has entered his office

"What do you want, Rouge?" Shadow grumbled, not even looking at his visitor.

"How'd you know it was me?" The white bat asked, stepping further inside the room.

"I can smell your perfume from here." Shadow replied, finally looking at his colleague.

Rouge just rolled her eyes and sat down on his desk.

"So, what's pulling your quills this time, sunshine?" She asked,

"Just this damn paperwork." he answered. "Why do they think it's a good idea to give me this shit, when I didn't even sign up to do this in the first place?"

"I dunno, hun." she replied. "But if it bugs you so much, why don't you ask for a field mission?"

"I have." he said. "But there aren't any available, Rouge. That's why I'm here, behind this damn desk, doing this stupid fucking paperwork."

"Well, whining about it isn't gonna make it stop." Rouge scoffed. "Honestly, you whine about so many things."

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Shadow retorted, sneering at the bat.

"It means, I'm starting to think work is too hard on you." She replied. "Also, I'm starting to think you're getting lonely."

"Lonely?" Shadow asked. "How so?"

"Well, you're picking up extra shifts at work, which you never did before." she started. "Which might indicate that you want to be around people, or are just lonely at your empty house."

Shadow looked at her like she was speaking another language.
"Are you hearing yourself?" He asked. "Being alone is what I do. I'm always alone. I work alone, I live alone. And it doesn't bother me."

"Uh huh." Rouge said in a smug way. "Suuure."

Shadow glared at her. He hated it when she poked her nose where it didn't belong. And she did that pretty frequently.

"Why does it matter to you, anyways?" Shadow asked, picking up another paper to go over. "I thought you could care less about my personal life."

"Because you're my friend, Shadow." Rouge answered. "Friends care about each other. Well, most of the time. And I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Well, I am." Shadow replied.

"Why am I having a hard time believing you?" Rouge asked, smugly.

Shadow groaned in annoyance that she wasn't leaving him be.

"I don't know." he replied. "You tell me."

"Maybe it's because your shortest answers are usually not true." She replied.

Shadow tightened his fist around the pen he was holding and glared up at her again.

"Well then what the fuck do you want me to do about it?" He snapped. "If you think I'm 'oh so lonely', then what do you suggest I do?"

"Literally anything." she replied with a snarky tone. "Make more friends, get out more, fall in love. Hell, have a kid even."

Shadow immediately froze after hearing her last suggestion.

"What did you just say?" He asked in disbelief.

"I said get to make more friends, get ou-" Rouge started again, but Shadow interrupts her.

"No, the last thing you said." he explained.

"Get a kid?" She asked.

He stared at her like she was insane.

"Are you even aware of what you are suggesting?" He asked. "Me? Have a kid? Child protective services would take them away before they even laid eyes on me."

Rouge scoffed and said, "You're giving yourself way too much credit, hun."

"Rouge, are you listening to yourself?" Shadow asked. "There is no way in hell I would have a kid. I don't have time for one, and they're bratty, snotty, gross, and they never listen. Plus, I would make the worst father in history. You're literally asking me, a merciless assassin, to take in a child, and you expect that to go swimmingly? Also, how would I even get a kid? Have a one night stand with one of my coworkers, risking my job, just for a kid who will leach money from me for 18 years?"

Rouge just stared at him while he ranted, and when he finished, she placed a hand over her face, sighing and shaking her head.

"You really are a whiner." she said. "You know that, right?"

"What?" Shadow asked.

"There's other ways to have kids, Shadow." She said, like it was basic knowledge. "Adoption is a thing. Also, I'm not trying to force you to have a kid. It was just a suggestion. No need to get so defensive about it."

She turned and left his office, leaving him alone once again.

Shadow just shook his head and continued with his work, but Rouge's words stuck with him for the rest of the day.

When Shadow got him, Rouge's words were still fresh in his head, which made him pretty irritated.

"What the hell does she think she's talking about?" Shadow grumbled, taking off his jacket and hanging it on his coat rack. "Me? Have a kid? I'm sure a kid would disown himself than have me as their father."

Shadow walked into his kitchen to prepare himself some dinner, but the thought refused to leave his mind.

Later that night, he was signed into the work email, ready to assign himself an extra shift the next day, but he hesitated before hitting send. He took a deep breath and opened up a search website and looked up the process steps of adopting a child. He hated it, but Rouge was right. He was rather lonely when he wasn't at work. Although, he still didn't believe a child would solve that problem.

When he opened up the page, he noticed something that said, foster care. Raising a brow, he backed up and searched what foster care was.

After reading a few site descriptions, he summed it up to taking care of a child in your home until someone decides to adopt them. In other words, a temporary home to prepare the child for adoption.

Shadow pondered at this information, and looked up the processing steps on becoming a foster parent. There were many procedures. Home checkup to see if the house was suitable for children, classes to learn how to be a proper parent and to earn your official license to become a foster parent. Shadow sighed at all the steps in place, but he understood that it was to make sure the kids would have a happy & healthy place to stay until they were chosen to be adopted.

Shadow sat at his computer, his head leaning on his hand, considering the thought over being a foster parent. Rouge was probably right when she said he was giving himself too much credit. He had managed to control his anger a lot more now, and he didn't threaten anyone when they bumped into him anymore.

"This is probably the biggest mistake I'm ever making." Shadow said to no one.

Then he clicked on the link that brought him to a page to sign up for foster parenting classes.