Adopt Me [HIATUS]

Chapter 6: First meeting

Shadow woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. He arose, hitting the snooze button and stretched his arms. He took in a deep breath as he lifted himself off of his bed. He was nervous about today, as today would be the day he meets his foster kid.

He walked into the kitchen, the thought running through his head as he made himself a cup of coffee. He kept his eye on the clock the whole morning, barely being able to focus on anything but the time. He was so anxious for the moment he had to go and pick the kid. He knew that after that moment, his life would change forever. He knew that as soon as the kid stepped into his home, there'd be no going back. Was he still sure about doing this? What even made him think he could do this in the first place? He never had a childhood, nor parents of his own. How was he supposed to parent someone else? And the fact that the child wasn't even related to him.

Shadow shook his head and lightly smacked his forehead. That shouldn't make a difference. He and Maria weren't related in the slightest, but they treated each other like siblings. This would be similar to that, but also different. He could do this. He'd come too far to give up now.

After his little internal monologue, Shadow decided to make himself some breakfast before heading out to meet the kids and their current foster parent. He didn't want to head over there hungry and seem rude to children when he was going to be taking care of them.

After finishing his breakfast and coffee, and watched the weather forecast, Shadow got himself ready to leave. He had written down the address, and set up a GPS on his phone to help find the place. He then headed out and got into the car he rented, because he assumed that he wouldn't be allowed to take the kid back home on his motorcycle, plus he didn't have a spare helmet for them either. So he was renting out a car to bring the kid home in.

It was about a forty-five minute drive to the house, so Shadow hoped the kid wouldn't be too fussy on the trip back. He parked the car in the driveway and stepped out, walking up to ring the doorbell to announce his arrival. He heard some chattering inside, and heard the doorknob turn to open. Out came a fox with a little kid by her leg.

She stuck out her hand to shake and said, "Hi! You must me Shadow the Hedgehog. It's wonderful to meet you. My name is Amanda"

Shadow took her hand and shook it, then followed her inside the residence.

"I'm sorry about the mess." She apologized. "The kids have just been really excited to meet you."

Shadow simply nodded and followed her into the living room, to which he saw had quite a few kids in it.

"Kids, I'd like you all to turn your attention to our guest, here." Amanda said, gaining the kids' attention. "This is Shadow. He will be taking one of you home to foster until you are to be adopted. Isn't that great?!"

The kids didn't share her enthusiasm, and backed away from Shadow, going back to what they were doing. Shadow simply rolled his eyes, as he was used to this sort of treatment from others, since he looked like someone you wouldn't want to approach.

He turned his head to meet Amanda's eyes and she sighed.

"I'm so sorry about that." She apologized. "Here, how about you take a seat and I'll talk to the kids and get them to come over and meet you one by one."

Shadow agreed, seeing as there was nothing else to do while he was here. As he sat down, he noticed a patch of blue in the corner of his eye, and looked up. There he was met with a little blue hedgehog, drawing in a notebook with crayons, holding his tongue out in concentration. The kid looked to be around the age range Shadow was considering, and appeared to be male, also in Shadow's consideration. But what confused Shadow the most was that the kid wasn't playing with the other kids. He was all by himself, the kids not even acknowledging him, and neither was Amanda. Was this her kid, perhaps? No that didn't make sense. She was a fox and he was a hedgehog. Maybe she adopted him?