Stuck in the Past

Chapter 15

Twenty-four minutes after Joe's call, a social worker about my age entered STAR Labs and joined us in the control room.

- I came as quickly as I could. Tell me what happened.

We tried to explain more or less what had happened to the mother of this child, leaving aside the fact that the woman was a metahuman, obviously.

"Can you give me a few minutes to call some homes to see if we have room for this boy?" Asked the gentleman and we all agreed.

Almost forty minutes later he came back, but he didn't look like he was coming with good news.

"George, what's going on?" Asked Joe.

- Unfortunately the homes closer to here are full. Our only hope is to place the boy in a foster family.

In a foster family? "Asked Barry.

- Joe told me that he is already investigating whether or not the boy has more family that can stay with him, but in the meantime he will have to go to a foster family. 

- Can we stay with him? That is, can we be this boy's host family? Until the rest of the family appears. - I asked suddenly.

- In principle it won't be a problem. I just have to see your financial situation and write some papers to stay legal, but everything indicates that yes, you can become the temporary host family.- replied the social worker.

- Are you sure love?

- He can't be with any family. Barry, there is a strong chance that he is a metahuman.

- You're right. We want to stay with the boy until his family appears. - Barry said and the social worker smiled.

- So I just asked you to show me some papers from the accounts you have just to make sure you have the economic stability to support this child.

"Of course, follow me," said Barry, leaving me with the boy.

"What are you drawing?" I asked, sitting down beside him.

- It's a garden. Do you want to help me? - asked the boy smiling.

- Of course I want!

Thirty-five minutes later Barry and the social worker returned to the control room, and from what I realized, things were going well.

- Angel, I just have to go talk to the adults, but my friend Ralf will keep you company, okay?

- But then come back?

"Of course," I exclaimed, getting up and Ralf took my place, sitting down beside him.

- Everything is in order. I am going back to my office and soon I will come here to sign the documents and even today you can take the boy home.

- Thank you.- I exclaimed smiling.

- I'll walk you to the door, George!

- I think we have to tell Dawn and Henry the news. How will they react?

- They will be okay, you raised them very well, - said Harry hugging me. - This child could not be so well delivered!

I sent a message to my children asking them to come to the lab at lunchtime, as we had an important subject to discuss. Of course, they asked right away if everything was okay.

Lunchtime was getting closer and closer and my nerves were getting bigger. I didn't quite know how to explain this situation to them and I don't know how they will react to this sudden change in our family.

- We're already here. Can you explain to us what is going on? Where's dad? Did something happen? - Henry asked when he saw that Barry was not here.

- Calm down, your father went to buy lunch for all of us and soon he will be here. But first of all I want you to meet someone, "I said, directing them to the table where the boy and Ralf were.

"Oh, what a beautiful child," said Dawn, approaching the boy, careful not to scare him.

- Who is this boy? And what does he do in the lab? "Asked Henry worriedly.

- Let's go to another room so that he doesn't hear, - I said and went with my two children to a room next to the control room. - This morning Joe arrived at the laboratory with this boy and his mother. She had been shot and lost a lot of blood.

"How's she doing?" Asked Dawn.

- Unfortunately we were not in time to save her. She passed away in the infirmary! In the middle of the operation she suffered a cardiac arrest.

- Oh mother.- Dawn said hugging me, when a tear threatened to fall on my face.

- And why did Uncle Joe bring them here?

- The woman is a metahuman and you know that hospitals are not an appropriate place to treat metahumans.

- What will happen to the boy? I mean his mother just passed away.- Henry asked worriedly.

- Harry is investigating the woman's life to see if we can find any family, but for now he goes to a host family.

- But if the mother is a metahuman, there are chances that he is also. Mom, he cannot go to any family ... Host families are not prepared to receive metahuman children.

- We know and that is why when the social worker came to see the child, your father and I volunteered to be his foster family, provisionally. That is, until we found the boy's remaining family.

-This is fantastic.- said Dawn smiling.

- Do you think so? That's why I called you here, everything happened very suddenly and I wanted to make sure that neither of you cared about this decision. Your father and I know that it is a big change to welcome this boy, but I couldn't bear the thought of him going to a family that would not be able to meet his needs.

- Mom of course we don't care. If we have possibilities to help him, then that is what we must do.- said Henry smiling and that made me smile too.

- Are you sure you don't care? You can tell me the truth.

- You are kidding? Of course not! It will be fun to have a younger brother, even if it is only temporary. - replied Henry smiling.

"And what's his name?" Asked Dawn this time.

- That's another situation. The trauma he had this morning caused him to lose his memory. We don't know if it's permanent or just temporary ...

- Well, poor thing!

- But what matters at the moment is that he is well delivered and that we will help him in whatever is necessary.- exclaimed Henry.