A True Hero

Chapter 32

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Micah's pov : 26 years old

"Something's wrong." Dad spoke from his spot leaning against the counter and I looked up from my phone. We were visiting for the day. His greying hair was covered by the red dye he used, while Pop's slowly became more silver by the day

"What? No. Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?" I slouched further in my seat as I tried to bury my nose back in the screen of my phone.

"Because you and Titus aren't even sitting in the same room. What's going on?" Dad pulled the chair beside me out and sat, holding his cup of coffee as he stared at me. I kept looking through my phone before eventually sighing and turning it off, setting it down to rub at my eyes.

"Fine. We got an e-mail this morning. That's the seventh time in two years they've rejected us for adoption." I took a shuttering breath. "He's upset, I'm upset, and we had an argument earlier. Like, yelling, slamming doors, throwing shit kind of argument." I rubbed my eyes harshly as tears came to them.

"That's not an argument Micah. That's a fight." Dad nudged my shoulder and I could tell he was only trying to make me feel better, but it wasn't working.

"Yeah, I know." I spun my phone in my hand and looked to the side as Dad sighed.

"I think you two just need to take some time away from the adoption. Just forget about it for a while. Take a few months, hell maybe even a year, and just cool down. Spend time together, and when you both feel ready, you can try again." He placed his hand on mine. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Micah?" I swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah." My voice broke as I let tears fall over my cheeks. Dad pulled me into a hug and I hugged him back. It almost reminded me of when I was younger. "I love you, Dad." I could feel his hand come to my head and rub at my scalp.

"I love you too, Buddy. Now go talk to Titus. Tell him what you think you two should do and then listen to him and his thoughts about it, okay?" He pulled away from the hug and nodded, wiping at my face.

"Okay, Yeah, I will." I stood and made my way to the living room, leaning down next to Titus' ear as he sat on the couch. "Hey, lets go talk." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he nodded silently, standing to follow me up the stairs. I pulled him into my old room, which had been made into a guest room, but still had a few boxes of my old stuff in it.

"Micah listen-"

"No." I gently guided him to the bed and sat him down. "I'm sorry for earlier. We should have sat down like civilized people and talked but we were both upset." I cupped his face in his hands and could tell he was sad. I leaned in to give him a soft kiss before continuing. "I think we should take a few months to ourselves. Possibly longer. All of the rejections have been pulling us further apart and we need to do something about that, ok?" I brushed his bangs from his face and he nodded.

"Ok. I think that's a good idea. I was going to suggest we stop for now anyways." He gave a small smile and I returned it, rubbing his cheeks gently with my thumbs.

"And besides," I started, "when we do eventually welcome a kid into our home with us, we want to welcome them to a happy home, and in order to do that, we need to mend ourselves a little, right?" I leaned forwards to nudge out noses together and he nodded, pressing our foreheads together.

"Yeah. So we'll take a few months and just ignore it. And then we'll try again."

"When we're both ready." I raked my fingers through his hair and he smiled.

"Yeah." It was silent for a few more moments before Titus was mumbling. "I think we scared Chip earlier. He deserves extra treats and playtime tonight." I laughed and hugged him close.

"Of course he does."

~five months later~

"So how was your day?" I smiled as I set the dinner table, plates going on top of the placemats and silverware going beside it. A bottle of wine sat in the middle of the table alongside two wine glasses. My phone was held between my ear and my shoulder as I spoke.

"It was really good! Like always, but it was still amazing. I got to see Amici today. He was so excited to show me his new art piece. That was really cute. I also got some words out of a newer kid. He's thirteen. And then there was also-"

I smiled as I listened to him ramble about his day, going on about the kids that had appointments today and the ones he would see tomorrow. Of course, he couldn't share confidential information but he loved talking about all of the kids he got to help.

"I'm about to get in the car so I'll see you soon,  Okay? Love you, bye!"

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Bye." I heard the phone disconnect and made sure everything was ready before he got home. When the door finally did open, I was lighting the candle on the table. Titus paused midway taking his jacket off and chuckled.

"This is nice." He finished shrugging it off and hung it up before walking over.

"I decided you deserved it. You work so hard, even if you do love it, and you deserve something nice. Well, if I'm being honest, you deserve the world but-" I laughed. "I'll stick to what I can give you." He smiled and took his seat, allowing me to help him scoot in.

"Well, thank you. The food smells really good too. And since when do we drink wine?" His smiled widened and I could tell he was happy with it.

"Since now. So, did anything else happen today?" I picked up my for and he did the same.

"Well, I did have a new little girl come in. Her name is Kaya and She's five. She's so sweet and quiet, and she has the craziest hair. It's just so frizzy. It might actually be naturally curly but I'm not sure." He shrugged and I hummed.

"If it is then it would have to be taken care of properly. Curly hair is kind of difficult. Do either of her parents have curly hair?" I tilted my head slightly and he thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm not necessarily supposed to tell you this, but her parents died in a car accident. The only reason she's alive is because she was left home alone unattended." He shook his head. "I mean, she was three-" he cut himself off with a groan. "She's been to multiple psychologists and therapists in the last year but none have got her to open up much."

"Hey," I placed my hand on top of his and he looked up at me. "I think you can do it. You know how to handle children really well." I brought his hand to my mouth and kissed it gently.

"I guess we'll just see then." He chuckled and I nodded releasing his hand.

"Yeah, I guess so."

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