Chapter 16
Maylee
Aletter on my desk Monday morning surprises me, but not in a bad way. It’s an appointment for an interview regarding the adoption.
Picking up the phone, I make the call to accept the appointment. I arrange for it to be at home so the person can see the environment, and meet everyone if they want to!
Stepping out of the office, I walk to the smaller office that Annabelle occupies. Leaning on the door I watch her as she frowns at the computer monitor. “You okay there, Annabelle?” I ask with a hint of amusement in my tone.
“I’m fine. I think I need my eyes tested because I’m squinting at the screen all the time.”
I walk over to her and look at the screen. Now, even I squint at the screen she’s trying to read. “What size font are you using?” I ask.
“No idea. Fabian set the thing up and told me not to touch anything, so I haven’t.”
“Let me look, because this isn’t right.” I take the seat once Annabelle moves, and checking out the size of fonts I scowl because it’s set at 8 pts.
I mean who the heck uses that. The normal size is 12 pts.
“There, that’s better,” I state as I change the size, and I look over my shoulder.
“Annabelle, if you need to change anything to work more easily, do it. That was ridiculous, and if Fabian says anything send him to me.”
“Oh, thanks, Maylee. I knew it wasn’t as it used to be on my old setup, but he was adamant I didn’t change a thing. Do you think he was being nasty?”
Now, I know that Fabian and Annabelle don’t get on well, but she maintains her professionalism at all times. If I find out that he did this to be an asshole he’ll regret it. I’ll make sure he does.
“Can you clear my schedule for tomorrow afternoon please because I’ve got a home visit regarding adopting Oren?”
“Yes, I can do that. I’ll rearrange, and don’t you worry. This is going to be easy. You’ll fly through the appointment,” Annabelle smiles, and I know she’s reassuring me without trying to be too obvious.
When I open the door, a middle-aged woman gives me a smile. “Hi, I’m Amanda Voght and here for the appointment regarding adopting Oren.”
“Come in, please.” I guide her into the kitchen where she places her purse and folder on the table. “Would you like a drink?”
“I could drink a coffee if you have one, black, with one sugar. My husband says I’m sweet enough.”
I look over at her a bit shocked that she is so informal. I expected a matronly type of person, but she seems far from that.
Once I have drinks in front of us and take my seat, the appointment begins. “Can I call you Maylee?”
“Yes, of course,” I give her a smile and wait for her first question.
“Let’s start with some personal history, but we are not spending hours on things I don’t need, so you just give me simple responses.” Amanda looks at me for my agreement.
“Okay, I can do that,” I respond and think boy this is strange because they usually dig deep.
“Only tell me if you have something detrimental to say.” Amanda gives me a reassuring smile and then continues. “Any childhood experiences that may make it hard for you to have balance with Oren?”
“No.”
“Your education and employment are obviously good. You have great references from prior and current employers by the way, Maylee.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to know that.” I give a genuine smile.
“Any health issues I may need to know about?” Amanda asks as she ticks boxes on the form in front of her.
“No health issues,” I quickly reply.
“Okay. You married Myles, Oren’s father. How is that going?” Now, the smile that crosses my face must tell her everything because she chuckles, and nods. “Okay, I can tell by that look alone things are good.”
“We are good. We do everything together when we can, and that includes Oren. We’ve purchased the house, so we don’t have a mortgage over our heads.
We are opening a college account for Oren, too.
Things are wonderful, Amanda. I can honestly say I’ve never been happier, and to be Oren’s mother is icing on the cake. ”
“Tell me why you want to adopt Oren.”
“He’s mine. He is my son in all but legality.
He calls me Mom, and he loves me as much as I love him.
I want to give him the knowledge as he grows older, and truly understands, that I wanted him from the start.
Myles and I have decided to add a child to the family, if we can that is, but I want Oren to be mine first. I never want him to think he was second best.”
Amanda continues writing for a moment before she looks at me seriously. “This is a tricky one, Maylee. But I’d like you to be honest with me.”
I give Amanda a nod, and swallow hard because I’m not sure what she’s going to ask me now.
“What are your thoughts on Oren’s mother?”
“Oh, my goodness. That isn’t a question I expected.
But if you want honesty, I’ll give it to you.
Oren’s mother is a horrendously disgusting human being, and I hope Oren never sees her again.
She really is the scum of the earth, and I never want to meet her either.
She sold her son, and Myles paid her off by selling the home they lived in, and he brought Oren to his brother here.
It’s a long story, and I’m sure you know from that point.
But I think she is a disgusting person.” I close my mouth before I really go to town on what I think.
I’m holding back, and I don’t want to blow my fuse in front of Amanda.
“Okay,” Amanda smirks, which tells me she knows I’m holding back. “What do you think about discipline, and how to handle anything that may occur?”
“I think discipline is necessary, but it is how you handle situations that counts. For example, I see parents allowing their kids to throw tantrums in the store. Oren wouldn’t do that, and if he did, I would ditch my cart and walk out of the store.
Taking him out of the situation and home, where he’d be placed on the couch and told why I felt what he’d done was wrong and that he is a better person than that, and I expected better behavior from him. ”
“What about support? Do you have friends or family that are involved with Oren, Myles and yourself?”
“Clem and Whitney live in the cottage next door, and they are active with Oren all the time. They are like second parents to him. Myles has always been close to his brother. They own the garage together and are solidly bonded. If anything happened to Myles or me, Clem would look after Oren without a second thought to the matter.”
The door opens, and Oren rushes into the house, giving me a huge smile. “Hi, Mom. It’s been a hell of a day.”
“Oren, what have I told you about being pottymouthed…”
“Sorry, it just popped out.” Oren gives me a huge grin before throwing his arms around me and kissing my cheek.
Myles steps into the kitchen, gives Amanda a look that I’m not sure of but steps to me and kisses me gently before folding his arms and waiting to see what happens now.
“Okay, Oren, this is Amanda. She’s here to check the house is nice and that you like it. Do you want to show her around with your dad?”
“Okay…” Oren takes Amanda’s hand and leads her around the house.
I can hear him telling her about where I keep everything, what he does when he comes home from school.
What his school is like, and how he loves living next door to his Uncle Clem, and Aunt Whitney who is going to have a baby like him when she can.
Finally, I give Amanda a wave as she leaves. Thankfully, she shook my hand and told me I had nothing to worry about and I’d hear something soon.
“How do you think that went?” Myles asks as I step back into the kitchen.
“Well, I think good. It was tricky when she asked me for my thoughts on her that must not be named, but I behaved myself and gave her the bare minimum of my thoughts.” Myles chuckles because he knows how much I dislike Oren’s mother.
“Come on, let’s go out and eat junk food for once.” Myles kisses my nose, and I rush to get ready, along with Oren who is cheering and shouting about burgers and fries.