Free Unexpected Dismounts by Nancy Rue

‘the adoptee,’ so I—”
    “Then might I suggest that you get your nose out of your paperwork and look at me so you can tell what kind of mother I’m going to be?”
    Chief sat back in his chair. Liz came forward in hers.
    “She doesn’t mean to be impersonal, Allison,” she said. “It’s just that—”
    “I can answer for myself.” Vickie Rodriguez lowered the forms to the tabletop and set her glasses on top of them. “I don’t have to look at you to know what kind of mother you’re going to be, Miss Chamberlain. Anyone who would voluntarily take on a twelve-year-old mixed-race boy with the kind of background he has is already mother of the year, as far as I personally am concerned.”
    I felt my lower jaw drop.
    “The judge, on the other hand, is going to want every i dotted and every t crossed before he’ll grant the adoption.”
    “The judge?” I said.
    “I told you—” Liz started to say.
    “It will merely be a formality if he feels that everything is in perfect order. So, if we could continue?”
    “Absolutely,” Chief said.
    He didn’t have to torture my leg again. I was still sitting there with my mouth hanging open.
    The glasses went back on. “You own a home free and clear, in a decent neighborhood.”
    “It’s a little more than decent,” Liz put in. Was that a pout I saw?
    “The biological mother, Geneveve Sanborn, is deceased.”
    “Before her death she stated in a legal document that she wanted Desmond put in Miss Chamberlain’s care,” Chief said.
    “I see that the father is ‘unknown.’”
    “That is what his mother indicated,” Chief said. “You’ll see that in the document as well.”
    If Vickie Rodriguez picked up on the fact that Chief sounded like he was measuring his words out with a teaspoon, she didn’t show it. I myself was barely able to keep from blurting out more than anybody needed to know on that subject.
    “I’d like to have that spelled out,” was all she said.
    “I’ll get on that,” Chief said. He wiggled my leg. “I’m going to have to hire a paralegal just to handle your stuff.”
    In other words, Lighten up, Classic .
    “What?” I said. “You mean I’m not your only client?”
    He rewarded me with a smile.
    “You won’t need a paralegal for this case, I don’t think,” Vickie said. “I never make promises, but I honestly don’t see anything standing in your way.”
    “Okay, I just want to make sure,” I said.
    “We’re making sure, Allison,” Chief said.
    “No, I have one more question.”
    Vickie nodded at me.
    “Does the fact that he’s still struggling in school—is that going to go against us?”
    “The fact that he’s even in school is a hundred percent improvement,” Liz said. She tilted her chin up at Vickie until Ms. Rodriguez gave her a grudging nod.
    “That’s right,” she said crisply. “Nobody expects him, or you, to be perfect.”
    Well, then, there was that at least.
    Vickie flipped open a large calendar book and ran her nail down the side, turned the page, trailed it down some more. What was she scheduling, the Louisiana Purchase?
    “I’m going to request a court date of April fifth,” she said. “Does that work for you?”
    Chief had his hand around my arm before he and I even got to the elevator. I was sure he’d have put the other one over my mouth if the bunny rabbit of an admin aide hadn’t been scampering past us on her way down the hall.
    “Tell me you didn’t expect to walk out of there with the signed adoption papers in your hand,” he said.
    “No. But I didn’t think we’d have to wait until April.”
    Chief steered me into the elevator and mashed a button. “Do you think something’s going to happen between now and then to stop it?”
    “Do you?”
    The elevator reached the first floor, but Chief pushed the CLOSE DOOR button. He turned his face down to me, eyes going right into mine.
    “You’re worried about Desmond’s father.”
    “That wasn’t what you’d call full