Free The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) by Mackenzie Morgan Page A

complete disregard for the whole process and refusal to take part in any of it, including caring for the child. “He’s sure that she’ll change her mind, but I don’t think so. I think she’ll end up leaving him if he adopts a child.”
    Kalen shook his head and said, “Can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. He married the wrong woman. Happens like that sometimes.”
    “Sounds like it pretty much comes down to couple C or E,” Duane said quietly. “What do you think Laryn?”
    “Couple C sounds good, but I’m almost afraid he’d like them too much to be willing to give them up. I bet he’d have a good time growing up in their home though,” she answered with a sigh. “Couple E sounds better than any of the others, but I don’t like the fact that they want him for a job promotion. What happens if the man still doesn’t get the promotion? Are they going to want to give him back? Or worse, give him to someone else?”
    Pallor shrugged. “I have no idea.”
    “Another thing about them bothers me,” Duane said.” They’re going to be determined to keep anyone from finding out he’s adopted. How are we going to convince him he’s not their son when the time comes for him to return to Terah?”
    Pallor grinned. “Well, both of them have light red hair. Badec and Yvonne both have brown hair, as did their parents, so I imagine their son will too. By the time he’s grown, he’s going to wonder where his brown hair came from. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
    “What about the other couple? C?” Laryn asked.
    “Both of them have blond hair and blue eyes,” Pallor said. “He wouldn’t look like them either.”
    Laryn nodded. “I think we can rule out couple D and the last one, the one where the wife doesn’t want a child, but before we make a final decision, I’d like to think about each of the other couples and look through their folders. This is Badec’s son we’re talking about and our decision will have an enormous impact on his life.”
    “I would too,” Kalen agreed. “Let’s take the rest of the folders into the living room and get comfortable. We can make a decision tomorrow morning. Agreed?” As everyone nodded, stood up, and stretched, Kalen added, “I’ll bring in some coffee and cake. Duane, light the fire in there, would you?”
    Kalen walked into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and cut the cake. When he carried the tray into the living room, the others were sitting in silence, each concentrating on one of the folders. Kalen picked up the last one, opened it and began to read.
    ~ ~ ~ ~
    The next morning, while everyone was sitting around the table after breakfast, Kalen placed four sheets of paper, four pens, and a clean mug on the table. “Before we get into any discussion, let’s see where we stand. Write down the letter of the couple you think we should allow to raise Badec’s son, fold the paper, and drop it in the mug.”
    After all four slips of paper had been dropped in the mug, Kalen poured them out on the table. All four of them had “E” written on them.
    “I guess that it’s then,” Pallor said.
    “I hope we’ve made the right decision,” Laryn said quietly.
    “What’s next?” Kalen asked.
    “I understand why you said you didn’t want to know any of the details, but someone on Terah needs to know the identity of the foster parents and where they live,” Pallor said. “However, I still have a lot of work to do and some things I need to sort through with the lawyers, and we may hit a snag with this couple and have to find someone else, so why don’t I prepare a folder about the foster parents along with the adoption agreement and give it to someone on Terah for safekeeping when I pick up the child?”
    “That’s fine, but who are you going to give it to?” Duane asked.
    “Well, I don’t want to be responsible for the details, and I’m sure Badec doesn’t either,” Laryn said.
    “I have a suggestion,” Kalen said. “I haven’t