The Past and the Future: After the Adoptions

The Dinner

2033, New York City
Third Person PoV

It's been almost 20 years since the first Adopted By Broadway kid, Catlynn McLemore, was adopted. Catlynn was thirty-one years old now, head doctor at the children's hospital she works at, loving and devoted wife ,and mother of three. She was, by far, the most professional and put-together of the group.

Adopted four years after Catlynn, Matilda Henson was New York's most well-known derby girl. Having gone pro at just age 17, Matilda's life was dedicated to skating, though she did take a quick break to get married when she was in her late twenties.

In 2019, Valerie Salazar-Roland was adopted, battling a heart disease at just ten years old. Now 24, Valerie's a professional flute player and is the junior varsity basketball coach at Eisenhower High School on the side, the school she and the rest of the kids graduated from. Valerie's currently engaged, and she was going to get married in a matter of months.

Josephine "Josie" Block, once a ten year old girl with a boatload of trauma and fear, was now almost thirty, married and hitting the stage on a near daily basis as a professional ballerina and dance teacher. When she wasn't on stage, she was at home with her wife, Harper Cambridge, her girlfriend and best friend since fifth grade.

Penney Steingold, like Valerie, also spent her time at her old high school, as she was teaching the freshman level Algebra 1 class. Penney fell in love with education after tutoring the younger patients at the children's hospital she spent almost a year at as a teenager. Penney was currently living with her two partners, Asia Allburn and Lacey Wagner, and they were planning their upcoming polyamorous wedding.

Keira Roland spent most of their time at home with their platonic partner Avery, but once a week, she taught a digital art class at the local children's center, and once a year, they flew back to their home village in Tahiti, just for the nostalgia factor.

And last but not least, Clementine London Mack, the youngest in the group and the last to get adopted, lived a rather independent life. Having just gotten back from her college years spent in Brazil, Clementine bought a motorcycle, an apartment for her and her alone, and settled down, working at a Brazilian deli to pay the bills and becoming a small-town songwriter for fun.

Catlynn smiled, thinking of her childhood best friends and where they all ended up. To her, it was hard to believe that all of them were adults now. They really all stuck together for little Clementine for eight years, staying in NYC to see her graduate, then they all scattered across the globe and away from home.

Then suddenly, she got a revelation. The kids, well, adults, all visited each other at work once in a while, just to say hi, but they haven't had a proper day out together for four years. Looking around at the restaurant Catlynn spent most of her nights, mostly on little dates with her wife Red, she pulled out her phone and texted the six people she hasn't texted in months.

Hey guys, miss you! Want to have dinner together tonight?

~~~

"CATLYNN!" a voice shrilled from the entrance of the restaurant. Catlynn looked up from her phone, startled, and was greeted with a tall, thin woman with thick black glasses, her bleach blonde hair falling in neat waves on her shoulder. Catlynn engulfed the woman in a hug, finally recognizing who she was. She was Josephine Block, godmother to Catlynn's three children and mother-to-be of nine year old twins.

"Josie!" Catlynn said, still hugging her. Josie laughed and said, "I saw you last week, remember? Babysitting Eleanor? You're acting like I just came back from the dead." Catlynn smiled and said, "I know, but I missed you! You're honestly one of my best friends, JT."