Finding The 4077th

New Family

«Text like this is» Dutch translated to English by Frans.

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The air in the tent felt thick with tension. The three adults sat around Chris who was sitting on his rack. He looked in front of him, in an expressionless way. He seemed completely under hypnosis and they were ready to start.

Sidney turned to Frans.

"Before we start, you need to be completely sure about Hawkeye adopting Chris. You can't change your mind after this.

Because this trauma is like a badly closed, barely healed wound, and I need to open that wound again so it could heal the right way. That means he will be reliving this very traumatic event all over again and he will need a parent to help him through the pain and grief. "

Frans looked grim for a moment but nodded

"My grandmother told me she would accept my judgment over you. And I'm sure. I see real compassion when you handle Chris, I see that you care. You're gentle with him as well, but not all the time, so I'm happy about that as well. A child needs discipline as well as understanding. I saw you do both today, and I'm sure Chris is safe and as happy as he could be at this moment with you. So yes I approve. "

Hawkeye felt so relieved and got a huge grin! Knowing that he had finally become Chris's father after all this time.
It was almost as if his life had been leading up to this.

Now Chris would stay with him, well in the states that is.
He still needs to get to safety. Even though Hawkeye would miss Chris terribly when he would be in the states with his new grandfather, he needed to be safe.

"Thank you, this will make Chris happy as well as me, thank you again! Your support means more than a thousand words can tell!" Hawkeye said sincerely.
" I'm so hugging you after this!"

"You won't have time, I'm sorry. We need to do this now."
Sidney asked gently. He couldn't keep Chris like this waiting for long.

"Yes, I'm ready, " Hawkeye said and Frans gave a nod.

Sidney folded his hands and looked at Chris, who looked back with no expression.

"When was the last time you saw your parents?"
he asked bluntly. He watched as the boy shifted uncomfortably.

« A long time ago, I don't know. » It was barely a whisper but he spoke. Frans translated what Chris said immediately and clearly. Q

Chris seemed deep in thought.

His voice sounded rough and a bit squeaky, probably because of lack of use. Still, he sounded like an angel to Hawkeye and he couldn't wait to hear Chris talk to him after this, then they could finally have conversations.

Chris always listened but now he could communicate with his kid. Yes! His kid! He loved that. He was Dad, and it filled him with pride.

But first, they needed to do this, even though Hawkeye hated that they had to. He hoped he didn't blow a fuse! He needed to stay strong for Chris. This was not going to be fun.

"Can you describe to me what happened the last time you saw your parents?"

«I-I was doing school work outside of the bus.» He answered a bit hesitating like he tried to remember. It took a couple of seconds.

« Mom wanted to film a snake. So we stopped the bus at the snake location, I guess. I- I'm not sure, but we got the cameras out to start filming. »

At Hawkeye's confused expression Frans started to explain.