Soups and Signatures

Chapter 1

"Hey Bear Trap, how is that job of yours treating ya?" Giovanni asked, setting down his soup spoon to start up a conversation. "It's alright, I guess. My dad overworks me as much as ever, but we do get a good amount of customers." The mention of Molly, a 12-year-old child, being overworked by her lousy father pained Giovanni every time he heard it. After some much thought, he asked Molly, "Do you want to stay here tonight? My race car bed could use some extra Molly love." Molly nodded at Giovanni's request. "Yes! We could have a sleepover! I'll call my dad right now and ask if I can stay." Molly got down from the table and pulled out her phone, her father picking up after a few seconds of ringing.

Giovanni cleaned up their bowls, empty of the soup they had spent way too much time cooking. A few minutes passed and Molly walked into the kitchen with a frown on her face. "My dad says I gotta work tonight, so the sleepover idea will have to happen another day. I'll see you later, Boss." Molly began to grab her bag and walk out of the door until a pair of red-clothed arms surrounded her. Giovanni pulled Molly in for a goodbye hugged and gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead. Molly hugged him back, then finally left Giovanni's apartment.

The moment Molly left Giovanni, he began to get angry. Angry that Molly had to leave, angry that she had to work so late, and angry at her crappy father. He couldn't let this go on for much longer, Molly was not safe in the hands of her dad. While Giovanni had considered this before, adoption was not something to think of lightly. He would have to get the consent of Molly, a better paying job to provide for her, and not to mention the endless amount of paperwork and inspections needed to adopt a child. It would be no easy feat, but the moment Giovanni had locked his eyes with her sad ones, he knew there was no other choice.

The next morning came as Giovanni rubbed the tiredness from his eyes, exhausted from researching the adoption process all night long. Luckily it was his day off of work so he could make up for lost sleep easily. He needed to get some rest and freshen up anyway, Giovanni had an appointment with an adoption adviser. She would help him through the process of adoption, but to make it happen, he needed to bring Molly and have her give consent to do so.

Giovanni slid over to the edge of the couch and grabbed his phone. He dialed Molly's number, her taking only a few seconds to answer. "Hey, Boss! It's lunchtime right now so I'm free to talk for a bit. Is everything good?" Giovanni took a deep breath, already feeling very anxious to just ask her to come over. "Yeah Molly, I'm doing alright. I was wondering, would you like to come over right after school? There is something I wanted to talk to you about." Molly was already concerned by the seriousness in his voice, but calling her "Molly" made her suspicious even worse. Giovanni has never called her Molly.

"For sure, I'll come over." She replied to him, trying to make her voice sound not as nervous as she felt it did. "Great kiddo! I'll let you go now, see you later Molly." Giovanni hanged up and finally sighed, relieved she agreed to come over. He closed his computer, getting up, and making his way to get himself and his apartment prepared before she came over today.