Flaws

3

Back in Ms. Farges' office, Calum sat in front of her desk, watching as she pulled out yet another stack of paperwork for the man to fill out.

"So, what you're saying is, that as soon as these are all signed and notarized, Anastasia is legally my daughter?" Calum asked, flipping through the humongous stack papers.

"Indeed I am." The redhead smiled. "And what a relief it is."

"You're telling me. I feel like this process has taken about ten years off of my life and given me carpal tunnel simultaneously."

"But was it worth it?"

"I would do it a million times over."

The woman chuckled a bit at his enthusiasm, handing him a pen so that he could sign the papers.

"So what else should I know about her?" Calum asked, signing the first box. "You two seem to be close enough, I bet you know a lot about her."

"I do," Ms. Farges confirmed, nodding. "But you might want to keep your voice down, we aren't supposed to grow attached to the kids."

"How could you not, though?"

"That's the difficult part. You kind of just have to act like an adult around them, creating that barrier between us. Sure, it makes us come off as uptight or even rude, but it's easier that way."

"But there are always those who slip between the cracks."

The firey-haired woman nodded again, watching over the young man as he signed the papers himself.

"I spend more time with Anastasia than other kids. It's not a preference thing, it's because she's been moved around so many times, and I've always been the one to oversee it. We've grown to know each other pretty well over the past two years. In fact, I'd say that I was the only constant in her life before you came around."

"I don't know whether to thank you, or apologize."

The woman laughed lightly, pointing to a little box of which Calum had accidentally skipped over, and continued.

"Anastasia is special." She said, now quieter. "She's abrupt. Confrontational, even. But at the same time, she's quiet and shy. She's a walking contradiction, that much is for sure."

Calum looked up from the paperwork, staring into the women's eyes. Sensing that she was going to miss Anastasia more than she was going to let on, he offered her some words of assurance.

"I promise I'll take care of her." He said softly. "And, if you want, I can bring her by to visit and give you updates and everything, Ms. Farges."

The woman let out a breathy laugh, nodding.

"Call me Diana," She smiled. "And I would enjoy that."

Calum smiled back at her and continued the paperwork, mind occupied by the thought of Anastasia. He couldn't help it, this was it. After the last page was signed, he would have sole guardianship of Anastasia. She would be his daughter, and everything that he'd been preparing for would finally happen. He was going to be a dad at the age of twenty, to a five year old.

A part of him still wondered if he could really do it. There were a lot of things that could happen to her. The fans had already known that Calum was going through the process of adopting a child, as someone within the agency had leaked the information to the press when he'd first started with the process. A number of them were excited for "Daddy!Cal", as they called it, but just as many of them weren't exactly supportive of his decision. Either way, most ― if not all ― of the fans were going to do anything they could to get a glimpse of baby Hood. She could easily get hurt in numerous ways by those people, and could even easier get taken away from him because of such. There was also the possibility that she could have some sort of night terror or asthma attack, and he'd be on stage or in an interview.

But he'd worry about that another time. He and the boys had some time off at the moment, so he doubted that they would do anything too crazy. The time would probably be spent trying to get Anastasia adjusted to her new family and her new home, maybe do some shopping for the little bug as well.

And before he really even knew it, all the papers had been signed and double-checked by Diana before she signed them herself and put a big stamp on it.

"Congratulations, Mr. Hood." She said, standing up and offering a hand for him to shake. "As soon as these are put through the system, you will be made the official guardian of Anastasia Rose Hood. And as soon as that happens, you are free to take her home."

Calum flashed an award-winning grin, all his previous worries going back to the back of his head, happiness consuming him as he shook her hand.

"When will this be?" He asked politely.

"Anywhere from the end of this week to the beginning of next." Diana answered, looking around to see if anyone was listening or watching, but saw no one. "But, between you and I, it'll probably be handled by the end of this week. We're slow, and, like you said, Anastasia managed to slip through the cracks."

Calum thanked her again before making his way outside. But he couldn't wait to tell his band mates in person, so he settled on dialling Anastasia's new god-father, Michael, who picked up on the second ring.

"How'd it go? Was she cute? Was she nice? Was she nervous? Did you cry? Did she cry? Did you adopt her? Is she with you? Is she coming home right now? Oh, shit! She's coming home, isn't she?! Cal, her room isn't even finished yet! All we have is the paint done, the furniture isn't even assembled yet. Let me get the boys, we'll go to the hardware store to pick up some tools―"

"Mike!" Calum interrupted, laughing. "She's not with me right now. She's actually back at the orphanage."

"So you didn't adopt her? What the fuck, Cal? You were so excited―"

"Will you stop jumping to conclusions? I just signed the papers, and as soon as those are finalized, she's officially a Hood. Then I get to bring her home, and then you can meet her."

"And when will that happen?"

"Probably by the end of this week."

"That's coming up, man. You ready?"

"Yep. I just hope she likes it with me."

"Of course she will. You're gonna be, like, the greatest dad ever. I just know it."

Calum smiled and looked at the floor, excitement overwhelming him.

"Thanks man. I'll be home in a bit, then we can all go to the hardware store to pick out what we need tools wise. After that, we should go to the toy store and pick out some stuff for her."

"That second bit won't be necessary."

"What? Why?"

"Because, after we found out you were adopting a girl, we took the liberty of buying her some new toys. From each of us."

Calum didn't think that his smile could get any bigger, but it did. To anyone else, he thought that he must have looked like the Joker or the Cheshire Cat.

"You guys are the best."

"We know."