Come As You Are (An Anne With An E/Sebastian 'Bash' Lacroix Fanfic)

33. The Adoption

Bash and I walked toward the orphanage. It was finally the day we were picking out a child to adopt. I was nervous as I wasn't going to be able to see the child and Eleanora couldn't talk to the child but as we walked closer to the doors, I knew it would work out. Eleanora seemed excited, a bounce in her step as we got closer. Bash continually assured me that it would be fine.

We stepped inside and was shown where the office was. We sat down with the headmistress and talked about what we wanted. Our age range was from five to eight. There were a few options, including three girls and two boys. There was a ten-year-old girl that fit the rest of our requirements except for the age. We decided to see her along with the others.

The children were brought out to be shown. I stood beside Bash, Eleanora standing in front of me, as we were introduced to the children. The three eight-year-old girls, Eileen, Penelope, and Tallinn, were interesting and bubbly. The two boys, Orville and Oscar, were twins and were a bit quiet. Then there was the ten-year-old girl, Maxine. She was the most intriguing. She was the only mixed raced girl in the orphanage. As she talked about her past, it came out that her mother was Chinese and her father was African American. I hadn't been able to tell but Bash murmured that she was the most beautiful child he had ever seen. She told us that she spoke some Chinese, as she did grow up with her mother until she was six years old and was taught how to speak it. She didn't demonstrate her skills however, though I had a feeling it was because the other kids bullied her enough because of who her parents were.

Once the children were done introducing themselves, I pulled Bash aside. "I think we should take Maxine."

"I do too," Bash said. "I like her the most. She seems like she would be a good sister to Eleanora."

"When did you want to start calling Eleanora by her first name?" I asked.

"When she asked me too," Bash replied. "She likes her first name more than her middle name."

"Oh, okay," I said. "Go and tell the headmistress that we're getting Maxine."

Bash left my side, Eleanora taking his spot. I took her hand and she led me to the front office, where we could wait for Bash to come out. When he did, it was a few minutes later. He had already filled out the paperwork and a worker at the orphanage was going to get Maxine so we could bring her home with us.

Maxine was brought back with the worker, seemingly excited and filled with boundless happiness. She finally had a home. Eleanora seemed to like her as she left my side and went straight to Maxine. Bash took my hand and we left with our new daughter. We told her about our family and how things worked. She had many questions, asking about who different people were and whatnot.

"So where do you work, Aria?" Maxine asked.

"A blind school in Toronto," I replied.

"It's nice of you to help those kids," Maxine said. "It must be hard for them to not have their sight."

"I would know what it's like," I answered.

"What do you mean?" Maxine asked.

"I'm blind myself," I replied. "I actually went to the same blind school I currently work at."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Maxine said. "I didn't know you were blind. I didn't mean to offend."

"You're fine," I replied. "Now you know. My dear Eleanora is deaf so we are no stranger to disabilities in our household."

Maxine was quiet for a moment. "How did you lose your sight if you don't mind me asking? Were you born blind or did you lose it later on in life?"

"Later on," I replied. "I had an accident when I was a child. I was sliding down a snowy hill with my twin brother, Gilbert, when I hit a tree. Tragic, really, but I've dealt with it. I used to it."

"You have a twin?" Maxine asked.

"Yes, Gilbert," I replied. "We told you about him. I guess we didn't mention he was my twin."

"Can you tell me more stories about the two of you?" Maxine asked. "From when you were children?"

Bash and I launched into our stories of Gilbert. They made Maxine laugh so it was all worth it. We arrived home later that afternoon and showed Maxine to her room. She would be sharing a room with Eleanora for the time being since the other rooms were taken. Eleanora didn't mind as she was beginning to like Maxine.

We let her settle in as we began to make dinner. Gilbert and Anne arrived from where ever they went and greeted us. I called down the girls. They came scampering down the stairs and sat at the table. We all sat down and started eating together. Maxine got to meet everyone that lived in the house. She came out of her shell a little and was laughing a little by the end of dinner.

At the end of dinner, Maxine helped me with the dishes. She was probably so used to helping out around the orphanages. She talked a little about her life but didn't open up too much. I taught her how we did the dishes in our house. She had a few questions about how other things worked too. It was her first night at our house and I could already she was a hard worker. I liked her a lot and I was already glad that we took her in.