História We need to talk about Philip - Decisions

As soon as Kevin entered home, he noticed there was something different. The atmosphere was too… happy.

"Kevin?", his mother asked.

"It's me", he said, going straight to the stairs.

"Kevin, we need to talk to you", Frank said, stopping him from going to his bedroom before dinner.

Kevin stopped and turned around. "Is there something wrong?"

"Come here so we can talk", asked Eva.

He left his bag under the staircase and went to the kitchen, where his parents were both sitting at the table.

"We just need you to be aware of a decision we made today", Eva explained.

He pulled a chair for him to sit in front of his parents. "Do I have a part in this decision or will I have to just accept it and keep my mouth shut?" 

The sarcasm in his voice tingled Eva's anger, but she kept her strength, thinking of Celia and the sign she had given her earlier. She would NOT give up her plans because of Kevin. Not this time.

"We will regard your opinion, Kevin, but this is something that is already decided", she replied.

"Son", Frank started, "me and your mother are thinking about… adoption."

They waited for Kevin to absorb that, but he didn't express any reaction. "So what?", he finally said.

Once again, they waited to see if he had anything left to say, but apparently, he didn't. "We plan on visiting some orphanages, and… we thought about doing it this week", Eva said. "Do you… agree with it?"

He kept thinking for a moment, and laughed a little. "You know that it's not that simple, right? You don't just go there in an orphanage and pick your favorite child to take home. It's not like a pet. It takes time."

Franklin nodded. "Yes, Kevin, we are concerned about that. No, your parents aren't as dumb and unrealistic as you think."

"Oh, sorry", he replied. "I thought you were. My fault."

Franklin smiled sarcastically. "Your mother's friend, Laura, works for orphanages doing what they call 'home study'. It is the most complicated phase of the adoption process, and it is basically an interview with the family, which keeps being observed for some weeks, so the interviewer can make sure that they are ready for a new member. Since the car accident, Laura's been telling me and your mother that if we ever wanted to adopt a child, she would take care of the legal aspects as soon as she could."

"She knows our family", Eva continued, "and she really trusts us. You might not remember her because it's been a long time since she last came here. But we have already talked to her, and she said she will provide all the assistance that we need."

Kevin nodded and remained quiet. He kept staring at nowhere and thinking for a long time. "Do you support this decision, Kevin?", Frank tried to make him speak.

The boy looked impatient. He actually didn't know what to think, so he had nothing to answer. "Just keep the kid away from me", he got up his seat. "I'm going to my room."

While Kevin let, Eva tried to keep her strength. This time, she wouldn't give up for anything. It didn't matter if her son was not happy with the idea. Screw him, she would find someone that, not like him, truly loved her. 

Frank looked worried. "Eva?"

"Yes?", she answered.

"Are you sure you still want to-"

"I am", she said with absolutely no hesitation.

*****

Since the argument Kevin had had with his mother in Celia's birthday, they hadn't been talking a lot. However, after their discussion about adoption, they have avoided each other as much as they could. As a result, one week and three days had passed, and they still weren't talking to each other. 

Eva had already talked to Laura, and she had agreed to take care of all the bureaucracy in record time. However, she knew that she couldn't ignore her son any longer. Laura managed to get the parents to have an interview in two different orphanages, and one of them was going to throw an open charity party. Unfortunately, Kevin was also part of the family, and therefore had to participate in this decision.

Reluctantly, Eva knocked Kevin's closed bedroom door. 

"What?", she heard him asking from the inside.

"Put some clothes on, we'll be leaving in ten minutes."

She didn't wait for an answer, and indeed it didn't come. She walked back to the living room, where her husband was waiting, and sat on the couch, worried about what would happen that day. 

"Did you tell Kevin about the interviews?", she asked.

"Yes, don't worry", Frank answered. "I told him to wear social clothing, but I don't think he'll take it seriously."

She'd had that coming. Her elegant dress and Frank's fancy shirt wouldn't make a difference, because Kevin would probably show up in his flip flops. 

Some minutes later, Kevin climbed down the stairs, wearing a blue T-shirt and gray sweatpants. "It could be worse", Eva thought. "At least he's wearing sneakers."

"Kevin, come on", Frank said. "I told you to wear social clothing! Do you even know what this means?"

The boy didn't look like he cared. "We should go. We don't want to arrive late, do we?"

He was the first one to enter the car. He sat on the backseat, and on their way to the first orphanage, he stayed as quiet as he had been the whole week. They were going to Mary Baudelaire orphanage, the one which owned the bus that gave Eva the "sign". Laura was the one who had suggested it; when she said that name, Eva automatically remembered what was written on that bus. She was so excited she couldn't even pay attention on what Frank was saying. 

"So, honey", he said, "you've been talking about having a bigger range of options, but Laura warned me that this first orphanage we are going to visit is just for children from three to nine years old. Eva? Are you listening to me?"

Eva was looking at the sky and thinking about Celia, so no, she wasn't listening to him. "Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"You were thinking about adopting a teenager?", Kevin manifested himself. He didn't sound very happy with the idea.

"Oh. Right. I've forgotten to tell you that", Franklin said. "Yeah, Kevin. Why? Are you against it? When we were talking, you didn't say anything."

He laughed angrily. "That's because I thought you were taking a child home. But a teenager? Now what, are you adopting a fucking better version of me?"

"HEY, WATCH THAT LANGUAGE, KEVIN!", Franklin yelled. 

The car was filled with silence. Frank waited until he calmed down. "Let's at least pretend we are an ordinary family", he asked. "We are almost getting to the orphanage."

In some minutes, it was possible to see a garden full of children playing with each other from the passenger's window. Hopefully, it had taken enough time for them all to calm down before they arrived.

The house was relatively big, and it has to be, to fit all that children. There were around ten kids playing in the garden, and maybe six more inside. When Eva saw that scene, she started screaming inside. She was so happy that she was going to play with all the kids.

As they came closer, a woman that looked like the owner of the orphanage talked to them. "Hello! You two are Eva and Franklin, right?"

"Yes", said Franklin. "And you must be… Mary Baudelaire?"

The woman nodded. "But the original Mary was my grandmother. My mom was Patricia Baudelaire, and she gave me this name in my grandma's honor."

"That is a beautiful name", Eva said.

Mary realized there was a teenager next to them. "Oh, and this must be Kevin!", she said with a big smile.

Kevin didn't say anything, so Frank had to say "Yes. He's shy."

As they walked across the garden, they were stopped many times by the children, that wanted to meet their new "possible parents". When they got near Kevin, he turned around and walked away, avoiding them. 

"So, according to you family's profile, we have selected who we think would fit better with you", said Mary when they finally entered the house. "The first one is Brenda. She's five. A very cute little girl, I am sure she will love you. She's waiting for us in the living room."

And indeed, when they got to the living room, a blonde little girl was sitting on a blue couch. As soon as Eva saw who she was, she almost started to cry. It was Celia.

Well, at least it was the girl who looked exactly like she thought Celia would be. It was the same girl she had seen that day.

"Hi! You're the lady that was staring at me the other day!", the little girl said, pointing to Eva.

"I am", she answered, and a tear dropped from her eyes. 

For the first time in her life, she had the absolute certainty of one thing. She was going to take that girl home with her. And she would take care of Brenda for the rest of her life. 

*****