Chapter Text
Xander stood over home plate and held the baseball bat like a pro. He got into stance and eyed the pitcher, Rafeal, who was obviously stalling. Rafael knew that Xander would knock the ball out of the park…well…he’ll knock it too far down the street than the other kids could get to. They were playing in the middle of a street after all.
“Come on Rafael!” Xander yelled at him, “Throw the damn ball!”
“Xander! Language!”
Xander sighed and put the bat down and looked up at his social worker who had his head out of the window of the group home, watching them.
“You swear all the time, Jim!” Xander called back.
“Yeah, well…I’m an adult. You’re only seven,” Jim smiled and yelled down to them. “Anyway, we have to go. You have an interview and you need to put on a nice suit.”
Xander groaned and threw his arms up in the air, “I gotta hit the ball first. Let me knock it downtown and then I’ll put on the stupid penguin suit.”
Jim smiled at him and nodded, “Alright, but if you hit another car, I’m not paying for it.”
Xander smiled and picked the bat back up and got back into stance over the make shift home plate. Rafael wound up and then threw the ball as hard as he could. Xander swung and smack the ball with the bat and watched it soar down the street. The kids on his team all cheered as Xander threw the bat down and ran around the make shift bases before jumping onto home plate with a big grin.
“I hate playing against you,” Melody, the catcher, sighed out.
Xander just grinned bigger and shrugged, “I’m awesome.”
“Whatever. So, where’s your interview this time?” she asked as Rafael and the other kids gathered around them.
“Um…I think their last name is Mitchell.”
Rafael and the other kids all gasped.
“The Mitchells?” Rafael asked. “They’re horrible!”
“Yeah, they collect kids!” Melody agreed. “They’ll take anybody.”
“Even rejects like you,” Rafael laughed out.
Xander glared at them before heading into the group home building.
“Being an orphan sucks and I hate wearing suits,” Xander sighed out as Jim adjusted the tie on Xander’s suit.
“I know,” Jim agreed. “Let’s just get through this interview and then we’re going to camp.”
“You weren’t an orphan.”
“No, but I was in foster care for almost ten years until I was adopted. I know what it’s like to go on interview after interview.”
“But you found a forever home, right?” Xander asked, staring up at Jim with his big brown eyes.
Jim smiled down at him and nodded, “I did. I was fifteen but I did find a forever home. You’ve met my dad Chris. He’s pretty cool right?”
Xander smiled back and nodded.
“Do I have to go to this interview? These people collect kids, Jim,” Xander whined from the backseat of Jim’s car as they drove to the Mitchell residence.
Jim sighed, “Yes. I wouldn’t ever want to take you to these horrible people, but my boss said I had to. You have to go on interviews and I have to take you on interviews.”
Xander groaned and leaned his head back against the seat, “I wish you didn’t have to.”
Jim looked back at Xander in the rear view mirror and then pulled the car into the right driveway. He unbuckled his seat belt and turned around and looked at the boy.
“I promise that I will never ever, ever let these horrible people adopt you. I’ve been your social worker since you were three. I’m going to find you the perfect forever home, okay?”
"Okay."
Jim smiled, “Now let’s get this crap storm over with so we can catch the bus to camp.”
Jim cringed when the door opened and two smiling people stood there. Gary Mitchell and Janice Lester-Mitchell. They had like one biological son and four adopted kids already and wanted to adopt more.
“Honey, look!” Janice cooed out in a sickeningly sweet voice, “You must be wittle Xander?”
Gary’s smile irked Jim and he desperately wanted to grab up Xander and run away but then his bosses would fire him.
Just get through this and then write a horrible report so that Xander won’t be adopted by them, Jim thought as the couple opened the screen door to let them in.
Jim and Gaila counted off the kids on the bus to camp and then realized that they were missing one.
“Rafael, where’s Xander?” Jim asked.
“He said he’s not going,” the boy replied. Jim internally groaned and disembarked the bus and headed into the group home. He went up the stairs and entered a large room that held several twin beds and other furniture. Jim walked to the last bed and sat down next to Xander who was curled up on his side on his bed.
“It’s time to go,” Jim told him, reaching out and ruffling Xander’s blonde hair.
“I’m never going to be adopted,” Xander said. “No one wants a reject like me. They want cute babies.”
“You’re a cute baby.”
Xander gave him a funny look for saying that which made Jim laugh out.
“Come on Xander, you know you’re going to find a forever home. I promised you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.”
“Have I ever broken a promise to you?” Jim asked.
“Well, that one time you promised that we could go get ice-cream but then you took me to get frozen yogurt instead.”
Jim chuckled, “I am so, so sorry about that.” Jim then grinned and reached out and tickled the boy on the bed. Xander squirmed around and laughed, trying to get Jim to stop tickling him.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll go to camp! I’ll go!”
Jim stopped tickling the boy and pulled him up into his lap and held him.
“Good, because I like going to camp and I would hate to sit here with you for the next ten days and miss it.”
“Jim?”
“Yeah?”
“Can’t you adopt me?”
Jim gave him a sad smile before hugging Xander, “They won’t let me adopt you because I don’t make that much money. Besides I’m not with anyone and you deserve to have two parents.”
“Then get a husband,” Xander told him, pulling away from the hug. He had a big smile on his face.
Jim chuckled, “It’s not that simple. I can’t just go to a husband store and pick one out. I need to be in love.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Once. We met at that camp, you know, but then…we got into a huge fight and I haven’t seen him in…jeez…I haven’t seen him in twelve years.”
They then heard the bus horn beeping at them.
“We gotta go now,” Jim said, standing up and taking Xander’s hand.
“Fine, but I want extra s’mores at camp.”
“Me to, buddy,” Jim told him, ruffling the boys blonde hair.