"oh, so it will not be as easy as I thought," Heddwyn says. "ok I will do all that is necessary," he continues.
"ok, great. So first we need to ask the kid if they want you to be their father," Father says, turning to look at the orphans.
"well, how about it?" Heddwyn asks with a smile.
Heather is the First one to answer in a squeak, "yes! 100% yes!"
Next was Haider. He nods vigorously. And finally, after giving it some thought, Christopher firmly said, "I would really like for Heddwyn to be my Father,"
"ah right, if you're going to be calling Heddwyn Father from now on, I guess I should tell you my first name, although I guess Christopher just calls me old man," Father Newman said.
"My full real name is Engilram Newman," Engilram continues.
A long silence fills the room before Christopher talks. "yeah, there is no way I am going to be able to say that, so I am going to stick with old man"
This made everyone laugh... except Engilram. He just waited for everyone to stop laughing at Christopher's statement. After everyone calmed down, Sister Helga talks, "well nice to meet you, Engilram, and seeing as we are revealing names, I shall share mine."
Everyone's eyes are fixated and focused on Helga now, waiting to hear her real name. "my full real name is Hilda Helga, meaning 'battle blessed' pleasure to meet you all as the full me," she says with a smile.
"I was not expecting that," Engilram said.
"what do you mean by that Eng-ill-ram" Hilda said, angrily mocking Engilram.
"there was no need for hostility. I just wasn't expecting your name to be fitting for you personality. Mine makes no sense; it means 'raven newcomer' so trust me I wasn't mocking you," explains Engilram.
(narrator) his name's meaning is just as stupid as him.
"well, no matter. Let's get back on topic. So, what is left is the evaluation of you as a person. Let's start with this question. Will you Guide and Support, and Not Push and Demand?" says Engilram.
"always, Nekojin cubs mature very fast, so we would need to guide and support as much as we can to help them grow up smart, heathy and happy. Negligent Nekojin parents are condemned if a cub hasn't been raised properly," Heddwyn answers.
"ok, great. Next is... I think. Are you willing to make decisions in the best interest to the children and make decisions that keep them safe?" Engilram questioned.
"are you serious? Isn't that what a parent has to do? If I would take this question seriously, I would say that the defences I have already put around my forest home are substantial enough for the king to visit. I have 4 defence spells strewn all over that forest. The only reason that Cleo woman got in was because her carriage was covered in counter detection talismans. I have already saved them from an even higher trauma. Not only that, but they will also be training to defend themselves as well as learn magic. Does that satisfy your question?" Heddwyn answered, a little frustrated that after all he said, he would try to use the trick questions on him.
"so, you noticed? Sorry, but it's standard procedure for us. There is only one more question. Will you have the required patience to deal with children testing your boundaries in terms of rules? and the patience to deal with negative emotions and tantrums?" Engilram questioned.
"that's a hard question for me to answer. Can you please give me some time to answer?" Heddwyn replied, giving time for deep thought.
"that's fine, take all the time that you need." Engilram said.
After a long silence from Heddwyn, an answer to the question clearly came to him. "I would definitely have the patience for all that, remember last night? When Haider got upset, I comforted Him. That is an obvious example. I can deal with the situation as the problem suits. The only reason I know how to deal with children like I do is all thanks to my master. He put me on a job at a family's home to be their babysitter. It was just the mother and father there, and they had six cubs. They were clearly at their wits' end, so there I was, a babysitter for two years. I hope this story is enough. You know I'm telling the truth, right sister. I noticed that truth detection spell you cast on me." Heddwyn said, giggling to himself.
"you notice everything don't you," Hilda replied with mild amusement.
"mage sight, I always have it active." Heddwyn says with a smile.
"everything he said was true Fathe- oh, Engilram. It going to take some time to get used to that," Hilda said to Engilram.
"right, ok. I will have all of this put in writing so we can look over it," Engilram said.
"already done for you old man," Christopher says, making Engilram jump.
"ah! Jeez kid, you were writing all that down?" Engilram asks Christopher, holding his hand to his chest.
"yeah, of course, I know about the adoption process from a book in the back called, 'adoption. Where to look to adopt and where to put your child up for adoption.' It had all the typical questions in there as well as how long the review for the interview takes. So, I took it upon myself to write it out for you," Christopher says, showing the intelligence and speech level of a fifteen-year-old.
"ugh I hate how advanced you are sometimes Christopher, you're only four, how are you maturing so fast?" Engilram said, taking the paper out of Christopher's hands.
"there is a hidden book in that library of ours named 'Gifted Children and Language Development' I think. It explains Christopher's fast development very well." Hilda states.
"are you kidding me? You hid that from me? Now I know I haven't read every book in that library room," Christopher whines.
Before Hilda could answer Christopher, he became impatient and sprinted toward the book room to analyse the walls and behind the books carefully.
After staring at the speeding flash, Engilram spins back and says, "well, I'm going to put this on the table in my office and ill get the result of the adoption as soon as I can for you Heddwyn."
"that sounds great. Even if the adoption doesn't go through cubs, I will be here to train you every single day that I can," Heddwyn says, smiling at the twins.
After the adoption interview, light chatter begun between the five and then, a few hours later. We hear, "I finally found it!" it seems that Christopher has found the book he was looking for. He comes rushing in from the library. "you seriously put this book inside a secret compartment in the floor?" he inquisitively asked.
"what did you mean by that?" Hilda replies after sipping some Halfty.
"what I mean is that this seems so unimportant. Why was it kept hidden?" Christopher asks.
"a few years ago, we noticed you developed much faster than expected. So, we bought this book, read it. And then thought it would be fun for you to find it yourself one day. It's a few years earlier than we predicted, but you found it. I think you will enjoy reading this one. It's actually quite an interesting read," Hilda smirks.
A massive smile strews across Christopher's face, and he sprints back into the library to read the new book. He suddenly seemed excited over a book he previously thought was useless.
(narrator) Helga. Or rather Hilda really has that kid figured out, makes you realise that Father... ah fuck! Engilram doesn't know Christopher at all. They seem to have mutual respect between them. I swear, I'm never going to get used to calling them by their first names.
Four days later, we find ourselves back in the dining room where Hilda, Haider, Heather, Heddwyn, Engilram and Christopher are all sat at the table. Engilram seems to be holding several pieces of coarse grade paper.
(narrator) goodness, I need a change of scenery. I'm going to go to sleep until something interesting happens. *yawn*
"Heddwyn, we have the results of you adoption case here. But first the kids get to see their own adoption papers first. Make sure you keep your reactions a secret for the time being," Engilram said, handing a single piece of paper to each of the children. "down by there is the result of the adoption, ok?" he continues.
As all the kids look at their adoption results, Engilram passes the remaining three papers to Heddwyn. He looks at the first page and here what it says.
Heather Newman
Age: 7
Race: human
Magic attribute: unknown
Magic affinity: unknown
Amount of Mana: 1000pts
Age of abilities: 10 years of age
Adoption status: SUCCSESSFUL
"what! One thousand points! No way, are you sure that's right? I have only five times that! I was sure that someone could never be born with this much power. and her abilities come on," Heddwyn said to himself, his eyes bulging in surprise. "oh yeah, the adoption." He looks at the bottom of the page, "thank the Mother, Heather is now my cub," Heddwyn says with a smile and a tear in his eye. Heddwyn flips over the next page.
Haider Newman
Age: 7
Race: human
Magic attribute: unknown
Magic affinity: unknown
Amount of Mana: 100pts
Age of abilities: 8 years of age
Adoption status: SUCCSESSFUL
"another success, and at least he is a little more normal than his twin sister," he says to himself again, showing some relief. Then finally, he looks at Christopher's adoption papers.
Christopher Newman
Age: 5
Race: human
Magic attribute: classified, ask Engilram of Dungannon
Magic affinity: classified, ask Engilram of Dungannon
Amount of mana: 370pts
Age of abilities: 16 years of age
Adoption status: needs additional requirement
As Heddwyn is reading over the page and hits the adoption status, Christopher yells, "what do you mean by need additional requirement old man?"
"what I meant by that is, you are extremely difficult to look after Christopher. We have spent a lot of coin to fill that library for you, not only that, but even if you are a child genius, you're still bratty," Engilram bites back.
Christopher sits in silence for a moment and tries to speak again, but Heddwyn spoke before he made a sound, "that won't be a problem," Heddwyn says. "my book room is actually bigger than the church,"
Engilram and Hilda look at Heddwyn slack jawed while Christopher's eyes beamed with glee and excitement. Engilram speaks "well that settles that. Pass me Christopher's paper and your own too as well lad. I will get this stamped for you to get the updated status."
Engilram walks out of the room with Christopher's documents in hand, then comes back in with a steel stamp and tray of ink. "I forgot to ask the twins for their papers too, please will you pass them over?" he says, sitting down at the head of the table. As each paper was stamped, they were passed back to the designated person.
But on Heddwyn's version of Christopher's adoption papers he wrote, "come talk to me later and I will tell you everything I know about these kids" Heddwyn looks up at Engilram with concern, until all the papers were handed back to the kids. A massive smile swung across his face as Heather screeches, Haider jumps for joy and Christopher smiles at Heddwyn.
"so now all three of you will now be known as a Longstaff," Engilram says.
Not soon after Christopher speaks up, "hay, can I keep the name Newman?" he asks, staring curiously at Heddwyn.
"that's fine with me" Heddwyn replies, looking Engilram's way.
"that's not a problem. You can totally keep my name if that's what you would like," Engilram asks Christopher.
"yeah, it just feels right to keep the name Newman. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm now Heddwyn's child now though, right?"
"no, that won't change in the slightest. When a child is born, the parents give you your name, but later in life you could change that if you wanted to," answers Engilram.
Christopher smiles at the answer he was given. he smiles even wider, looking at how happy everyone is on this momentous day.