Page 31 of Proslo

“Yes, please.”

When he returned with our drinks, we all quickly ordered our food. That done, Keilani cut right to the chase.

“Right, so the reason the hospital called me was because one of children in our care was rushed in with end stage heart failure. She’d be a candidate for a heart transplant if resources were available to ensure she made a full recovery, but without a stable home, that’s put her farther down the list than we’d like. She and her siblings went on TV four times in the past eighteen months, both locally and twice nationally, in hope someone would reach out to adopt them so we could see about getting things kickstarted if a heart became available.”

“But that didn’t happen,” Betty supplied.

“No, nor has there been a suitable heart. But I understand that your people might be able to repair or even regenerate her heart using nanotechnology and that it might be possible to get a long term foster for her and her siblings within the Fleet.”

The way she looked at us hopefully spoke volumes. She wished the child to recover, but she also hoped that we would be the parents she desperately sought for these young.

“I’d have to look at her records and assess her myself using our own equipment,” I told her softly. “That might not be possible, but if there is a way to save her, we will.”

“And will you foster her? Ideally with her siblings as I feel having them with her will keep her spirits up and aid in her recovery. Breaking apart siblings is the last resort, anyway, but sadly, we’ve had to with them. The younger two are in one home, she’s in another, and her older brother is in a group home as teens are hard to place.”

“There’s four of them?” Betty gasped.

Keilani silently pulled a photo from her briefcase. Four children of varying ages smiled hopefully at the camera, all dressed up.

“This is the picture taken for the adoption appeal.”

“Pros…” Betty turned beseeching eyes towards me.

“We haven’t gone through the introductory course,” I reminded them both.

“As long as you take it within the first thirty days, we’ll waive it as a prerequisite given the circumstances.” She tapped the photo. “That’s Akoni and he fits his name to a ‘t’. He’s fourteen and smaller than a lot of boys his age and is really into helping take care of his sisters and little brother. He loves animals and as you can see here in the caption, hopes that if adopted, he’ll get to have a dog or cat. The next eldest is Kaia, and she’s twelve. She likes to read, play with Barbies, and do puzzles. Her wish is to get to learn to ride a bike. The younger two are twins, and they are four. This sweet angel,” she pointed to the small male, “is Maui and the cutie next to him is Moana.” She gave a small laugh. “None of them are of native Hawaiian descent and they came to us permanently after their mother tested positive for drugs while pregnant with the twins and again during their delivery. The older two already had a worker as she’d been arrested at the airport previously while disorderly and under the influence, so the decision was made to take them in and unfortunately to sever her parental rights when she proved herself more interested in drugs and an itinerant lifestyle than looking after her children. It was especially critical as Kaia was discovered to have a bad heart after a series of fainting spells at school two years ago.”

I reached for Betty’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “When can I see the patient and meet the rest of our new family?”

Keilani stared at me. “That’s it? Just like that? I understand being willing to treat Kaia, but you’re sure about taking all four of them in as yours during her treatment and recovery.”

“No,” Betty replied, her voice firm. “For forever.”

“Once we sign, it’s done. They become Mylos,” I told her. “Foster children are placed and the adoption is immediate, by treaty.”

“Oh,” she replied faintly. “I knew that, but I thought given the situation, you both would want temporary so as to have time to think about it and see how it goes,” she grinned. “In which case, I need the second set of papers my supervisor insisted I bring. Let’s do this thing! We’ll get this signed, eat, and I’ll take you right over to the hospital. Um, I’ll call and have the other children brought to the hospital so you can bring them back with you.”

“No, bring them here,” Betty replied.

Our server came with our food and we paused the conversation until he left.

“Proslo needs to take her up to examine her. I’ll stay here and get to know the children and keep them entertained so they don’t worry too much about what’s happening. Once Proslo lets me know what the next step is, we’ll decide where to go from there.”

Keilani nodded, passing over a pen and a sheaf of papers to me. I read them as I ate, signing once done, then handed them back to her after Betty signed the page accepting custody. It was official. Kaia was going to receive treatment only the Mylos could provide and as a bonus, we’d just become parents to four beautiful young.

21

BETTY

Just over an hour later, I found myself back in the hotel lobby, sitting on a sofa meeting three of my new children. It was both exhilarating and terrifying but I was so here for it.

Keilani smiled tightly as I smiled gently at them.

“You’re really married to an alien?” Moana asked me, pushing a chunk of her dirty blonde bangs out of her eyes. They’d grown too long and she needed them trimmed. A quick glance at the two boys told me they could use a trim as well, their shoulder length hair looking dry with a lot of split ends. One of the reasons for the damaged ends quickly became readily apparent as Akoni lifted a lock and began to chew on the ends nervously. Maui quickly copied his brother.

“Yes, I am,” I replied brightly.

“Cool. Me and Maui are named after demi gods but we got no powers. Will we get alien powers, space guns and stuff when we go live on the spaceship?” Moana said next.