Thursday, November 21st, 2019, Early Afternoon

When they got home from the Family Court, Baxter changed out of his dress clothes. He put on a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeve light gray shirt. He looked at himself in the mirrored closet door and grinned. He thought he looked good because he looked happy. And he was happy. Very happy!

The four Chois sat down in the family room. Everyone was smiling. Baxter was both smiling and wiping occasional tears — happy tears — from his cheeks. Elizabeth was sitting next to him, and her left hand was gripping his right.

“It must seem like a dream, doesn’t it,” Rob said to Baxter. “But it’s not a dream. Now Vincent and I are your parents, and Elizabeth is your sister. It’s official. We couldn’t be happier.”

“I know,” Baxter said, not being able to stop smiling. “It’s wonderful. I’m so happy! I love you guys and Elizabeth so much. The three of you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Thank you, Baxter. We all love you, too,” Vincent said. “I think the next thing we should do is have a little snack, and while we’re doing that, there are several things we should talk about.”

“Yes, let’s have a snack,” Elizabeth agreed. “I’d like an apple — two if they’re small.”

They cored and quartered several apples, and Rob got some cheddar cheese slices and cut them in half. While they ate, they continued their discussion.

“First, we’re going to go out to dinner tonight,” Rob said. “Since we’re celebrating your adoption, we’ll go wherever you’d like.”

“Okay. How about that new Mexican restaurant you were talking about when you got home Halloween night? Or, if you’d rather, how about the Thai restaurant on Mt. Diablo Boulevard?”

“Baxter, it’s your day, so you’re the one who gets to choose,” Elizabeth said.

“Okay, let’s go to the new Mexican restaurant. I don’t remember the name, though.”

“It’s Capullo Cocina Mexicana,” Rob said. “We’ll leave about five o’clock. Sounds early, but according to Yelp, it gets crowded, starting around five-thirty.”

“Now that you’re our adopted son, there are some paperwork things that we’ll have to take care of,” Vincent said. “We’ll need to add you to our medical insurance as a dependent, then disenroll you from Medi-Cal; that’s the health coverage you were assigned and was paid for by CPS while you were at Groveland and while we were fostering you.

“We’ll need to meet with the trustee and change the title of your trust to your new name, and since you’re a minor, the “Responsible Party” will be changed to our names. The trustee will want to discuss and revise the beneficiaries since your grandmother has passed away.

“Because this can be complicated, in advance of the meeting with the trustee, we’ll meet with Carter Danhof. He will review the trust and make recommendations for changes. He will explain each of them so you can understand the changes, and you’ll need to approve or disapprove each of them. He’ll be at the meeting with the trustee, so at the end of our meeting with Mr. Danhof, we’ll contact the trustee and make an appointment.”

Baxter thought about some of the things in his trust, like the house his mother had owned, and what had been paid to the convalescent home for his grandmother’s care, and the things still in the storage locker. He was sure there would be other things, too. “Wow, this is going to be complicated, isn’t it.”

“It is, but Carter will do a good job of explaining what it means.”

“Will he explain what a trust is, and what’s in my trust, in language that I’ll understand?”

“Yes. He’s known for doing that, like when we met with him about your adoption. But there’s something else. To do all these things, we’ll need the registered documents — your new birth certificate, the finalized adoption paperwork, and the change of name order. We’ll have to wait until we receive them. We don’t know how long that will take. They will probably be sent by courier or by registered mail. My guess is that it will be at least a week, maybe longer.

“Then we’ll take you to our dentist and have your teeth cleaned and x-rayed. It’s the same dentist Rob, Elizabeth, and I use. We’ll take you to our family doctor and have him give you a complete checkup, and his records will be updated. He’ll also request that your records from Medi-Cal be sent to him.

“I have a list of everything that’s needed. I’ll make a copy for you.” Vincent got up and went to his office, and a few minutes later returned with Baxter’s copy. “If you have any questions, you can ask Rob or me. As soon as the documents arrive, we’ll make appointments with our family doctor and family dentist, then with Carter Danhof, and then with the trustee.

 “You’ll need to take time off of school for each of these appointments. We’ll take you to school and revise your registration on the first school day after we’ve received all of the documents. That should be the first thing we do. It’s certainly the most important for you.”

“Wow,” Baxter said, looking at the list. “Just wow! There are so many things we have to do.

“I have a question. I was thinking about calling Mike to tell him that my adoption has been finalized. He’s my best friend. But I’m worried that it might make him sad or jealous because he has to go through the whole process. What should I do? When should I tell him?”

“You should call Mike today,” Rob said. “In fact, call him right now, as soon as we’re through talking. Invite him to go to dinner with us, and tell him that it’s a special occasion. He’ll probably ask what special occasion. Tell him you went to court, and your adoption was finalized today. He’s your best friend. He’s not going to be jealous, he’s going to be happy for you. It shows him that adoption can be real. Also, you don’t want him to hear it from someone other than you, or a week or two in the future.

“Tell him we’re going out to the new Mexican restaurant. Tell him his parents are invited to join us if they’re available. It’s our treat. We’ll pick up Mike at five p.m. and, if they’re available, his folks, too. We’re paying for dinner.” Rob handed Baxter an ad for the restaurant and smiled. “Go on and call him, Baxter. He’s your best friend. He’ll be happy that your adoption has been finalized.”

“Okay. I understand. I’ll go to my room and call him now, and I’ll let you know if he and his parents can come to dinner with us.”

Baxter went to his bedroom and closed the door. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and sat down on the side of his bed. He speed-dialed Mike’s number.

“Hi, Baxter!”

 “Hi, Mike. We’re going out to dinner tonight at a new Mexican restaurant in Walnut Creek. My fathers and I want to invite you and your parents to join us. Our treat. It’s for a special occasion.”

“A special occasion? It’s not your birthday, is it?”

Baxter laughed. “No, not yet. My birthday is on May fifth. The special occasion is that we went to Family Court this morning, and my adoption by the Chois was finalized.”

“Oh my god! That’s wonderful! Congratulations! Yes, I want to come to dinner with you to celebrate your adoption being finalized. Hang on for a minute, I’ll check with my folks.”

Baxter heard talking in the background. Mike returned to the phone.

“Yes! Where’s the restaurant?”

 “It’s called Capullo Cocina Mexicana, and it’s downtown. We’ll pick you and your folks up at five o’clock — is that okay?”

“Let me check.”

About a minute later, Mike returned to the call.

“They’d rather drive themselves. They have some shopping they want to do after dinner. My mom would like to talk to your dad or your pop. She has your house number. Is that okay?”

“Sure. I’ll let them know. They can work out the details, like the address, how to get there, and where to park. We’re planning to be at the restaurant at five o’clock, so we’ll see you then, and I’ll tell you all the details about my adoption hearing, including some surprises.”

“Great! Congrats again, Baxter. I absolutely want to hear all the details. From you!”

“You will! Bye for now, Mike.”

He rushed to the family room. “Dad, Pop, Mike said he and his folks will come to dinner with us. They want to drive themselves. His mom is going to call here to get the details. Here’s the ad you gave me.” He handed Rob the ad. “You were right, Mike was really excited that my adoption is finalized. He didn’t sound jealous at all.”

They heard the house phone ring, and Vincent picked it up because he was closer. “Hi, Cathy. This is Vincent.”

The phone conversation continued.

“Dad, I’m going to tell Elizabeth,” Baxter said.

“Okay, thanks.”

Baxter went to Elizabeth’s bedroom. The door was open, and she was sitting at her desk, focused on her laptop. She looked up when she heard him knock on the doorjamb.

“Hi, Baxter. Did you call Mike? Can he come to dinner with us?”

“Yes. He was very excited, and he and his folks are going to meet us at the restaurant at five.”

“You really like Mexican food, don’t you,” she said.

“It’s about my favorite. As long as it doesn’t come from the Las Lomas High cafeteria.”

Elizabeth grinned. “I’ll be sure to remember that when I start at Las Lomas in the fall.”

“Heed my advice: bring a bag lunch!”

They both laughed.

Vincent walked up to Elizabeth’s door. “Hey, I wanted to let you know that we’ll be leaving to go to the restaurant at five o’clock. The Stewarts are driving themselves because they want to do some shopping after they eat. Mike doesn’t need to go shopping, so he’ll come home with us and have a sleepover with you, Baxter. I hope that’s okay?”

“Absolutely,” Baxter smiled and nodded his approval. ‘Yes!’ he thought. ‘That is perfect! I couldn’t have planned it better myself.’

“You’ll all have to get up early tomorrow. I’ll drive both of you to school tomorrow morning. I’ll drop you off. First, Elizabeth, then we’ll go to Las Lomas so I’m there at seven-thirty for the Staff/Collaboration period. That means we have to leave here at seven on the dot.”

Elizabeth groaned. “There’s school tomorrow? Really?”

“Yes, really. It’s Friday, and we don’t have it off,” Baxter said.

“Tell you what,” she said. “I’ll take the bus to school as usual. That means Baxter and Mike will get an extra fifteen minutes to sleep, and I can get up at my regular time. Is that okay?”

“Thank you, Elizabeth, and yes, it is okay,” Vincent responded. That means we will leave at seven-fifteen.”

“Pop, since we won’t have our bikes, how will Mike and I get home?”

“I’ll drive the two of you home, dropping Mike off at his house first.” Anticipating what she was about to ask, he added, “As usual, Elizabeth will take the bus home.”

“I guess we’re all set for tonight,” Baxter said. “See you later, Elizabeth.”

He and Vincent left her room and walked back to the family room and sat down. “Pop, can I ask you for some advice?”

“Sure, Baxter.”

“I was wondering about telling the guys at Groveland that my adoption is finalized. I think I should do that. What I want to ask you is this. When should I tell them?”

“Remember that Mrs. Mayhew was at the hearing today, and she might have told the boys at Groveland already. I think it would be a good idea to give her a call and talk about how and when you can talk to them about your adoption being finalized and ask if anyone has questions. My guess is that they will have lots of questions.”

“Okay, I’ll call her right now.” Baxter returned to his bedroom and called Mrs. Mayhew at Groveland.

“Hi, Mrs. Mayhew. It’s Baxter.”

“Hello, Baxter. How are you? Do you feel any different now that you’re adopted, and your name is Baxter Choi?”

“Yes. Today was the best day of my life. I want to thank you for all your help to make it happen.”

“You’re welcome. You deserve a great family, and now you have one.”

“What I’d like to do is come by, maybe this afternoon, and tell the boys that I’ve been adopted. I can talk about what the process was like, and answer some questions.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Baxter. However, I wonder, could you do it on Saturday instead of today?”

“I could do that. Is there a reason to not tell them today?”

“The boys are at school. They won’t get back until around three-thirty or four o’clock. That will limit the time you’d have to talk to them. If you can do it on Saturday, they’ll all be here.”

Baxter laughed. “I completely forgot. I got an approved absence so I could go to the Family Court for my hearing today, so I just forgot that everyone else would be in school. So Saturday will be fine. What time would you like me to be there? I’ll get my dad or my pop to drive me.”

“How about ten-thirty or eleven? Then after your talk, you can join us for lunch.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let me get an okay, and I’ll call you back.”

“Alright. I’m looking forward to what you’re going to tell us about the process and what being adopted is like from your point of view. I’ll wait for your call confirming you can be here Saturday.”

Baxter returned to the family room and described what he wanted to do on Saturday, that Mrs. Mayhew had excellent ideas about what he could say, and when she wanted him to be there for his talk. He didn’t mention the part where he’d proposed doing it today when the boys were at school. It was bad enough being embarrassed when he was on the phone with Mrs. Mayhew. No use repeating his silly mistake in front of his family!

“I think that’s a good idea,” Rob said. How long will you need?”

“About an hour should be plenty. They invited me to stay for lunch; that’d be at noon. So if you could drop me off at… say… ten forty-five that’ll give me enough time. Then if you could pick me up at one o’clock, I’ll be ready to return home.”

“Okay. Let’s plan it that way.”

Baxter phoned Mrs. Mayhew and told her his schedule for Saturday. She said it was fine.

Baxter went to his bedroom and checked School Loop to see if any homework had been added today when he was at the court. He let out a deep breath; there wasn’t anything new.

He turned on his TV. There wasn’t much on in weekday afternoons, so he turned it off. He picked up his tablet, turned it on, and clicked the Kindle icon. There was a mystery that he’d downloaded but hadn’t read yet, The Last Justice, so he started reading.

Thursday, November 21st, 2019, Early Evening

Baxter got wrapped up in the story — it was a murder mystery about the Supreme Court justices — so he was surprised when Rob knocked on the doorjamb. Baxter looked up.

“Ready to go to dinner?”

“Yes, I am. Thanks for taking us to dinner.”

“I made a reservation for the seven of us so we won’t have to wait for a table. I made it for ten minutes after five. When Cathy Stewart called, Vincent let them know. It’s ten minutes before five now.”

Rob smiled, and so did Baxter.  It was interesting that anytime someone smiled at him, he automatically smiled, too. Not everyone he knew did that.

He set a bookmark on the page he’d just finished, then turned off his tablet.

“Should I change? Or are jeans okay?”

“You look great. You don’t need to get all dressed up unless you’re going to a wedding or something else that’s formal, like your court appearance was today.”

“Okay. I’m going to use the bathroom, then I’ll be ready. Will I need a jacket?”

“I suggest you wear a light jacket. It might be cool when we walk from the restaurant to the parking structure.”

“Okay, I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Everyone said the food at Capullo Cocina Mexicana was delicious. Baxter said he thought the menu had interesting choices, like chiles rellenos that were stuffed with shredded roast duck instead of cheese. The Stewarts and Rob and Vincent said they’d like to return when they had Taco Tuesday.

They talked about how Mike and Baxter liked Las Lomas High School; what they liked to do for fun now that they weren’t under the restrictions required when they were at Groveland; if either had any interest in going out for a sport; and so on. Baxter was embarrassed by some questions, including what he thought his major would be when he went to college; he said he was interested in computers, but he wasn’t sure what his major would be since he was still a freshman in high school.

They talked about Baxter’s adoption and how it moved so quickly. He explained why fast-tracking had applied to him.

“That’s interesting,” Tom Stewart said. “I wonder if there’s a way we could fast-track Mike’s adoption?”

“I think it’s worth looking into,” Rob replied. “I’d talk to your caseworker. Is it Betty Taylor? She was Baxter’s CPS and CDSS caseworker.”

“No, it’s Grant Farrington,” Cathy Stewart said. “Tom, I think we should schedule a meeting with Mr. Farrington and see if there’s a way we could speed up the adoption process for Mike.”

“That’d be great,” Mike said. “Baxter, what was it like going to court to be finalized?”

Baxter summarized what the judge asked him. He didn’t mention the guy who protested his adoption. Since he wasn’t sure how gay-friendly the Stewarts were, he didn’t say he was gay. But Mike did.

“Did the judge have any problem because you’re gay and your fathers are gay, too?”

“No, not at all,” he replied.

“That would have been inappropriate,” Tom Stewart said. “A kid’s sexuality shouldn’t have anything to do with being adopted unless the adoptive parents are anti-gay. That should disqualify them.”

“I agree, Dad,” Mike said. “Baxter, I have a lot more questions, like the details about what the judge asked you,” Mike said.

“Maybe we can do that when we get to my house,” Baxter said.

“Okay!”

Baxter said he was too full for dessert, and everyone else agreed — except Mike. He asked if they had apple pie. That made Baxter chuckle, and he thought, ‘Mike appears to be addicted to apple pie.’

The waiter replied, “I’m sorry, we don’t have that on our dessert menu. We do have some other choices. I can show you the dessert menu if you’d like.”

No one wanted to be tempted by looking at the menu, including Mike.

Rob paid the bill, and the Stewarts said they wanted to get to the stores in the Broadway Plaza section of downtown Walnut Creek. They said their goodbyes, the Stewarts left to do some shopping, and the Chois left to go home with Mike. He’d brought his backpack with his textbooks and clean clothes with him.

Thursday, November 21st, 2019, Late Evening

When they got home, the Chois and Mike sat in the family room.

“What do you three plan to do? Homework?” Rob asked.

“Mine is all done,” Mike said. “I already uploaded it to School Loop.”

“Same for me,” Baxter said. “I checked my School Loop account to make sure there was nothing new that I missed by being out of class today. There wasn’t.”

“Mine’s all done,” Elizabeth said. “We’re reading a story written in Spanish tomorrow, so I want to reread it to make sure I know all the words.”

“Do you have to translate it into English as you’re reading from the Spanish story?” Mike asked.

“No! That would really be hard. I have to write the translation in class, then stand up and read my translation in front of everyone the next day. I’m taking Spanish 1, and I don’t think it’s as difficult as what you guys are taking in high school.”

“I’m taking Spanish 2, and we have to do that kind of translating in our head from the Spanish as we read it aloud in English,” Mike said.

Baxter added, “I’m taking Spanish 3, and we have to do a lot of standing up and translating while we’re reading from something in the other language. We have to write translations from stories and news articles that Mrs. Acero hands out in class, too. At least — so far — we don’t have to the stand-up-and-translate thing from her handouts.”

“That sounds difficult,” Rob said. “We didn’t have to do anything like that when I was in high school.” He saw the three kids’ expressions. “And don’t you dare say that I’m just an old fogey and how much harder high school is these days.” He was grinning, so they knew he was joking.

“You took Spanish in high school?” Baxter asked.

“Yes. For three years.”

“I took Russian,” Vincent said. “I wanted a language that used a different alphabet, mostly as an experiment to see what it was like. The only language they offered like that was Russian. It uses the Cyrillic alphabet. It was interesting, but after one semester, I dropped it and took a short story writing class instead. It was a one-semester class that was more useful for me as an English major.”

Baxter stood up. “Well, since we have to get up at the crack of dawn, I think it’s time for Mike and me to hit the sack. It’s just past nine-thirty already.”

Mike yawned, then so did both Baxter and Elizabeth.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Vincent said. I’ll be leaving at seven-fifteen, so be sure you’ve finished breakfast and are ready to go by then.”

“We will,” Baxter said. “Good night.” He hugged Vincent, Rob, and Elizabeth.

Mike said, “Good night. Thanks for dinner; it was excellent. I want to go back and try other things I saw on the menu.”

“Good night, and I’m glad you were able to come with us tonight, Mike.”

The three kids walked down the hall to the bedrooms. “Hey, Elizabeth, thanks for your suggestion about you riding the bus tomorrow morning so Mike and I can get fifteen minutes more sleep.”

“Thanks, but I bet you’re going to spend that extra time talking. Right?”

Mike grinned. “I think you’re right.”

When the boys got to his room, Baxter closed the door. “That means do not disturb,” he said. He turned on his electric blanket and set the wake alarm to six-thirty. Mike asked, “Are you going to take a shower tonight or in the morning?”

“I think in the morning. That way, I won’t need to take one tonight.”

“Same for me,” Mike said. “Do you wear PJ’s or boxers and a T or nada?” he asked.

“Definitely nada. Especially tonight.”

“Good! Me, too. Now, I want more details about what being in court was like.”

Baxter described the details, including when a guy stood up and objected to his being adopted by two gay men because of his religious views.

“He was a complete homophobe. The judge shut him down right away. When he continued to object and said the judge was refusing to listen to his evidence that Rob and Vincent were pedophiles — his evidence was they were married — the judge said if he didn’t take his seat and kept talking he’d put him in jail for seven days for contempt of court. The guy left the courtroom with two people that had been with him.

“A funny thing that happened was when the guy said Rob and Vincent had perverted Elizabeth. She stood up and shouted that he was a jerk, that she wasn’t perverted, and no one had tried to pervert her. The judge banged his gavel and told her she shouldn’t speak unless he asked her to speak. She blushed, but I could tell the judge was trying to hide his smile.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Mike said. “I’m glad the judge was on your side. What’s his name?”

“Judge George York. You should tell your parents so they can request that your adoption be held in his court. He’s friendly but is no-nonsense. I liked him a lot, and I think Rob and Vincent would agree with me.”

Baxter described other things like his name change and the documents they were waiting to get from the County Recorder’s office.

Finally, he yawned, and Mike did, too. “I think it’s time to get ready for bed.” Mike agreed.

They brushed their teeth, got undressed, and were ready for bed in about five minutes. They stood looking at each other, grinning. Then Mike grabbed Baxter and hugged him with their bodies together as tight as he could. Baxter did the same. Both boys were thinking about how wonderful that felt. Naked hugs were much better and more exciting than when they were clothed. They got into bed, put their arms around each other and snuggled together.

Baxter rubbed Mike’s back, then moved to make room and reached down between them. He found what he was searching for and took hold. Mike moaned with pleasure and did the same with Baxter. They were both very excited.

They enjoyed each other in ways that were not possible when they were at Groveland. By the time they fell asleep, it was almost eleven o’clock, and they were both happy and worn out.

Friday, November 22nd, 2019, Early Morning

Baxter groaned when he heard the alarm. He shook Mike, then kissed him. “Time to get up. We need to shower, brush our teeth, comb our hair, and have breakfast. Do you shave?”

“Yeah, there’s not much to shave, just my upper lip, so I do it once a week, usually when I get up on Sunday. How about you?”

“I never shave. Other than on the top of my head, the only other places I have hair are in my pits and above my crotch. As you saw and probably felt, what’s down there is the same color but softer than what’s on my head, and there’s not a lot.”

“There’s enough that it was tickling my nose when I was visiting down there.”

“I can say that my nose knows you have a lot more down there than me!” Baxter said.

“Does that bother you?”

“Nope. All my nether parts work perfectly. That’s what counts.”

“I know they work perfectly,” Mike responded. “It’s absolutely yummy! You know, this was the first time for me.”

“You mean the yummy part?” Baxter giggled.

“Uh-huh.”

“Me too, a first with someone other than me.”

“What!?” Mike exclaimed.

“You never tried your own?” Baxter asked.

“No. Have you?”

Baxter blushed. “All the time. Keeps the bed neat and clean, if you know what I mean.”

“Are you and me about the same, uh… flavor?”

“Yes.”

“But how do you….”

Baxter leaned over and opened the drawer in his nightstand. He pulled out a soupspoon and waved it at Mike. “Try it at home, it works great. And I think you’ll like it, I sure do!”

Both boys cracked up, and they got out of bed and went into the bathroom to shower, separately, and get ready for breakfast.

When they got to the kitchen, Vincent was at the table eating a bagel.

“Hi, Pop,” Baxter said, then he turned to Mike. “What do you want for breakfast?”

Mike said, “Hi, Mr. Choi,” then answered Baxter’s question. “Some juice, whatever you have, and cereal, whatever you have.”

“You like blueberries?” Vincent asked him.

“Yes, I love blueberries.”

“I’ll rinse some,” Baxter said. “There’s orange juice in the refrigerator.” He handed Mike a glass, a bowl, and a spoon. “You can choose what kind of cereal you want.” He opened the cupboard. There were four boxes of cereal, each different. He moved them to the table so Mike could see what was available.

“I usually mix two or three kinds and add blueberries. It makes it more interesting. I skip the Fruit Loops; they’re Elizabeth’s favorite, but they’re too sweet for me. You want a bagel, too? And besides juice, what do you want to drink? We have milk. And there’s coffee.”

“Milk, please. Just mix the cereals and add blueberries for me the same as what you’re going to have. Include a spoonful of Fruit Loops on top; I’d like to try them because I’ve never had them. I’ll skip the bagel. I’ll get a snack at school during brunch.”

“Okay, breakfast is on its way.” He handed Mike a glass for his milk and put the carton on the table.

While they were eating, Elizabeth walked into the kitchen and poured a bowlful of Fruit Loops. She sat down at the table with them.

“Do you want some blueberries?” Baxter asked her.

“No, thank you. Dad said we’re going to have blueberry pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll just enjoy my Fruit Loops como es.”

“I see you’ve been studying your Spanish vocabulary. Is the Spanish for ‘as is’ going to be on your test?”

“It was in the list of words, so it could be. Or not. No way to know, so learning ‘como es’ is better than getting it wrong.”

“That’s a good approach,” Vincent said.

Baxter and Mike finished their breakfasts. “I’m going to brush my teeth,” Baxter said.

“I’ll brush mine, too,” Mike added.

“You each might want to wear a light jacket,” Vincent advised. “It’s chilly outside this morning. I’ll be ready to leave in about ten minutes.”

“Okay, thanks, Pop.”

The two boys went to Baxter’s room. He took a leak while Mike brushed his teeth, then they switched. After they were through in the bathroom, they put on their jackets and grabbed their backpacks, then returned to the kitchen.

Vincent joined them. “Ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” Baxter said.

Friday, November 22nd, 2019, At School

Vincent drove them to the drop-off area at the front of the campus, then drove to the staff parking lot and left for his office in building 500.

As Mike and Baxter were walking across the campus, one of their friends, Lane Simmons, saw them and rushed over to find out about the adoption.

“Hi, Mike. Hey, Baxter, are you officially adopted now?”

“Yes, Baxter said. Then he told Lane a summarized description of his adoption and his new family, and how his middle and last names would be changed on the school records when they got the documents from the court.

“Wow, that is great. How about you, Mike? Are you going to be adopted, too?”

“Yeah, but it’s going to take a few more months. I’m being fostered by the couple that’s applied to adopt me. My last name will change from Miller to Stewart when it’s finalized.” He knew the Stewarts would try to get him on a fast-track, but didn’t want to tell anyone else — other than Baxter, who knew about it already.

“Hey, that’s fantastic! I’m so glad for you two guys. I gotta run. I’m scheduled to talk to my counselor about what classes I want to take next semester. Don’t want to miss my appointment. I’ll see you guys later. Bye!” He turned around and took off, running across the quad.

Baxter and Mike both shouted, “Bye!” and waved, but gave up because Lane had run at least halfway across campus toward the administration building.

“Lane should go out for cross-country or track,” Mike said.

“I never knew he was that fast a runner,” Baxter observed. “He’s in the admin building already.”

Because of block scheduling, the Staff/Collaboration period came first on Wednesdays and Fridays, from seven-thirty to eight-thirty. This period was optional, so many students used it to get more sleep. Some students used it to do homework, or go to the library or the computer lab, or meet with teachers or their counselors, or hang out with friends.

“Well, what do you want to do for almost an hour?” Baxter asked Mike.

“I have geometry next period. That would be fourth period unless I messed up the schedule in my head. We have a bunch of problems to complete and turn in by the end of school today. I didn’t turn them in yet because I’m sort of stuck on three of them. So, I think I’ll go to the library and see if I can figure out if my answers are correct.”

“I have Geometry Honors next period,” Baxter said. “It’s in room 504. No one will be there yet.”

“Okay. “My geometry class is in room 503. That’s convenient for both of us.”

They arrived at room 504 first, and there was no one in the classroom.

“Let’s sit down next to each other and see if I can give you some ideas about how to solve those problems. Then right after our classes, we can go to the computer lab during Academy period and you can upload your solutions to School Loop.”

Mike nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” He took his laptop out of his backpack and opened the problem set.

They spent about twenty minutes, and Baxter showed Mike techniques he could use to solve the three problems perplexing him. Baxter also found a tricky problem involving the conversion of radians that didn’t have the correct solution.

“Who’s your teacher?” Baxter asked.

“Mr. Rykes.”

“Hmm. I have Cooperman. I’ve heard Rykes likes to sneak in a more advanced problem every once in a while to see how many of his students didn’t solve it correctly. Then he talks about that kind of problem, like conversion of radians, in the next day’s class. He gives everyone credit, so it’s a ‘no harm, no foul’ way to introduce something new and usually more complicated. He always warns his students about it in advance.”

Baxter gave Mike some tips, and he derived that correct solutions, too.

“Thanks, Baxter. With your help, I was able to work out the correct solutions without you doing them for me. You really know how to explain things so I understand them.”

“Anytime, Mike.”

You know, you should be teaching my class. Or even better, tutoring kids in my class. You might get paid for being a tutor. You oughta check it out.”

“Well, maybe. Thing is, tutoring would take up a lot of my time.”

“Say, what’s Mr. Rykes going to think when I have the correct solution to the radians problem, and he hasn’t talked about it yet? Would he figure I had someone do it for me?”

“I don’t think so. He just wants to find out how many kids didn’t solve it, and if there are enough, even if it’s only ten or twenty percent, that gives him a reason to introduce his next lecture. If most got the correct answer, he’d pick a different lesson for next time.”

They heard the first bell for fourth period. “You get to sit in this same seat, and I have walk all the way to my classroom across the hall. That’s tough to do, walking across the unending flow of kids crossing my path!”

Baxter laughed, then said, “And I suppose it’s uphill both ways?” Then Mike said, “of course,” then asked, “See you in the computer lab at the beginning of Academy period?”

“Yup, except we can walk there together because Academy period immediately follows our Geometry classes.”

Mike shook his head. “I must be coming down with EOA.”

“What’s EOA?”

“Early Onset Alzheimer’s.”

They both laughed. Mike left to walk to his classroom, and Baxter moved to his usual seat in the first row.

He’d been thinking about Mike; seriously thinking about him. His question was, should he ask Mike if he wanted to be his boyfriend. They’d known each other for the entire time Mike had been at Groveland, almost a year. And now they’d taken the next step in their relationship. Still, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t moving too fast.

He’d ask Rob and Vincent for their advice, and he’d do that tonight.