Work Text:
“Are you going to adopt me?”
Steve and Bucky froze.
They had been coming to the orphanage for a month now, three times a week, to spend time with James, the six year old boy they were interested in adopting. They had spent countless hours scrolling through the adoption website, looking at children and profiles of each, before finally settling on James, a spunky little guy in need of an active home and parents who were willing to go above and beyond for his higher level of intelligence. Steve and Bucky felt like they could be those parents.
“Would you like us to adopt you?” said Steve slowly.
“Because we would love to adopt you,” said Bucky, wanting James to be clear that he was wanted.
“I have a brother that you have to adopt too,” said James bluntly.
“What?” said Steve, confused.
His file did not mention any family. From what they have gathered from James himself and the workers at the facility James had been in their care since he was two and his grandparents had surrendered him when they could no longer care for him and they had not mentioned any siblings.
“A brother,” said James, looking as unimpressed as a six year old could, arms crossed, eyebrows raised, pouting lips. “He’s three and if you adopt me you have to adopt him too.”
“Um, is your brother here?” asked Bucky, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Yeah! I’ll go get him!”
James ran out of the room before Steve or Bucky could protest.
“Um, a brother?” said Steve.
“I mean, I’ve always said only children turn out weird,” said Bucky with a shrug.
“Hey, I’m an only child!”
“Case and point.”
Steve shoved Bucky playfully, the two still laughing when James came back in, holding the hand of a little boy who was looking around curiously.
“This is Tony,” said James proudly. “Tony, this is Steve and Bucky. I told you about them. I play with them when I can’t play with you.”
Tony nodded along in understanding.
Steve looked at Bucky, wondering if he was supposed to just pretend that those two boys were brothers when they very clearly were not. James was black and Tony was clearly not black.
“When did you and Tony meet?” asked Bucky, rolling with it as best he could.
“Tony got brought to the orphanage last year,” said James happily, leading Tony to the table and helping the younger boy onto a chair before sitting in his own again. “He’s just little and scared and needed a big brother and I’m big, so I’m his big brother now.”
Steve pushed over some coloring paper and crayons.
“No Tony, crayons are not for eating,” said James when Tony put the red crayon in his mouth.
“Popsicle,” said Tony plainly.
“No, that’s a crayon,” laughed James. “We can ask for a popsicle later. Right now we are drawing with Steve and Bucky.”
They had thought James was animated before but the boy had clearly been holding back on them because it was nothing like how he was with Tony.
“Tony is really smart,” said James, looking back at Steve and Bucky. “He’s three and can count really high.”
“That’s so cool,” said Bucky with a smile. “Tony, James is pretty special.”
Tony nodded.
“Steve and I really like him and want to adopt him and bring him home to live with us,” continued Bucky.
“Me too,” said Tony with a bright smile. “I live with James too!”
“Bucky and I need to talk about that together and also with some other adults first,” said Steve, smiling sadly. “See, we were planning on just adopting James.”
“We didn’t realize that he had a little brother,” said Bucky in a rush when both young faces fell. “So we only have permission to adopt James.”
“But James is my brother,” said Tony, scrunching his eyebrows before looking at James with a frown. “You never leave me. You promised.”
“Of course I won’t leave you,” insisted James. “You’re my little brother. Steve and Bucky will adopt both of us or we will stay here for longer and wait for other parents to come get us.”
“Alright boys,” said Bucky with a smile. “Stevie and I are going to go talk. Are you two going to be okay coloring here alone for a bit?”
“Yup!” said James, already pulling his own coloring sheet closer.
Bucky and Steve left the meeting room once they were sure that the boys were occupied. They went next door to the office of the case worker they had been working with to adopt James. Her hair was greying and her glasses were slightly two large for her face, as though she thought having a larger frame would distract from her wrinkles when all it did was draw attention to them. Her soft spoken tone hinted at years of working with children who needed extra care and while the tone grated on Bucky’s nerves after a time Steve found it soothing.
“What can you tell us about Tony?” asked Bucky, sitting down in the grey chair in front of the desk.
Steve sat next to him, his hands itching to clear the files stacked on the desk, to make the space a little more orderly and welcoming.
“Tony?” said Ms. Keener, surprised. “Why are you asking about Tony?”
“James says that Tony is his little brother and won’t be adopted without him,” said Bucky. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Listen, these kids are all looking for a family and sometimes they make do with each other, claiming to be siblings while they wait to be adopted. Most of the time they are fine when they leave, it takes a bit to adjust but they ultimately grow into their adoptive families and stop asking about the kids they left behind here. You two were so invested in adopting James that I didn’t want to ruin his chances by adding another kid to the mix.”
“James seems very taken with Tony,” said Steve. He crossed his arms, trying not to be closed off but wary of anything this woman had to say now that he knew she was aware of the relationship James and Tony shared.
“The two have been inseparable since Tony arrived here,” said Ms. Keener with a sigh. “Tony was very shy when he arrived, nervous, showing the signs of neglect and abuse, and James took him under his wing. Tony attached himself to James and has since flourished, though he still has some issues such as with new women and crowds. Over all he is a sweet boy and both of them are very intelligent, which is probably why they bonded even though there is an age gap.”
“We need to talk about this,” said Steve. “We weren’t planning on adopting two kids at once.”
“I understand. I’ll let you have my office if you want to talk now. Or if you would rather go home I just ask that you say goodbye to James first.”
“We’ll talk here, thank you.”
When they were alone in the office, Steve turned away from the paper strewn desk to his husband. Bucky was staring at the clock on the wall blankly, not really seeing it. Steve knew that look, Bucky was thinking and if Steve asked him later Bucky wouldn’t be able to tell him that there had been a clock even though it was a gaudy white and rainbow colored clock with red and orange clashing crayons as hands, each section of five minutes changing colors to help little kids learn how to tell time.
“I think we should adopt them both,” said Bucky at last.
“She said Tony showed signs of abuse,” said Steve. “Are we ready to take that on?”
“Sure. I mean, we all have our issues, so he’ll fit right in. And I love James so much already I’m not willing to miss our chance to give him a home. We planned on adopting more kids in the future.”
“Yes, in the future Buck, after James was settled. Not right now.”
There was a knock on the door. Both men looked up when a young woman slipped inside. She had the uniform of a caretaker and smiled nervously at them, her hands twisting in the front of her shirt.
“You two are wanting to adopt James right?” she said quickly, glancing at the door.
“Yes,” said Steve.
“Good,” she said, nodding along. “Good, James is great, you’re going to love him. Ms. Keener mentioned you had heard about Tony. I’m sure it’s a surprise, she doesn’t always disclose the kids relationships with each other to potential parents. I get it, most of them do just fine once they are adopted, but I don’t think that’s the case with Tony and James. Those two boys adore each other. They do everything together and taking just James would devastate them both.”
She paused, glancing at the closed door again before returning to her story.
“Please, just consider adopting them both. It’ll be better for them both in the long run and they need each other. They are good boys.”
“Can you tell us more about Tony?” asked Bucky.
“There’s not much known about him. He was abandoned on the side of the highway about a year or so ago. He was brought here, dirty, skinny, scared. By the second day James had taken him in and insisted they share a room even though they aren’t in the same age group. Eventually we got tired of James and Tony sneaking into each others beds at night and just let them share. The rest is history. Tony doesn’t really talk to us much, he’s very shy and I think there’s something about women that frighten him, but James could tell you more. He really is Tony’s big brother in everything but blood and legal status.”
The door opened.
“Get back to work,” sighed Ms. Keener, looking exhausted. “You’re not supposed to be in here, these men wanted some time to speak alone.”
“Sorry.”
Ms. Keener shut the door after the young lady had left, leaving Steve and Bucky alone again. They talked for a while longer and then invited Ms. Keener back in. By the time they had all their questions answered and returned to the boys, James and Tony were sitting on the floor of the meeting room, playing with the trucks.
“Hey boys,” said Bucky, sitting down next to them while Steve crouched down as well, both of them smiling. “What do you say about both of you going home and living with us forever?”