Chapter Text
Chapter one
“Umm… Can we have some food?” says a small voice of a child. He’s only eight, very malnourished and skinny, sweating like crazy through his ragged brown T-shirt. He has strong blue eyes though, eyes of a fighter, those eyes covered by long brown hair. To his right is a slightly taller boy, even though he’s only 7. This one has bright reddish/orange hair with copper brown eyes, and is hiding in the shadow of the boy who’d just spoken, very frightened.
They are standing in a shack of a home, destroyed and in dire need of repairs. Moldy, rotten floors, shattered windows, no central air in the middle of an Austin summer. Alcoholic and drug paraphernalia litter the house.
“No. Go away.” The harsh woman’s voice echoes in the hardwood. In a drugged out state, she’s got matted hair, is also very skinning, her ribs showing
The boy with the strong blue eyes stands up firmly. “We haven’t eaten in DAYS, you have to feed us when we’re not in school! I’ll call MISSES-” he says with a harsh voice.
CRACK
A beer bottle is slammed across the boy’s head, hurling him to the floor, the orange haired one picking him up before he fell. His right eyebrow is cut, bleeding.
“Listen here. You are here for one reason, and that’s to make sure we get a paycheck every month without having to do shit. I don’t give a fuck what you do, just don’t end my gravy train anytime soon. If you so much as even WHISPER to Miss McAby, me or one of my friends will hunt down your little sister Griffy and make sure she suffers more than anyone else in the world! We’ll kill her, but not until we’ve made her cry every last tear she has in her BODY.” she says, now standing up, putting her foot on the kid’s head, slamming him into the floor.
“Life’s tough kid, get the fuck over it!” she says, now laughing a bit.
__________
Geoff Ramsey opens his eyes slowly, his deep blue eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room.
Yet another nightmare of his pitiful childhood and it takes him a moment of careful breathing to get over it. Taking in his surroundings, and raising up a bit in the bed, he sees he is in the Home Hunters bedroom, the newly furnished room he’d just moved into a few nights before. It’s very plain, clearly not a place of wealth or excessive spending. Cheap plastic wood furnishing from Wal-Mart, a single television set, desk with an ancient donated computer system for bookkeeping and reports. His bed was a cheap mattress with cheap sheets and an old quilt on it.
He smiled a bit now though. Realizing his dream was HERE.
After several years on the streets after he came of age, he got himself into college, majoring in child psychology with his (foster) brother Jack Patillo. Originally both social workers for a few years, they worked their ass off, got sponsored and managed to create their dream company, the Home Hunters. Geoff and Jack would soon be taking in abandoned and abused children to live with them on a permanent basis, and would raise them in a small home, where they would get the constant food, love and attention that all children needed. The state government loved the idea, hoping to see it do well, so that the group could expand and help the growing foster problem in the United States.
Geoff gets up out of the bed, pulling on a shirt next to his bed and walking into the living room. He had a skinny figure, dark brown hair sticking up all over the place and a scraggly beard, his arms covered in thick tattoos from his teenage and college years, each one a powerful message in and of itself.
The house wasn’t very big, but it was clean, safe and better than most apartments. White carpeting (WHAT were they thinking?!), beige walls and about 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, linen closet and a kitchen. It would be cramped, but they had enough room to start small and do a good job.
“Can’t sleep?” says Jack on the couch. Geoff chuckled. Jack was like his brother, having gone through everything together since they got placed in their shithole of a home so many years ago. Jack was bigger than he was, though not taller anymore. His flaming red/orange hair descended to his chin, him having a ridiculous beard that put Geoff’s to shame.
“No shit Sherlock.” He says, plopping down next to him.
“So, this is really a thing?” Jack says, letting out a deep breath of air, him long since stopped paying attention to the television.
Geoff nods. “Yeah man, they’re bringing the kid first thing in the morning. Ryan Haywood.”
Jack turns to him. “You think we’re ready? I mean, it’s one thing to counsel kids, but we’re going to be like their dads.”
Geoff chuckles. “Well, we can’t do any worse than what went with us, so I’m sure anything would be an improvement.”
Jack looks down a bit. “Maybe so, but… I guess..” He lets out a big breath. “I want them to be happy Geoff, like REALLY happy, like they have a freaking fantastic life happy and don’t even remember all the sadness.”
Geoff smiles at him. “And that’s why we are going to be great parents and caretakers. That’s why our project is going to work, and that’s why we’re going to do something big here.”
~
The morning came very quickly, neither one of them getting much sleep. Geoff and Jack both cleaned up the house a bit, getting the kid’s room ready as well as them showering. He wouldn’t have much, but they’d take care of it that afternoon and take him shopping. Geoff really didn’t know the whole story about Ryan, but the agent in charge of his case would fill him in on it later.
The knock on the door came early, nearly on the dot of eight o’clock.
Geoff walked towards it, pulling it open, a tall woman in a regal red business suit and bright smile with long and curly blonde hair. Behind her is a small boy, looking down at his feet.
“Good morning Mr. Ramsey, I’m Ms. Dunkelman, and I’m Ryan’s agent and your liaison with the agency. Here’s my card.” She says, handing it to him.
“Ah, just call me Geoff. Is this guy Ryan?” he says, smiling and peeking behind her.
Ryan’s expression doesn’t change, him still staring at the floor, not moving.
“Yes it is. Ryan here volunteered for the program, and I’m hoping everything goes well!” she says, now sitting down on Ryan’s level. “Ryan, this is Mr. Ramsey, and he’s going to be your new father with Mr. Patillo back there.” She says, pointing in the background, Jack waving with a warm smile.
Ryan’s face looks up, Geoff taking him in for the first time. He was probably between eleven and twelve, wearing some baggy jeans he’d probably gotten from the agency, and some zip up blue hoodie with a “my little pony” logo on the shirt. He had dark brown hair and light blue eyes, though they’re a little dead looking. He was SKINNY, and Geoff knew immediately to get this kid a burger.
“Don’t you want to say hello Ryan?” Ms. Dunklemen says, pushing him a bit into the household. He looks back down.
“Hello Sir.” He forces out, in a dull tone of forced respect.
“Hey man, let’s show you your room, and Ms. Dunkelmen will settle up things with Geoff here.” Jack says, taking the kid by the hand, and leading him through the household .
As Ryan disappears into his room, Barbara stands back up. “Mr. Ramsey, I’m truly sorry to leave you with this one right off the bat, but… Well, it’s one we really needed to get into a safe situation. You guys are different than most homes, since you’re under government protection, so his parents won’t get him back.”
Geoff intakes a breath of air, now nervous. “What’s the story?” he asks, asking her to walk inside. She does, taking a seat on the same couch he and Jack had occupied the previous night.
“Long story short, and I’m leaving you his files to read in detail, but Ryan was pretty badly neglected for a long time. His parents are both drug addicts and didn’t want much to do with his care and definitely couldn’t take care of themselves, so he started taking care of himself and his parents from about six, and he did a pretty good job keeping them all fed with what little money they didn’t blow on meth or what drugs they could afford. We didn’t know until about a week or two ago when he came to school late and cried about his mom overdosing, him begging for them to help her or she was going to die.”
Geoff rubbed his face in disgust. The disgust being that it wasn’t the worst story he’d ever heard.
“After that, we got him out and learned everything that had been going on. His mother will be out of intensive care in about a week, and could possibly get custody back if she gets into rehab. You and I both know what a crock that is, so we gave him this option, and he took it pretty quickly. Poor kid is about thirty pounds underweight, has serious trust issues and doesn’t know how to let others take care of him. You have… Well, you have quite the trial ahead of you.” She says, still smiling but looking tired. She knew the score, Geoff could tell easily. This wasn’t her first rodeo.
Geoff looked at her, taking her hand and shaking it. “We’ll do our best. Let us know when you need us. We’re small, but we can handle about three more. After that we’d be strained though.”
Barbara nods. “Geoff, you come highly recommended from the agency from your past years, Jack too, so I’m going to keep you as my last hope on these kids. Please… Don’t disappoint me, I want this to work.” She says, getting up and smiling again as Ryan re-enters the living room with Jack.
“Well Ryan, I’m heading out so you guys can get to know each other better, but you have my number. Call me if you need ANYTHING, and I will come just as soon as possible. I’ll be back soon to check up on you too, so don’t think you’re rid of me yet!” She says smiling, petting him on the shoulders.
Ryan nods his head and gives her a big hug. “Thank you Ms. Dunkleman.” He manages to say before letting go and sitting on the couch, not staring at anyone in the eye.
Barbara waves as the walks out of the door, and its shut slowly by Geoff who sits next to Ryan. “So Ryan, you want to go shopping? We could get you some clothes and some stuff for your room, I’m sorry it’s so boring.” Geoff says sweetly, Jack nodding his head. “Yeah man, we could grab lunch too, I’m starving.”
Ryan shakes his head. “You, um.. Don’t have to do that.”
Geoff smiled. “Ok then, well, I guess you could go to school in the my little pony hoodie. I prefer Flutteryshy though, Rainbow Dash isn’t exactly trendy to me.”
Ryan’s face crumples for a second. “I guess….”
~
Geoff had never met a more infuriating kid in his life before, even in all his days in the agency. Not because he was rude, and not because he was misbehaving, but because he was so damn polite it was killing him.
“So, would you rather go with T-shirts or something fancier like polos?” Geoff asks, Ryan in the middle of Old Navy. The store had a good sale on everything, which was perfect for their budget. Jack was in Target, looking for a few things in private for the kid like nightshirts, pajamas, underwear, socks or whatnot that they could buy in bulk and save some money.
“Whichever you think would be cheaper sir.” He replies, not looking into his eyes.
Geoff rubs his heads. “Uh, it’s up to you. Either one is good, just whatever is more your style.”
Ryan thinks for a moment, and points to the T-shirts. “Thank you, sir.” He says
Resisting the urge to slap the kid on the head and make him selfish, he then gently moves him towards the stack of T-Shirts, and begins handing him ones to try on. “Let’s get ones that are a little bigger so you’ll have room to grow.” Geoff says, putting a T-shirt up to Ryan’s back seeing if it would measure up.
“Yes sir.” He says again.
Geoff sighs. “Ryan, you don’t have to call me sir. It’s polite, and cute, but you can call me Mr. Ramsey or even better if you’d just call me Geoff. Or dad, if you want or feel comfortable with it.”
Ryan looks down. “Yes Mr. Ramsey.”
~
Lunch hadn’t been much better for Geoff and Ryan. They’d gone to a McDonalds, and Ryan hadn’t ordered much, just a kid’s meal despite Geoff insisting he could get an adult portioned meal (he really needed to gain some weight).
Ryan finished his food pretty quickly, scarfing it down, getting a few refills on his soda after being assured they were free.
“So Ryan, anything fun you’d like to do? We’ve got the rest of the day to kill; me and Jack won’t need to take you home until about eight.” Geoff says smiling.
The kid shakes his head. “No Si-… Mr. Ramsey, you can just take me back to your place.” Ryan says, looking down again, trying hard not to look Geoff in the eyes.
“You sure kiddo? I mean, we could go to the park, go to the movies, or I dunno, anything really. Seriously, we don’t mind, we want to hang out with you and get to know you better man.” Geoff says smiling. He really meant that too. The extent of his interactions with Ryan had thus far been “yes sir” or “no sir”.
Ryan nods. “Yes, I’d just like to go to sleep if that’s all right?” he says, still not looking Geoff in the eyes.
Geoff internally sighs, but nods his head. “Sure thing kiddo.”
Jack walks in, carrying a few bags from target filled with various articles of clothing. Ryan looked away from him, and Geoff noticed that he was biting his lip. Hard.
“Ryan? You ok?” Geoff asks, seeing he’s stressed out.
“Mr. Ramsey, you don’t have to spend so much money on me, please…” he says, now deflating back into his chair.
Geoff gives him a puzzled look, and starts looking for signs, anything… It was hard, the kid wasn’t opening up. Though one thing was clear, he seemed very uncomfortable with the topic of money or them spending it on him. The t-shirts had been on sale, the meal he bought the cheapest possible.
They’d have to have a talk that night.
~
Jack and Geoff sat down on the couch, Ryan already in bed, him having gone to bed almost immediately when they got in at four. Geoff didn’t want to push the kid too hard, and let him be for now.
“So, is it just me, or do we have an unusually unselfish kid on our hands for a drug case?” Jack says, looking at Geoff.
Geoff nodded. “Yeah, he’s wound up tight about money for some reason; I caught that in the restaurant. I went through his files, and they were poor, but usually kids want to get better stuff in these kinds of situations. Ryan? He’s avoiding it like the fucking plague.”
Jack sighed. “Should we ask Dunkelmen?”
Geoff shook his head. “No, I have her notes and already texted her about it. This is something that we’ve done, and I can’t help but think about everything we’ve said. Did he say anything in the room with you while I talked to her?”
Jack shook his head. “Nope, he just sat on the bed and didn’t say a word. I explained that it was his room and that he could do anything he wanted with it so long as he didn’t destroy anything, but I never mentioned anything about our finances. I don’t think he could comprehend it anyway.”
Geoff sighed now. “We’ll talk to him in the morning. He’s probably exhausted from everything, so let’s not overwhelm him. Besides, we both know that relationships don’t form overnight. We’ll just give him time.”
Jack agreed, and the two of them went their separate ways for the night.
~
Geoff couldn’t sleep again, though this time for a different reason. He wanted to go into Ryan’s room and talk with him. It was nearly four AM though, and he certainly didn’t want to wake the kid up if he was sleeping. He knew what that kid was going through and thinking, and wanted more than anything to be there for him, but knew that sleeping was one of the few times that the kid would ever get true peace of mind.
Still…
“I wish he’d talk to me.” He says openly, adjusting himself on the pillow.
A small knock is on his door.
“Come in.” he says, watching as the door opens, and Ryan is there, in plain white T-shirt and Ninja Turtle pajama bottoms.
Geoff wishes he wasn’t shirtless and showing off some of his more revealing and child-innapropriate tattoos, but the kid would see it soon enough anyway, no need in worrying about it now.
“Mr. Ramsey, I’m sorry to bother you, but I heard that you were awake…” Ryan says.
Geoff smiles. “Ryan, you can talk to me anytime you want. ANY time, no matter when, come here.” He says, patting on the bed. Ryan sits on the far edge of the bed, away from Geoff.
“Mr. Ramsey… I’m sorry you had to buy me all these clothes, please take them back tomorrow, I can go to school in the pony hoodie, it’s not that bad.” He says, nearly in tears.
Geoff gets up and sits next to him on the bed, putting his arm around his shoulder. “Ryan, why are you so worried about our money?”
Ryan sniffs a bit, trying not to cry. “Well, I know how these… Homes work. My mom and dad told me, and so did the kids in the… Other house.”
Geoff has a puzzled look. “Well, how do these homes work?”
Ryan kicks his feet back and forth. “You guys get paid to keep me. If I cost more than you get to keep me, then you don’t make any money. If you don’t make any money then I go back home… ” he says pausing for a moment, his mind wild, him now breathing a bit more heavily.
“I don’t want to go back Mr. Ramsey, so please… Please…. Take the clothes back! I can live with just a few shirts! I can eat bread and water too! Just… Just whatever is the easiest!” he exclaims, clearly distraught over all of it.
Everything clicks in his head now, and he kicked himself for not explaining more about the program.
“Ryan, did Ms. Dunkelmen not tell you about our program here?” Geoff says, still maintaining his contact with the kid.
Ryan nods. “Yea, but… That’s just a story, right? The other kids said our parents get us back all the time. I can still get sent back, right?” he says, his voice trembling.
Geoff picks the kid up, putting him in his lap, hugging him hard from behind.
“Listen to me Ryan, I’m going to let you in on some grown up secrets. In this house, you’re not here for just a little while, and you’re not here so we can get money. There is no money to be made on you, Jack and I don’t even think like that. What we are here? We’re a family. You are our kid now, and we’re going to love you like you should be loved. Nobody in this world can take you away from us unless you want to leave, and I promise you that we will take care of you as long as you want us around. Don’t you EVER worry about money again, because me and Mr. Patillo are smart men. We know how to handle money, and we’re not ever going to spend too much if we don’t have it. So when we say for you to buy something, we want you to buy it.” Geoff says, seeing the kid is now calming down a bit.
“Do you have any questions Ryan? I’ll tell you anything, no holds barred.” Geoff says.
Ryan thinks for a minute, but turns his attention directly into Geoff’s eyes. “Can I really stay here? I mean, as long as I want? I don’t have to go back home?”
Geoff nods his head. “Yep. We’ll take care of you and be here for you every night and every day. Don’t you ever worry about that. You only go back if you want to, and you can tell Ms. Dunkelmen that if you’re not happy here.”
Ryan smiles. “So… This is really my new home like she said?”
Geoff nods. “Yep.”
Ryan lets a few tears fall down his cheeks. “Thank you Mr. Ramsey…”
Geoff gives Ryan a little noogie. “For god’s sake, call me Geoff, you’re making me feel old.”
Ryan giggles a bit. “Ok, Geoff.”
Ryan hugs him tightly, and Geoff returns it two-fold. “Are those real?” he says, pointing at the tattoos.
Geoff nods. “Yes they’re real, and no you can’t have one until you’re eighteen.”
Ryan and him both laugh, Ryan laying down next to Geoff and falling asleep in his arms. Geoff sleeps too, for the first time in about a week.
______________________
(2 Months Later)
“So Ryan, how are things going?” says Barbara, on her fourth official visit to the Home Hunters since putting Ryan in their care, it having been a few weeks since she had a serious one and one with him in private. She was alone with him, and Geoff and Jack were in the other room, away from him in case of any problems. Not that she expected any, Geoff and Jack were two of the best social workers they had before they left for the Home Hunters program.
“Good Ms. Dunkelmen!” Ryan says smiling.
Barbara smiles at that, noticing that he’s not nearly as skinny as he was coming in, and she can see some life in his eyes.
“So Ryan, what do you do with Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Patillo?” she says, pulling open her notebook.
Ryan smiles again. “Jack takes me to school every morning and picks me up. Geoff meets us in the park, and we go fishing sometimes!” he says excitedly. “Geoff also is teaching me how to play video games so I can pwn all the noobs!” he says even more excitedly.
Barbara suppresses snorting at that statement. “So how about eating? Do you get enough food?”
Ryan nods, but grimaces a bit. “Yeah, but I hope they get enough. When I finish my plate, they give me their extras cuz they say don’t want to get fat.”
Good. Barbara thinks, the kid still needed a bit more weight.
“And how about school? Is everything going ok there since you moved?” she asked, secretly sighing inside, knowing how hard it would probably be, him not having done very well in school prior to the move.
“Well… I’m not very smart, but Jack is helping me with math homework, and Geoff helps me spell and write. I’m making B’s now!” he says proudly.
Barbara smiles at that, she’d have to check into the school with that to confirm.
“How about your friends, Kerry and Miles? Is everything ok with them?” she asked, secretly fretting over that, since friendships were hard to maintain with transitions.
Ryan nodded his head though. “Um… Kerry comes over sometime to play Nintendo, but Miles’s mom doesn’t like Geoff, so he hasn’t been over that many times.”
Barbara chuckled, she’d have to call Miles’s mother or drop her a letter informing her of Geoff’s position in the agency. Though she didn’t blame her though, Geoff was quite a character.
“So anything you want to tell me Ryan? I’m here for you just like Mr. Patillo and Mr. Ramsey are, and I don’t want you to think you can’t tell me anything.” Barbara says, hoping to make the kid sound safe.
“Umm… Well, there is one thing I wanted to ask you…” he says, looking down, blushing.
Barbara’s curiosity spikes. “What?”
~
Geoff sees as Barbara comes out of Ryan’s room with Ryan in tow. “Well, Mr. Ramsey, I can see that everything is going wonderfully, so I’ll leave you to it. Oh, but can I speak with you a minute in private?”
Geoff gets a bit nervous, Jack sharing his expression. Ryan sits down next to Jack, picking back up the puzzle they’d been working on that morning. Geoff walks outside with Barbara, and the two shut the door behind them, stepping out on the porch and into the summer heat.
“Mr. Ramsey, I’m glad to see Ryan doing so well. He’s really getting into a good routine, and I’m glad to see it. Long way to go, but I can sense cracks in that outer shell going down.” She says, smiling.
Geoff nods his head. “Yeah, he’s not there yet, but we’re working on it. He still won’t tell us everything we wants or needs, and he’s way too damn polite.”
Barbara chuckles. “Oh, and that reminds me, Ryan did ask me something personal.”
Geoff turns his head to her. “Oh, what’s that?”
She puts her hand on Geoff’s shoulder. “He wanted to know if he could call you Dad. I told him of course you could, but you might make him feel better about it.”
Geoff’s heart melts as she walks away from the Home Hunters house, him smiling.
Griffy… I’m doing something right. Finally.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------