Chapter 15: Welcome to the Family
Date: September 21st, 2023
Location: Summerton residence, City of Ellington
Time: 7:06 PM (Local)
Sophomore Year, 1st Semester
“I guess excessive officer meetings are a thing here too, Eve.”
“I know, Allen. I know.”
It may have been only five days, but Allen believes that the wooden chair he is sitting in has already conformed to his backside. Kayla and Valorie sit on either side. Laura and Amy sit opposite as usual. Brad was finishing up a chicken dinner he started before going to practice. Pots and pans clanged in the background.
“Allen and I had a talk on the way over.” Amy leads the conversation. “We found information on his parents.” A loud clang sounds out from the kitchen before Brad rushes into the dining room and takes a quick seat. The Summertons lean in to hear what Amy says next.
“Unfortunately, they are deceased. He has no other family. We checked quite thoroughly. So, now we have to discuss more permanent arrangements for Allen. I have been authorized to allow the Summertons to adopt Allen if that is what you all want.”
Laura and Brad instantly agree with confirmation from the girls. They then focus on Allen as he sits in his seat while tapping his finger to his chin. He’s staring up at the ceiling as he pretends to ponder the question. Brad, Laura, and the girls all take a sharp inhale of air.
“I don’t know. Valorie seems to think I was lab grown….”
All eyes land on Valorie. She squawks in protest at his words. Allen chuckles and they focus back on him.
“Yes, of course! You guys have been great to me.” Cheers erupt at his words and the Summertons engulf him in a tight, group hug. The smell of something burning causes Brad to rush out of the room before they all hear cursing come from the kitchen. Laura smiles before shouting.
“LANGUAGE BRAD!”
“DON’T YELL IN THE HOUSE!”
“Just what limit is there in what food they can order here?” Eve ponders in Allen’s head.
“Good question.” Allen responds while eating his Indian food. Kayla watches as Allen reaches for some spicy curry. She has a flashback of a dodgeball impacting her backside and she grins. It seems that the sibling war will continue. Valorie goes to warn Allen and Kayla elbows her and gives a shake of her head. Valorie’s loyalties are torn. Eve is quiet as she wanted more entertainment after the Cool Whip incident. Amy watches while holding a conversation about the specifics of Allen’s adoption. Brad and Laura see where Amy is looking, and they too are drawn into the unfolding drama. Allen stops his reach as he notices Kayla’s intense gaze at his actions. He slowly withdraws his hand as he studies Kayla’s face. He sees the brief look of disappointment that flashes in her brown eyes at his tactical retreat. She sees his return scrutiny and looks up at the ceiling with a harmless whistle. Valorie slowly lowers her cell phone.
“Kayla, what is this?” Allen asks innocently. She stops her whistling and looks back at Allen.
“Sambar Curry, it’s really good!”
“Oh really, do you eat it often?” Kayla narrows her eyes at Allen. “Yes….”
Allen pushes it towards Kayla. “Please, take the rest. Wouldn’t want to be selfish and take your favorite here….” The ambush has been turned back on the ambusher. She offers Allen an overly cheerful smile as she accepts the container. Everyone’s eyes are glued to the latest skirmish between the opposing forces. Under the watchful eyes of Allen, Kayla takes a piece of flatbread and dips it into the curry. She brings it up to her mouth and puts the whole piece of bread in, dripping with curry. She stares at Allen as she chews slowly before swallowing. “Mmmm…. So good!”
Allen closely watches Kayla’s face. It starts to turn red as sweat beads up on her forehead.
“Excuse me, everyone. I need to use the bathroom.” Kayla slowly stands up while looking at Allen. She turns and walks out of the dining room. They hear footfalls speed up the stairs once Kayla is fully out of sight. Laura shakes her head. “Kayla’s finally met her match I believe.” Valorie and Brad nod their heads in agreement.
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“Eve, you and I are going to have a long talk later on about this….”
“I’M SORRY! I JUST GET SOOOO BORED!”
The family and Amy are all seated in the living room around the coffee table. Paperwork is neatly stacked on it. Amy slowly goes through the paperwork while everyone listens. Kayla seemed to have recovered from the thwarted ambush and now sat with a large glass of milk she was nursing. Brad and Laura followed along with Amy and signed where she directed them to. After filling out the paperwork, Amy addressed the family.
“It’s official. Allen is now a Summerton.” Allen was once again engulfed in a group hug.
“Now, I have some paperwork for Allen. Your parents had life insurance and other financial assets. Since you are their only surviving child, the assets have been transferred to you. We took the liberty of setting you up a checking and savings account. Here is the banking information and your card.” Amy hands Allen a manilla folder. He takes it and looks through it briefly. Kayla can’t contain her curiosity and blurts out a question that everyone else secretly had.
“So, what did they leave ya?” Laura thumps Kayla on the back of her head.
“That’s not important now. Allen just found out today that his parents are deceased. I doubt he’s worried about money right now. I have more important questions like his birthday and such.” Laura says. Amy goes through her paperwork until she locates the forged birth certificate.
“His birthday is March 16th, 2007.” She says after looking the birth certificate over.
“So, what has he been doing since he lost his parents?” Valorie asks.
“We are still piecing all of that together, he lost his parents when he was 6. Then he shows up here in Ellington with a head injury. My boss still wants me to monitor Allen while they look into everything.” Amy rehashes what Colonel Stryker briefed her on.
“Laura, or erm…. Mom?” Laura looks over at Allen in surprise. “Heh, going to have to get used to that.” Allen mutters to himself. “Can you and uh, dad hold onto this for now?” Allen hands the folder with his banking information in it over to Laura. He was going to have Eve research the monetary and banking system in this universe before managing it himself. Laura nods her head as she accepts the folder.
“I’m glad to have been adopted by you guys and look forward to our new life together. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed here so I’m going to head to my room and let everything sink in. Goodnight everyone.” Everyone gives their goodnights to Allen as he walks up to his room.
“Eve, help me out here and brief me on the monetary and banking systems on this earth please.”
“Sure Allen. They base their trade on the dollar. Our universe was similar up until the late 21st century. There are many similarities to our Alliance creds system with the exchange rate being in our favor. The banking system is much the same as ours too. You should be fine handling it. Think dollars instead of creds basically. That card in the folder is used instead of using your biometric implant.”
“Ok, sounds easy enough. The balance in my account showed just shy of $60,000 dollars. That should be enough to meet our short-term goals, correct?”
“Yes, Allen. More than enough. You could even buy a new motorcycle if you wanted.”
“Nah, I fell in love with Laura’s bike. I’d rather upgrade it and add a few of our own toys to it.”
“Then you should purchase this earth’s version of a computer. They have, “online shopping” like our universe and something called, “next day delivery.” I know. It’s slow, but better than what I expected. Also, I wanted to talk to you about what suitable technology we can develop here. I’ve comprised a list of acceptable technologies we can introduce here without violating Alliance regulations. It’s short but will still raise our quality of life. I say we should focus on improving the performance of your bike as it will be an effective means of escape. This new development of deceased parents with your actual last name is concerning. On the bright side, even if they are on to us, they seem to be observing us for now. Better to maintain an air of cooperation until they force our hand.”
“I agree with your assessment, Eve. Take what you’ve scanned so far of the bike and work out the areas that can be tweaked.”
“Yes, once you purchase a computer, I’ll integrate it into my network, and it should help boost my capabilities outside of your implants. I’ll be able to work on my own code to keep it fully functional and updated.”
“Sounds good Eve. I’ll talk to umm, mom and dad tomorrow about these purchases. I’m going to study this manual now. I could use your help, please.”
“No problem, Allen. I can’t wait for us to ride!”
Allen spent the rest of the night in his room studying the manual Laura picked up for him. Eve assured him once he read through it that he was capable of passing.
In the living room; Laura, Amy, and Brad enjoyed after dinner coffee. Allen was the main topic.
“He took the news pretty well.” Amy says after taking a sip.
“Yeah, he learned about his parents and got new ones all in one evening. I can’t believe he handed me his bank information without batting an eye.” Laura says as she also takes a sip.
“Ok, so how much is in there?” Brad asks.
“His balance showed $59,312.52. His parents must have been well off. It’s a lot of money for someone his age.” Brad nearly chokes on his coffee at hearing the balance.
“I talked it over with my boss and we would still like to offer monetary assistance to you and Brad. This situation is extraordinary to say the least.” Amy says while looking at Brad and Laura. Momma didn’t raise no fool as Laura liked to say so she accepted it without hesitation. The takeout bill alone this week was making her wallet cry.
“Still, what has he been doing these past 10 years?” Brad asks.
“I wish I had an answer for you. We are stretching all of our resources on this mystery.”
Amy finishes up the conversation with that last statement and leaves for the night. Brad and Laura look at each. They both smile in happiness at the thought of adopting Allen.
“I will say that I am excited to have adopted Allen. I will love and protect him as if I birthed him myself. But this still stinks of government bullshit. Maybe he wasn’t born in a lab, but I think he still spent time in one!”
Brad only nods at Laura’s words. “Well, at least we can give him normalcy and a stable life.” He says.
Sometimes people curse themselves unknowingly in life. If only Allen’s life was going to be normal.