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Day 3650 of being in foster care, Tubbo reached year 10. He’d been in foster care since he was six, and he only had 730 days left before he could age out and leave forever. His social workers were nice and all but the other kids weren’t, so he moved, he’d been at his current home for two years but, he constantly got his stuff stolen or broken while he was at school, which he understood was necessary in certain circumstances, he rarely got a full plate of food, despite being the only teenager at the group home, and he always helped out Niki, Bagi, Tina, Jaiden, Philza, Kristen and Mouse, the lovely social workers, not that he blamed any of them, he loved them truly, and he did understand that when baby Pepito was dropped off that he needed more attention that him, he got that he understood, he was just tired, ten years of group homes and horrible foster parents and he was done, this was better than the last, but he had two years left and that was an exhausting thought.
He’d spent the last eight hours at school, six of them actually learning and two of them waiting to be picked up by Jaiden, only to remember she wasn’t picking him up today, so he walked home. The group home has been working especially hard to get all of the kids home, since they were facing financial issues, but since Tubbo was labelled in the system as a ‘problem child’, and well he could be considered one, since he had previously been a flight risk, got bad grades, had been abused multiple times, and just generally was a pain for adults to deal with, unless he had a ‘sibling’ that was punished for his actions, but he was incredibly kind to Bagi, Tina, Niki, Mouse, Philza, and Kristen, the people who worked at the group home.
The home was run by Kristen, she was in charge, she controlled the finances, and when a child got rehomed, she was incredibly sweet and always did her best, having successfully rehomed over thirty kids, but unfortunately for her the system was appalling, having many abusive and neglectful foster parents still on as good people, it made her sick but there was little that she could do. Philza, her husband, was in charge of supplies, getting every kid ready for school, or getting them new clothes and food and generally whatever they needed, unfortunately not wanted, as money was tight, Niki and Jaiden were in charge of the infants and toddlers, Empanada, Sunny, Pepito and Chunsik. Bagi and Tina were in charge of the little kids, Richarylson, Pomme, Tallulah, Bobby, Tilin and Juannaflippa. Mouse was in charge of the preteens, Chayanne, Dapper, Leonarda, Trump and Nacho. Tubbo was in charge of himself, not that he minded, he liked having free-will and he often decided to help Bagi and Tina, especially with Richas who often was difficult to calm down, but he did listen to Tubbo.
Once he arrived home, he walked into chaos, Sunny and Pepito was screaming and crying, Niki and Jaiden desperately trying to calm them down, Philza was cooking dinner, Richas was sat on the bottom step of the stairs crying, Kristen was on the phone in her office, Chayanne was desperately trying to distract Empanada from all the crying, and Mouse was holding Pepito in her arms while teaching Dapper and Leonarda how algebra worked. His arm was immediately grabbed by Bagi, who pulled him into the playroom, handed him Pomme, Tallulah and Nacho and left, yelling at him to entertain them. They all decided on a game of princesses and princes, which Pomme was a queen, Queen pomme of the maçãs, and Tallulah a princess, with Nacho being their knight, Tubbo was of course the evil sorcerer who wanted to kidnap Tallulah, which he did by simply picked her up and holding her over his shoulder, and running around the playroom, avoiding Nacho’s attacks.
Philza shortly called for dinner, well for the children, which meant Tallulah and Pomme had to go, Tubbo walked them to the dining room, Nacho had gone to join Chayanne with the infants, and Tubbo helped Philza serve the food, making sure each of the kids ate their food properly, attempting to teach them manners so they’d hopefully get fostered, or adopted sooner, although that was a long shot, most of them were labelled as ‘problem children’. Once the kids had finished their food, the preteens were called in to eat, and since both Philza and Tubbo had already taught them how to use a knife and fork properly, Tubbo left to help Jaiden and Niki put the infants to bed, helping wrap Pepito up and dressing Sunny in her nightie, and reading Empanada a story that she kept interrupting.
Eventually all the kids were in bed, it was around ten in the evening and Tubbo sat down for dinner with the other adults, the food was cold by now so they heated it up in the microwave but this was the normal routine that Tubbo was used to, after dinner he’d do his homework and go to bed, ready for the next day. Only this time, instead of being locked away in her office, Kristen had sat down for dinner with the rest of the staff, they were all joking around and laughing and it was a refreshing sight to see, after the many tears from earlier.
“Tubbo,” Kristen spoke.
“Yeah?”
“There’s a couple who want to foster you,”
“What?” Tubbo spat his food out.
“Tubbo…” Phil scolded.
“Sorry, but what?”
“There’s a couple, who want to foster a kid, they already have a son and they are looking to foster,”
“Why me? Why not Richas or Pomme or Chayanne?”
“They have said that they would be better suited to an older kid, although they can deal with younger too,”
“So Chayanne?”
“Well, I’ve actually half way to adopting Chayanne,” Phil interrupted.
“Seriously? That’s amazing!”
“You leave tomorrow, Jaiden will drive you,”
“Okay… can’t promise I’ll stay for long,”
“I know, just try, please,”
After dinner Tubbo finished up his homework, not that he really had to, considering he might have to move schools…again, but he was bored. He heard the door close and knew that both Kristen and Philza had gone to their home, and that Bagi and Tina would leave shortly, leaving Jaiden, Mouse and Niki on the night shift. It was very confusing the way they did shifts, but they had three bedrooms for the staff, so they rotated who stayed overnight.
Once morning arrived, Tubbo packed his three outfits into his backpack, he gave Richas his old shirt that no longer fit him, as the boy wanted something to ‘remember’ him by although they all knew that he’d likely return in less than a month, he gave Chayanne a notebook on how to help the social workers and other kids before walking downstairs to see Jaiden waiting at the kitchen counter with keys in her left hand and legal documents in her right.
The two climbed into her ford fiesta, which was probably older than Tubbo. It was a long drive, probably two hours, which was the cut off between how far from the group home they could be, this confirmed to Tubbo that he’d have to move schools, not that he minded, moving schools for a month wasn’t all bad when he knew he’d return to his original one.
The house was on a calm street, with a blue door, a stone path, and a red brick pattern, it had a large front garden and most likely a back one too with the gate door leading out behind the house. Number 34, anglewood road. He looked at Jaiden, she smiled and exited the car, waiting for Tubbo to follow, he did, reluctantly.
Jaiden walked up the stone path, holding Tubbo’s documents in her hand, Tubbo followed, his green backpack, which had red and blue paint stains thanks to Richas, swung over his shoulder. Jaiden knocked on the door. Tubbo sort of hid himself behind her, because despite the confident character he put on for the kids, he was a nervous wreck, especially when meeting new parents, considering the last twenty families had abused him or neglected him, or he was too much. Most gave him back within a month, the longest he had lasted was two before the family decided that he was a problem they needed to get rid of, most of these people had a saviour complex, like they needed to save the poor foster children.
The door opened to reveal a buff man, he was bald and looked grumpy, before realising who it was and immediately putting on a smile.
“PAC!” he called.
A second man came running down the corridor, taking a place next to his husband, clinging to his side.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Jaiden smiled, “I have some paperwork and information I legally have to tell you, without Tubbo present, is there somewhere he can go while we have a conversation,”
“Oh, um… yes, we can have our son show him to his room,” Fit said.
“Excellent,”
“Ramon,” Pac said as a little boy, probably the same age as Chayanne walked out.
“Yes Pai?”
“Can you show Tubbo here to the guest room?”
“Sure,”
Ramon grabbed Tubbo’s hand and dragged him upstairs, immediately showing him his own room, and then showing him where he would be staying. Ramon pointed towards the room where Fit and Pac slept and then towards the bathroom. Tubbo walked into ‘his’ room and placed his bag down beside the bed, he didn’t dare sit down on the bed.
Remember the rules.
Don’t sit unless told you can.
Don’t talk unless told you can.
Don’t complain.
Do well at school.
Keep your ‘room’ or living space clean.
Address parents as sir and ma’am unless told otherwise.
Eventually Tubbo and Ramon were called downstairs, Tubbo watched as Pac and Fit signed the final document, he was there for the time being. Jaiden packed up his documents and gave him a hug, whispering under her breath, praying for him to be well behaved, he would be, he always was, it wasn’t his fault most parents can’t deal with a mentally ill teenager.
Jaiden smiled and left, leaving Tubbo alone, with his new ‘family’, which was always an odd feeling, being in a room with strangers that you’d share a house with for a month was always scary, he didn’t know any of the rules yet and was terrified to break any unknowingly.
“So Tubbo, are you hungry?” Pac asked, “You’ve had a long journey and you are probably tired but do you want something to eat?”
“Yes please, sir,”
“Sir? Oh no you can call me Pac, you don’t have to be so formal, I’m Pac, my husband here is Fit and our son is Ramon,”
“Okay, um.. Are there any rules I need to be aware of?”
“Actually yes, just a few,” Fit spoke up, “Curfew is 10, don’t go anywhere without us knowing, no illegal shit, try with schoolwork, if you struggle or fail we don’t care as long as you tried,”
“Okay… and the other stuff?”
“What other stuff?” Ramon asked innocently.
“Um… like,” Tubbo struggled, before raising his hands to whisper so Ramon couldn’t hear, “Should I say in front of him?”
“Say what, those are our only rules,” Pac smiled.
“So no, if I don’t clean the house by 7pm each night I lose privileges, no, if I don’t make dinner good enough for everyone then I don’t eat, no, words I need to not say, or just not speak at all, and no-”
“What the fuck are you okay?” Ramon asked.
“Uh,” Tubbo froze, Ramon just swore in front of his parents, was he allowed to? Would Tubbo be allowed?
“None of that here, now um, if you’d follow me we can get you some food,” Pac frowned, concerned.
Tubbo’s body worked on autopilot, following Pac to the kitchen, his mind still frozen, Ramon swore, and didn’t get beaten to a pulp, and sure Ramon was most likely adopted considering well it was a gay couple adopting him but then again surrogates exist so he could be biologically one of theirs, which would mean less trouble for Ramon and more for him.
This place was too good to be true, he’d probably be punished for bringing up more serious rules in front of Ramon later, that really was his own fault, he should’ve stayed quiet, or taken the hint to not talk about it in front of him. Fit looked strong, so Tubbo was probably going to get a tough beating, and he can’t exactly run back to the group home, considering how far away it was, he was stuck, stuck until Jaiden returned, and even then, he might not tell her the truth, it made life ten times more difficult for them with him around, they had to get supplies for secondary school, expensive, they had to keep finding different families to take him, time consuming, at least he could help look after the other kids, he was starting to miss the constant screaming from Pepito, Sunny and Empanada.
Pac offered him a bagel, to which he agreed, he didn’t know the next time he’d be fed, he toasted it and spread butter and laid cheese on it, and sat down at their kitchen table to eat. Pac got him a glass of water and sat down opposite to him, reading his file.
“If it says I’m suicidal you can ignore that,”
“O quê?” Pac asked. (What?)
“I’m not,”
“How do you know what’s in your file?”
“Because my old social worker was shi- terrible,”
“Anything else your file is lying to us about?” Pac teased.
“I’m not suicidal, I’m not a flight risk, I’m not trouble at school, I’m dyslexic not stupid, I won’t hurt your son, my tattoos and scars aren’t from a gang,”
“Scars?” Pac faltered, “Are you okay?”
“Fine, nothing you need to know about, and besides some of them are from the babies and toddlers at the group home,”
“Okay- did Ramon show you your room?”
“Yes, do I need to go there? Am I being sent there?”
“Não, não, uh no, I just wanted to know,”
“So… now Ramon isn’t here you can tell me the actual rules, right?”
“Huh?”
“So I don’t fuc- mess up,”
“Those were all the rules,”
“You can’t be serious, am I not expected to make meals and shi-”
“No…”
“Okay, um when do I start school?
“A week, Fit will take you, he’s a history teacher there, and the after school Janitor, if the school’s one is sick,”
“And what do you do?”
“I work in a lab, mainly focusing on Chemistry and Biology, focusing on how to synthesise medications and sometimes me and my partner, and brother, Mike make prosthetics,”
“Oh.. that’s cool, you ever had a kid who needed a prosthetic,”
“No, but if we had it wouldn’t matter both me and Fit have one so we could look after them,”
“What?”
“Yeah, my leg,” Pac lifted his trouser leg, “And Fit’s arm,”
“I saw his arm, but your leg?”
“Yeah… funny story that, maybe for when we get to know each other better,”
“Okay…”
Tubbo would never mention the topic again, not if he could help it. He didn’t want to make Pac uncomfortable, especially considering the man could easily get his husband to beat him to a pulp.
Fit walked into the room, having a sleeping Ramon in his arms, Pac smiled and walked over to kiss Ramon’s forehead, it was only around two in the afternoon but the boy was so excited about getting a sibling that he didn’t sleep well the previous night, not that Fit or Pac cared, because they thought that it was very cute.
“I think Ramon got a bit too excited,” Fit whispered.
“Aww, that’s okay, you gonna put him to bed?” Pac asked.
“Yeah probably, but he looks quite comfortable in my arms,”
“It’s really sweet, anyway, I was just going over Tubbo’s file,”
“It’s all bull- a lie, it’s all a lie,” Tubbo said quickly.
“Oh, really did we get the wrong one?” Fit asked concerned.
“No, just false reports from old families,”
“Oh, that’s strange, what on there is a lie?”
“The whole idea of me being a problem child” Tubbo mumbled, not loud enough for either of them to hear.
“I’ve highlighted it in red for you to read later, and I was telling Tubbo about how you’ll take him to school,”
“Oh yeah, I’m the head of History at Quesadilla school,”
“Oh, that’s cool,”
“Hey Fit, why don’t I put Ramon to bed while you explain a bit about the school to Tubbo,”
Fit nodded, and slowly lifted Ramon out of his arms and into Pac’s, the sight was cute, to both Fit and Tubbo but Tubbo knew he couldn't get attached or expect the same kindness they gave to Ramon for him. It was probably all a lie, or at least a façade for the first day, most families did it, so why wouldn’t they do it too.
Pac left the room, whispering to Ramon’s sleeping body in his arms, and Fit walked over to the fridge, pulled out some vegetables, and began cutting them on a board.
“Can I ask a question?” Tubbo asked suddenly.
“Sure, what?”
“Why are you fostering?”
“Um… Pac and I always wanted kids, and well if you couldn’t tell we’re gay, so that wasn’t going to happen,”
“Oh, so Ramon was fostered too and you adopted him?”
“Well, kinda, Ramon was my son because he was my ex’s dead sister’s kid, and we took him in but my ex was neglectful to him so I took Ramon and left, then met Pac and Pac adopted him, very long story, so yeah he’s adopted but not fostered,”
“Am I your first foster kid?”
“Yeah, you are,”
“And you picked a ‘problem child’ as your first,”
“No child is a problem child, that’s just some bullshit said by parents,”
“And foster workers,”
“Yeah, you seemed to like Jaiden though,”
“Yeah, all the foster workers at my group home were lovely, but I think I was in the process of being transferred anyway, the foster state doesn’t like to keep teenagers with little kids, and well there were three babies there,”
“Really?”
“Yeah,”
“Sorry I don’t know much about the foster system, Pac does though,”
“Oh did he like research it before you fostered me and you just went along with it,”
“Kinda, I’ll let him tell you,”
“So… school?”
“Ah yes, I work at what is known as an international school, so you can choose the education system of any country-”
“British”
“Wow, okay, you didn’t even question it,”
“Sorry sir,”
“Sir?” Fit questioned, “You can call me Fit, unless I’m your teacher in which case you’ll have to call me sir,”
“Oh- um okay,”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, you and your husband have weird rules,”
“Weird?”
“Well not weird, you don’t have the normal rules so it’s all disorientating,”
“Oh, well so do you have any questions about school?”
“Uh yeah, what time does it start?”
“Eight,”
“Fuck!” Tubbo cursed, “Shoot! I’m so sorry Fit, I didn’t mean to swear, I won’t again I promise,”
“Hey- it’s okay, your allowed to swear, me, Pac and Ramon all swear,”
“Oh…”
Footsteps rang down the hallway as Pac walked towards them, Fit picked up Tubbo’s file and began to read through it, while Tubbo just ate the bagel, which was now cold, that Pac got him earlier. Pac entered the room with a smile, walked over and kissed Fit’s bald head, before sitting down opposite Tubbo.
“Good?” Pac asked.
“Huh?”
“The bagel?”
“Oh yeah, thanks,”
“How long was your drive over?”
“I think like two hours, far too long for my liking,”
“You must be exhausted then,”
“Eh not really, Jaiden and I often had long car rides, the nearest hospital was about three hours away, and we often picked up abandoned kids together, or took Richas there, kid got hurt daily,”
“Richas?”
“Richarylson, Brazilian kid, love him lots,”
“He sounds nice,”
“Yeah most of the kids were,”
“And you were the oldest?”
“Yep,”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why’d you never get fostered?”
“I did, just never lasts long,”
“What’s your longest?”
“Pac he’s not just gonna know that-” Fit said.
“Two months, three days, sent me back for a fight,”
“Fight?” Fit asked.
“Kid at school attacked me, said I was a loser because I didn’t have a dad or mum or something, I can’t really remember,”
“Unfortunately that happens a lot when you're a foster kid,” Pac smiled.
“How would you know?”
“I was a foster kid,”
“What?”
“Sim, me and my brother Mike ran away,”
“And you decided to foster why? Wouldn’t you want to completely leave all of that shi- stuff behind?”
“Maybe, but I also wanted to get a kid out of that situation too,”
“Thanks, I guess,”
“You aren’t happy about it?” Pac asked, confused.
“My plan was to age out, so I could support the kids,”
“They have their social workers for that don’t they?” Fit asked.
“Ah yes, because Kristen, Philza, Niki, Mouse, Jaiden, Bagi and Tina can look after that many kids,”
“That sounds like a lot of workers,”
“Most of the kids in that place were ‘troubled’ kids, mental disabilities, or behavioural issues, the adults didn’t know how to deal with them, when I first got placed there it was chaos, but the kids listened to me, because I’m like them,”
“Oh,”
“Is there any chance I could go to bed?”
“Uh, sure, it’s only like seven but if you want to,” Pac smiled.
“Yeah, I think this whole thing is going to take adjusting to, until you eventually send me back,”
“We aren’t sending you back,”
“We’ll see,” Tubbo winked before walking upstairs.