When You Wish Upon a Star (Sean)

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh was sorting through the mail, discarding junk mail and setting aside bills into a pile to be dealt with later in the evening when the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" He called out, rising from the sofa. Sean was in the kitchen preparing supper, and one never knew how much time a phone call might take. If it was a telemarketer, none at all. If it was family or the school, it could be longer.

The number that flashed across the caller ID screen was, surprisingly, from the fostering agency that he and Sean had been working with in the hopes of raising children.

They had only begun venturing seriously into this territory in February, and so far hadn't had much luck at all.

He picked up the phone, nestling it under his chin. "Hello? Yes, this is he."

A moment of silence on his end for a moment as he digested the information, tried to determine if this was real or some terrible April Fool's joke. Then he said, "Yes, of course. Hold on just a moment."

One hand covered the receiver as he called out to his partner. "Sean, Sean it's our agent. They think they have a match."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The benefit of weekday nights was that Sean used the weekend to aid in meal preparation for the week. As such, he didn’t have raw chicken in his hands when Josh announced that their agent was on the line. If he had, it could have been potentially disastrous, should the poultry have touched anything.

As such, the telepath was able to set the chicken wings down – which were already cooked the first time and needed only to be warmed – with no difficulty. He took the opportunity to rinse his hands, before crossing over to where his partner was with the telephone.

“Where?” He asked, although he kept his voice low, as he didn’t want to distract Josh from the conversation at hand. “Do they have more than rudimentary details?”

He didn’t ask whether they needed to come in. He had to assume that they would be called in should the match prove real rather than tenuous. In addition to more home visits and probably another background check for good measure.

But this was good news. Surprising news, considering that it had only been a month and a half since they had submitted their applications and seriously begun the process of trying to become foster parents. Good news considering the factors that worked against them: an unmarried gay couple, each man in his mid-fifties, Sean a telepath as well.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh listened attentively to Sean's questions, then turned his attention back to their agent. "Pardon me. You were saying?"

There was a lull as the person on the other end resumed their explanation. Josh began to open his mouth to answer Sean's questions before remembering that his partner was a telepath and thus he didn't need to interrupt his phone conversation to fill the other man in.

Twelve year old Caucasian female. Local? No, sorry, she's attending Hammel and they wanted a local family.

His expression turned quizzical at that. This meant Sean already knew their prospective foster child; he knew there were a number of children from poor family situations who attended Hammel, but he wasn't aware of specific circumstances. But perhaps Sean would have a better idea of what they could expect, since she was already attending the school he worked at.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hovered nearby while still trying to give his partner space without crowding too much. He waited for Josh to provide him with any details that he could, focusing on the projection as it entered his mind.

A Hammel student explained why they might have chosen him and Josh after all, despite some of the potential concerns due to homophobia, ageism, and metaphobia. They did tend to try to match meta-human children with adults who had meta-humans in the family, if the foster parents themselves weren’t meta as well.

Further, Hammel students were a finite class. As many students as came through in the two decades that he had been a psychiatrist there, they were a drop in the bucket compared to children in foster care as a whole, or who went through public schools as a whole. There simply weren’t that many.

Caroline Mason was too old, not twelve. And she hadn’t been in foster care proper; she was a resident of Boys Town and had a family there, even if it was a non-traditional family that could have, potentially, freed her for adoption.

There were a few others, and the telepath began to run through them mentally. He projected to his partner, It could be a few different people. I’d have to double-check records. Did they give you a name?”

Names would be the easiest method of identification.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh wasn't quite as adept as Sean was at keeping up two conversations at once. He'd had plenty of practice as a college student, when they had more concerns about being out, but that had been a long time ago. In recent years they'd had very little reasons to hold two tiered conversations. Because of this he found himself asking the agent to repeat herself more often than he would have liked.

Finally he nodded, said, "Of course. I understand. Thank you very much for letting us know."

Then he hung up the phone before whirling to wrap his arms around his partner's waist.

"Summers. Bailey Summers. They want her to settle into Hammel a bit before setting up a meeting, apparently she's relatively new to the school so they didn't want to overwhelm her. But isn't it wonderful? I never expected so soon..."

And he had half feared not at all.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hung back to let Josh continue his conversation with the agent. As soon as his partner hung up the telephone, he came back to his side to swap information.

At the name, he nodded slightly. He recognized the name from the files that crossed his desk, although he had never met the girl. He didn’t meet with every student who attended Hammel, although he tried to keep tabs on the ones he thought might need the additional attention. That included students with psychic powers.

If his recollection was accurate, Bailey was one such student.

“I know the name,” he said, smiling up at his partner, so elated by the news this evening. “If she’s who I think she is, the agency might actually consider my telepathy to be an asset.”

Which was good, considering how concerned he had been about public perception. The agency, just as easily, could have decided not to place a child with them due to anti-psychic bias. But, if his memory was true, she would also face anti-psychic bias in her life, and he could only imagine that some families would turn a child with her abilities away rather than welcome her into their home.

There would be no such concerns with him and Josh.

“It is wonderful! Did they give a time frame?” A bit could mean a few weeks or a few months. Sean would wait either way, and he knew Josh would as well, but it was better to have a time frame.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh continued to hug Sean tight, not really aware just how tight he was squeezing in his enthusiasm.

"Really?"

If Sean's telepathy had actually aided them he would do a dance of joy. And they had been so terrified it would have the opposite effect, or at least Josh had been. He supposed that Sean was more prone to resignation than anxiety about this sort of thing. But even then there had been no thought from either man that this could turn out beneficial; the best they had hoped for was neutral.

Of course, he expected Sean to know every Hammel student, even the ones who didn't require his services. It was a bit surprising to the attorney that his partner only said he thought he knew, rather than that he certainly did.

Then he reminded himself that she had only just transferred, according to their agent.

"Oh, I should have asked," He frowned at his lack of thought on that front. "I assumed a few weeks. Well, we can always call back later and ask questions. I was too excited to think about anything like that. I just wanted to celebrate with you."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean wrapped his arms around the younger man, returning the embrace. However, after a moment of Josh’s vise grip, the telepath coughed to signal that his partner should loosen his embrace a bit, although he didn’t have to release him completely.

“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod. “If she is who I think she is, her file indicated that she has a psychic ability. You know how that makes some people uncomfortable.” Although Josh didn’t experience that for himself, he had heard Sean remark upon it hundreds of times over their decades together; moreover, he had borne witness to it on more than one occasion.

Sean was glad to take a psychic child into their home. He certainly wasn’t uncomfortable with mental-based powers, and he could aid her as well, in what capacity that he could, given that he wasn’t a powers trainer.

The telepath then shook his head, denying that Josh need call back this evening. “We can speak to them tomorrow to ask; it’s already late, and we have enough to celebrate.”

That they had a potential match at all was reason to celebrate, regardless of the actual timeframe.

“This calls for a special bottle. Do you want champagne or hard liquor?” They had both.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh relinquished his hold on Sean with a sheepish grin. "Oh, that makes sense."

He felt a bit guilty at that, because he was so grateful that this gave them an opportunity and yet she was going to face discrimination for the rest of her life over it. He really shouldn't feel so happy right now.

But this would be the fulfillment of something he wanted. More than that, this was the fulfillment of something he knew that Sean wanted.

He was, however, all to happy to give up on calling back immediately. "I'll call tomorrow as soon as I get into the office," He promised, already making his way to the kitchen for their impromptu celebration.

"I think Champagne. There's still some black forest cake left, shall I break that out as well?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean nodded in agreement; it did make sense, and that was why he believed this match had been made. It was as valid a theory as any.

“I can double-check her records tomorrow,” he promised his partner. That would only take a few minutes, since, as the Hammel psychiatrist, he had full access to all of the student records, past and present. He could see what her current strength level, side effects, and limitations were, which would also help prepare them for a meeting and the future placement. Even if that wouldn’t be for several weeks or months.

Sean nodded a second time when Josh offered to call the next morning. “That sounds fine. You can call me about it during lunch,” he said, as he followed the other man into the kitchen. He crossed the room to return to the stove, where he had been when the telephone had rung in the first place.

The telepath smiled at the offer. “Later. I don’t think we should dig into dessert before supper.” Even if it was a celebration, they didn’t eat their meals French-style, and he had chicken that he had to finish preparing. As happy as he was, they needed to have a real meal, instead of merely dessert and alcohol.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh managed to look sheepish as he hunted down the champagne, placing a half-empty bottle onto the counter before rummaging around for champagne glasses.

"Sorry. I guess I'm getting a little carried away."

And as he set the table the elation refused to ebb, nor had it receded by the time dinner was finished and they could eat their cake.

And he resolved to find out what sort of dessert Bailey liked the best, so that when (he hoped this would be a when situation) she joined their family he could bake it for her so that all three of them could celebrate together.