#wschp1

MICHAEL- “You will find out their names, that is if they are both on your birth report.  If your mother wasn’t married, the father is not always listed on the report. As far as why, they may or may not have that information.”

THEO- “So that is why Miss Baker wants to see me?”

MICHAEL- “I will guarantee it.”

THEO- “What if I don’t want to know?”

MICHAEL- “They are required by law to give you any of that information, regardless if you want it or not.  Oh,  and she will tell you about your integration period that begins, now that you are fifteen.”

THEO- “That I knew about, so they place me in a job somewhere in town to began acclimating me to the outside world...sounds like a whole lot of fun...I can’t wait.”

MICHAEL- “Oh, it is.  I mean you can’t live here forever…”

THEO- “Why not?  You do?”

As the next 55 minutes progressed, Theo began to wonder what was this meeting about.  Was there a potential family wanting to interview him?  Now, after all these years, someone wanted him?  He had given up that notion years ago, and now he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave Penngrove House.

As he sat there sitting on the side of his bed, contemplating what on earth Miss Baker would have to talk to him about, Michael appeared from his little alcove area of the bedroom and sat down in the chair facing the window, and Theo’s bed.

MICHAEL- “So I know what she wants to talk to you about?”

THEO - “Not adoption, I assume?”

MICHAEL- “No, not adoption.  But you get your papers today.”

THEO- “My papers?  What papers?”

MICHAEL- “When you turn fifteen, legally, they have to advise you of how you came to be here at Penngrove.  So if there is any documentation of your birth, they are required by law to present those to you.  It happened to me that way.  And they tell you how you were brought here instead of being placed into a foster home.”

Once all of the birthday hoopla was out of the way, things return to the normal run of events. Edwina Baker, the head mistress will gave her morning speech, and the overview of the upcoming day’s events, and which unfortunate, if applicable, will soon leave to become one of the fortunate ones. As they have been chosen for adoption.  

EDWINA- “Okay, lessons are out of the way for the summer, so remember to do your summer reading.  And to keep your rooms clean.  Summer is not a time to become lax on your chores.  We currently do not have any pending adoptions, but that can always change.

Of course, his name will no longer be brought up.  Not for the rest of the day, or year, until next year on this day, when he will be sixteen.  But then the unthinkable happened…

He will head to the dining area and have breakfast, where the cook will greet him with; 

MISS DEBBIE - “Happy Birthday Theo”

THEO - “Thank you Miss Debbie, Eggs, bacon and toast?”

MISS DEBBIE - “You know it, every Saturday Morning.”

He will sit in the same seat as he does every other morning. The one in the corner, with two chairs, one for him and one for his only other friend in the house, Michael. This was “their table” and everyone knew to not take either seat.  It had been that way for years.  

Edwina Baker’s office was upstairs at the landing.  It was a small room that overlooked the front lawn and the main road that led to the docks. Across from her desk was a door that led into her living area.  No one was ever allowed there.  That was her private living quarters, as she lived here at the home.  Unmarried and childless, Edwina Baker was Pengrove House.  Rumor had it that she was engaged to Jonathan Penngrove’s grandson, Charles Penngrove.  

When the state offered to pay Charles for the home after his grandfather’s death.  He immediately accepted the cash, and left town and his fiance, Edwina Baker.  The state brought her on as the headmaster, and she moved into the home and into her former fiance’s job.

The office was nondescript. An old oak desk with a couple chairs, an old bookcase and portraits of Jonathan Penngrove and his wife Catherine, hanging above the fireplace that hadn't been used for decades.  The same exact wallpaper that lined the hallways and living areas of the house was also used here. The room smelled of lavender, which was Edwina Baker’s scent. 

He knocked at the door and Edwina’s voice told him to come in.  She was rather nondescript as well. Short curly blonde hair with blue eyes, that seemed to have lost their sparkle many years before. She dressed in pant suits mostly and always had matching earrings. As Theo walked in, she was shutting the door to her private quarters and taking a seat at her desk.

EDWINA- “So, Theo, happy birthday, (Her voice had very little emotion in it, and was matter of fact.) As you may or may not know, we are required by law to inform you after the age of fifteen of your heritage. Here is a file that includes your birth report, and a letter that was given to Charles Penngrove upon your admittance to the home here, fourteen years ago. Please take the file and read through it, and if you have any questions afterwards we can discuss those.  I can answer as many questions as I have answers to.  Do you understand?”

THEO- “Yes, ‘Mam”