A for Adoption

Definition: Adoption; to take on something or make something your own

Word Count: 857

The young twin leaned back in his hospital bed, fighting the smile that twitched at the corner of his lips. He held the light blue paper legal in one hand and a ballpoint pen in the other.

Oliver, he mused to himself, as if trying the name on. It fit him. Not to mention it held the connotation of his most revered scientist. But his hand trembled when he thought about writing it.

"Are you gonna sign it or not?" His brother asked, having already penned his new name to his own blue tinted paper.

He gave him a pointed look.

"Eugene," Luella called from the doorway. It figured his brother would name himself after his favorite comedic author. "Would you please help me pick something for your brother to eat?"

Gene - as Oliver had already dubbed him - grinned brightly up at their new adoptive mother. "Of course, Luella." And the two were gone, leaving him alone in the small room.

He crossed his legs beneath the blanket, pen poised on the paper. All he had to do was sign it and he would officially become Oliver Davis. But something didn't feel right about it.

When Martin and Luella had asked him and his brother permission to adopt them, he had been elated. He remembered Gene's wide smile and how he teased that his face would get stuck that way. When the twins had agreed to take the Davis last name Luella had looked like she would burst.

That was when Gene had asked the question. He'd sat cross-legged at the end of Oliver's hospital bed, wringing his hands together nervously. "Do we have to keep our names?"

Both Oliver and Gene had been known as E.C and J.A for the duration of their stay at the orphanage. Neither remembered their real name, and frankly hated the simplistic initials they had been saddled with. Over the years they'd taken to simply calling each other nii-san or by the first initial.

Luella had blanched at the question but quickly recovered. "Not if you don't want to, darling."

Gene had only taken a glance at his brother's agreeable face before grinning at his new parents.

"We will get the paperwork right away, then." Martin said, draping his jacket over his arm. "Or do you need time to think it over?"

"Nope!"

They hadn't. Before the hour was up the boys had been handed those blue legal papers, prompting them to sign their old names and their new ones. Gene didn't hesitate, his messy scrawl marking up the paper as quickly as it could.

And Oliver had been stuck in this situation. He'd signed E.C to the above lines but was now unsure about his new name. It just seemed as if there was something... missing.

He shifted on the bed again, flinching at the sound of crinkling paper. Lifting his leg, he saw his brother's abandoned paper beneath it. How careless, he thought, doubling over to pick it up. Gene's messy scrawl was unmistakable, crooked and looping in places it really shouldn't have.

Beside the line that read 'New Name (first, middle, last)', Gene had written: Eugene J.A. Davis. Oliver brushed his fingers over the words and suddenly it clicked.

Only hesitating a second to adjust the paper on his knee, he finally signed his new name.

Oliver E.C. Davis.

"It took you that long?"

If Oliver had been about to smile, Gene's teasing voice would have wiped it off his face. "Usse," he said in Japanese, unsure if the Davises would approve of him telling his brother to shut up.

Gene ignored his brother, handing him a cup of strawberry yogurt before snatching up the documents and handing them to Martin. So you did it too, Noll.

Oliver jumped at the new sensation of his brother's voice in his head. He made a mental note to ask Lin about blocking out his brother when they started Qigong lessons to control his PK. Then he heard what his Gene had said. Noll?

You're new nickname. Like it? It's medieval. Gene grinned in his direction.

Oliver rolled his eyes. He liked the name, but he wouldn't tell his brother that. Whatever.

"Gene? Oliver?" Both boys turned to look at Luella who was watching them with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "Were you two just... chatting?"

Oliver turned to hide the blush on his cheeks. Gene looked sheepish. "You could say that."

Martin looked like he'd just seen a ghost (which, for an expert Ghost Hunter, was definitely a good thing). "PK-ST, a medium, and now telepathy? You boys are..." he shook his head, chuckling, "really something."

Luella gave her husband a look that the boys immediately hoped would never be directed at them. "Don't you even think about it. My boys will not be guinea pigs for BSPR. They're children not animals, Martin." When Martin only looked at the ground Luella turned a smile to the twins. "Oliver, you can get dressed now. You've been discharged and we've got a plane to catch in just a couple hours."

Gene blinked up at her. "Where are we going?"

"Home."

Authors Note: So, the idea of this A-Z prompt was inspired by the magnificent Coriana's 'The Not Too Distant Past', but I wanted to explore something different about the twins. I wanted to write about the things everyone seems to gloss over or forget about; like how the twins (may have) received their English names.

A warning: some of these stories will be sad or violent, and others may be fun and jovial. So just beware.

Read, relax, review!

ELV