“Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!” Melanie’s voice whispered excitedly in Jon’s ear.
Jon rolled over and grinned up at the blur in the vague shape of a person above him. “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,” he parroted back at her. Neither of them had any idea where the phrase came from, but ever since Miss Goldman had told them about it they’d competed to be the first one to say it.
He reached for his glasses and slid them on, and the blur resolved into Melanie. “Do you smell breakfast?”
Melanie’s nose twitched, and she frowned. “Yes. Why is someone making breakfast already? Daddy doesn’t usually start working before nine.”
Jon glanced at the alarm clock on the night stand between their beds as he sat up. “And he usually has cereal, even when he has to go to court. Let’s go find out.”
They had tidied up their room the night before, so at least their slippers were right where they were meant to be. Stepping into them, they ventured into the main part of the house. Their parents’ bedroom door was shut, as was the door to the room that had been designated as an office, and nobody was in the living room. When they made their way around to the kitchen, though, they found Mummy humming and setting the table while Daddy presided over the stove.
“Is it somebody’s birthday?” Melanie asked suspiciously.
“In a sense, maybe.” Mummy set the silverware down and came over to give them both a kiss on the head. “We’re taking a special trip today. As a family. Let’s have breakfast and then you two need a bath before we go.”
Jon’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s that kind of special trip?”
“You’ll see,” Mummy promised. “It’s not bad. I promise.”
Mummy hadn’t ever lied to him—not once in his entire life—so Jon was willing to trust her. He glanced at the bowls tucked against the wall and reached for the cupboard where they kept the cat food.
Once they finished eating, Jon and Melanie dutifully took themselves to their bathroom. They were maybe a little old to be bathing together, at least by most standards, but they had it down to a science at this point and it was certainly faster than it would have been if they had gone separately. Once they were scrubbed down, it was back to the bedroom to get dressed.
“Mummy didn’t say what we’re supposed to wear,” Melanie said distractedly, rummaging through her dresser. “Any ideas?”
Jon tugged the closet door open. “If we had to take baths first, even though we usually take them at bedtime, we’re probably supposed to look nice.”
“Good idea.” Melanie crossed over to join him. “Wear the blue one.”
“Only if you wear the dress that matches.”
“Deal.”
There was a momentary snag while Melanie struggled with the buckle on her patent leather Mary Janes, but they were eventually ready. When they went out into the living room, they found Daddy waiting in his blue courtroom suit while Mummy, who was wearing the red dress with the high collar she’d worn for their Christmas photographs, pet Paddiwack and promised him they would be back by suppertime. Daddy smiled and held out his arms. “You both look wonderful. Let’s go.”
They didn’t take the Harlequin, which meant it wasn’t very far away; with them dressed nice like they were, especially with Mummy in her high heels, they wouldn’t have walked if it wasn’t close. Jon was a little nervous when they approached the train station, but he told himself that if they were going to see Grandmother Sims again then they would have brought their suitcases and Mummy and Daddy wouldn’t be smiling like they were. It just meant they were going somewhere not in Woodley but far enough away Daddy didn’t want to bring the Harlequin. It was on its last legs, Mummy often said, and didn’t like to go very far anymore; Daddy disagreed, but said it was worth not taking it on long trips to keep Mummy happy, so he would judge trips on whether he thought Mummy would let them drive or insist on them taking the train. It was a cool day, not too warm, with a nice breeze blowing, and Jon was cautiously willing to allow himself to enjoy the trip. Even more when he saw that they were heading north rather than south.
“Are we going to Manchester?” he asked, looking at the departure board.
“Well done, Jon,” Daddy said. “You’ll enjoy this.”
Jon was sure he would.
He and Melanie sat next to each other and peered eagerly out the window. Daddy came this way, not every day, but whenever he had to go to court, and he pointed out all of the sights to them. Mummy gave the tickets to Melanie to present to the inspector and promised Jon he could hand them over on the way back. They made it in record time and stepped off the train together. Daddy took Jon’s hand; Mummy took Melanie’s, and they headed to the door of the station.
“You have a lovely family,” the man at the door said as he held it open for them.
“Thank you,” Daddy said with a big smile. Jon knew Daddy liked it when people complimented them. He always had.
It was only a short walk from there, and a straight one at that. Daddy let them stop on the bridge to peer down at the river—keeping tight hold of their hands, not that either of them would have leaned far enough forward to fall in, at least not on purpose—before gently urging them on. They only had another block and a half to go and then they were in front of a tall brick building with COURT written over the door.
Melanie’s hand tightened around Jon’s, but she didn’t say anything. He swallowed down his own unease. Again, he firmly reminded himself that Mummy and Daddy had never lied to him. They had promised he could stay with them. They had promised. And they wouldn’t have looked so happy if there was a chance he was going to have to go away for good, or said he was going to enjoy what was going to happen. If they were going to send him away for good, they’d have done it when he got in a fight on the very first day of school, not a whole ten months later. Still, he held Melanie’s hand extra tightly as well.
Daddy spoke to a woman at the desk out front, who consulted a big ledger and gave him a room number, and they made their way to the elevator. Melanie ceded button pushing privileges to Jon, who depressed the shiny round 2; they rose smoothly and stepped out when the doors opened. It was far more crowded up here than it had been downstairs—not loud, just crowded. Jon, even as he made sure Melanie’s hand was secure in his and automatically reached for Mummy’s again, looked around and noted that most of the people up here were families. Some, like him and Melanie, held their parents’ hands tightly; others were sitting with people who were clearly their personal advocates. Some of the smaller ones held stuffed animals, looking worried; some of the older ones pretended to be bored but were clearly concerned. One who looked like a teenager was holding a toddler who was sucking her thumb, both dressed mostly in black.
Jon clung to Melanie a little tighter, seeing in the teenager’s face something he remembered from the last time he’d been in a courtroom.
There were three courtrooms up here, or at least three sets of heavy wooden doors. Daddy pointed to one of them just as the doors opened, exposing a man with a broad chest who called, “Afternoon docket, Courtroom 2C, may now enter.”
“That’s us.” Daddy led them forward. Jon made eye contact with the teenager and gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile and nod; she returned the nod, but not the smile, and he decided to accept that.
There were quite a lot of people in the room, which was a bit of a surprise; when they had been in court the last time, it had only been them in the courtroom. Jon wondered if they were going to get to watch one of Daddy’s cases and looked around for who might be his client and which of the tables up front Daddy would sit at. To his surprise, Daddy found them seats on the benches—what he’d told them was called the gallery—and then sat with them.
The judge came in, a different judge than the last case—not a surprise, since that had been in London, which had been very annoying—and everybody stood, then sat when the judge did. Once the room was completely quiet, the clerk called a name and a case number.
It surprised Jon that, apparently, everybody in the gallery was there for something, not just one or two people. It also surprised him that nobody seemed to have a barrister or solicitor with them, and everyone was dealt with relatively quickly. One or two were told they would have to come back later, but most of them went up, said a few words, and walked away with a piece of paper. A lot of them were changing names, or finalizing divorces, or so it seemed to Jon. It made him nervous about why Mummy and Daddy were here.
You’ll enjoy this, he reminded himself. Daddy had promised he would enjoy himself. He tried to tell himself that as his stomach tied itself into knots.
“Case number two six seven five three nine A, in regards to the minor child Jonathan Andrew Sims,” the clerk called.
Jon’s stomach wrenched harder.
Melanie leaned over and whispered fiercely, “Not without me.”
Jon’s tongue was too heavy in his mouth to speak, but he nodded as he got to his feet. Mummy and Daddy stood, too, and Melanie with him. Together they moved to the front of the court. Daddy didn’t have them sit behind one of the tables; instead, they stood in front of the judge. Jon locked his legs to keep his knees from shaking.
The judge, however, favored him with a warm smile, then looked down at the paperwork in front of him. “I have here a petition for the formal adoption of Jonathan Andrew Sims, age six. This says you have had full legal and physical custody of him for over a year, is that correct?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Daddy said, using his court voice, the one that was careful with the vowels.
“And I can see from the way he’s holding your hands that he loves and trusts you,” the judge added with a kind laugh. “Well, there’s no reason to deny it and no objection filed. This court hereby approves this formal adoption and names you both as Jonathan’s parents.” He looked over his glasses and added, “Normally at this point I would present you with an updated birth certificate, but I note another petition on file, so I’ll hold off on that for a moment. Clerk?”
Jon looked excitedly at Melanie, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes and a grin forming on her own face. Of course they had always been siblings—twins—ever since the day they were born, but now the judge had said it for certain, for other people to know that Mummy and Daddy weren’t just his guardians, they were his parents.
Before he could say anything, the clerk said, “Case number two six seven five three nine B through E, petitions for legal change of name.”
“For the record, I think this is a wonderful thing,” the judge continued. “It’s a wonderful way to make him feel comfortable and included while still honoring his birth family. And—Mrs King, I understand that you wish to change your first name as well?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Mummy said, surprising Jon. “I’ve been going by Gillian for most of my life and I would like to make it official.”
“Of course. Again, there have been no objections and no reason to deny. Therefore, this court approves the change of name from Antony King to Antony Paul Sims-King, the change of name of Jie-Lian King to Gillian Ng Sims-King, the change of name of Jonathan Andrew Sims to Jonathan Andrew Sims-King, and the change of name of Melanie Estelle King to Melanie Estelle Sims-King.” He signed several pieces of paper, then held out a stack to the clerk, who in turn handed them to Daddy. “Congratulations to you all.”
“Thank you, Your Honor!” Melanie and Jon said in unison, making the adults laugh.
When they left the courtroom, Mummy immediately knelt down to get on Jon and Melanie’s level. “You don’t mind, do you? We wanted to surprise you. We didn’t want to take Mama and Papa away from you, but—”
Jon cut her off by throwing his arms around her neck and hugging her tightly. He was the happiest he had been since Mama died, and he felt, just like he had the last time he’d been in court, incredibly loved and wanted.
“I don’t mind at all,” he said.
Melanie threw her arms around them both. Daddy got down and hugged all three of them, then stood and ruffled Jon’s hair. “Come on. We made reservations at a special restaurant for an early dinner. It’s a celebration.”
Jon smiled broadly and took Melanie’s hand again, not desperate, but just happy to be able to hold his sister’s hand.
They had always been a family. It was just that now everybody would know it.