Handshakes, hugs, and kisses were shared amongst the new families with their faces already aching from constant smiling. Everyone thanked Judge Waddel... and she reiterated this was the most satisfying adoption she had ever presided over.A few minutes later, the Clerk returned with Allison’s new birth certificate. She received the old one from Trudy which would be sealed away forever.To celebrate the special day, Claudia and Dan had arranged a family gathering for a bbq and swim at Allison’s new. Not since the day she'd fired me. She didn't turn me down; I just didn't ask. It just seemed so—weird—to think of her that way given the circumstances. I assumed, too, that she was feeling the same.At any rate, my mornings, the last three months of them, were invariably spent job hunting and my afternoons at the Wild Goose, my favorite watering hole.Sitting at the bar, I wasn't in too good a mood. The barkeep, Joey Luca, had just delivered my second Jack on the rocks. I was thinking about my. ’ I waited to see if I would need to elaborate further. I was struggling. If he bought this, I would absolutely never lie to him again. Maybe. ‘I can’t help you with your feelings. I have enough trouble with my own. But maybe I can help with the other stuff. ‘You might have the same learning style I do. I can’t just learn how to do something, I need to understand why it’s done that way. Once I do, I own it forever. And before I do, it’s just words or movements or whatever. That part I can do. Still clutching the sword he swaggered up the stairs. Upon reaching the centre landing he turned and looked down and bowed extravagantly. "My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen of this beautiful ancestral home I salute you!" He declared. "A fitting place for me to die!"As his head was bowed almost to his knees, he heard giggling. He stood up sharply and braced himself, sword in hand. "Who's there?" He asked loudly. He heard a shuffle. It had come from the top of the stairs to the left of him. He.