Homecoming

~~A DECISION NOPONY SHOULD HAVE TO MAKE~~

Just days after the birth of their new twins, Aldous and Pam return home and try to plan for their inevitable financial downfall. Pam puts the twins in a crib and sits in the kitchen. Aldous  walks slowly into the kitchen where Pam is sitting at the table, looking at bills and crunching numbers. He sat in the chair next to her and spoke up.

"Pam, we need to talk about the foals." stated Aldous, the urgency of the matter

slightly raising the pitch of his voice. Pam could see in his eyes that he was about to drop a

bombshell. "We're going to have to give up the kids."

Pam's mind exploded with emotions; anger at her husband, sorrow at the thought of giving up her own children, and frustration at their monetary situation. She had only just come back from the hospital after giving birth to the foals.

"Aldous, I am NOT giving up my children!" shouted Pam, her voice cracking with rage and fear.

"Pam, we don't have a choice! Do you think that I want to give up my own children?" His voice cracked as well. They could both tell that they were about to break down under the pressure of living in serious debt. Now that an adoption center was an option, Pam continues crunching numbers. Aldous stared at his wife, watching the tears roll down the side of her face, while at the same time trying to hold back his own tears.  The keys on the calculator click rapidly, then suddenly stop. Pam's ears perk up.

"Aldous, we don't have to give up both foals... we can keep one of them..."

Now the most difficult decision of Aldous's and Pam's lives was on the table: Which child should they keep? After about two hours of arguing, they made up their minds. They would have to give up Tagalong. Aldous reassured Pam that Tagalong would be better off in an orphanage because he's a boy, and would be able to handle whatever was thrown at him. Pam slowly nodded her head in agreement, believing whatever her husband told her just to make herself feel better about the situation. She wondered what it would be like for Scootaloo to grow up not knowing she had a fraternal twin brother somewhere in Equestria.

After reluctantly packing his diaper bag, Pam grabbed the tiny colt and flew to Manehattan on a cold September night. When she arrived in the metropolitan city, the streets were empty and there few lights still on. As she walked down the empty streets, Pam noticed a huge, gray building, at least six stories high. It looked more like an apartment complex than an orphanage. She stared at the fading sign that read "Manehattan Adoption Center", as if she was jotting down the name in her memory. Pam hurried inside to get the whole ordeal over with. She saw a grey earth pony at the front desk, wearing a white coat with a pink heart patch on the left breast pocket.

"Hello there dearie. How can I help you?" she said, in a surprisingly cheerful in tone.

"Um, yes... I need to put my son up for adoption... we just had him, but we're running into some harsh financial troubles and we wouldn't want him to grow up dealing with that sort of thing..." She was looking at the floor, thinking that if she looked at the mare, she'd see hatred in her eyes.

"Well dearie," she said, once again in a cheerful tone, "I can help you there. My name is Ms. Carie. I'm the supervisor of the orphanage. I know how hard this can be emotionally for you; I was adopted when I was a filly. My birth parents were in a similar situation. Now, does the little guy have a name?" She was rubbing Tagalong's chin with her hoof.

"Yes... his name is Tagalong. Will he be alright here? I mean, you'll make sure that he goes to a good home, right?" Pam was starting to tear up, sniffling and lightly weeping.

"Of course, dearie. We don't actually put the foals up for adoption until they're a bit older; at least 2 or 3 years old. This is simply to make sure that they're in a stable condition and have the proper medical care that they need before they’re adopted." Her voice was very understanding and comforting.

"Thank you ma'am." Pam now had to bring herself to leave the orphanage, and her child. She gave Tagalong a final goodbye kiss on his cheek and started to cry. Giving up her child to a complete stranger was the most difficult thing that she'd ever had to do.

Pam left the orphanage feeling relieved, knowing that her child was safe from the

troubles that would face the rest of the family for years. When Pam returned home, she

immediately ran into her room and looked at Scootaloo in the crib, stroked the filly's mane and said, "Things are going to get better... I promise you, Scootaloo...” The tiny foal merely cooed and babbled. Aldous walked into the room right after Pam and held her close to him while she wept, letting out a 'shh' or an 'everything’s going to be alright' every so often. She felt horrible for abandoning her own son, but knew that it was the only option that they had. That night, Tagalong lied in a crib in his new home, already asleep.