Bruce and Danny

By: BeatleNumber9

Chapter 1: A Hesitant Father

“I'm sorry," the
doctor said, “but I'm afraid it's negative."

            My
wife, Emma, let out a long sigh, sounding like she was trying to hold back
tears. I wouldn't blame her.

            “This
is our eighteenth time now Doc." I finally broke the silence. “Could you just
give us something else?" Doctor Solomon stayed quiet for a few seconds, but
eventually said,

            “I
know how much you both want to conceive a child, but if you want me to be
truthful with you, I would strongly suggest considering adoption."

            A
few weeks later me and Emma decided to take the doctor's advice and began
looking at orphanages. It was hard for her but we just had to face facts, we
tried eighteen times and still no pregnancy.

            “Do
you think we should get a boy or a girl?" I asked her.

            “Hm…"
She thought, “I'm not sure. I just know they should be under one year."

            “I
do too." I agreed. “It would just be better if we were able to raise them
ourselves. You also want a bear cub like us right?"

            “If
we can, yes." She answered. “But I wouldn't mind, if we had to pick one that
wasn't like us. Just so long as they're young."

            “Alright,"
I said, “But I think I speak for both of us when I say, we shouldn't consider
getting a human, if we cant get a bear."

            “Oh,
I don't know, Bruce. I don't think it would be that different from adopting one
from any other different species than us." She disagreed.

            “Em,
I'm serious," I said, “It would just make the experience harder than it's
already going to be. I also don't want to raise a cub, only to have it be
scared of me when it turns three." I added.

            “Oh,
Bruce, you're exaggerating." She tried to reassure me. “There are plenty of
Anthros that have adopted human kids and they're just like any other family. I
even work with a girl who was adopted by a nice bison couple, and she has
nothing but nice things to say about them."

            “Bet
they don't look nearly as intimidating as me." I muttered.

            “I'm
just saying we should keep an open mind." She said, “You never know what kid
will really be right for you until
you see them."

            One week later

            “Welcome
to Saint Philip's orphanage," a nun welcomed us. After giving us a brief
history and description of the orphanage she finally cut to the chase. “Now
what sort of child were you two hoping for?"

            “Well,
preferably a bear, like us." I answered.

            “We'd
also like them to be as young as possible." Emma added. “Nothing over one
year."

            “Of
course," the nun answered, “just follow me."

She showed us the
Anthro cub ward where there cubs of varying species rabbits, lions, mice, just
to name a few. There were two bear cubs; one polar bear and a black bear, but
Emma didn't seem sure. She said that she'd know the right one when she saw it.
She insisted that we at least have a look at the human cubs. Even though we
agreed we wouldn't adopt a human cub, I decided to humor her and asked the nun
to take us to where they were.

            She
led us into the human cub ward and Emma immediately began going up to each one
to get a good look at them. Meanwhile I stood near the door and watched as my
prediction came true; every baby she went up to started crying. Just when I was
about to walk over to Emma and lead her back to the Anthro ward, she stopped at
one particular crib. Curious, I walked over to her and looked in the crib. The
little guy lying there looked like he was practically a newborn. But the thing
I immediately noticed was he wasn't crying, no signs of distress, he just
looked at us both with what I could only describe as curiosity in his eyes.

            “Nurse!"
Emma called, to the woman who'd been tending to the other cubs when we'd
entered the room, “How old is this one?"

            “Oh,
he's about two-and-a-half months. Like a lot of babies here, he's been here
since the day he was born…sometimes mothers feel like they can't take care of
them so they give them up as soon as they're born." The nurse explained.

            “What's
his name?" Emma asked.

            “Oh,
we don't normally have to name the children under one year, since they're
usually the first one's to get picked." She said, walking over to us.

            “…May
I hold him?" Emma asked, nervously.

            “Yes,
ma'am." The nurse said, carefully taking the boy out of his crib, and gently
placing him in my wife's arms.

            Emma
looked at the little cub in her arms, and then turned to me.

            “Emma,
I know what you're thinking, and I told you it's out of the question." I said
sternly.

            “But
Bruce, look at him, he's not even making a fuss when I hold him. I have a good
feeling about him."

            I
had to admit the little guy was cute,
with his wide eyes and straight brown hair that stuck out a little at the top;
he even started smiling and giggling a little when Emma bounced him a little in
her arms. But he was still a human, and I knew about the unreasonable prejudice
that still existed about Anthro families adopting human children, and vice
versa. I knew about the bullying that children of those families endured. Hell
Anthros alone were still dealing with prejudices in general.

But, the main fear
I had was the possibility that the boy would end up becoming afraid of us,
especially me, even if he wasn't afraid right now, he'd eventually realize he's
not the same species as us. I mean I'm one of the nicest guys around, but even
I knew I was one of the most intimidating looking Anthros in the city. I mean,
I'm a Kodiak bear standing at 6'10", I hated admitting it, but I was definitely
pretty scary looking to any kid, even Anthro kids.

            “I'm
sorry Emma," I replied, “but we already talked about this last week. It would
just be too much trouble."

            We
continued to quietly argue at each other, me telling her my fears about this,
and her telling me how we'd make a good family for him, and insisting on this
“good feeling" she had. Most of the argument was just using the same points
from last week. Until finally she gave me the look, that damn look where I know
she's about to get her way.

            “Bruce,"
she finally said, “just hold him." She said holding the boy out to me.

            “I…I
don't want to." I said.

            “I'll
tell you what," she proposed, “if he starts crying when you hold him, we can
choose another cub, like you think we should. But if he stays like he's been
these past few minutes, we'll take him."

            After
a brief pause I agreed and reluctantly held out my, now shaking, paws. She
slowly handed him to me and now he was just lying there in my paws. I was so
big that his whole body could pretty much fit in both my paws together. I then
slowly brought the human cub closer to me, careful not to scratch his sensitive
skin or rip his blankets with my claws, and was now cradling him in my arms.
Finally his eyes started opening again, it was the moment of truth now. I was
expecting him to scream at the top of his little lungs and for the nurse to
come rushing over to help calm him down, but all he did was stare at me for a
minute and then snuggle into the fur of my arm, trying to go back to sleep.

            I
was absolutely speechless; I looked back at my wife, who was now looking at me
with that “See?" look on her face. I gently handed the sleeping cub back to
her, and turned to the nurse.

            “Well…"
I sighed, “I think we've made our decision."

            “Are
you sure?" the nurse asked.

            I
looked back at my wife.

            “I
don't think she's going to change her mind."

            “Alright,"
The nurse said, taking the baby from Emma, “I'll get him ready for you to take
home. You may go to the main office to fill out the necessary paper work."

            “Are
you one hundred percent sure about this decision, Mr. and Mrs. Bjorn?" The
manager of the orphanage asked.

            “Are
you trying to discourage us from adopting this particular child?" Emma asked
her.

            “In
my opinion you seem like a perfectly good family for this baby, but you must
know that this won't be easy for you or the child when he gets older. Many
couples like yourselves have adopted human children before and…the world
doesn't always make it easy for them."

            “I
already told her that ma'am." I said, “You might as well just give us
everything we need to fill out, 'cause you're not changing her mind."

            “…Very
well." She said, taking out a folder with papers to fill out and handing it to
us. We then began reading through them and signing in all the right places.

            “So
what should we name him?" I asked Emma.

            When
we brought the little guy home Emma just couldn't put him down. I couldn't
blame her; this was what we'd wanted for years, a little cub of our own.

            I
couldn't help but think about the future though, as I was following Emma around
the house with the cub. Would everything turn out okay like Emma seemed to
think? I knew it wouldn't be easy taking care of a cub in the first place, but
this seemed to add a lot more complications to it.

After some time
into the day she finally asked if I wanted to hold him again, realizing she'd
been the only one holding him since we'd gotten home. Still a little hesitant,
I agreed and held out my arms like I did at the orphanage. Again I brought him
closer to me, cradling him, and looked down at him. He stared at me with his
wide, curious, eyes, and then began reaching up at me with his tiny hands,
making little playful grunts.

            I
almost wanted to cry at that moment, he
really wasn't afraid of me, I thought to myself, and now he's ours, our little cub…our son.

            “H-hey
there little guy." I spoke as softly as I could to him. “I-I'm your daddy, and
she's your mama." I said; getting choked up as I spoke. The little guy cooed in
response.

            I
looked back up at Emma, and I could see she was crying now too, now that I was
finally seeing that she was right?