Ves Asirin, a small, eight-year-old, orphaned boy with dark brown eyes and dirty blonde hair, was a problem. Not one of the caretakers at Orem Church Orphanage would admit this because of how delicate he was with his autism spectrum disorder, but that is definitely, what he was; a problem.

No caretaker could ever get him to do anything but eat. No one could get him to get up on time or go to sleep when they wanted him to. No one could get him to play outside with the other children, instead of running down the hallway repeatedly. No one could get him to the barbershop without a fight. No one could stop him from drawing all over the wall with pens or markers and that he stole from the administration offices.

He was such a problem at the local school that he went to when he was six that Miss Twisty, the Head Caretaker at the orphanage, had him dropped out of the school because he could not be taught anything; he would not pay attention in class and he was always so forgetful.

Ves was such a problem, that none of the caretakers tried to hard to change him, make him conform and fit in with the other children … except Wender Mistry the youngest caretaker at the orphanage. Wender, who was 22 years old, tall with long red hair, was a hard working and a very kindhearted woman; she was brilliant with children. Miss Twisty had often criticised Wender’s way with the orphans because some of them, out of love for her, refused to leave the orphanage when people wanted to adopt them.

Wender was always trying her best to help Ves, showing an interest in him the very first day she’d come to the orphanage. Unfortunately, Ves misinterpreted all the attention she showed him as scrutiny, which absolutely he loathed.

Wender was the only caretaker who had tried to come up with a solution to Ves’ habit of drawing on the walls. Every morning, she would hand Ves a pencil and several sheets of paper to draw on, but of course, whenever he ran out of paper he returned to drawing on the walls.

Wender never gave up on her campaigns to win Ves over; she was just too naive to accept that he was beyond her help.


*    *    *

On a special day in April, Orem Church Orphanage opened its doors for adoption and eager scores of couples and foster parents came to the orphanage. On this day, Ves played alone in the playground whilst the other orphans showed off their various talents to the couples and foster parents. Miss Twisty had never put Ves up for adoption and had stated on more than one occasion that Ves lived at the orphanage under special care from the church whenever a curious couple asked about him. Of course, no other caretaker had complained about this other than Wender.

“First you drop him out of school … and now this?” Wender had complained during her first month at the orphanage. “Doesn’t Ves have as much right at a normal life as the other children?”
“I know how you feel Wender. But you must understand that this orphanage is the best living environment for a boy like Ves,” Miss Twisty had told her.
“But Miss Twisty. What’s the worst that could happen  to Ves if he were adopted by a normal family?”
“Do you honestly believe that what you call a ‘normal family’ could cope with Ves’ condition? It takes 30 caretakers to run this orphanage and none of them combined manage to stay on top of Ves. This ‘normal family’ of yours would have Ves sent off to some mental institute in less than a month … or return him here if they had any sense.”
“ You don’t know that!”
“ Oh, I do, Wender. I’ve seen it happen to children who are far less problematic than Ves is. Please, Wender, just let it go.”

Wender, being the kind of woman that she was, would never let it go and was destined to defy Miss Twisty.

That April, on that day, Miss Twisty was out of town, and Wender who had planned for it, pulled together all of Ves files and put him up for adoption.

She bathed him, dressed him in his best clothes and sat him down next to the other children.

“ Wender, what do you think you’re doing?” asked Renet, one of the other female caretakers.
“ Doing what’s best for Ves,” Wender replied, not meeting Renet’s squinted  eyes.
“ This is going against the board … and Miss Twisty. Oh, she’ll be so furious! She’ll have your head – and your job!” Renet whispered.
“ I don’t care as long as it is right in the eyes of Jesu and the Great Lord,” Wender said, briskly.

Renet shook her head and walked away muttering inaudibly to herself. Wender stood by her decision and before long a couple had noticed Ves who was seated with his head bowed, twirling one of his blonde streaks with his finger.

“ Oh, he’s so cute,” the woman said.
“I dunno, he’s kinda small,” the man said. “How old is he?”
“ Eight,” said Wender, excitedly walking over to the couple.
“ And is he healthy?” the man asked.
“ Yes he is,” Wender replied.
“ He’s so cute!” the woman said again, a wide grin on her face.
“ I’m Jake HaylenMardri,” he introduced the woman who was petite and had long, brown and wavy hair.
“Nice to meet you both, I’m Wender Mistry … please take a seat,” Wender said, beckoning the Haylens to two empty seats on each side of Ves.
“So what’s his name?” Madri asked.
“His name is Ves, Ves Asirin,” Wender told her.
“Strange name,” Jake said.
“Strange, but cute,” Mardri added.
“Are you sure he’s healthy? He looks sort of off colour to me,” Jake said.
“He’s fine Jake,” Mardri told him.
“He doesn’t have any illnesses or allergies, or any other complications?” Jake asked.
“No … none,” Wender lied.
“Can we have a look at his profile and medical records?”
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”

Wender got up and left the couple with Ves. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Mardri introducing herself to Ves, shaking his loose hand.

Wender stepped into the caretakers’ office and picked Ves’ file from her desk. She opened the file and slowly clipped out the papers containing details of Ves’ spectrum disorder. She read through the papers quickly and then sighed, her heart beating fast in her chest. She placed the papers on her desk and walked out of the office.

“ Well, here they are,” Wender said handing Ves’ file to Jake.

Jake read through the file and Wender watched him anxiously as he did.

“ Are you sure he’s the one?”Jake asked his wife.
“ Yes Jake … I know it in my heart, Julie is going to love him,” Mardri said.
“ Julie?” Wender asked
“Julie’s our ten-year-old daughter, she’s adopted as well,”
“Oh.”

Jake stood up and beckoned his wife.

“ Let’s have a private talk,” he said. Mardri nodded and stood up.

The couple walked a distance down the hall whispering to each other. Wender watched them, saying a silent prayer in her mind. Her heart had never beat that fast and hard in her life.

The couple returned to Wender and Ves a moment later.

“We’ll take him,” Mardri said excitedly.
“ Great …” Wender sighed in relief.

Wender led the Haylen’s to a desk where they signed papers for Ves’ adoption.

“So, I’ll have my lawyer come over on Monday to finalise everything … and – we’ll be in touch,” Jake said, happily.
“Okay,” Wender said, grinning.
“Come on dear,” said Mardri, holding Ves’ hand and making him stand up.
 “… There are a few more things you should know about Ves,” Wender said, carrying Ves' bags as she escorted him and the Haylens out to their car.
“Yes?”
“He’s sort of shy around people and not very social – it’s normal for his age – but sometimes he just doesn’t talk at all for hours,”
“Does he go to school?” Mardri asked.
“No, not yet,” Wender said quickly.
“Isn’t he a bit … late?” Jake asked, raising his brows.
 “He is – but he’s a quick learner,” Wender lied. “Though he is rather forgetful at times.”
“Then I guess he’ll be taking after my wife, she’s ‘extremely’ forgetful. She has a knack for misplacing and losing things,” Jake said.
“Oh, and he likes to draw a lot – sketches. If you bought him an art kit of some sort, I’m sure he’d be thrilled,”
“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem, is there anything else?”

Wender shook her head quickly.

“ No …” she swallowed.
“ We’ll be off then, “Jake said, packing Ves’ bags in the boot of his car.
“ In you get Ves, dear,” Mardri said, beckoning Ves into the car.

Ves hesitated and turned to look at Wender with a frown on his face … as though he knew that this was not right.

“It’s alright, Ves,” Wender told him. “Go on.”

Ves slowly got into the car and Mardri closed the door.

“ Goodbye Wender, and thanks for everything,” Mardri said.
“It was my pleasure, Goodbye.”

Mardri got into the car as well and Jake started it, reversed out the parking area and then drove off. Wender waved at the car as it went, tears running down her cheeks. She hoped she’d done the right thing, she really did.

“Well,” Jake  said, looking over his shoulder at Ves “I guess we’ll be calling you Ves A. Haylen now. Welcome to the family.”

To Be Continued ...