February 2009

"... and that is why today, I am formally announcing my retirement from football," Drew told the world at the press conference he called in the auditorium of the University of Pittsburgh, where he had been a Heisman Trophy finalist and the Panther's record holder for Most Yards Passing, among many other accomplishments as a college player.

Drew added, "You folks haven't heard the last of me, however. I'm very proud to announce that starting this fall season, I will be joining the broadcast team for the Panther's home games on their radio station."

There were some cheers and applause from the audience.

"I would like to thank all of my amazing fans, those in the media who have said kind words about me no matter what was going on in my personal life, all of my coaches and teammates I've gotten to work with over the years, and my agent. But most of all, I must thank my family, my friends, and my wonderful partner Emmett Honeycutt for their love and support."

Emmett, who was sitting in the front row and crying tears of joy, blew his man a kiss.

Drew left the stage soon after and spent some time shaking hands and posing for pictures. Later on, there was a gathering at Woody's to celebrate Drew's career and his new job. A recording of Drew's speech was playing on the TV over the bar.

"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Mr. Boyd," Brian said to Drew, raising his glass to him.

"Besides the game commentary, what else are you planning to do with your time?" Justin asked.

Drew shrugged. "I have a few ideas."

"Do a few of those ideas involve you, Emmett, and an industrial-sized bottle of lube?" Daphne asked, winking.

Everyone laughed, with Emmett blushing.

"Maybe," Drew admitted with a big smile.

Later that night while relaxing after two rounds of sex, Drew brought up something that had been on his mind for a few months. "What do you think of maybe having a kid together?"

Emmett, who had been resting his head on his lover's heart sat up quickly. "You want to have a baby with me?"

"Well, not by ourselves - that would be a little bit impossible."

"Yeah and I wouldn't want to lose my figure," Emmett joked.

"I was thinking more of adopting. There are so many unwanted kids in this world and I think that we could do a great job of raising one or two. Now that I'm retired, I won't be traveling anymore, and we have lots of money and this big house. How about we have some kids to keep us young?"

"I think I love you more than ever and would love to raise a family with you," Emmett gushed.

Drew continued, hoping that Emmett would like his ideas. "What do you think of adopting from a foreign country? I hear that it takes a long time to get a baby in the US. I've been doing some reading online, and because we're not legally married, only one of us could adopt as a single person before the other could later petition for second-parent adoption. It might be better if you applied to adopt, since I've been a public figure. I'd hate for the media to find out about it before we even bring a baby back home."

"Where were you wanting to adopt from? I imagine that you have some ideas, since it seems like you've been thinking about this for a while."

"I was thinking of going to Pakistan. I was flipping through the channels one day and found a documentary about an orphanage there. It's just so sad how parents dump their unwanted babies like they're getting rid of the trash," Drew answered, tears in his eyes as he remembered how he felt while watching the program. "Luckily, they don't have any laws in Pakistan about adoption, so the fact you're an unmarried American won't hurt your chances of getting a baby from there. If I go with you, we would have to keep the fact that we're a couple a secret, since homosexuality is illegal there."

Emmett cupped his lover's face in his hands and kissed him softly. "How soon can we get this started? I want our child now."

The couple met with an adoption lawyer a few days later, who referred them to their state's adoption network. Emmett applied to become an adoptive parent, which included a visit to his doctor to prove that he was healthy, filling out a very lengthy and rather intrusive questionnaire about his life and background, providing a few years worth of tax returns, and giving a list of references. He was never so happy for having a large group of friends, and Debbie, Ted, Brian, Justin, and Daphne were all willing to vouch for him. He and Drew would each have criminal records checks, since they both lived in the home where the child would live.

Emmett had learned that Pakistan did not have adoption agencies, so adoptions were handled through the court system. Orphaned babies and children were not always pre-matched with their adopting families, especially newborns. They would simply go to an orphanage and choose a baby on the spot. While speaking about it one evening, Emmett and Drew agreed that it felt as if they were adopting a puppy from the pound, since they probably wouldn't even see a picture of their baby before taking it with them.

Emmett's adoption application would only be approved pending the success of a home study, which first required him to spend a couple of months taking parenting classes and attending interviews with a social worker in an office downtown. He was told that a social worker could show up at his home any time without notice, which may require him to rush home in the middle of one of his catering functions.

Drew's comment to Emmett when he heard this was, "Well, I guess we can't fuck anywhere we want or walk around the house naked anymore."

Emmett smiled and shook his head at his partner. "Nope, especially not after we have a baby in the house."

***************

Emmett spent the following week cleaning the house as if it had been a bloody crime scene, despite both men being fairly neat and having twice-weekly housekeeping. He made sure that the fire extinguisher in the kitchen was in working order and that the batteries in all of the smoke detectors were good. He also made sure that there was no expired food in the kitchen and no medications in plain site.

Emmett and Drew were cleaning up after dinner one evening when a social worker rang the doorbell.

"Good evening, I'm Beena Ahmad from the adoption network," the short, beautiful woman said.

Emmett stuck his hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Emmett Honeycutt and this is my... um..."

"Drew Boyd," the strapping man behind him filled in.

Beena warmly shook Drew's hand. "Of course, you're Drew Boyd! I'm a big fan of yours, even if you did play for the Pats last season."

All three of them laughed, with the men relieved that the social worker seemed nice so far.

"I'll need to take a look around your home and then ask you some questions," Beena said. "Please, pretend like I'm not here."

Despite Beena's request, Emmett and Drew couldn't help but nervously sit on the couch as the social worker poked through their property for nearly an hour. When she was finished inspecting the house, they all sat down at the dining room table for the interview.

"I was told that you are intending to adopt a child from Pakistan," Beena began.

"Yes, I do want to adopt from there," Emmett confirmed.

"Well, I'm actually Pakistani, so I'm very happy to hear that. There are so many orphaned children there, it breaks my heart. Although you've filed as single, Mr. Honeycutt, I see that you and Mr. Boyd are a couple who share this home."

Emmett swallowed hard. "If it were legal for us to get married here, we would. Is there going to be a problem with that, since we're an unmarried gay couple and Pakistan is such a heavily-Muslim country?"

"From me, not at all. You seem to be a very loving couple and any child you adopt will be very blessed to live here with the two of you. I would like to offer you some advice: if you are approved to adopt and go to Pakistan together to find a baby, it needs to be just as friendly companions. You would have to be very discreet, because anything else would not be safe. Homosexuality isn't punishable by death in Pakistan, but gays do get murdered there by people who do not approve of their lifestyles, unfortunately. Homosexual acts are illegal. Also, you will each want to get vaccinated against the many diseases that are prevalent in the region several weeks prior to leaving. It usually takes around four to six weeks after the home study to be approved by the state, so I suggest making appointments to get vaccinated soon."

"I do plan to go with Emmett to Pakistan, so thank you very much for the advice," Drew said. "The fact that we're gay is a worry of ours going over there, but we plan to be very respectful of the laws and beliefs. The last thing we want is to end up being thrown in jail or worse."

Beena asked Emmett several personal questions, many directly from his questionnaire. His nervousness had mostly disappeared until Beena blindsided him.

"An employment check on you revealed that you once worked for a ‘Jerk at Work Enterprises'. From my understanding, that was a now-defunct gay porno website."

Emmett's face fell. "Um... yes, I worked there for a few months, many years ago."

If Beena had an opinion about Emmett's employment there, it did not show on her face. "And you were actually a performer on the website, correct?"

"Yes... I um, I only started working there to help out my friend, who started the website and was at risk of losing everything if it wasn't a success," Emmett explained as he tried not to queen out and burst into tears. "You see, I was a ‘solo performer.' I never actually had sex with anyone on camera. I quit way before the site was shut down."

Beena held up her hand. "Relax, Mr. Honeycutt. I just wanted to make sure that you would be honest with me about your past employment, no matter how questionable or immoral some members of society may view it to be. You didn't do anything illegal and you have a squeaky-clean criminal record. You are now a successful business owner and have a great reputation, from what I've heard. I think we're all allowed a skeleton or two in our closets."

She asked a few more questions about Emmett's life, how he planned to raise his adopted child, and his relationship with Drew.

Beena then asked Drew, "If Mr. Honeycutt is approved to adopt a child, brings one home, and the adoption is finalized, what role do you plan on playing in that child's life?"

"I would want to also adopt the child and raise it with Emmett as my own," he answered, threading his fingers through his partner's.

"He was actually the one who first brought up adopting," Emmett explained as he looked over at Drew and smiled.

Drew added, "I've always wanted a family, to be married with a few kids. This is the perfect time, now that I've retired from football. We're still waiting for Pennsylvania to legalize same-sex marriage, but in the meantime, we want to get started on building our family."

"That's wonderful," Beena said. "If you are cleared to adopt, I have relatives over in Pakistan that may be able to help you through the process. There's a couple there that runs an orphanage and they are friends with my family. I will call my aunt and get back to you with the details, once your application is approved."

Both Emmett and Drew received immunizations against hepatitis, typhoid, diphtheria, polio, and malaria in anticipation of traveling to Pakistan. In the meantime, they went about with their normal lives, despite the stressful wait for the adoption approval. Emmett stayed busy with his catering and party planning. Since announcing his retirement, Drew had been spending a few days a week volunteering at the Vic Grassi House AIDS Hospice, keeping the patients company and helping with some simple administrative tasks. He also visited children in local hospitals through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, something had done throughout his football career. They decided not to tell anyone about their adoption plans, in case Emmett did not receive approval.