When Greg picked Danny up from work, he had to do a double-take. He’d forgotten that he accidentally made Danny look like his son.
“Sorry about that again, Danny,” Greg said as he buckled Danny into his car seat. Danny sighed heavily. “Something wrong?”
“Other than you changing my appearance?”
“Yes.”
“Unfortunately, yeah, something else is wrong.” Danny rubbed his face wearily. “I guess there are people being hired and fired and changing roles at corporate. They’re changing the policy that’s been letting me work.”
“What do you mean?”
“Starting next week, I won’t legally be considered an adult. Apparently they’re worried about the government coming after them or something.”
“What does that mean for you?”
“It means I’ll be unemployed and have all the rights a three-year-old has. Which is none.”
“Right…” Greg said slowly. Gears were beginning to turn in his head. He felt bad about what he’d done to Danny, but maybe it would be for the best, if Danny agreed to his suggestion.
“The worst part is that I’ll need a legal guardian,” Danny continued.
“What about me?” Greg suggested. “I’m already taking care of you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Danny sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Adopt me, change my last name to yours. You already changed my face to match yours.”
“Sorry about that.”
“It is what it is. At least you didn’t do any behavioral changes to me.” Danny looked at Greg. “If you talk to Kristof, I’m sure he’ll get corporate to handle all the legal stuff for my adoption. He seemed to feel pretty bad about basically firing me after I kept working for him, even when I got turned into a toddler.”
“Think he’ll be able to provide some sort of compensation for your situation?” Greg asked. Danny shrugged.
“Beats me.” He yawned. “Can we go home, already?”
“Right, right.”
Greg got into the driver’s seat, started the car, and drove off. By the time they got home to their apartment, Danny was fast asleep. Greg quickly took a picture, then called Kristof. After explaining that Greg would be adopting Danny, Kristof did as Danny suspected and offered to handle all the paperwork for it.
To Greg’s delight, Kristof also did what Greg had thought he might. He offered compensation. Specifically, compensation in the form of…