Raising Cakes Part 4

>Panting, you help Pinkie drag the stroller up the steps of the not-so-child-friendly entrance to the town hall
>The twins had been overjoyed to see you, gurgling and laughing the whole journey
>It was nice
>The foyer is nice and cool. There's even a ceiling fan
>Leaning heavily on the counter, you wipe the sweat off of your forehead and check the time on the desk clock
>Made it here with two minutes to spare
>The receptionist mare behind the counter looks less than pleased
>"May I help you, er... sir?"
>What's that supposed to mean?
>No, no time to get offended
"Mr. Anonymous and Miss Pie here to see the Mayors aide. We have an appointment."
>She looks down at her chart
>"Ah yes, 2 o'clock. The Mayor- ahem, I mean the Mayors aide- will see you now."
>You nod and, motioning Pinkie to follow, walk down the corridor to the office
>You push lightly on the door and it opens quietly
>Inside, you see aide mare spinning on the mayoral chair, a look of almost manic excitement on her face
>It appears she has been doing this for some time
>As soon as she sees all of you, horror replaces the joy. She falls out of the chair, picking herself up almost instantly
>Real professional
>You cough awkwardly
>You can hear Pinkie suppressing a giggle. You know for a fact she wants a chair like that now

>After regaining her composure, the mare sitting behind the desk clears her throat
>"Ahem... Welcome, Mr. Anonymous, Miss Pie. The Cakes' estate attorney should be here momentarily. Please take a seat."
>You do as she asks, keeping the foals stroller within reaching distance
>Damn pony chairs, it always feels like they're seconds from snapping
>You aren't that fat!
>A stallion walks into the room dragging a large briefcase behind him
>He's wearing a tie. That counts for dressed up around here, so you figure him to be the attorney
>You stand and shake his hoof
>It always feels weird doing that
>"Good afternoon, Mr. Anonymous, Miss Pie. Well, let's begin shall we?"
>He lugs the briefcase onto the desk and pops it open, pulling out some important looking files
>A lot of important looking files
>He notices the look on your face and smiles
>"Don't worry, most of these are mine to worry about. I do need a couple of signatures though"
>You nod, put slightly at ease
>You disliked paperwork at the best of times, to say nothing of Pinkie. This guy would be lucky to get her to sign her own name
>He picks up a file and places some reading glasses onto his snout
>You all brace yourselves for the reading

>Which, anticlimactically, doesn't happen
>Instead, he passes one sheet to you and one to Pinkie
>"Well, if you can just sign here and here, I can be on my way"
>You stare at him
"That's it? No reading?"
>Now it's his turn to stare
>"I was informed you could read. Is this not the case?"
"Now wait just a minute, of course-"
>He gave a short laugh
>"I suggest you stop watching so many courtroom dramas, Mr. Anonymous. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
>He collects your signed sheets and deposits two envelopes, one for you, one for Pinkie
>You tear yours open and read the contents
>The first part was full of legalities, stating that the Cakes had left Sugarcube Corner to their children, Mr. Cake had left you his good wristwatch along with a bunch of ties.
>To be quite honest you'd always hated those ties
>But now you'd keep them forever
>You read onwards, skipping through a lot of legal jargon
>You stopped at one sentence though. It had your name on it
>'Anon. We feel silly writing this. But if worse comes to worst, we need something to fall back on, something to make sure everything (and not to mention everyone) is taken care of.'
>You read on
>'We can't imagine how you would be feeling if events were to cause you to ever have to read this, but know this. You are our family. From the moment you woke up on our kitchen couch, to your little fights with Pinkie,
to your help with the twins.'
>You smile, memories flooding your mind
>'We love you Anon. Goodbye, and take care.'
>That did it
>You rub the tears from your eyes and close them for a second, shutting the world out
>Just for a second
>Finally, you were able to let go
"Goodbye."

>"I'm sorry?"
>You open your eyes to find the Aide Mare giving you a funny look
>You smile, at peace
>Turning to Pinkie, you see tears falling from her eyes. But she was smiling
>And her hair had poofed again
>"Well, that just leaves the issue of assigning legal guardianship. Who wants to sign first?"
>What?
"What?"
>You frantically flick back through the file
>There was nothing in here about adopting Pumpkin and Pound!
>Oh wait
>It was in the legal jargon bit
>Fuck
>The aide mare was still talking
>"According to the forms, if either you and Miss Pie fail to sign, the twins will be handed over to foal welfare"
>You panic and say the only thing that springs to mind
"I need to get a drink of- go to the toilet"
>Correction. The only two things that spring to mind
>You look at everyone and rush awkwardly from the room
>Reaching the front desk, you find the bored looking receptionist
"Toilet?"
>She looks up from her magazine at you
>"We don't have one"
"Where do you go then?"
>She sighs, then points to a door behind her
"Thanks"
>Once inside, you lean on the sink
>Running the tap, you feel the cold water under your hands. You splash some on your face and take stock of the situation
>Foal welfare
>You'd heard things, and none of them particularly reassuring. It was the equivalent of Social Services back home
>You couldn't condemn them to that
>Looks like your plans for leaving had been scuppered for the time being
>No need to get rid of them entirely though

>At that moment, the bathroom door opens
>Pinkie walks in
"Pinkie, what are you doing in here?"
>You say, shocked
>She points to the door, a confused look on her face
>"It's the mare's bathroom?"
>Oh
>You figured the lack of urinals was due to an anatomical thing
>"Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were okay"
>You exhale
"Pinkie-"
>She cuts you off
>"Before you make a decision, just hear me out. I'm not exactly what you'd call responsible. I don't know if I can do this, but I'm going to give it my best shot. Only..."
>She looks you in the eye
>"Only I can't do it without you, Anon. And I'm not just talking about some signature on a piece of paper, either. So, really what I'm asking is, will you help me?"
>You stand, and without answering, walk out of the bathroom
>Pinkie follows, staring after you uncertainly
>"Anon?"
>You stride back into the Mayors office, and, ignoring her spinning aide, grab a pen from the desk
>With a flourish, you sign your name on the dotted line, right next to Pinkies
"There. It's done"
>The slide the paper over the desk and, grabbing the stroller full of gurgling foals, leave the room
>Pinkie is standing outside he door, hopping from hoof to hoof in anticipation
>"What happened?"
>You ruffle her mane
"I did it. I signed the paper"
>She beams at you
>"Anon, I can't- Whoa!"
>You lift her up onto your back
>You think to yourself how strange you must look
>A big monkey wearing clothes, pushing a stroller with a unicorn and a pegasus foal in it, whilst giving a piggyback to a giggling pink Earth pony
>You knew better though
>You were a family