Ailana’s Journal—2026-05-18 (Patreon)

Part of this post is "continued" from Instagram—everyone can access that section of this post. The "Paid access starts here" line is further down.

Some posts and sections of some posts are reserved for Supporters. AGI Stories content almost always appears on Patreon first, ahead of all other platforms. You get it first!

GOOD MORNING

A new week has begun. Since things are getting busy, I’m planning on spending most of today at the keyboard.

Of course, tomorrow at midday, AGI Creative has a photo shoot. When I think about it, the fact that Naomi is sending someone from San Antonio for makeup hints at it being a little bigger than “put this on and smile.”

She promised to share a shot list, but as of ten minutes ago, that hasn’t happened. I’ll check on that again later.

I spoke to Meredith Sinclair for a few minutes on Friday.She says her day job as a teacher is in a busy phase and that I shouldn’t stress about looking at her latest additions to Chapter One.

All the same, I’d like to work on it Wednesday just to get it off my plate. Plus, fiction work is very satisfying.

Last morning thought—Josh and Geoni are in Reno with an adoption meeting scheduled for 8:00 a.m. They have several appointments lined up this week, but the plan is that if they match today—that’s it.

Josh replied to a Patreon comment saying this:

We've decided to find someone we can love and share life with and go no further. Telling a young lady, "Okay, nice to meet you… we'll get back to you in a few days…"

Suppose that happened (I'm sure agencies would never let that happen—I hope), then you go back. "Okay, you're it!"

Geoni says she'd have felt like, "So you looked for someone better and ended up having to settle for me?"

I think that shows how much heart is involved in the process. This isn’t car shopping. It’s about changing lives.

If I find anything out, I’ll let you know.

Support AGI with:• one-time contribution through TipTopJar.• one-time contribution through Throne.• Patreon Membership.

All characters in this story are fictional characters, their images generated with AI for AGI Stories. They do not represent any real person, nor is their appearance based on any real human.

Help AGI-Stories grow… If you’re enjoying the stories, please tell others. Word of mouth referrals and your endorsements are the best way for things here to grow!

NO GO IN RENO

I’ll keep this post brief (no, really) this time. I got a call from Josh.

“Geoni wanted me to call… She says she’d break down if she did it.”

“Good breakdown or bad?”

A short moment of silence. “The court reversed a decision. The girl we were supposed to meet is no longer available.”

I could feel the disappointment. “Sorry to hear that…”

“It feels like the proverbial rug being pulled out from under us. But, we’re on our way to Houston, and we’re hopeful.”

“Okay, good.”

Josh had one more thought. “Silver lining… adopting in our own state makes things a lot easier.”

“Easy is good, right?” I said.

“Yeah,” Josh replied. “And a few steps faster.”

So, now, they are on their way to Houston. I’m hoping for a good outcome.

New topic…

Today is the last chapter of “Growing Up Jason.” He and I have talked about most of what he wrote.

But actually finding words to express your thoughts in writing forces you to think deeply about what you’re trying to say. Reading Jason’s chapters has been amazing, and we’ve talked about them at length.

I hope you’ve read them. They say a lot.

I’ll be back tonight with a close-out post, so watch for it! See you soon.

DONE AND DONE by Josh Ryan

After all the months of getting through the process, we walked into the second meeting today feeling like we’d run a marathon only to find the finish line had been moved.

In Reno, we got all the way to where we were supposed to meet the child, only to learn that the court order had been reversed and the birth mother was going to get custody.

We called the next caseworker on the list and confirmed our flight to Houston. On the flight, Geoni admitted she felt deflated. I did, too, but I didn’t tell her.

We reached the Houston caseworker’s office, and she asked if we were ready. We said yes.

“Kelin is a great kid. You read the file. But he’s not very optimistic about any of this. In fact, he decided to pass on looking at your file.”

“So he could say ‘no’?” Geoni asked.

“He could.”

“Josh, meet him first, and if he’s not interested, I’ll stay out. I’m not sure I can handle being so disappointed twice in one day.”

The case worker agreed, and I went in. The young man smiled and stood up.

“I’m Kelin Hale, but I go by Kel. I’m pleased to meet you.”

We shook hands like we were merging a couple of Fortune 500 companies. “I’m Josh Ryan. Should we sit?”

“Sir, let me be honest. I’m not very hopeful about this.”

I liked his candor, so I smiled. “Well, I’d like to know what concerns you have. Geoni and I are optimistic, to say the least.”

The rest of this chapter is exclusive to Patreon.

Kel looked down for a moment, then looked directly at me. “I’ve been through this a few times since I hit high school. I don’t know how many times before that. I was in foster care for a while before my mother gave up her parental rights. I was twelve…”

I appreciated his openness. However, we’d read his file and there were enough details in it for me to understand that.

“I’m sure you’ve been disappointed before,” I said. “But I hope you’re not saying ‘no’ before we’ve even had a chance to talk.”

Kel shook his head. “I’m not saying ‘no’ at all. But, Mr. Ryan, I’m prepared for you to.”

“Tell me why,” I said.

“I’m sixteen already. I’ll be a junior in the fall. Most people looking to adopt want someone younger.”

“Is that all?” I asked.

“Sir, since you asked…” He held out the back of his hands, then pointed at his face. “I’m aware that I don’t look like anyone. Closest to being Latino, but not really. My mom was half Hispanic and one-fourth Middle Eastern. She didn’t tell me who my dad was, but he named me Kelin, which is a Siberian name. I’ve researched it, and most people prefer to adopt someone who looks like they do.”

I have to say I was impressed. I had a fleeting thought that if this weren’t adoption, I’d want him working beside me someday. He had that kind of bearing, but it was tempered by grace and poise.

“Besides those two issues, do you have any other concerns?”

“Naturally, I have all the other concerns that come with having your whole life changed by a judge’s decision, but those are the two that keep me from being hopeful.”

“Kel, let me assure you that neither of those is a problem for Geoni and me. If you’re not saying ‘no,’ I’d like to bring Geoni in. She was afraid you’d already made up your mind.”

“I haven’t made up my mind,” Kel replied. “But I guess I’m still stung from not being picked, so I’m still braced for you to say ‘no.’”

I texted Geoni and looked at Kel. “Because you don’t look like me?”

Kel frowned and looked down, nodding. He didn’t say anything or look up until the door opened and Geoni came in.

I saw his eyes widen and he blinked a few times.

Geoni said from the door, “Kel, I’m so happy to meet you.”

Kel’s smile widened, then he looked at me, looked at the back of his hands, and shook his head. “So it really doesn’t count against me for once?”

I shook my head. “Not in the least.”

Kel laughed a little. “Now I see why the caseworker wanted me to read the file. I figured it was a waste of time, and I didn’t want to connect with people I figured would take a hard pass on me.”

Geoni sat down, and a wave washed over me. All at once, the finish line that had seemed to be moving found a place to stand still.

I’ll spare you the details of the conversation that followed. He asked questions about us, and we answered. When Geoni told him how she grew up, he had tears in his eyes.

I told him that I came from a wealthy family. I didn’t disclose actual dollar amounts; my own father didn’t fully explain things until I was Kel’s age, so I thought we’d get grounded before I started explaining holdings and portfolio information.

He did ask how wealthy, and I said, “Wealthy enough that we won’t have to worry.”

We talked about South Padre Island, the condos, and the photography studio. We talked about Ailana, Jason, Clay, and Sasha.

“Micah and Jasmine are only four or five years older than you,” Geoni said. “You’ll enjoy hanging out with them sometimes.”

At some point, though I can’t quite recall how, even Allen and Grammy came up. He thought they sounded interesting, but he was fascinated by the SwimFit factory concept.

That led to Savannah’s Charm and Imagine What—Clay’s boats—and Kel leaned back in the chair and shook his head. “Mr. Ryan, I feel like I’m being bribed by a lifestyle I could never imagine. Why would you want to bring me, a sixteen-year-old, into all that, knowing I’ll go off to college in a couple years?”

I answered. “I meant it when I said your age isn’t a problem to us.”

“But why adopt a teenager?”

Geoni answered. “Because we didn’t want to pretend kids stop needing family when they get older.”

“Okay,” Kel replied.

Then she added, “And because we’re not trying to replace anyone. We’re trying to make room for someone who’d add meaning and purpose to our lives.”

Kel sat quietly for a few minutes, then he looked up. “I wish I were the kind of kid who could take a heavy idea like that and make it into a funny, lighthearted moment. I’m not that kind of guy, but what I am is… scared and grateful.”

Geoni slid off the sofa and knelt in front of him, looking him directly in the face. “Let’s see what we can do to work out the scared part. Can we keep going?”

Kel agreed.

I have no idea how long we talked, but eventually the caseworker came in to say the office security guard wanted to know when we’d be leaving. We called it a night, but the plan was to meet again the next morning and take the next step.

Between the three of us agreeing and the finish line stand several legal steps, a lot of signatures, and eventually a court decision—all of which should unfold in an expected, orderly manner.

Pending the outcome of Kel “sleeping on it,” as the caseworker said, we should have things in motion by the end of the day tomorrow.

When we got to the hotel, I turned to Geoni. “Call Sasha and tell her to plan for one more at the wedding.”

GOOD NIGHT

Here’s a little detail about time zones. Sunrise and sunset are not at the same clock time from east to west within a single time zone. Let me say more…

The U.S. Central Time Zone, of which South Padre Island is a part—like all time zones in general—is approximately 1,000 miles wide at the equator, though its actual borders are adjusted around political boundaries like national borders and state lines.

When the sun comes up on the eastern boundary, it will be nearly an hour later—in rough numbers—before it comes up on the western boundary. Take one step farther west into the next time zone and you go back an hour, making sunrise there appear about an hour earlier by the clock than where you were just standing.

All of that makes sense to me, and since I majored in words, not numbers, I’m okay with the approximations and “abouts.” And there actually is a point.

Sunset here in SPI today is 8:09 p.m. Meanwhile, back in Panama City, Florida, to the east, sunset is at 7:30 p.m. If you factor in some north-south effect and go to Alkabo, North Dakota—still in the Central Time Zone—you get a sunset at 9:34 p.m.

And all of that is just to tell you I’m on the beach for my goodnight post, basking in the sunset!

What a day for Josh and Geoni! Let me send my greetings to Kel Hale and wish him confidence and certainty in whatever decision he makes.

Also, thank you to all of you who’ve had kind words to share about the “Growing Up Jason” series. Today was the last chapter of that, and I think it tells a lot more of our story than my “Growing Up Ailana” did alone.

The whole story is collected in the “Growing Up Jason” collection on Patreon. In total, it’s a nice little novelette that includes all of Jason’s thoughts plus a lot of relevant excerpts from what I wrote. I think it’s a great effort.

With that, here’s my closing…

May you have courage to walk, even when you don’t see past the bend, and may you be delighted by what you discover over the hill.

Keep walking…

Good night.

Be your best you!

Become a Patreon Member (Click Here)

Another image of Ailana, a message, and a thank you that follow are exclusive here for supporters…

Message to Paying Supporters:

Thank you for helping support AGI Stories.

I always consider you—the paid members—when deciding how content is shared.

I believe that most of you who help with the costs do so because you want to support the production process and show encouragement. I’m honored and truly grateful.

At the time of this post (not counting hardware or internet costs), expenses run just over $100 per month—so every supporter truly makes a difference.

Nevertheless, I share a lot of content free to all. I believe you understand why. Stories about giving back and helping shouldn’t be exclusive, and key moments need to be accessible for anyone following the stories.

My hope is that sharing a few exclusive photos and small portions of some posts with you serves as a simple expression of gratitude.

With that in mind, again, thank you very much.

~AGI Original Stories & AI Images