Skye wanted a family. She wanted one desperately. She wanted a mom, a dad, grandparents, and maybe even a brother and sister. She didn't think any of that was going to happen for her any time soon though. Skye had turned six one month ago and she was in foster care. In her life, she had had nine foster families. At least that she remembered, now she was moving on to number ten while her social worker rambled on about how she thought this new family would be good for her.

"They have two kids already, a boy and a girl, " Skye nodded, "both are fourteen but they won't be there when we get there since it's still within the school hours, " The social worker glanced back at her "and what are the parent's names?"

"Mr and Mrs Coulson, " Skye responded in a monotone voice,

"Good, " the women said. They were driving through Bethesda which was right outside of Washington DC. Skye had lived in a few homes out here. She turned back to the window and watched the houses. She knew a couple of them, although she didn't know the names of all the people. She watched as the car pulled up to a dark blue house with lots of windows. There was a porch with a little table and two chairs. Flowers were planted in the front garden and she noticed a backyard extending from the house. Skye waited for her social worker to open the door because of the child lock and jumped down, bringing the grocery bag holding her things in it in her hand. She followed behind the women and watched as she knocked on the door. A man opened it. The adults exchanged a quick greeting and he welcomed them inside the house. He kneeled down to Skye,

"Hi, I'm Phil, and you're Mary right?" he asked. Skye shook her head. Mary was what a lot of people called her but she didn't like that name. She liked Skye. Skye guessed that her full name was probably Skylar but she hadn't given it much thought.

"I'm Skye, short for Skylar I think, " she told him. He nodded,

"Good to know, " he stood back up, "Is that all for today?" he asked the social worker. The woman nodded waved and then left leaving Skye standing in the living room with Mr Coulson or Phil as he was apparently called.

"My wife Melinda is just in the kitchen, sorry we didn't both come to the door, we weren't expecting you until two-forty, " he explained leading her across what looked like a living room. They walked into a kitchen where a woman was sitting at a table reading a book.

"Social worker came early, " he told her. She looked up and smiled as she saw Skye.

"Hi, Ma-" she started,

"Mel, this is Skye, short for Skylar, " Phil told her. Melinda nodded,

"Oh, well it's lovely to meet you, Skye, I'm Melinda, " Melinda said offering Skye her hand. Skye shook the woman's hand.

"Nice to meet you too," she responded. She didn't know if she meant it yet but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"Well, " Phil said glancing at the clock. "We have about thirty minutes until Mack and Bobbi get home, sounds like a good amount of time to show Skye around the house, " Mel nodded and Skye followed them as they moved towards the backdoor,

"We'll start outside then we'll show you upstairs," Melinda told her as Phil nodded. They lead Skye out the door.

The Coulsons had a huge backyard. They had a swing set, a vegetable garden and a huge tree with a treehouse in it. Skye pointed at it,

"What's that?" she asked.

"I think Bobbi and Mack will probably show you that later tonight, " Phil told her.

"Bobbi and Mack are your other kids, right?" Skye asked.

"Yep. They're both foster kids too, " Melinda told her, "but we officially adopted them last year, "

"Are they twins?" Skye asked,

"No, " Phil responded, "They are pretty close though, and they have the same birthday, "

Skye nodded, It seemed kind of weird that they had two kids with the same birthday but she decided not to question it. Then they might get upset. She followed the grown-ups as they moved towards a section of the yard.

Skye had seen almost every room in the house. She had seen Bobbi's room and Mack's room, and Melinda and Phil's room. She had seen the downstairs which was a small room with a tv, a gaming system and three bean bag chairs. She had seen the three bathrooms and now she apparently just had to see her room. Skye didn't know what to expect,

"Remember when we go in that it's kind of plain for now, but we'll get you some more decorations soon, " Melinda told her,

"and, " Phil added, "Bobbi and Mack want to help you paint the walls, whatever colour you want, "

"Really?" Skye asked excitedly. Both nodded. Skye walked into the room. The walls were light blue but the ceiling was dark blue with little star stickers all over it. The sheets and blanket were both pink with white flowers on them and sat on the bed across from a wall with a window that looked across the backyard. Skye liked this room. She liked Melinda and Phil so far too. There had to be something bad

"How long am I going to stay here?" There had to be something. This was going to be for a few months, or this was just going to be what she always called a 'test' family. They wanted another kid just maybe not her. Skye had been in a lot of 'test' families. Seven of nine had been trying to find an adopted kid, just not her.

"Until you're all grown up and you want your own house, " Phil told her. Skye didn't believe that. She wanted to, but she didn't. She wanted to believe she would live here and this would be her family forever and ever, but she had already had nine families go bad. This one would be no different.

"Where should I put my stuff?" she asked.

"Just leave it here, for now, Bobbi and Mack will be home any second and they'll want to show you the treehouse right away, " Melinda told her. Skye didn't think Bobbi and Mack we're going to like her much. They probably didn't want another sibling when there was already two of them. She understood that two was already a lot. They probably like both being the same age, they probably didn't want a little sister, especially not one who broke stuff all the time and had already had nine other families.

She didn't think they would want her in their treehouse either. Especially if they found out how much she dropped stuff and broke it. Then they weren't even going to want her in their house and Melinda and Phil would probably agree with them and that would be the bad thing. That would be the end of foster family ten.

Skye slowly followed Melinda and Phil downstairs and tried not to be too disappointed.

Foster family number ten was going to be another flop.

AN: CARIN: Hope you enjoyed. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I'll try to get the next chapter of my story 'Home' up soon, I just felt like I needed a second story to be working on.

Bye

Carin