The corner Brownstone stood tall and strong despite its age of over 15 years on the lot. It's age most noticeably shown through the interior of the home. Bright red and dark brown hues gleamed as if precious stone as the rays of the sunlight flickered upon the bricks, some slipping through the bare windows that flank both sides of the building.
Greg took his free hand to cover his eyes from the blinding light to get a good look at their new home. A fresh start from the old uptown apartment he and his beloved wife Rose had shared for a few years. His other hand was entwined with the hand of Rose, who stood beside, towering a few feet above him.
"It's beautiful," she muttered as she gently squeezed her husband's hand. He returned the gesture.
"Well it'll look even more spectacular with a little TLC," Greg stated as he let his free hand fall to his side; he realizing he had his sunglasses sitting upon his head and put them on to protect his eyes from the sun.
"Of course, that as well. And a beautiful garden or two outlining the sides and the backyard as well." A gust of wind blew in from behind causing Rose to grab a hold of the floppy sunhat placed upon her head with her free hand. "Sure is breezy today."
"Well, the weather did call for a slight breeze, I guess we got what we wanted. By the way, why did we purchase the old place again?"
Rose emitted a light hearted giggle, "You silly, we need it if we're going to move forward with our little plan. Remember we agreed to do this, a small step to expanding our little family."
Greg scratched the side of his head; a slight smile upon his face, "Oh yeah, expanding."
"Oh come now Greg, it will be wonderful. We've both voiced how we wanted to have a big family, and hosting as a foster home is the most efficient way of doing it. Plus there are so many kids out there in need of someone to care for them, it would be a shame not to follow through with this," Rose stated as she gave her husband's hand a gentle squeeze and beamed a white toothy smile in his direction. How could he say no to that sweet face of hers.
"You've been watching too many Sarah McLachlan commercials haven't you?" he replied back with the tilt of his head.
"You might say that it has had some influence on this decision. But besides that, I think we'll be really happy with how everything turns out in the end."
Following the purchase of the house, the Universe's were quick to move in and get the place ready for their new arrivals about two weeks later. They were open to letting in any kids in need of a home, and were surprised to find out that the majority were young girls, roughly in their early to late teens. The house was an old boarding house which was recently renovated to accommodate a huge family. It consisted of the master bedroom, which laid on the level floor of the home along with the living room, kitchen and powder room. The second level mostly consisted of other bedrooms and two additional bathrooms for its occupants as well as a spacious attic that made up the third level and worked as an extra bedroom. The social worker, Holly Blue who overlooked the whole foster care process of the Universe's recommended that the couple would be able to care for eight girls and were to have regular visits from Holly to monitor their progress in the Universe home. Of course Rose would have loved to care for every child under the sun, but rules were rules. The eight were instantly chosen based on their histories and the compatibility with the lovely couple and were expected to be sent to the house as soon as possible; the first was expected soon.
A chime of the doorbell indicated the arrival of a visitor at the doorstep, to which Rose answered. After peeping through the peephole and noticing it was Holly, a wide grin broke out over her features and she instantly unlatched the bolt of the door and practically flung it open to greet the guest. Holly Blue, an ex military officer who now served as a social worker and part time ROTC instructor stood in an authoritative stance with her white booted feet placed together and her arms crossed behind her back. Her main choice of clothing, always being business attire consisted of tightly fitted slacks and a crisp blouse, today's was of her favorite color blue with a blue blazer thrown over and a white carnation secured in its pocket. Her light gray hair done up in its usual odongo cone like fashion.
"Holly Blue, what a pleasure to see you this afternoon," Rose stated as she shook the extended hand of the social worker.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Universe, I assume you received my message yesterday about the arrival of your first tenant," Holly replied in a curt manner, her face remaining in a stoic manner.
"Why yes I have, and I am so excited to have her welcomed into our home. Also, you know you can just address me as Rose. We've been together through this process for a while now, it would be befitting if we didn't have to address each other in such a formal manner."
"I am aware of that, but as you know I am a business woman and it is only befitting that I address my clients in such a way."
The smile upon Rose's features seemed to falter at this statement, but still held strong, "Right…, well anyways, were is the new arrival anyway?" the tall woman questioned, to which Holly Blue gave a quick side step to the left to reveal the other guest who hid herself behind the social worker. The young girl looked to be in her early teens, 13 perhaps what with her wide blue eyes and youthful looking cream skin. Her hair was a mix of red and blonde that fell a bit past her shoulders. She was thin, about a size 1 or 3, but not dangerously thin as she had some curves to her structure. Her current attire was a simple peach ¾ sleeved top, a pair of light washed capris and light blue ballet flats. Within her grasp, she carried a semi worn blue backpack with what Rose assumed was her few belongings or what CPS could provide her. She held a forlorn expression as she gazed at the stoop her and Holly stood on at near the doorstep as she repeatedly scraped her foot against the concrete.
"May I introduce to you Ms. Pearl Finley, your first tenant of this household." At the mention of her name, Pearl looked up to be greeted by the warm welcoming features of her new foster mother. At the mere sight of Rose, Pearl was mesmerized, Rose appeared as if she were a goddess from Greek Mythology with her long tresses of burgundy hair that swept passed her shoulders and down to her lower back, and the light brown eyes that showed nothing but kindness. Holly cleared her throat and gave a light nudge to Pearl's shoulder."
"Ms. Finley, please do not be rude and introduce yourself."
Rose then extended a hand towards Pearl to which she obliged and shook gingerly before returning her hand to her side.
"It's very nice to meet you Pearl, you're going to love it here!"
"Nice to meet you as well."
The visit from Holly Blue was short as she had other cases to attend to, and left Pearl alone with her new foster mother at her new temporary home, or what she assumed to be temporary. The tall woman ushered Pearl to come inside; the young teen was cautious as she crossed the threshold of the spacious abode as if she were to waltz into a warzone and took notice to her surroundings.
Rose stood aside as Pearl went wide eyed at the contents of the Brownstone home; a spacious living room that looked big enough to hold 10 to 15 people, an even more spacious dining area that sat across from the living room, and the grand staircase that led to the other levels.
"Would you like the grand tour? There's plenty to see." Pearl gave a silent nod and proceeded to follow Rose as she ascended the stair case to the second level.
"It's best we head to where you'll be staying, that way you can drop off your bag, then we'll go from there." The tall woman stepped onto the floor of the second level and continued to go down the lengthy hallway before reaching a closed door on the far left and stopping to fish her keys from her worn jean pockets. "Sorry, this place used to be a boarding house, so we have yet to get the locks removed on these doors, "Rose fingered through the many keys on the keyring before selecting the one for the room, "For some reason they seem to automatically lock after you close them, possibly for privacy, but is sure to cause a problem in the future. Anyways, here's your new room!" She gently pushed on the door, then allowed to guide itself open, revealing a very spacious room remodeled to room two new occupants. There were two twin beds, one aligning one way under the spacious window while the other lay off to the left. Between the two beds, there lay a small round table that held a small vase with a very lovely and colorful arrangement of flowers and a small radio. Along with each bed there stood a nightstand which held a simple lamp and a small empty picture frame, and to the right of the room was the double sided closet.
Rose gestured for the blonde to enter, to which she took small steps all while admiring the space. Pearl appeared surprised; like a small child on Christmas morning. That was when Pearl spoke for the first time.
"Is this mine?"