Emma looked at the house standing in front of her. It was one of those "All American Dream" houses. It was large, painted light blue with a large yard and even a white picket fence. It looked A LOT nicer than the other foster homes she had stayed at, but Emma knew better. The house may look great, but if the family was willing to foster her there was a catch. At the age of 16, Emma had been through over 10 foster homes, usually getting kicked to the curb for back talking or "starting trouble". Her case worker knocked on the door that was answered by an older woman. She was a little over weight and her hair had started to grey. She greeted them with a smile "Hello there, I'm Ruth Nolan and you must be Emma." Emma stared at her out stretched hand for a while before Ruth finally understood and retracted it. Her case worker, Sarah, greeted Ruth kindly as they were lead into the house. The house looked just as nice on the inside. It looked like a nice family home complete with family pictures. Emma wondered again why she was being placed here.
Ruth led them to the kitchen asking if they wanted anything to drink. Emma stayed silent as Sarah and Ruth discussed paperwork and the finer details of the arrangement. It wasn't long before Sarah was leaving. Emma followed her outside. Emma liked Sarah. She had been one of her better case workers. She really seemed to care. A fact that was only proven when she hugged Emma tightly before pulling away and telling her, "This is a good home, Emma. There have never been any complaints about Ruth and a few of the foster kids even stayed with her until they age out of the system. And she only fosters one child at a time so it will be just you and her son, not a crowded group home. Give this one a real chance, Emma. Trust me." Sarah smiled her reassuring smile and got in her car to leave. Leaving Emma to wonder about this home. Would it be different? Was it too good to be true? Who was this brother? What was the catch?
Emma headed back to the house, Ruth was waiting at the door. After finally making it to the door Ruth showed her around the first floor, showing her the living room, dining room, and bathroom, all while talking adamantly to her the entire time. Emma honestly didn't understand how she could carry a conversation by herself. Ruth grabbed her bag that was set by the door earlier. She didn't have much, just a few clothes and one or two keep sakes. Ruth led her upstairs to a hallway, pointing out her room and her son, David's, room, and the bathroom before making it to what would be Emma's room. Her room was at the very end of the hall. The room looked nice. It was pretty gender neutral with a full size bed made up with a grey bedspread that sported some geometric design. Most of the furniture in the room was white, including the desk, dresser, and book shelf that already had some books on it. The room even had a closet, which was exciting despite her lack of clothes. The room looked really nice, nicer than anything she had ever had before that was for damn sure. It was obvious by the color scheme that all of the foster children ended up in this room, but Emma didn't really mind that, after all who was she to complain.
Ruth stood by mostly silent while Emma observed her surroundings. When it was clear she had had her fill of looking over the room Ruth began to talk, "I know a new home can be difficult." Emma noticed the lack of foster when she said home, scoffing at the idea that this will be any different than the others. Eventually they will get tired of her and send her back just like all the other foster families. "But I want to make this an easy transition for you." Ruth continued, "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She looked at Emma with an earnest face, almost willing her to believe she was being sincere. With an awkward departure Emma was left to get settled in.
She unpacked her meager belongs and searched around the room. There was a computer set up on the desk that Emma wasn't sure if she could use or not, so she went for a safer option to entertain herself. She picked a book off the book shelf at random, it was some book about swash buckling pirates and kidnapped princesses. Emma let herself get absorbed in the story until she heard the door open down stairs followed by, "Mom, We're home!" We're home? As in we? As in more than one? Emma swore her case worker only mentioned one son and she hadn't heard anything about a father. Just the thought of some of her more aggressive foster fathers made her want to lock the door and hide in the room forever. It was too late. There was a soft knock at the door before it opened revealing Ruth. "My son just got home. Maybe you would like to come down stairs and meet him?" Emma didn't know what to do, so she stood their silent. Ruth gave her a reassuring smile as if to say you can trust me and for some reason Emma wanted to. Reluctantly Emma followed Ruth downstairs.
Emma took the stairs slowly, trying to delay the inevitable. Some of the foster siblings she had had in the past weren't the nicest. What if the son was the catch? What if he was what was wrong with the seemingly perfect foster home? They finally made it to the kitchen. Standing there were two guy who looked to be about her age. Prince Charming approached her with a giant smile. He had blond hair and blue eyes, defiantly giving off the boy next door vibe. "Hi, I'm David and this is my friend Killian." He said motioning to the guy looking through the fridge. At the sound of his name Killian abandoned his search for food and came to stand by David. Emma had to reminder herself how to breathe as he approached. This guy was gorgeous. He had messy dark black hair with blue eyes that contrasted nicely with his light scruff. He wore a smirk that Emma suspected was permanent fixture on his face. After finally making eye contact Killian gave Emma an award winning smile that she was sure had girls dropping their panties on the spot in the past. Emma wasn't unaffected by his smile, in fact the words heart stopping come to mind, but she had learned to hide it better than other girls or at least she hoped. Emma tried to give off an air of indifference as she answered shortly, "Emma". Killian's smile faltered and Emma knew she had succeeded in appearing indifferent to his good looks.
There was an awkward silence before David finally broke it, "Killian and I were just going to play some video games if you cared to join us." Emma lifted her eyebrows as if to ask if he was serious or not. Most of the foster brothers she had had in the past would be looking for a way out and here David was inviting her to join them despite the awkward silence that had been lingering since introductions had been covered. "I'm not much of a video game person. I was just going to go read for a bit." Emma answered before retreating back to her room.