A little bit of drabble about what could have been going on in Cate's mind when she met Lux, her daughter.
This was her daughter. Their daughter.
A little part of her, and a little part of him.
Him. Nate. Baze. Whatever it was he called himself these days.
Cate was literally speechless.
"She has something for you to sign."
It was his voice. A voice she hadn't heard for 16 years, and now it was all she could hear.
"What…?"
And then Lux, her name was Lux… (What did it mean? Why had it been given to her?) explained to her why she was here. Why, at 15 years old (nearly 16) she was seeking emancipation from the foster care system.
Baze chips in again, "She's never been adopted."
The words reverberated around Cate's head. Never been adopted…no family? No parents? She didn't understand…the nurse, she'd told Cate there would be no problem... She'd said there was a waiting list for these types of things…
What was going on? And why did Baze seem so calm?
Without thinking Cate was signing the piece of paper.
"Thanks." It seemed so simple to this girl. This strange full grown teenager.
"That's it?... Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Cate says it softly, tentatively. She looks into her daughter's eyes. They calm her down a little, they feel disarmingly familiar.
Then Lux's lips are moving and Cate sees how similar they are to her mothers.
Realizing she hasn't processed anything the girl has said Cate quickly concentrates. "…take this to Social Services."
Without missing a beat she offers to take Lux. Baze does as well but Lux chooses Cate. She feels relieved and anxious all at the same time. She wants… needs more time with this girl, her daughter.
Lux says her goodbyes to Baze, Cate doesn't say a word. She wouldn't even know what to say.
As she's walking away though, she does chance a glance back at him. He's still standing there, his arm resting lazily against the door, staring at Lux.
Suddenly though, he's looking right at her. A chill runs down her spine. Blue meets brown and she realizes why Lux's eyes had such an effect on her.
She quickly looks away, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind.