Chapter 2:

The orphanage was a typical city building. It had a friendly atmosphere that Joanne and Maureen noted as they walked to the office in the back. Sitting in the back was a woman in a chair in the office with red hair and blue eyes. She looked up and smiled.

"You must be Ms. Johnson and Ms. Jefferson. I'm Alice Huntington," she said as she got up and shook both Maureen and Joanne's hands.

"Nice to meet you," Joanne said politely. She and Maureen sat down across from Alice.

"Same here. Now, I understand that you're interested in adopting a little girl. What age are you looking at?" Maureen and Joanne looked at each other.

"Between six and eleven," Maureen replied. Alice flipped through some files.

"Any other interests? We have a large diversity of interests and hobbies."

"Do you have anyone interested in the arts?" Maureen asked. Alice stopped to think. "It's okay if you don't. I just wanted to ask."

"No, we actually have the perfect girl for you. If you don't mind waiting here, I'll go get her." Alice stood up and disappeared through the door.

Maureen and Joanne waited for a few minutes for Alice to return with the girl for them to meet. At last, the door opened. Alice walked in with a girl who appeared to be about eight or nine. She had honey blonde hair and electric blue eyes.

"Shania, this is Maureen and Joanne. They're looking to adopt you," Alice said. Shania smiled weakly. "I'll go so you three can talk." Before Shania could say anything, Alice slipped out of the room.

"So, Shania, how old are you?" Joanne asked. Shania crossed her arms over her chest. It was clear that she was shy.

"Eight and a half," she replied. "My birthday is in January."

"Cool," Maureen chirped. "What do you like to do in your spare time?" Shania shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"I like to dance a lot, but it's hard with so many people around here all the time. I also like those old musicals, but none of my friends here like to watch them." Shania continued to look uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Joanne asked.

"Nothing," Shania replied quietly.

"You're lying please tell us."

"Are you going to take me home with you?" Shania looked at Joanne and Maureen with sad eyes. Both women's hearts melted.

"Do you want to come home with us?"

"I want a home with a mommy and a daddy." Joanne reached out and pulled Shania onto her lap. The small girl was surprisingly comforted by this.

"If you come and live with us, there won't be a daddy," Maureen explained. "It'll just be the three of us. Is that okay with you?"

"Why isn't there a daddy?"

"Because you'll have two mommies instead." Shania nodded and slid off Joanne's lap.

"Can I go now?"

"Yeah." Shania waved and left the room. Written across the back of her worn sweatshirt was the word dancer.

Alice returned to the room and sat back down behind her desk. She pulled out a file from her desk drawer.

"Are you interested in adopting Shania?" she asked. Maureen and Joanne looked at each other. They both wanted to adopt Shania.

"Yes, if it's possible," Joanne replied.

"Of course. If you haven't already noticed, Shania's a very shy girl. She loves to dance and usually isn't very social."

"Don't worry about that. She'll fit right in with us," Maureen assured. Alice handed Joanne some forms.

"Good. Here are a few new forms for you to fill out. After that, it usually takes about a week until Shania can go home with you." Alice handed Joanne and Maureen each a pen to fill out the forms.

The paperwork didn't take too long for Joanne and Maureen to fill out. Maureen could hardly contain her excitement on the car ride home. She kept looking at the list Alice had given her. It was a list of Shania's favorites.

"We could paint her room bright green and get that polka dotted bed set we saw at the store last week," Maureen gushed. Joanne smiled.

"You're excited about this aren't you?" she asked. Maureen nodded. Joanne reached over from the driver's seat and rubbed the diva's thigh. "I'll pick up the stuff for Shania's room tomorrow on my lunch break." Maureen leaned over and kissed Joanne's cheek softly. Things were starting to change for the couple.