Chapter 2

Sarah Hicks stared out the passenger seat window as a woman she only knew through social services drove through the city of Chicago, towards her new home. She couldn't believe how quickly she had gotten out of the orphanage, and while she was grateful to be getting a new family, she wasn't sure how she felt about moving from a small town to a big city.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she felt the car slow and stop in front of a nice looking house. It looked safe enough, but she wasn't ready to just give her heart to a bunch of strangers that she had only met a handful of times over the span of a few days. They may have seemed nice, but so did her biological family, and she would not go through anything like that again.

"Sarah…it's time."

She looked up at the younger woman from social services, Hannah, and nodded slowly. Her stomach filled with butterflies as her hand reached out and opened the car door. Hannah walked around the car and Sarah grabbed her small bag of belongings from the backseat.

While Hannah walked briskly up the front steps, Sarah walked slowly behind her. She wasn't sure how to handle the situation, and she was afraid of what would happen once she actually gave in to this new change. Hannah knocked and moments later, the woman she had met in North Carolina opened the door, a huge smile on her face that made the butterflies go away only a little bit.

She barely heard the woman invite them in, as she looked around and her new home. Everything looked so…homey. Pictures of her children lined the walls, and she remembered how they had told her about it being a family of cops.

"Sarah?" She blinked back to reality and when she turned, the woman was giving a small smile towards her. "I made some food…if you want some."

Sarah gave a small smile, and nodded. One thing for sure, she definitely loved food and no matter how offered it to her, she would accept…in most cases. She went into the kitchen and saw Hannah already standing by the counter. Sarah quickly took a seat in one of the stools at the counter and grabbed a cookie that was offered to her.

"There isn't cinnamon in this, right?" She asked quickly.

Sheila shook her head. "Nope. Don't worry…I know that you are allergic to it. I already made a note of that in my recipe book."

Sarah gave her a genuine smile this time, and it seemed as though the butterflies were starting to disappear altogether. However, Hannah sighed and smiled at Sheila. Within a few minutes, Hannah was gone and Sarah was alone in her new home, with the woman that would be taking care of her.

Sheila sighed and stood across the counter from her. "This must be scary for you."

Sarah, having not really said much since she arrived at the house, took a deep breath. "A little. I just…I have never been out of my small town. Chicago is so big." Her country accent made the woman smile.

Sheila chuckled and sighed again. "It can be overwhelming if you are not used to it. But don't worry, you will fit right in here."

Sarah bit her lip and then looked up at her. "Um…Mrs. Kowalski? Can I ask you a question?"

Sheila nodded. "Only if you call me Sheila. I am sure my husband will want you to call him Don, too. You are a part of this home now. We want you to feel comfortable here. You are part of our family and we want you to feel that way."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you." She swallowed another cookie. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, where is everyone else?"

Sheila laughed. "I had a feeling you would ask that. Don wanted to be here when you arrived, but like we explained everyone in this family is a cop, well except for me. He had a hostage situation to deal with and got held up at work."

The teen nodded. "So…when do I get to meet everyone else?"

Sheila smiled. "Well I figured that you wouldn't want to meet everyone right after getting here. But we would like to do a family dinner as soon as your are ready, since my kids are used to just walking through the door whenever they want food."

Sarah laughed. " I would like to meet them yes."

"Well is tomorrow okay for the family dinner?" Sheila asked and Sarah nodded, but felt the nervous tingling in her stomach again, a fact Sheila noticed and she laid her hand on the young girl's. "I know you are nervous. Would it make you feel better to have my other daughter, Abby, come over tonight and spend some time with you? That way you have a back up at dinner tomorrow."

Sarah nodded. "That would be nice, yes."

Sheila smiled. "Okay. She was hoping you would say that. She had been dying to meet you." Sarah smiled and Sheila laughed. "How about I show you your room, and then we can figure out what you want for dinner tomorrow night?"

The young girl nodded and followed Sheila up the stairs. When she walked into her new room, she smiled. She had never really had an actual bedroom to herself before. She wasn't letting her guard down just yet, but she was starting to feel like her life here would be better than she had made her mind up to think it would be.

"I will let you get your things set up and tomorrow I can take you shopping if you want before dinner." Sheila smiled as she walked out.

Sarah listened to her leave and suddenly shot out of the room. "Sheila!"

Sheila looked at the top of the stairs, where Sarah stood. "Yes?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "What did you mean before when you said your 'other daughter'? I thought you had three boys and one girl?"

Sheila smiled at the girl. "And now I have you. So now I have two daughters."

She walked back into the kitchen and Sarah walked back to her new room, deep in thought. No one she had ever met, had been so nice to her. Yet this woman suddenly turns her life upside down for her. She just couldn't understand it.

Hey guys! I hope you are liking these chapters. Now that Sarah is here, I am working hard to keep the characters as big of a part as hers. I am not used to doing that, though, so if you think I may be slipping at it, PLEASE message me and give me helpful hints and I will do my best to change it. Enjoy!