"Sweetheart!" Emily greeted her daughter. "You're soaked! Where were you?"
"You know what did it is," she retorted sharply.
"Brenna," Emily warned, testing for her daughter's reaction.
"Don't call me that. I already ate. I'm going upstairs."
Emily sighed as the teenager flipped her long sandy hair and retreated to her bedroom. After 17 years, she knew better than to chastise her for her behavior or try to talk her. Most of the year she was a charming girl, sweet, responsibile, and affectionate. The date of her real parents' death was always difficult. The last several years, it had lasted longer.
The call had come yesterday. She expected it, but it broke her heart every year. Brenna was signing school papers Bianca Vaughn instead of Brenna Sloane. When it first happened, Emily told Arvin. His anger shocked her. He was so sweet with Brenna most of the time, but he blew up when he discovered that. She never understood his determination to keep their daughter at a distant from who she was.
She didn't tell him anymore. Until last year, Emily talked to her about it, tried to convince her not to forget her parents, but to go on with her life and be a part of the family she had been with her entire life. Last year, she refused for over a month. Emily didn't say anything after that.
Brenna was a blessing, the child she didn't get to have. Sydney's death shattered her. They hadn't known about Michael, which still baffled Emily. When Sloane proposed they take the baby in, that Jack was too heartbroken and in no shape to raise a child, she hadn't hesitated. Increasingly though, she was lost in matters concerning her daughter. She suggest to Arvin that it might be easier if they at least let her change her name back to Bianca and keep Sloane. Arvin adamantly refused.
And the Sloane family was falling apart.
"You know what did it is," she retorted sharply.
"Brenna," Emily warned, testing for her daughter's reaction.
"Don't call me that. I already ate. I'm going upstairs."
Emily sighed as the teenager flipped her long sandy hair and retreated to her bedroom. After 17 years, she knew better than to chastise her for her behavior or try to talk her. Most of the year she was a charming girl, sweet, responsibile, and affectionate. The date of her real parents' death was always difficult. The last several years, it had lasted longer.
The call had come yesterday. She expected it, but it broke her heart every year. Brenna was signing school papers Bianca Vaughn instead of Brenna Sloane. When it first happened, Emily told Arvin. His anger shocked her. He was so sweet with Brenna most of the time, but he blew up when he discovered that. She never understood his determination to keep their daughter at a distant from who she was.
She didn't tell him anymore. Until last year, Emily talked to her about it, tried to convince her not to forget her parents, but to go on with her life and be a part of the family she had been with her entire life. Last year, she refused for over a month. Emily didn't say anything after that.
Brenna was a blessing, the child she didn't get to have. Sydney's death shattered her. They hadn't known about Michael, which still baffled Emily. When Sloane proposed they take the baby in, that Jack was too heartbroken and in no shape to raise a child, she hadn't hesitated. Increasingly though, she was lost in matters concerning her daughter. She suggest to Arvin that it might be easier if they at least let her change her name back to Bianca and keep Sloane. Arvin adamantly refused.
And the Sloane family was falling apart.