previously...

Estella hugged her daughter back and smiled. She thought she would never see her daughter ever again.


"Ella, what are you doing here? How'd you get here? Did your social worker drop you off?" Estella asked shocked

Ella shook her head, "No, I ran away. I want to be with you, mommy." Then she asked, "Why didn't you ever get me back? And who's the kid on your hip?"

"Ella, baby, you should come inside so I can explain everything." Estella told her daughter

Ella nodded and walked past her mother into the house. Once they sat down a nervous, Estella took a deep breath.

"Okay little lamb, so I did everything CPS told me to in order to gain full custody of you, but even after all that they still wouldn't give me full custody." Estella explained "They wouldn't even let me see you once. I don't understand why. They just kept on making up lame excuses or telling me I wouldn't be a good mother because of my age. They said you'd be better off without me, and that I should just let you get adopted by a family that is more capable of taking care of you."

"I'm so sorry, mommy." Ella apologized with a sad sigh

Ella smiled softly, "It's okay, little lamb." Then she added, "And this little man on my lap is your brother, Ellis. He's two."

"Hi." Ellis said as he waved with a smile

Ella frowned, "You tried to replace me?"

"Ella, no never. No one could ever replace you. I love you and Ellis the same." Estella assured her daughter. Then she whispered to Ella, "Although you should know that Ellis wasn't a planned baby."

"Really? Was it like me?" Ella asked "Like how I was conceived?"

Estella shook her head, "No. That part was consensual." Then she added, "So that started out with a court hearing for custody of you. It was the last one, and I was sad afterward because I was denied custody of you again. Your social worker reminded me that you were ten and it had been five years since you'd last seen me. She told me that you had forgotten about me."

"Oh mommy, I'm sorry. I never forgot about you and she knew that. I asked about you all the time." Ella told her mom

Estella smiled softly and then continued, "Anyways so after I went home, I called a friend from work to keep company and cheer me up. We just hung out at first. Played some games. Drank some wine, but as the day progressed things got a little more heated. A couple months later when I told him I was pregnant with kid, he told good for me, but he didn't want any part of it."

"I'm sorry, mommy." Ella apologized as she hugged her mom

"It's okay, little lamb." Estella replied as she hugged her daughter back. Then she asked, "Don't you have a family to get back to?"

Ella shook her head, "No." Then she sighed and looked down, "Well sort of, but they didn't adopt me so legally they can't force me to stay with them."

"And legally you can't be here." Estella told her daughter "I'm sorry, baby. I love you and I want you to be with me, but you can't."

Ella sighed, "Don't you have any family that could take me in?"

"I'm sorry, baby, but no. My parents died when I was just a little girl. Although I did I have an older sister growing up, but she died a month before you were born. She was protecting us." Estella explained "You weren't even born yet and she loved you so much. She talked to you every day when I was pregnant."

Ella looked at her mom sadly, "I wish I got to meet her and I wish she was still alive."

Estella hugged her daughter, "Me too, little lamb, me too."

Meanwhile outside the Tuohy's house with Leigh Anne and Sean, who is chasing after his wife as he calls after her.

"Leigh Anne! Leigh Anne! Stop!" Sean yelled

Leigh Anne stops running and sits on the ground as she cries, "Why?"

"Why what, honey? Why should you stop running?" Sean asked his wife confused "Maybe because we have three scared kids at home."

Leigh Anne shook her head as she sniffles, "Why? Why would Ella run away? Where would she go?"

Sean hugs his wife and holds her close, "I don't know, honey, I really don't. I wish I did, but what we do now is we look for her. We report her missing with the police, and we inform her social worker. We don't give up until we find her."

"I want to adopt her. I love her and I think of her as my daughter." Leigh Anne said through her tears

Sean nodded, "I know, honey. I think of Ella as my daughter too. She's our daughter, and as soon as she is home with us again we'll adopt her."


Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.

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