***A Week Later***
Jennifer was at home, working on an article. Mrs. Rodriguez was in the house, cleaning.
"Mrs. Hart? There's a lady on the phone for you from the elementary school. She says it's about Jordyn and that it's important."
"Ok thank you."
She reached over and picked it up.
"Hello, this is Mrs. Hart."
"Hi, this is Mrs. Stevens. I am the guidance counselor for your daughter Jordyn's class. I am calling you because Jordyn's teacher Mrs. McCashin spoke with me this morning. Jordyn is having some trouble turning in her assignments and staying motivated in class. The students were given an assignment about what they wanted to be when they grew up, and Jordyn's essay said she wanted to be a socialite, so that she could just go to parties with her friends all the time. Now, I have some resources that I can use to help her, but I think you and Mr. Hart need to have a talk with her as well, especially about the missing assignments. Jordyn also got into a little trouble for fighting about an hour ago, and is here in the office. She's not allowed to go back to class today."
"I will be there in about 20 minutes."
"Ok, we will be waiting for you."
She hung up and went and changed clothes and then headed to school.
After talking with the guidance counselor, Jennifer signed Jordyn out and they came home.
They came inside and began to take their coats off.
"Ok, give me the backpack."
Jordyn handed it to her.
"You and I are going to sit down at the kitchen table and while you do your homework, I am going to clean out your backpack. And then we are going to talk about this, Miss Jordyn Elisabeth Suzanne."
"Fine. But you checked me out before lunch, so can I at least eat lunch?"
"Yes, you may."
They got all set up and then Jennifer began to clean out her backpack while Jordyn began doing her homework.
At the very bottom of her backpack, Jennifer found Sadie's cellphone and makeup bag and a pair of Sadie's earrings.
She put it to the side and decided they would talk about it later when she had finished some of her work.
"I'm going to make a phone call in the study. I expect you to keep working."
Jordyn nodded.
Jennifer headed to the study and called Jonathan.
"Hart Industries, how can I help you?"
"Hi Kelly. This is Jennifer. Can I speak to Jonathan, please?"
"Certainly. One moment."
A few seconds later, Jonathan picked up.
"Hey darling."
"Hi. I am at home, with Jordyn. She was suspended from school today for fighting. And she has not been doing her homework or her major assignments. And I cleaned out her backpack and found Sadie's missing cell phone, her makeup bag, and a pair of her earrings."
"Oh my."
"I think we should talk to her together. There is something going on with her."
"Yes, I would agree."
"What would you say to us paying Sadie to take Ryan to dinner and to the arcade for a bit, so that we can talk to Jordyn alone?"
"I like that idea. But I'm confused. I thought Sadie had her phone."
"No, she got tired of using Jordyn's, so she's been using an old one she found when we moved her room. And to think we rewarded Jordyn by letting her move into Sadie's old room. I have half a mind to strip her room bare and make her earn it all back."
"Don't do anything drastic till I get home, darling."
"Right. I won't. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll be home as soon as I can."
She blew him a kiss and hung up the phone and went to check on Jordyn.
She was still working so Jennifer started going through what she found in Jordyn's backpack.
She opened a folder and right there in the pocket, was all the missing homework assignments, and Jordyn's report on the Gold Rush.
"Sweetheart, here is your homework. And your report on the Gold Rush. Why didn't you turn it in?"
Jordyn started to cry.
"Want to go talk in the living room?"
Jordyn nodded.
She and Jennifer headed to the couch.
"Mrs. McCashin only gives us till the bell to turn in our homework, and whatever projects are due that day. And every time, Nate Evans, he's in my class, he picks on me and keeps me from going to her desk. If I move, he blocks me. If I go the other way, he does too. I tried to tell her but she said we are old enough to work out our issues ourselves. But he won't leave me alone and I asked her to move me and she said no. And then today, I yelled at him to leave me alone, and she gave me a strike. And then he pushed me to the ground in the hallway and told me that if Daddy doesn't go through with the deal, that he will come here and tie us up and set our house on fire. So, I got up and pushed him really hard and told him to leave me alone and when I pushed him, he fell into the garbage can. And that's why I got sent home. He's going to kill us and I'm the one with the strikes and I'm the one that got sent home."
"Oh sweetheart, that's not going to happen."
Jennifer held and hugged Jordyn.
"I promise you, Daddy and I won't let anyone get in here and tie us up and set the house on fire. And if they do, we will figure out the best way to handle it, I promise. Does this Nate person have a daddy that's doing business with your Daddy?"
She sniffled.
"I think so. He's always talking about how his Daddy is a better businessman than mine."
"Well, that's just not true. Your daddy is the best there is."
"I'm sorry I got suspended Mommy."
"I know you are. And now that I know what happened, I'm not angry. I'm concerned. And I think I need to have a conference with Mrs. McCashin. What I don't understand is if you were having all of these issues, why didn't you tell your father or tell me? We would have helped you solve it."
"Because nobody notices me in the house. It's always Sadie or Ryan."
"That's not true. We notice you a lot."
"But every time I want to talk to you, Sadie comes in. Or if I'm talking to Daddy, he and Ryan take off together somewhere."
"Well, sweetheart, it's hard. There are two of us, and three of you guys. And we don't have Papa Max anymore. And Sadie is at a different stage in life than you are. So, sometimes she needs us. But we still love you and we always make it up to you."
Jordyn eventually fell asleep on Jennifer's chest so she ended up taking a nap on the couch with her for a couple of hours.
They woke up just in time to go get Ryan from school.
When they got back home, Sadie had just arrived home.
Ryan headed upstairs to play video games.
Jennifer turned to Sadie.
"Come into the kitchen with us".
She and Jordyn walked in there and Sadie followed.
"I cleaned out Sadie's backpack today. I found these things."
"My new earrings! My old makeup bag! My phone! I'm going to kill you, you little brat!" Jennifer had to stop Sadie from lunging at Jordyn.
"Now that's a little harsh. You have the right to be angry, and she is going to be punished. But we don't have to kill her."
"You don't understand. She is sneaky, conniving and downright deceitful. I had no idea these earrings were even missing! And it's not fair that she takes something and then you have to replace it, which you did with my makeup bag."
"I agree. Jordyn, I think you owe your sister an apology."
"She owes me more than a stupid apology."
"She owes me one for calling me sneaky and deceitful."
"Jordyn-"
"I'm sorry, Sadie."
"You better be. I'm getting you back for this. You won't know how, and you won't know when, but it's coming."
Sadie ran upstairs to put her stuff away and charge her phone.
Jordyn looked at Jennifer.
"Can I go now?"
"Did you finish your homework?"
"Yes, I did."
"Yes, you may. But no tv and no tablet, and when your father gets home, the three of us are going to have a long talk."
"Ok."
By the time Jonathan got home, Jennifer had dinner ready and the kids were all starving.
"Hi darling."
"Hi baby."
They shared a few sweet kisses.
"Where is the defendant?"
"Upstairs, in her room. We had a long talk. After I hung up with you, I found all the missing assignments. It seems as though someone has been bullying her and there's a little more to it. Are you in business with someone named Evans?"
"Graham Evans. He and I have been going back and forth on a business deal for months."
"Well, his son Nate is threatening Jordyn that if you don't do the deal, he's going to come here and tie us up and set our home on fire."
"Like the newspaper clippings?"
"Exactly. She broke down and told me everything. And she also feels left out because she says you and Ryan go outside and play football all the time, and when she wants to talk to us, Sadie comes in. So, I'm thinking she started taking Sadie's things to get attention from anyone, her, us, whomever. Perhaps she needs a special mom and dad night."
"Not a bad idea. But that's no excuse for her to not turn in her work in school."
"I agree. I don't think that's the reason, but I will straighten that out with the teacher. I think it's ludicrous to me that Jordyn went to her teacher for help solving the problem, and she told her to solve it herself, but every solution Jordyn has come up with, she has shot down."
Jennifer walked over and pressed the button on the intercom.
"Kids, dinner. Front and center, please and wash your hands."
A few minutes later, the unmistakable sound of kids thundering down the stairs could be heard all over the house.
"Here comes the parade."
It was complete chaos for about 10 minutes but they managed to get everyone what they needed and all sit down at the table.
"Mom, can you give me your charge card this weekend?"
"What for?"
"Well, I need to go get some more glitter eyeshadow and gel eyeliner and I am almost out of the setting spray I use with my straightener and now that I have a car, I was thinking you could give it to me and I can go pick it up."
"Or we can go together."
"I want to go too!"
"You have zero business being in the makeup store, cretin."
"Do too! I like makeup too!"
"Who cares? You're still a baby! You wouldn't know the first thing to do with makeup."
"I knew what to do with your makeup." Jordyn gave Sadie a smug look.
"Yeah, that you stole, cretin."
"Looked better on me than it did on you."
Jonathan was about to tell them to stop, but Jennifer patted his hand as if to say don't. Most of the time, she would let them work it out themselves.
"In your dreams."
"It's true. I'm pretty because I look like Mama. You're ugly because you don't look like anyone. You were so ugly your parents abandoned you."
Jonathan had heard enough.
"Jordyn, that's enough. Upstairs, in your room, now. On the double!"
Jordyn got up and ran from the table.
Sadie didn't say anything. She just got up, took her plate to the sink and went upstairs without another word. A few seconds later, they heard her door slam.
Jonathan was incensed.
They waited till Ryan had gone upstairs to discuss it.
"I don't care who is bothering her at school, or how much Sadie was getting on her nerves. She knows that throwing adoption or not getting adopted in someone's face is out-of-bounds in this house. She's grounded for a week."
"I agree. But I think there is something else going on with her. I think instead of grounding her, we need to take her to a therapist."
"In addition to grounding her. Not instead."
Jennifer and Jonathan cleaned up the kitchen and then Jennifer leaned against the counter.
"I agree with you that you and I need alone time, darling. But with the girls at each other's throats, I think it's the wrong time."
"I agree."
"It's also not fair to leave them with someone else when they are behaving this way."
"Maybe it will blow over."
"I doubt it. We need to go check on Sadie, first. And then we need to talk to Jordyn."
"Fine".
They headed upstairs and went to Sadie's room first. She was lying on her bed, crying.
Jennifer went and sat next to her and hugged her.
"You know, she was wrong, sweetheart. Your birth parents didn't leave because you were ugly."
"I know. I remember living with my aunt and her husband and how awful that was."
"We just want you to know that even if they had given you away for whatever reason, we would still love you and want you to live with us and would have still adopted you."
"I know. And technically, I picked you guys out first."
"That you did."
"We are going to go talk to Jordyn."
"Don't you dare bring her in here to talk to me. No apology can make up for what she said to me. If she comes in here, it's going to get even uglier."
"I agree with that, and we promise we won't send her in here. You both need some space."
"I'll talk to her when I'm ready."
"Can we agree that silence is better than yelling?"
"Yes, we can."
"I think that's fair."
Jennifer held her a few more minutes.
"I hate that you remember what you went through with your aunt and uncle. But I'm glad they didn't care for you better than they did, because then we wouldn't have you and I can't imagine my life now without you. You are the one that made me a Mama and I'm so grateful for that."
She gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"Tell me the story."
"Well, your father and I were supposed to go to Japan. And he called and canceled our trip, so since Papa Max was in Vegas, I had to go grocery shopping. And when I got home, I pulled into the garage and you popped up out of the backseat and asked me "Are we going anywhere else?"
Sadie chuckled.
"And then I brought you inside, got you some chocolate chip cookies and milk, and then after talking to you for about 10 minutes, you were begging me to let you stay with us and there was no way I was going to say no to that. And I got a damp paper towel and wiped your face and decided I was going to give you a bath before you went anywhere. And Dr. Susan called, and then came over and when she wanted to check you over, you thought she was going to give you a shot, and you screamed bloody murder. And your absolute favorite thing was when we would put lotion on you and Daddy would tell you that you smelled like me."
"And you kept asking me to put you on my shoulders so you could hang from the ceiling fan and spin around."
"Still think that would be awesome, all you had to do was say yes."
Jennifer and Jonathan both chuckled.
"That will always be a no."
"And then you guys fought for me".
"That we did. And we would do it all over again."
"Now that I'm 16, are you guys going to make me go visit my grandmother?"
"No, we aren't. That's your choice to make, not ours."
"Can I call my brother and sister tonight?"
"Certainly. You can even invite them for a visit."
Once they knew Sadie was ok, they went to talk to Jordyn.
She was sitting on her bed, reading.
"Ok young lady, we have to talk. Big time."
"Ok."
"What you said to Sadie was absolutely unacceptable. You know the rules in this house and the big one is that we do not throw someone being adopted or not being adopted in their face. Your father and I adopted Sadie and then we had you and Ryan, and she's as much our child as you are."
"You owe her an apology, but you are going to have to wait on it. She doesn't want to see you now at all."
"She owes me one too, she called me sneaky and deceitful."
"Well, look at how you've been acting. You've been taking her clothes without asking and taking her things without asking. You had her phone in your backpack. What if someone had stolen that while you were at school? Not only would she have been out a phone, that your father and I would have had to replace, you would have gotten in trouble for having a phone at school. How would you feel if she came in here and took your things and you didn't know where they were? And look at how you are talking to her. I cannot remember the last time I heard you say a kind word to her."
"I don't feel like being kind. I feel like being loud and crazy."
"What you said wasn't loud and it wasn't crazy. It was cruel and hurtful and downright mean. What possessed you to say that to Sadie?"
"Well, she was calling me ugly so I wanted to call her ugly and then I remembered that she doesn't like talking about her birth parents so I figured if I did she'd leave me alone."
"Well, I think it worked better than you thought. Because unfortunately, she doesn't want to talk to you or see you at all. And I don't think this is going to be a one-night deal. I think she will be mad for a long time, and I understand that, because you didn't just make her mad, you hurt her very deeply. She's your sister, Jordyn. She cannot help what happened to her in her life any more than you can help what happens to you in your life. It's not fair to throw that in her face."
"What do you know about your sister's birth family?"
"Nothing."
"Well, I'm not going to tell you everything. But I will tell you this: they were not nice people. They were horrible, awful, and downright cruel to your sister and if she hadn't gotten away from them, she might not have lived to tell about it."
"Oh."
"And just because you want to do things with her and she says no, that doesn't give you the right to take her things. She made a great point this afternoon. You took her phone and her makeup bag and her earrings. I already replaced her makeup bag and we probably would have replaced her phone. You also took a blouse of hers that she replaced. That's a lot of money that has been spent on her because you took something. And like she pointed out, you knew about it and didn't say anything."
Jordyn protested for a few minutes, but eventually gave up the fight.
Jordyn told Jonathan all about Nate Evans and him not letting her turn in her assignments and how he picked on her every day.
"Ok, well we will take that up with your teacher and I will take it up with Nate's father."
"Ok, so am I being punished?"
"Yes. On the charge of taking your sister's things, I find you guilty and I sentence you to one week without tv, and one week without your tablet or phone."
"Ok".
"But as far as her not talking to you, you are going to have to just wait that out."
"Fine."
"Do you understand why we were so upset about what you said to Sadie about her birth parents?"
"Kind of."
"Did you know Daddy was raised in an orphanage and he wasn't ever adopted?"
"Papa Max didn't adopt him?"
"Papa Max was my friend and we considered ourselves family, but I was never adopted. I never had anyone come to the orphanage and say "We want you to join our family and be our child."
"So that's why you can't say things like that. Your father had no control over the fact that he didn't get to stay with his birth family or that nobody adopted him, just like Sadie couldn't help what happened to her."
"I understand".
"You are to never say something like that again, to anyone. Is that clear?"
"Yes."
Jordyn gave both of them hugs and then they headed downstairs.
"Darling, how about a brandy on the back porch?"
"Perfect."
They took their brandies to the back porch and swung a bit.
"Darling, I didn't want to say this in front of Jordyn, but I think the situation with Nate Evans is going to get worse."