Chapter 1

Luke and Lorelai made their way towards the area of the park where the annual foster care picnic was still being set up.

Lorelai was somewhat nervous, but was really excited while Luke was just plain nervous. His palms felt sweaty and his heart beat faster against his chest with each step he took.

She looked over when Luke took a deep breath in, trying to calm his nerves. "You're gonna be fine," Lorelai reassured him.

All Luke could do was give his wife a thankful smile. This was a whole new experience for him and even with the extensive training and classes they took to get to this point, he still had no clue how this would work out and worried the kids would plain think he was boring and grumpy, and hate him. Surely not one kid would want to call him, Dad.

Once they were close enough, the couple could see Celia, their caseworker, who had been a tremendous help through this entire process, even with their thousand of questions. The woman was standing at the sign-in table, talking to another couple getting signed in.

The other couple finished when Luke and Lorelai reached the table, and Celia was able to turn her full attention to them.

"Welcome, you two," she greeted them, cheerfully. "Glad you could make it."

"Of course, we barely got any sleep last night," Lorelai replied, returning the cheerfulness. It was true. Neither she nor Luke could sleep. Lorelai, out of eager excitement while Luke, out of his nervousness.

"Hey, that's a good thing." Celia then guided them where to sign in and to make a name tag for themselves. Luke made his while Lorelai was signing in, and Lorelai made hers when he was signing in. They were also each given a shirt for the event, throwing them on over the shirts they were already wearing. Luke had to pull his on over his flannel, having to readjust his collar.

During the wait for the kids to arrive, they mingled with the other adults there while things were still being set up. Time seemed to move slowly before the kids began to arrive, one by one. Soon, the picnic and the event's activities started.

Watching the kids arrive, Luke noticed a lot of the kids seemed just as nervous as him, probably wondering if this would be their day to find a forever home or remain in the foster care system for another year.

The office Celia worked in put this event on every year in hopes this might help pair the kids more easily with a couple while being able to have some fun. Only a select few couples received an invitation and only the kids who were available for adoption.

Lorelai and Luke grabbed some food and went in search of somewhere to sit. To Luke, it felt like he was back in school, in the lunchroom. They tried to politely ask a kid who was sitting alone if they could sit with him, but the kid got up to move somewhere else. Clearly, he was forced to come and would rather be elsewhere.

They exchanged weird looks. Since the table was empty, they decided to sit there, anyway. Another boy, about ten, walked by, also trying to find a place to sit. Lorelai offered him a seat beside her. To their relief, he accepted and sat beside her.

Lorelai continued to talk to him, to get to know him. The kid's name was Hector. This was his fifth year coming to the picnic, having been in foster care since he was two. Hector loved playing soccer and learning about outer space, and shared a lot of facts he read about and watched on YouTube. The conversation was going so well, and Hector was a great kid. He could be the one.

After lunch, Hector had run off to play with some of the other kids he knew, leaving the couple alone again.

"What do you think?" Lorelai asked Luke after Hector ran off.

He shrugged. "He seems like a great kid."

They agreed to keep an open mind for the rest of the event. Though he liked Hector, something in his gut was telling him to keep looking.

Lorelai and Luke eventually got split up and Luke found himself wandering around, watching kids play in jump houses, get their faces painted, or play games with the other adults.

This was so far out of his comfort zone. At one point, some kids ran by, nearly taking him out, and had to dodge out of the way before they trampled him.

When he turned around, his gaze landed on a nearby tree where a little girl was sitting in. She was wearing an event shirt, so Luke made his way over to say hello.

He waved up at the little girl who was wearing her shirt over her jacket. She was sitting on a high branch with her right cheek pressed against the trunk of the tree. "Hey," Luke greeted her. "I'm Luke."

The kid's eyes lowered down to him but said nothing.

"What's your name?" he pointed a hand up to her, awkwardly.

She remained silent and continued to watch him. Though, he noticed her small form tense up and pressed herself further against the tree.

Luke lifted his hands in surrender to reassure he wasn't going to hurt her. He tried to think of what to say. "Uh, do you like any sports?"

Still no answer.

"Um… How about fishing? Ever been?"

Still no answer.

Luke asked a few more icebreaker questions, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, he asked, "you want me to leave you alone?" and took her silence as a yes. So, he turned around to leave. But as he walked away, he kept looking over his shoulder at the little girl. In fact, for the rest of the event, Luke found himself looking over in her direction. The little girl remained up in that tree the entire time, too.

Lorelai eventually noticed. "What ya looking at?" she asked and looked in the same direction.

He nodded in the little girl's direction. "I noticed her while you were helping that other girl with her face painting. I went over to say hi, but she wouldn't talk back. She kind of reminded me of a trapped animal. My gut instincts were kicking in, actually."

She rolled her eyes. "Not the gut thing, again." Lorelai laughed at him, which Luke gave her an annoyed look.

"Don't mock the gut thing," he warned. "It picked you, didn't it?"

"Chill, I was just teasing you," she assured him. "So, you think she might be the one?"

Luke shrugged. "Like I said, my gut's never wrong."

They went in search of Celia, finding her overseeing the line at one of the bounce houses, making sure the kids were taking turns and not overcrowding it. Lorelai was the one who asked if they could speak to her for a minute. Celia asked a fellow caseworker to take over for her and followed Luke and Lorelai away from everyone.

"What's going on?" she asked when they were away from the commotion.

Luke pointed over his shoulder, "We were wondering about that kid over there in the tree?"

Celia moved her head to see who he was referring to. Once Celia realized who it was, she sighed, sadly. "That's Jaiden. She's been with us since she was four, after she was pulled out of her mom's home. She won't let anybody get close. Honestly, in the four years I've known her, I've never even heard her speak," she explained to the couple.

Lorelai curiously asked, "May we ask what happened to have her pulled from her mom's home?"

Celia nodded. "Mostly abuse. A neighbor stated Jaiden was basically her mother's personal punching bag."

Lorelai's heart couldn't help shatter as she gave a heartfelt expression. "Poor kid."

"I know," she agreed. "The mother had a bachelor's degree in business and worked for a really good company. She was very successful, living in the high class of Hartford," she shrugged, holding it for a few seconds. So, Jaiden came from Lorelai's world? "Not to mention, very intelligent. But I guess she wasn't really happy. Took it all out on her daughter. Even took a knife to her face."

Luke kept looking between the caseworker and over at Jaiden. He felt drawn to go back over there. In fact, he had felt drawn there in the first place.

"Kid's so closed in… None of us know what to do at this point. It's a long trial whenever we have to get her out of hiding spots or down from trees. Night terrors torment her at night…"

Everything went mute as Luke stared over at the tree. His heart broke hearing what the kid had gone through and had no one she could count on. A parent was supposed to be there for their child, not harm them. He couldn't imagine ever being afraid of his parents as a kid. How frightening that must be, then to be taken somewhere to be around strangers and not know where you're going or what's going to happen to you, and all these people trying to get to know you. That would have freaked him out. Luke couldn't help wonder how freaked out Jaiden could have been.

"Luke. Luke. Luke!"

Luke snapped out his thoughts, turning to Lorelai. "Huh?"

"I asked, what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Uh…" He wasn't sure what to say and looked back towards Jaiden. "I think… I think she might be the one, Lorelai."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He looked back again.

"I mean, you can give it a shot," Celia told him. "I'm sure a permanent home is all Jaiden needs, but," she shrugged. "The problem is, I don't know if she'll even let you."

"Well, you never know until you try," Lorelai pointed out, shrugging one shoulder.

"That is true, but I've seen so many families come through and try to get to know her. My heart breaks every time they have to give up."

Luke looked forward at that. "Well, there's your problem." He wasn't sure where the outburst had come from. It actually surprised him more than it did the women. But Lorelai knew what he was getting at.

"If everyone keeps giving up on her, of course she's not gonna get used to anyone," she said.

"Fair enough," Celia nodded and couldn't help smile. "So, would you start the adoption process for Jaiden, then?"

Lorelai looked over at Luke. "Luke?"

He didn't even have to think about it. "Absolutely."

She turned back to the caseworker. "Let's do it."