Time was really flying for me. Many weeks had passed since I had come to live with the Rabb's, and though I wasn't really comfortable with them, I was okay and gaining. Syd was really looking up to me, and Austin actually let me play football with him. And the parents…well, they were okay still. And I went over to Harriet's house as often as possible, just to see David and play with him. The parents even let me, for some reason that I didn't know. But all in all, I was actually warming up to my new home. So how was I supposed to know what was coming next for me?
I had gotten up on a Saturday morning early, before the alarm even. Nobody else was up, so I went down the stairs and into the kitchen to get some breakfast. It was only about eight in the morning by the time I finished, so I sat down to watch TV in the living room. A few minutes later I heard the doorbell ring. I peeked through and saw that it was Miss Grant standing by the door, tapping her foot nervously. Her normally beautiful hair was definitely mussed from a night of no sleep, something I knew very well. I opened the door and caught sight of a few people standing by her car. "Miss Grant?" I asked.
"Hi Jessi…" she faltered.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Honey, can I come in to explain?"
"Let me go wake the parents…uh, Mac and Harm."
She nodded and I ran up the stairs, skipping two at a time. "Mac, Harm," I said in a rush as I was out of breath. "Miss Grant is here and she wants to talk and I don't know why."
Mac looked up and then over at the clock. "We'll be right down," she said with a look I couldn't read. I ran back down the stairs and saw that the people by the car had stepped up closer to Miss Grant. When I finally caught sight of the woman and man, I opened my mouth wide and stared. It took only a second for my instincts to kick in, and when the woman reached out for me, I slammed the door in her face.
"Jessica, sweetie, please open the door."
"Only for Miss Grant," I said with coldness in my voice.
"If they step away, will you open the door?" asked Miss Grant.
"Of course I will."
"Alright." I opened the door a couple minutes later when Harm and Mac were standing beside me. When they saw my mother and stepfather, they too looked as shocked as I had. I clung to the door and stood in back of Mac as she began to talk with Miss Grant.
A few minutes later, Syd and Austin woke up and I was told to go play with them while the adults talked things over. I just knew that my mother wanted me back again and I also knew that I couldn't let her ruin another home for me already, not when I was just starting to get happy again.
By lunchtime, the adults had stopped talking and we were all having lunch together. My mother patted the seat next to her and said, "Why don't you come sit next to your mother?"
Mac and Miss Grant both turned away so they wouldn't have to see my discomfort. And I don't know what possessed me, but I said, "Okay," and then went to sit next to Mac. Everyone stared at me, especially my mother. She looked like she was about to get angry, because I recognized the look in her eyes that she used to always have. But then she said something under her breath and let things be.
I smiled at everyone before eating my sandwich quickly and then jumping up to go to the next room. Miss Grant followed me and sat me down for what I knew as the talk. "Jessi, honey, you probably know what I'm going to talk to you about. Your mother…uh, Miranda is here to take you back to live with her. I know you've been with her before and she left you back at my door, but she's changed, she really has."
"No she hasn't! Can't you see that she just wants to ruin my life? I don't want to live with her, cause I like it here. And I don't want to leave David behind either!"
Miss Grant looked very uncomfortable. "Uh, that's the second thing we need to talk about."
I looked at her suspiciously. "What about David?"
"I know Sydney told you he was adopted, but the truth is, he's still only their foster child. They haven't adopted him yet. And they didn't get him as a baby, they got him at two after his father and mother decided they couldn't handle him."
"And this matters because?" I asked sarcastically.
"Well, this isn't going to be easy, but David is your younger brother."
I sucked in a breath quickly and then glared at her. "You're lying."
"No, honey I'm not. Miranda wants him back as well and we've talked with the Rabb's about it already. I'm going to tell you this only because I think you need to know. They don't want to give you back because they would like to adopt you. And the same goes for the Robert's. They don't wish to give David back either."
My head was swimming with facts and lies and everything I had just learned. I was astounded that the parents really wanted to adopt me and angry that David was my little brother and I had never known. Things were tumbling out of my mouth like I didn't know how to talk. Suddenly, I couldn't talk anymore and I ran to my room with a new burst of speed, throwing myself on my bed as soon as I got there.
No one came after me. I could hear the voices downstairs getting louder and angrier as they discussed me like I was a property or something, at least to my mother. I felt like I was more to the parents, maybe even like another daughter. The topic of David entered my mind as well. I was shocked that for the first time, I really wasn't an only child and I really was the oldest. What would happen to us, I didn't know. I just knew where I didn't want to be, and that was with my mother.
TBC…
