Ephram walked down the stairs and into the kitchen after his homework was done. He hated essays, but he didn't know if he hated essays for English more or less than essays for History. It was about equal, probably. In the kitchen he realized the TV in the room next to the kitchen was rolling the credits of a movie. He walked into the room and turned to look at the couch. His father was laying asleep on the couch, on his chest lay his sister, also asleep, and on his sister lay Gracie who slept as well, assuming such a light ever truly slept. He looked down at the coffee table and found the box for the tape they were watching. 'Harriet the Spy.' There was something about that movie he liked, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
He walked closer to the couch and lifted Gracie into his arms. The little sprite was limp in his arms, asleep. With his free hand he shook his sister and father awake. Once they were conscious he carried the small girl upstairs and into her room. He placed her gently on her bed, removed her shoes, and tucked her in. He heard the doorbell ringing from downstairs and sighed, knowing who it was. He ran his hand down the side of Gracie's face and turned to walk away.
"Ephram…" Gracie mumbled, half in sleep. Ephram turned around and walked back to her.
"Go to sleep Gracie," he said softly.
"I love you Ephram."
"I love you too, now go to sleep," Ephram told her. Gracie fell silent. Ephram sighed, turned around, and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
He passed Delia on the stairs, it was pretty late, she was probably going to bed. Andy was in the living room with the woman from child services. Ephram stood in the doorway and leaned against the frame, watching and listening to them. The woman, dressed in a blue turtle neck, long sleeved shirt, and black slacks, sat in one of the cushy chairs, while Andy sat on the piano bench. The woman had a briefcase at her feet.
"Her name is Gracie Clarke. She's five years old, six next June. She was born in France while her parents were on vacation, but they moved back to Denver when she was a few months old. Gregory Clarke, her father, was a fourth grade teacher, her mother, Sandra Clarke, was an accountant. Their credit cards were found in the house of a Joe Chill. He confessed to killing them. Now, this is the difficult part. We talked to friends of the family, and it seems that both Gregory and Sandra were orphans. Fitting, right? Anyway, the girl has no family. We are talking to some of her parents' friends, seeing if anyone would take her. Now, I was told the girl had talked to a psychiatrist," the woman said. Andy, now realizing it was his time to speak, nodded.
"Uh, yes, the school had theirs talk to her."
"What'd they have to say?"
"She suggested that Gracie is suppressing the memory. She thinks Gracie understood what had happened, but was covering it up, hence why she is so, constantly happy," Andy said. The woman nodded in understanding.
"That isn't uncommon. Now, with hope, she won't be here for much longer. Friends seem to really enjoy her, we should find her a family soon. You don't mind taking care of her, do you?" the woman asked him. Andy shook his head.
"No, it's no problem. She's no trouble at all."
"Good, I'm glad. Now I would like to talk to the girl."
"I just put her to bed," Ephram said, speaking for the first time. The woman nodded.
"Okay then, I'll go to her school tomorrow and talk to her there, watch her, talk to her teachers, that sort of thing. Anyway, good night," she said standing up, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Alright," Andy said showing her to the door. As he walked back Ephram gave him a glare showing he was not pleased.
"Did you even tell her that we want Gracie?" Ephram asked him. Andy sighed.
"Ephram, we can't take care of her, you have to believe me that-"
"She loves us, okay? We're her family. She wants us."
"She's five, Ephram. She just went through a horrible encounter, she doesn't know what she wants."
"No! She knows, she wants us. And I want her, Delia, wants her. Why don't you?"
"Ephram, you would be her big brother, I would be her father. Do you really want to do that to her?" Andy asked him. Ephram scoffed, turned around, and walked up the stairs. Andy sighed and banged his head against the doorframe.
Out of all of the doctor's offices, in all of the states, why did she have to fall asleep in his? Things were finally going well. Ephram didn't hate him so much anymore, the practice going very well, Delia was starting to make new friends at school. Now Gracie was in their lives, and Ephram hated him again. But, even though everything was once again out of whack and Andy was going to sleep with a headache every night, he did love Gracie. There was something about her that made him smile. Something about her that lit the house up. Something, special. But they couldn't keep her. A five year old was too much work. Not to mention that she wouldn't be five forever. Eventually she'd be a teenager. Andy knew having one teenager girl in the house would be too much, but having two was just, impossible. And Ephram would have gone off to college by then, leaving Andy with the two girls. Ephram would only be here for three years anyway, he was important for the current affairs of the family, but not the long term ones. Not about another child. Andy was the adult here, he had the final word. They couldn't keep Gracie. She was a person, not a puppy. A puppy, they could get.
Upstairs Ephram opened the door to Gracie's room slowly and looked inside. Gracie was fast asleep, her arms wrapped tightly around her pillow. He sighed and leaned against the doorframe. It still surprised him whenever Gracie slept. The girl could barely sit still for five minutes, let alone sleep for several hours. She was so, magical. Ephram looked down as Delia walked over to him, and looked in on Gracie too.
"What'd he say?" she asked him. He sighed and turned again to look at Gracie.
"No. He said no," Ephram confessed. Delia sighed.
"It's probably for the best anyway."
"How can you say that? Don't you want Gracie? You always talked about wanting a little sister," Ephram told her. Delia sighed again.
"That was when we had Mom, Ephram. Dad wouldn't know how to raise a little girl. Besides, Gracie deserves an entire family."
"She deserves what she wants, and she wants us."
"Are you sure?" Delia asked him. Ephram fell silent. Delia sighed.
"Ephram, look, we know you love her, she knows you love her. I don't think she'll ever forget you. But I don't think she was made to stay with us."
"But she came to us…" Ephram said, sadly. Delia took a hold of his hand and looked worriedly up at him.
"Remember what Mom said, Ephram? She told us that in our lives, there would always be things we would really, really want. But if we took a good look at them, we would realize it would be better, not for us to have it. Do you remember?" Delia asked him. Ephram nodded and smiled slightly.
"She was talking about ice cream when you had that stomach ache."
"I know, but I think the message works here too. We might want Gracie here with us. She's so lively and happy all of the time, she makes us feel kind of warm inside. But, I think, God sent her here to visit us, but not stay. There's another family out there for her. One with a daddy, and a mommy."
"She does deserve that."
"Yeah, she does. Come on, it's late. Let's get to bed," Delia said. Ephram nodded, and the two walked off to their rooms for the night.
A week later Alfred and Leslie Thomas arrived in Everwood with their two boys, Ricky and Tim, along with their six year old daughter Cassie. The woman from child services brought them to the Brown's house and they stood on the front porch, waiting for the door to open. Andy opened it and ushered the family inside. They all went into the living room and sat down, except for little Cassie, who wandered around the room looking at everything. She wandered back into the foyer just as Ephram walked down the stairs with Gracie, holding her hand. Gracie was dressed in the same clothes she had come in, and had a smile on her face. Ephram, however, did not look as enthusiastic.
"Well here she is," Andy said getting up from his chair in the living room and walking into the foyer. The family followed him.
"Gracie, I'd like you to meet Alfred and Leslie Thomas. These are their sons Tim and Ricky, and this is their daughter, Cassie. Cassie's about your age," And introduced them. Gracie surveyed the five new people with a smile.
"Hi," she said waving her mitten covered hand. Leslie Thomas knelt down in front of her.
"Well hello Gracie. You know, Cassie's been feeling kind of lonely at our house, having nothing but brothers to play with. Would you like to come keep her company?" Leslie asked her. Gracie thought about it for a few moments before nodding her head up and down enthusiastically. Leslie smiled.
"Good. So, why don't you say good bye to your friends here, and we'll take you back to our house so you and Cassie can play together, does that sound like fun?" Leslie asked her. Gracie nodded again. Cassie walked over to her.
"I'll show you my bunny collection," Cassie said. Gracie smiled. Ephram knelt down at her side.
"Gracie, before you go to play with your new friends, here," he said taking a golden chain from him pocket and placing it around her neck. Hanging on it was a golden heart. She held it and looked at it upside down.
"Pretty…" she said. He smiled.
"Now Gracie, always keep this close to you, okay, and never forget we love you, okay?" Ephram asked her. Gracie nodded again, smiling. Ephram leaned forward and hugged her. She hugged him back.
"I love you Ephram," she said, pulling away from him. He nodded.
"I love you too."
"Come on Gracie, I have this huge stuffed bunny in the car, it's twice my size! Come on!" Cassie said grabbing Gracie's hand and pulling her out of the house. Gracie stopped at the doorway and turned back to Ephram, Andy, and Delia, who were all standing next to each other. She waved to them, and ran out of the house. The two boys followed them and soon so did Alfred and Leslie, after thanking Andy for taking good care of her. The woman from child services nodded to them and left as well. Delia looked up at Ephram and held his hand tightly. He looked down at her and smile, suppressing tears.