A New Home
Mark and Elizabeth Granger sat comfortable around they're fireplace, awaiting the arrival of December.
Mark glanced at his watch. "It's 11:59, dear." He told his wife.
Elizabeth's favorite month was December, because it was the arrival of a wonderful and joyous holiday: Christmas. She would be sad to see November leave, but with the prospect of an even better month, she had much to look forward to for December.
However, the last few Christmas's hadn't been as great as they should have been. Mark and Elizabeth's daughter, Hermione, was never present for Christmas anymore. They weren't necessarily complaining; they were so proud of their fifteen-year-old daughter. Hermione had been accepted into a very different school five years ago: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Granger's had no idea that their only daughter was a witch, but were very pleased to find out that she was. They were also pleased to know that Hermione had finally made two wonderful friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. However, Hermione's friends came at a price for the Granger's; she would no longer return home for the Christmas holidays because of her friends. The Granger's understood, but it was still depressing having to sit through a white Christmas in silence, without having their daughter hover over every present, anxiously awaiting the moment she could finally open them.
Beep, Beep!
"Midnight!" Mark declared. "What would you like for Christmas, dear?"
Elizabeth smiled. It was traditional that Mark and Elizabeth shared with each other what they wanted more than anything at the start of December.
"Honey, you may freak out, but I've been thinking about this a lot and what I want more than anything is another child."
She waited apprehensively for Mark to explode, to start reasoning with her to look at this situation rationally; but no yelling or reasoning occurred. She risked a glance up at him and saw that a smile had flickered across his handsome face.
"I've been thinking the same thing." Mark answered. "But don't you think that we're too old-"
"Oh, no." Elizabeth said. "I don't mean that the two of us have a baby. I was thinking about adoption."
"Elizabeth that is a wonderful idea!" Mark exclaimed. "Just brilliant. Tomorrow we will call the local adoption agency and see what they can do for us."
"That's exactly what I wanted." Elizabeth smiled. She walked up to Mark, gave him a sweet kiss and headed off to bed, awaiting the next day.
The Next Day…"Get up, Maria!" Called an angry voice.
Maria's eyes opened slightly, enough for her to see a fuming face staring down at her. Becky, an older girl who shared the room with her and several other orphan girls, stared menacingly into her face.
"How many times do I have to tell you to get up? I call and I call but I receive no answer. Honestly, I almost thought you were dead. Now get up! There is a new family coming today interested in adopting. Take a shower or something." Becky instructed.
Maria shut her eyes again. She couldn't see the point; several families had come and gone, but none long enough to learn to love Maria. At the age of ten, she was beginning to realize that her chances of being adopted were slowly decreasing, because it was a well-known fact that most families wanted babies, not grown children.
After everyone in her room started poking her and ordering her to get up, she finally caved and stepped out of bed. She refused to shower, so Becky settled for her dressing in a cute yellow jumper and a pair of pretty pink pants.
The girls all had to wait, because the orphanage had to speak with the family, make sure their record was clean, that sort of thing. However, their waiting did not pass in silence.
"Do you think they're nice?" a nine-year-old girl named Gloria asked, cautiously.
"They're all nice at first." Said Wendy, her voice full of bitterness. Wendy was seventeen and had been to fewer homes then Maria, but still plenty enough for her to lose complete hope.
Maria stayed silent during the girls' conversation. She had secretly been hoping that this would be the family to take her home and away from this place forever. Even though her chances were slim, she still planned on having her fingers tightly crossed in her pant pockets when the time came to meet the family.
And speaking of that time…
"Can I please have all of the girls from the ages of five to ten follow me?" came the voice of their social worker, Mrs. Redden. Maria's eyes opened widely. This family wanted an older child. She quickly smoothed out the creases in her pants as she followed Gloria, Amy, Karrie, Sabrina and Colleen out of the room, leaving Wendy behind with a look that said It figures on her sad, lonely face.
Maria followed her friends and Mrs. Redden into the main room, where a nice looking couple stood, smiling welcomingly at each of the girls in turn.
"Everyone, this is Mark and Elizabeth Granger. They are interested in adopting as soon as possible.
Elizabeth's gaze had not left Maria since she laid eyes on her. Mark seemed to have noticed.
"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, would you like to-" Mrs. Redden began.
But Mark interrupted her.
"Mrs. Redden, do you mind if we talk to that little girl right there?" Mark requested. He was pointing directly at Maria.
Maria swung around to look behind her, expecting to see a prettier, younger girl then her standing there. When she saw no one, her eyes opened widely once more, and she glanced around at her friends.
"Go on." Gloria whispered, smiling rather disappointedly, but still happy for Maria.
Maria nodded slightly, but enough for Mark to notice. The Granger's beamed at her and took her aside as Mrs. Redden led the rest of the girls back to their room.
"So, what's your name?" Elizabeth asked, still smiling.
"Maria Thompson." Maria answered, rather shyly.
"Wow, my sister's name is Maria." Mark said, conversationally.
Maria smiled. This must be a sign! She thought.
The Granger's talked to Maria for what seemed like hours about everything, from school to her favorite food.
When Mrs. Redden arrived, Mark and Elizabeth had come to an unspoken agreement about their decision.
"Mrs. Redden, we would like to adopt Maria, if that's all right with you." Mark said, glancing towards Maria.
Maria's face lit up as though she was a Christmas tree; she felt so happy that she could hardly believe it was real. She nodded her head to show that it was definitely all right with her.
"Wonderful!" Mrs. Redden declared. "There's still much paperwork and such to be done, but you can come back and pick her up on December the 24th, if all of the paperwork goes through.
"Excellent!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She kneeled down to where Maria was sitting and gave her a big hug. "We'll come visit, and on Christmas Eve we'll be back to get you for good."
Everyone in the room was smiling with a happy sensation in the pit of their stomach, but Maria felt that none could be happier than she was right now.
Maria believed that Christmas Eve could not come soon enough. She had several visits from Mark and Elizabeth, and the more they visited, the more Maria liked them.
The night before Christmas Eve, Maria had said her formal goodbyes to all of her friends. She felt saddened to leave them, but with the prospect of a better life waiting for her the next day, she did not completely fall apart.
The next day, Mark and Elizabeth arrived prompt at seven o' clock, extremely anxious and gleeful about finally taking Maria home. Maria emerged into the main room to see her new parents smiling widely. Elizabeth was carrying a present.
"What's that for?" Maria inquired.
"It's Christmas Eve!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You get one present on Christmas Eve. It's tradition."
Maria felt overjoyed. She had never received a proper present before, and she felt ecstatic as she began to rip of the paper from the small package in her hand. The package revealed a small, beautiful diary; the cover was a midnight blue color, and Maria's name was scrawled across it in fancy, gold writing.
She smiled, trying to refrain from letting the tears welling up in her eyes escape.
"It's brilliant." Maria said, full of gratitude.
"It's for you to record everything now that you have a brand new life." Mark smiled. The family hugged, and together walked out of the orphanage, into Maria's wonderful new life.