Disclaimer- See chapter 1. It's too long to repeat in every chapter, although it applies to the entire story.
Summary- Jack Stewart hits a young orphan with his car, and she is brought to Community General. New additions are made to the Sloan family in more than one area.
New Additions
Chapter 5- Steve
When Mark's car pulled into 3231 Beach Lane, Virginia was asleep. Mark carried her into the house and put her in the guest bedroom. He went out to the kitchen, but there was not much to eat. He decided to run to a convenience store and grab a few things. He came back with a tooth brush, a comb, a t-shirt, junk food, and a few other things. Mark set the bag of groceries on the counter and checked on Virginia. She was still asleep. He went back out to the kitchen, and he found Steve. He was carrying in brown paper bags from the supermarket, and putting them on the counter, pushing Mark's to the back. Ellen, Steve's wife, was lining up canned vegetables in one of the cupboards.
"Hi, Mark," she said, smiling. Ellen was seven months pregnant with twins.
"Need a hand?" Mark asked, looking through the bags, trying to find his. Steve nodded.
"Ellen, where's the lemonade mix?" Steve asked.
"Yes, Dear," she said absentmindedly.
"Never mind, I'll find it myself," he said, reaching into one of the bags. When he pulled out a toothbrush, he peered into the bag. "Although I believe that Ellen could be craving all this junk food, I don't think that we bought any of it."
"That's mine," Mark said with a grin. "You can never have enough Ding Dongs around."
"Dad, you just bought a toothbrush last week," he said pointedly.
"Well with all this extra sugar, my bristles wore down fast." Mark had his back turned, and he winced at his own stupid comment.
"Dad, you're hiding something from me."
"Alright, I give. Remember the little girl I told you about?"
"The one that Jack hit with his car?" Steve asked.
"Yes. I adopted her."
"Your bristles aren't all that are wearing down. Dad, what possessed you to adopt a fifteen-year-old girl?" Mark quietly tried to explain his driven passion, but Steve did not understand. He tried to make his father understand why adoption was a bad idea, but he got over-passionate when Ellen started arguing in Mark's defense, and all three of them were whispering loudly.
"Is something wrong?" Virginia said, startling them. Mark turned and smiled.
"No, everything's just fine," he said.
"Is that Steve?" she asked.
"Yes. And this is his wife Ellen." Steve did look at the girl, but turned and headed down the stairs with the rest of the groceries. Ellen sighed and shook Virginia's hand.
"Do you need anything?" Mark asked.
"A shower would be nice," Virginia said.
"The bathroom is down the hall, second door on the left. It's always open."
"Really? At the orphanage, we only had showers once a week. And they were cold."
"Well, you can use as much hot water as you want. Here, I bought you some things. A toothbrush, a comb, drawing pencils, and some snacks. There is a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I hope they fit. There are clean towels in the bathroom closet."
"Holler if you need anything," Ellen said as Virginia walked off.
"So what do you think?" Mark said to his daughter-in-law.
"She is adorable. I honestly think that she is exactly what you need, Mark. A companion will be good for you."
That night Amanda, Jack, and Jesse came over for dinner. They wanted to help, so Mark sent Jack and Jesse to set the table, and Amanda to making a salad. Jack had brought a little gift for Virginia.
"You didn't have to do that, Jack, she's forgiven you already," Mark said.
"I know, but I still feel rotten about hitting her with my car," he said, placing the small package on the table. Jesse showed him where the plates were and they went outside to the table on the deck.
Virginia came out of her room a few minutes later, and she looked very different, wearing clean clothes instead of her orphanage cast-offs. Ellen had brushed out her hair, and left it hanging down her back, the first Mark had seen of Virginia without her standard braid.
"She already looks much better," Jesse said when he saw her. "The beach is doing you wonders."
"I feel much better," Virginia said with a smile.
"Did the clothes fit alright?" Mark asked.
"They're perfect, Dr. Sloan, thank you. . ." Virginia trailed off as Steve came back up the stairs. He looked outside and saw all of his friends doting over the girl. Ellen was in the kitchen, and she snagged Steve as soon as she saw him.
"Steve, what's the matter with you? She was here for five minutes, and you made her feel horrible," she said to him in a chastising voice. "If you can't be nice, at least be civil. Hey, do we have any of your hot death sauce for the chicken?"
With a scowl on his face, Steve handed her a bottle of the spicy barbeque sauce as they referred to it.
"Wipe that look off of your face!" Ellen said with a laugh.
"Practicing already?" Jesse said as he came in to find more spoons.
"Yep," Ellen said. "I only have two months left to get it right."
"Yay!" Jesse cheered, taking his spoons outside. "I can't wait to deliver those cute little twins."
"See this is exactly what I mean. If Dad wanted children back in his life he only had to wait seven weeks," Steve said when Jesse had disappeared through the doorway.
"Steve, drop it. Your Dad adopted her because he had a special bond with her from the day that Jack Stewart hit her with his car. He loves that little girl to pieces, and she deserves him after the life she's had. So just get off their cases!" -Steve glanced out the door, and sighed.
"I guess I can give her a chance," he mumbled.
"Good," Ellen said. "Now take this chicken out and put it on the grill."