Raleigh, North Carolina
Olivia and Ella had pretty much settled into their new lives in Raleigh. They had rented an older, but very nice, home inside the beltline with a big backyard. Ella was enrolled in a local pre-school, and Olivia had found a nice job as a journalist for a magazine. They were comfortable, but Olivia knew it wasn't how her life was supposed to be. But then how was it supposed to be? Was she supposed to be with Elliot? Was she supposed to be in New York? She wasn't sure, but she knew it would be good for her to get away from everything and sort her thoughts out.
That afternoon, Olivia and Ella were going to see Ella's sister Sophia. From what Casey had told Olivia, the foster parents meant well, but they weren't exactly the most loving people in the world. They had no intentions of adopting Sophia, but it didn't seem like anyone did. It was hard to find a family willing to adopt a teenage girl.
Olivia was nervous as she drove up to the coffee shop where she was going to meet Sophia. If things went well, she would bring her back to her house to see Ella, who was staying with a neighbor.
She walked inside and inhaled the delicious aroma of fresh coffee. She was tempted to order some, but since her stomach had been bothering her, she decided to stick to her bottle of water. She sat down on a comfy couch, and waited. She had a nasty habit of crossing her legs and shaking her foot when she was nervous, and her foot was shaking about a mile an hour.
A few minutes later, a very neat, gray haired woman of about 50 walked in. A girl of about 16, who Olivia assumed was Sophia, followed her. The girl had loose dark chocolate ringlets, pale blue eyes that reminded Olivia of Elliot's, rosy pink cheeks, and full pink lips. Olivia smiled at her.
As soon as the girl saw her, she raced over and hugged Olivia. Olivia smiled, and was happy about the girl's excitement. She hugged her back.
"Sophia!" The gray haired woman sternly reprimanded the girl.
Sophia shrunk back and sat down on the sofa, smoothing her skirt.
Olivia stood up and smiled warmly at the thin-lipped woman. "I'm Olivia Benson," she said nicely as she held out her hand.
The woman just looked her up and down before saying anything. "Mathilda Stevens," she said coldly. "I'll be picking Sophia up at 5," she said before she left the coffeehouse.
Olivia just watched her leave. She took an immediate dislike to the woman. She wrinkled her nose before returning to Sophia who was sitting on the couch. She offered the girl a warm smile, which seemed to calm her nerves.
"I'm so glad to finally meet you!" Sophia gushed. "When I heard that Ella had been adopted, I could only hope that her adoptive parents would look for me too," she said happily.
Olivia smiled. "Well the adoption hasn't been finalized yet, but Ella and I would like it very much if you would become part of our family too. If you want," Olivia said taking Sophia's hand.
Sophia's shining eyes grew wide. "Would I?" She threw her arms around Olivia. "Oh yes!" She exclaimed, just like a little girl.
Olivia laughed and hugged Sophia back. "Well, that settles it then! Would you like to come back and see Ella and the house?" She asked.
Sophia nodded. "Yes please!"
Olivia led her out to the car. On the way back to the house, Olivia kept up the conversation. "So tell me about yourself," she said turning the radio down.
"Well my birthday is January 12, so I just turned 16. I don't have my license yet…Mrs. Stevens didn't want me to get it. But I do have my permit. I like to sing, listen to music, do yoga, go jogging, shop," she said giggling. "I go to a big school, a magnet school, so it's very competitive and I have a lot of work. But I like it," she said shrugging.
"No boyfriend?" Olivia teased.
Sophia blushed. "No. There was this one guy I thought I liked. He was cute…but he turned out to be a jerk," she said wrinkling her nose.
"Guys are jerks," Olivia said knowingly.
Sophia laughed. "I'm sure you don't have trouble getting boyfriends. You're so gorgeous," she told Olivia nicely.
Olivia smiled warmly. "Thank you. But I don't date much. I worked a lot…most of the time. Now…maybe I'll have time to date more now. But only if I find the right person," she said sadly.
"You've had your heart broken?" Sophia asked innocently.
Olivia nodded.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Sophia asked as she watched Olivia.
Olivia nodded again. "You think you're going to die…but you don't. I wish I could say you get over it…but you don't. At least I haven't. I don't know if I ever will," she said honestly.
"I'm sorry," Sophia said genuinely as she patted Olivia's shoulder.
Olivia smiled. "It's okay…it's life," she said as she pulled into her driveway.
Sophia's eyes lit up. "Oh your house! It's so pretty! It's just like a little English cottage! I love it," she exclaimed.
The front door was opened and Ella flew out of the house. "Fia!" She yelled happily as she ran over to her older sister.
Sophia bent down and pulled Ella into a big hug. "Oh Ella! I've missed you so much! You've gotten so big!" She said as she wiped a tear away.
Olivia smiled and paid the babysitter who left the family alone. Olivia ushered them inside.
They all sat down on the couch, with Ella in the middle. "This is my Mommy," Ella said as she smiled happily at Olivia. "Is she going to be your Mommy too?"
Olivia and Ella both looked anxiously at Sophia, awaiting her answer.
Sophia pretended to hesitate for a moment before flashing a huge smile. "Yes," she said. "Yes!"
Olivia smiled and drew Ella and Sophia in for a hug. "Well, now all we have to do is fill out the paperwork and wait for a reply."
