Sara found herself in the same kitchen she had been sitting in a week ago, for her interview. Ms. Morrison was discussing some things with Jesse and Becky. She talked about the standard visitations Ms. Morrison would be making in a week to check up on things. She had Jesse and Becky sign a few more papers and placed them in a folder. Sara knew this was it. Ms. Morrison approached her and took her hands.
"I'm leaving now. Be good okay? Remember what I told you and my phone is always there if you need to call. Promise me you'll think about what I said." Ms. Morrison said. Sara sighed and looked over at Jesse and Becky, who were watching them. Sara looked back to Ms. Morrison and sighed.
"Okay." Sara said quietly. Ms. Morrison squeezed her tightly and kissed her head. She gave a little wave as she turned to Jesse and Becky.
"Before I leave, I'd like to speak to the two of you privately." She said. Sara immediately felt uncomfortable. The pain in her stomach was coming back, as Becky looked at her.
"Sara, make yourself at home. Jesse and I just need to talk to your social worker for a minute and then we'll be back." Becky said. Sara desperately wanted to go with her social worker, but she bravely nodded. The three of them stepped out of the kitchen, with Ms. Morrison waving once more to Sara.
Once they were in the living room, Jesse and Becky both shook Ms. Morrison's hand.
"Thank you so much Ms. Morrison. This means so much to us." Becky said.
"I'm glad. Now if there are any problems with Sara, call me immediately. I'm happy to know you'll put her into counseling. Just be patient. Sara is a very withdrawn little girl, but I have hope she'll open up. Just keep in mind what her parents did to her. Being abandoned has caused her to deeply distrust the idea of family and especially adults. Please keep in mind it's not you. You aren't the first. She was leery of me too. She only just started to warm up to me today. Don't give up. You've made the right choice." Ms. Morrison explained. Jesse and Becky nodded as they held hands.
"Thank you Ms. Morrison, we promise to take care of her and we won't give up." Jesse said. Ms. Morrison nodded.
"Good. I'll go now. Oh and one more thing. Sara told me she wasn't feeling too good. It's probably nothing but she looked a little pale to me. Just keep an eye on her." She said. Becky nodded.
"Thanks for telling us." She said. Ms. Morrison nodded, said goodbye after shaking their hands and left the house. Jesse and Becky stared at each other.
"I guess we should go and start being her parents." Jesse said. Becky sighed and smiled.
"It still feels weird." She confessed.
"Think of how she must be feeling." Jesse took Becky's hand and together they walked into the kitchen.
They found Sara sitting on her suitcase, playing around with an assortment of bracelets on her wrist.
"Well, hi Sara." Jesse said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "You have a lot of bracelets there. Do you like jewelry?" Sara looked up and stood up quickly, hiding her arm behind her back.
"Yeah I just, er, forgot to pack them, so I shoved them on so I wouldn't have to open my suitcase again." Sara lied. Becky smiled.
"Well, welcome home Sara. We're really glad to have you here. How are you doing?" Becky asked. Sara didn't know how to answer that. She could like and say she was doing fine, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She could tell them the truth and say she felt absolutely horrible and wanted to go back, but that would be rude. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
"It's okay Sara. It's normal to be nervous, but remember, we're a little nervous too." Jesse admitted. Sara had never stopped to realize this. They were, after all, allowing a complete stranger to live with them. Sara only responded with a nod.
"Would you like to see your new room?" Becky asked. She didn't really wait for a response as Jesse picked up Sara's suitcase and led the way. Sara followed the couple up two flights of stairs and through a door. She realized this was the attic, and by the look of it, it was the Katsoppolus' home. There was a couch with a TV in the middle of the room. To the right was a table with five chairs and two rooms. One was the bathroom and the other looked like a little boy's bedroom. On the left was a large king-sized bed.
"This is our apartment but we spend most of our time downstairs with the family. That's the bathroom, of course, and this is the twins' bedroom. Oh yeah, I don't know if Ms. Morrison told you," Jesse still noticed the confusion on Sara's face. "We already have two boys. Twins. Nikki and Alex. They're two years old." Jesse explained. Sara was beginning to hate every minute of this. If they already have kids, why did they want to adopt? Sara wondered to herself. Most of the people who adopted did so because they couldn't have kids of their own.
"That's where we sleep," Jesse pointed to the king-sized bed. "And your room is through here." Jesse led the way, carrying Sara's suitcase to a door opposite the couch and TV. He opened it to reveal the most beautiful bedroom Sara had ever seen. It reminded her of home makeover shows she used to watch with Britney. The room was painted baby blue with a basketball border. All of the furniture was white, which included a large dresser, a desk with a computer, and a double bed. Sara had never had a double bed before. Her bedspread was a darker blue and on top of the dresser was a CD player, with some new CDs beside it.
"We didn't know what kind of music you liked, but we had Stephanie's help." Jesse explained.
"Stephanie is our niece. She lives here too. A lot of people live here." Becky answered Sara's unasked question. Sara nodded slowly, not knowing what was really expected of her by these people. She partially wished Jesse and Becky would let her have some time alone in her new room, but she knew that they were excited and would probably want to spend as much time as possible with the new addition. Sara wanted nothing more to be lying in her old bed at the group home, sleeping off her horrible stomach ache. She felt really sick and it seemed as though Becky had noticed.
"Honey, are you okay? Ms. Morrison told us you weren't feeling too good. You look a little under the weather." Becky said with a look of concern. Why did Ms. Morrison have to tell them? This is so humiliating. Sara thought.
"I'm fine. Ms. Morrison's overreacting." Sara replied, secretly angry at her former social worker.
"Well, if you're feeling sick honey, tell us, and we'll do whatever we can to help." Becky said. Sara nodded, staring at the blue walls. She could feel Jesse and Becky staring at her.
"Sweetheart, is there anything you'd like to talk about?" Becky asked quietly. Sara felt her face grow hotter, and felt as though she would fall over from dizziness. No, just leave me alone! I don't want to talk to you! Just go away. Sara wanted to say, but didn't.
"No." She only said quietly.
"Well, please know you can always talk to us if you ever need us. I realize this is a new experience but it's important to us that you know this right off the bat, because, well, we're here for you." Becky said with a smile.
"Yeah Sara. You know, we're glad you're here. We're not here to hurt you in any way." Jesse added. Sara didn't respond, or move. She felt as though there was a boulder weighing her down. There was a moment of silence before Jesse clapped his hands together.
"Well, you've seen the attic, and a little bit of downstairs, but there's a lot more of this house to see. I guess you should probably know where everything is, since you'll be here for a while." He said as he led the way out of the bedroom. Becky followed him and looked back at Sara, and Sara knew she wouldn't be able to spend some time alone.
Sara followed as Jesse and Becky led her through the large house. She saw the bedrooms of DJ, Stephanie and Michelle, along with Danny's and Joey's. Becky had to explain who everybody was, causing Sara's head to pound even more. She then saw the basement which was Jesse's recording studio which Sara had to admit was pretty cool. She really liked the backyard, with the basketball net. There was also a large tree that seemed easy enough to climb. Sara felt the fresh air against her skin and wished she could just stay out in the cool shade but Jesse and Becky motioned her back inside and they all sat down at the kitchen table. It was silent, until the backdoor opened and a young girl with blonde hair walked in. Sara guessed she was about the same age as her, and immediately wondered who she was.
"Hey Steph, how was school?" Jesse asked, as Stephanie let her backpack fall to the floor.
"Boring as usual. I'm just glad it's the weekend." She replied, as she looked at Sara.
"Oh Stephanie, this is Sara. Sara this is our niece Stephanie. She's the same age as you." Becky explained. Sara smiled at Stephanie.
"Hi." She said shyly.
"Hey." Stephanie replied. Becky leaned over to Sara and smiled.
"She's the one who picked out your CDs." She explained. Stephanie shrugged.
"Well I had no idea what you liked, but I figured most 13-year-old girls like the same music. Did you like them?" She asked.
"I don't know, I haven't looked at them yet." Sara replied.
"Well do you want to go up to your room and listen to some of them?" Stephanie asked. Sara wanted to so badly, but she looked at Jesse and Becky, as if asking them if it was alright. She felt awkward asking, but it was as if they had read her mind.
"Go ahead girls. I'll come get you when dinner's ready." Becky replied. Sara got up and followed Stephanie up the stairs. Jesse and Becky let out a sigh.
"Well, no turning back now." Jesse said with a grin. Becky smiled.
"I think we'll be okay. It may take some time, but everything will be fine." She replied.
Sara and Stephanie spent an hour or so together, listening to Sara's new CDs, which she loved, and sitting on Sara's new bed, becoming acquainted with each other.
"So do you like the room? I helped pick out the color. Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky kept asking my opinion about everything." Stephanie said. Sara laughed.
"I like it, and I'm really glad somebody my age helped design it." She replied. Stephanie smiled. Sara really liked Stephanie and the two seemed to get along so well together. They had so much in common, music, style of clothing, movies, even celebrities. They laughed together and shared stories, becoming closer and closer, until Stephanie looked at her watch.
"Oh, I have to go. It's my turn to help my dad with dinner. Are you coming down?" Stephanie asked as she turned to leave. Sara shook her head slowly.
"No, I think I'll stay here for a while. Becky said she'd come get us for dinner anyway, so I think I'll just wait." She replied, looking down. Stephanie puckered her brow.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Sara nodded.
"Yeah, I just need some time to myself." She explained. Stephanie nodded and left. Sara stood up and felt an overwhelming rush of dizziness over her, worse than she had felt all week. She gripped the side of her dresser tightly, feeling scared. What's wrong with me? She thought, and that was when everything went dark.