Rushing around the house, Maria knew that she was going to be late to work this morning. It was less than an hour until her first client arrived and usually she would be at the childminder's by now. She quickly grabbed her jacket while encouraging Liam down the stairs. As she locked the door, she noticed the postie coming towards her.

"Anything for me?" She called out and the postie nodded handing Maria a pile of post. Maria quickly glanced through the pile and discarded some instantly, but one caught her eye.

Family services

She placed that one in her bag to read later before continuing to the childminder's house. She quickly got Liam settled before leaving to head to work. Curiosity got the better of her and as she walked, she opened the letter.

Dear Mrs Connor

We are contacting you on behalf of your daughter, Grace Sutherland. On a previous review, she has stated that she wished for contact with her birth mother. Therefore, we are requesting her wish by contacting yourself. If you are interested in having contact with your daughter, please contact using the information below.

The letter then went on to give Maria contact details for her to get in touch with. Her heart was in her mouth, her baby girl. The baby she had given up at the age of 15 due to her parents wishes. Maria felt tears slipping down her face, she quickly wiped them away before entering the salon.

"Your first customer is due in 15 minutes" Audrey complained.

"I know, I'm sorry. It was a very hectic morning" Maria mumbled speaking distantly to her boss. Audrey did a double look noticing that the woman seemed out of sorts.

The morning seemed to drag for Maria and she was desperate for her last client to leave, she needed to phone social services as soon as she could. She needed to find out what was going on with her baby girl. Thursday was her half day at the salon so she would make the phone call before leaving to collect Liam.

She did have to admit to slightly rushing her last client and made a quick job of tidying up before leaving. Usually on her half day, she wouldn't mind staying a little later to help Audrey but not today, today was different.

Once out the hairdressers, she opened the door to her flat and ran up the stairs. She quickly punched the numbers into her phone and sat down on the couch, praying someone would answer.

"Hello, Rachel speaking, how may I help?" A cheerful voice replied.

"Hello, I was told to phone this number about my daughter, Grace Sutherland" Maria said with a shaky voice.

"Ah I am so glad you have called. We have been trying to get in contact with you" Rachel explained.

"I didn't realise, we moved just after I gave birth and my parents believed it was best for me to have a fresh start and no contact with the baby. They said the baby would get adopted and have a loving family" Maria explained, and Rachel nodded.

"I understand, would you be able to come for a meeting?" Rachel suggested and Maria instantly agreed.

"I know its last minute, but would you manage today?" Rachel asked.

"Certainly, I'll ask the childminder to keep my son all day" Maria replied, and they arranged a place and time.

Once off the phone, Maria contacted the childminder who was more than willing to keep Liam for the whole day as he was a very well-behaved boy. Maria was nervous but knew that she had not eaten all day so she quickly made herself a sandwich before making her way to social services office in town.

Once off the phone, Maria contacted the childminder who explained she would be delighted to have Liam all day as he was a very well-behaved boy. Maria was nervous but knew that she had not eaten anything all day. She quickly made herself a sandwich before heading to the social services office in town.

Arriving at the social services office, Maria quickly signed in before sitting down. Less than 5 minutes later a young woman who looked to be in her early thirties came down.

"Hello, you must be Maria?" She asked holding out her hand. Maria nodded and returned the handshake

"I'm Rachel, Grace's social worker" She said.

"Why does Grace still have a social worker if she was adopted?" Maria asked confused. Rachel didn't reply instead leading them into a private room. She invited Maria in and they took seats across from one and other.

"To answer your question, Grace wasn't adopted. While starting the adoption process, she fell ill and had to have surgery. Afterwards we had a wait a few years to see if the issue would return and if more treatment would be needed. By this time, Grace was starting school and as she was older it became more challenging to place her for adoption" Rachel explained and Maria nodded.

"Is she okay now?" Maria asked, "What surgery did she need to have?"

"She had two holes in her heart. She had an operation to repair it and they monitored the other hole. A couple of years ago she had another operation" Rachel explained.

"And she is okay now?" Maria asked and Rachel nodded.

"She is, they still monitor her, and she goes for tests twice a year but her heart is stable" Rachel explained.

"What is she like?" Maria asked.

"She's a lovely girl but I will warn you she is a challenge" Rachel explained.

"I want her back; I want her back so much. She's my baby" Maria said letting some tears drop down her face.

"I understand but it is important that we take things slowly especially for Grace. Introduce some contact sessions, perhaps a couple a week in the family services centre and we can go from there. As Grace is 14, she can be in charge of the contact, but Grace will find this hard. Therefore, I think it's important that we give her stability of a supervised session and see how she does" Rachel explained, and Maria nodded.

"I'm willing to do anything to get her back" Maria explained.

"I'll speak to Grace tonight but how do you feel about contact on Monday at the family centre. 4:30-6?" Rachel suggested and Maria nodded.

"I think we should do twice a week to start with. How about Monday and Thursday?" She asked and Maria nodded. It was ideal as she was not working them days. She would easily find someone to look after Liam for a couple of hours both days.

The Following Week

Maria arrived outside the family contact centre at 4:15, she was very nervous and had no idea what to expect. She signed in and waited for Rachel to arrive.

"So normally I won't be here but as this is only for a couple of weeks I may come to each session if I can. The family centre is usually used as a play centre so it might be challenging for Grace but hopefully once a relationship between the two of you is established, then contact can take place at home" Rachel explained, and Maria nodded.

They settled and there was a knock at the door. The door opened and two people walked in. One was an older woman looking to be in her fifties and she spoke first.

"Do you want me to stay?" She asked.

"Oh no, don't worry about it and I'll take Grace home afterwards" Rachel said and the woman nodded before leaving.

The other stood still. Maria wouldn't believe her eyes, the girl was very like her especially in the face. She had wavy dark hair just like she did at that age. However Grace was more petite, she also looked slightly younger than 14 while Maria had looked grown up for her age as an young teenager.

"Come and sit down" Rachel encouraged. Grace was obliviously nervous and timidly watched over to the sofa across from Maria. Neither of them knew what to say and Rachel could sense the awkwardness. However, she was expecting this.

"Do you have any questions to ask your mum?" Rachel asked looking directly at Grace. She knew the importance of addressing Maria as mum as although Grace knew who she was, it was important that she was constantly reminded. Though, it would be up to the girl how she wanted to view Maria and what she would call her.

"Why do you want me now?" Grace asked bluntly.

"I thought you had been adopted. My parents made me move away just after I gave birth to you. We moved down south before returning to Manchester two years later but to another area. I've always wanted to look for you but I was going to wait until you were 18. I didn't want to make things confusing for you. I don't even know how they found me" Maria explained.

"Trust me, it wasn't easy" Rachel said and they both smiled. Grace was content with that answer.

"How was school today?" Maria asked softly and Grace shrugged.

"I hate it" Grace complained.

"Schools important. I wish I stuck in at school a bit more. It was hard for me to get a job because I didn't" Maria explained.

"What do you do?" Grace quizzed.

"I'm a hairdresser" Maria answered, and Grace's face dropped.

"Can you do my hair, I want it dyed. Will you dye it for me?" Grace asked and suddenly the girl came alive. They then went on to spend the rest of the hour and a half happily speaking and Grace instantly relaxed into the company of her mother. As their relationship developed, Rachel was able to step back and make some notes on their relationship. She was really impressed with how it was going. This was a massive step for Grace.

"Can I come and live with you?" Grace asked when Rachel gave them a five minutes warning.

"We need to take it slowly, but I really hope that you can come and live with me. I am not going to leave you no matter what though, I promise. I am here for you" Maria explained, and Rachel was happy with the response.

"Do I have any siblings?" She asked and Maria nodded.

"You have a little brother called Liam, he's just turned 3" Maria said and Grace smiled.

"When can I meet him? Can you bring him to the next session?" Grace asked and they both looked at Rachel.

"Sure but remember its still important to have some one on one time with your mum. How about she brings Liam on Thursdays but Mondays are just you and your mum" Rachel suggested and Grace nodded. She liked the idea of that.

"Right we need to get you home, you must be starving now" Rachel stated, and Grace shrugged.

"Can't I just go with my mum now. I don't want to go back there" Grace complained as she stood up and put her jacket on.

"Come on" Maria said softly as she put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. The girl turned around and jumped out of her skin. She took a step back away from her mother.

"Sorry" Maria said not realising the girl would respond so negatively to being touched.

"We need to follow the rules. I know you want to come back with me and I want that too but we need to do this properly" Maria said and Grace nodded. She was still looking down embarrassed from jumping at her mother's touch.

"Bye see you on Thursday" Rachel said to Maria as they left and Maria nodded. She said goodbye to her daughter, but it was hard not being able to pull the girl into her arms.

Maria picked up Liam from Kirk's on her way home and was relieved that her brother had fed the boy as it was now late. She quickly started his evening routine but it was challenging when her mind was on Grace. She couldn't stop thinking about her daughter and what she would be doing at this time.

This idea came to me while I was in bed hahah. So I just wrote it as I'm so bored. What does everyone think? Should I continue?