Part 2

OOOO

AJ was walking with his friends in the schoolyard, when they came upon a group of older girls standing in a circle.

"So how does it feel," one of them was asking, "to know that you'll never see your Mom again unless you do something really awful?"

AJ stopped, wanting to find out what was going on. Something did not feel right about this.

"Or, maybe," one of the other girls sneered, "because of her Mom, she'll get a fast-pass straight to hell!"

"Shut up!" AJ heard somebody yell then the girl who had just spoken fell back, under the force of somebody pushing her.

He saw Sarah pounce on the girl then she disappeared as the other girls crowded around, trying to get Sarah off their friend. The whole thing was interrupted by the arrival of the teacher on duty, Mr. Rennick. He hauled Sarah off the other girl, telling them, "Into my classroom, all of you! I'm going to take Sarah to see the school nurse, then we'll be back to talk about what happened here."

Sarah was bleeding from a blow to her nose and Mr. Rennick fished out a handkerchief, to wipe the mixture of tears and blood that was streaming down her face.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Jason Rennick asked, sternly, when he had Sarah in a quiet corner of the playground.

Sarah shook her head, mopping her nose.

"Mr. Rennick?" AJ stepped forward, trying to be respectful, since he was essentially interrupting, but he did not feel he could watch Sarah go down for defending herself, "Sorry to interrupt, but I saw what happened. Those girls were being really mean. They said some very hurtful things about Sarah and her Mom."

"I see," Mr. Rennick sighed, "Okay, thanks, AJ. I think I understand better, now."

After that, Mr. Rennick sent AJ along to help Sarah to the school nurse, while he went to have a word with the older girls back in his classroom.

"What those girls said," AJ told Sarah, on the way, "it just wasn't right. It was really mean. They were just trying to get to you and what they said…there's no truth in it."

AJ didn't know much of what the older girls were talking about, but he refused to believe that anyone his age was a bad enough person to go to hell.

"Thanks, AJ," Sarah choked out, reaching out to squeeze his hand, before she knocked and proceeded inside the nurse's office.

AJ didn't see her again, until later that day.

OOOO

"AJ!" Harriet shouted, loudly, from her place by the bay window.

AJ came running, and stared at his mother, before turning to look at what she was watching so intently. It took him a second to realize what he was seeing, as it was raining heavily outside.

He was quick to follow his Mother at a run, out the back door and into the yard.

"Sarah!" Harriet exclaimed, loudly, to be heard over the noise of the pelting rain, "What on earth are you doing here!"

Sarah was kneeling in front of the tree and AJ and Harriet lifted each of her arms over their shoulders and helped her indoors.

Harriet sent her son to go and get some dry towels, while she stripped the freezing cold outer clothes from the shaking child. AJ quickly wrapped a big towel around her, worried about her being embarrassed in front of him. Sarah didn't seem to be aware of his presence, though. She just looked to Harriet, who stroked a hand through her dripping hair.

"Sarah, Sweetheart," Harriet shook her head, "You know that you can phone us, if you every need to talk."

"I don't think you can help me with this…" Sarah finally spoke.

"What happened to your nose, Honey?" Harriet asked, "It looks swollen…"

"Mom, Sarah was getting picked on by some big girls, today," AJ told his mother, then turned back to Sarah, "Sarah, what they said to you…"

"I don't care what they said," Sarah shook her head, "I just wanted to know, why…"

"They were just being mean," AJ tried to reassure her, "There's no real reason why they said what…"

"No," Sarah shook her head again, "That's not what I mean…you wouldn't understand."

Harriet took her son aside and he explained what he was talking about.

"There were some big girls picking on Sarah, today, in the yard, at school," AJ told her, "They were saying some really mean things about her…"

"What?" Harriet wanted to know.

"That…" AJ hesitated, "that she was…going to go to hell…"

"What!" Harriet gasped, "Why on earth would they say something so vicious? That's absolutely despicable!"

"I don't know," AJ insisted, "that was about all I heard before Sarah pounced on the girl who said it. But one of them did say something first about doing something bad, before she'd ever see her Mom again. Then the other said she might go straight to hell…she said it was because her mother had."

Harriet sighed then turned back to Sarah.

"Honey," she went and hugged the child, still shivering in her living room, "What are you doing here? It's late and you should be back home, getting ready for bed."

AJ himself had already been dressed for bed before this, so Harriet gestured for him to go and get out of his wet PJs and into a dry pair.

"I needed to find out why…" Sarah repeated, "Why she left me…"

"Oh, Sweetie!" Harriet hugged the child, "I'm so sorry about your Mom, but she didn't leave you on purpose. No Mother would chose to die over watching her child grow up…it just happens, sometimes, it's not anyone's fault."

Sarah just shook her head.

"No," she told Harriet, looking at her with wide, green, soulful eyes, "mine did…She killed herself…Right out there, in the branches of that tree…"

OOOO

"She WHAT?" Mac exclaimed, when Harriet told her, the next day.

"Sarah's mother hung herself from one of the branches of the tree, not long after her husband was killed," Harriet expanded, "John was killed in an auto-accident, on a trip to the grocery store, after Beth sent him to go and get milk and a loaf of bread. She blamed herself for sending him out and couldn't live with herself. There was no other family around to take her, so Sarah got put in the state-run children's home."

"That poor kid," Mac lamented.

"She was the one who found her, too," Harriet continued, "She called 911 and when the medics found them, Sarah was still trying to lift her mother's body up, to cut off the pressure of the rope around her neck…It was too late, she'd long since stopped breathing…"

Mac shook her head in amazement, watching the two pre-teens sitting out in the yard, talking.

"Few kids have at as hard as she has," Mac marveled, "Yet, she's amazingly put together."

"She wasn't last night," Harriet told her, "She just broke down in my arms. I think it's been coming on for some time, now. I just held her, all night long…"

"Does anyone at the home know she's here?" Mac asked.

"I called and checked in with one of her supervisors," Harriet nodded, "They said it was okay that for her to stay the night, that they'd send someone out to pick her up, later this morning."

"She and AJ seem to get on well," Mac noted.

"He's been so concerned about her," Harriet nodded, "He's such a thoughtful boy, but I'm so afraid he's going to get upset by all of this. He's getting so attached to her and her position is so precarious. I don't know how I can help her. I want to help her, but I don't want AJ or any of the other kids to get hurt in the process."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mac asked, "I'll do anything I can…"

"I don't even know how I can help, at this point," Harriet sighed, "but I really appreciate the offer, Mac. I'll let you know, once I've had some time to figure out what the answer to your question is."

Mac nodded, then went to join the two children in the yard.

"This is my Aunt Mac," AJ told Sarah, who looked up at the adult joining them, "she's not exactly my Aunt…I mean, she's not my Mom or my Dad's sister, but she's the closest thing to a sister either of them has and she's also my Godmother…"

"Oh, I see," Sarah nodded, "so she's one of those family friends who you wish was your relative, rather than the ones you actually get?"

"Yeah!" AJ laughed, "exactly! I mean, I love my relatives, but sometimes some of them they can be real trying. My Aunt Mac's much cooler!"

"Nice to meet you, Mrs…"

"Rabb," Mac shook the girl's hand, "but call me Mac."

"Mac?"

"My first name is Sarah, too, but most of my friends call me Mac. It's an abbreviation of my maiden name, MacKenzie."

Just then, they heard a loud rattling noise.

"That'll be my ride," Sarah stood up and dusted the grass off the back of her jeans, "I'd better go."

AJ followed Sarah as she went to thank Harriet. Harriet hugged her then Sarah waved to Mac and jogged around the house, to where the big yellow bus had parked by the curb.

"Poor kid," Mac bit her lip.

"I just wish there was something we could do to help her," Harriet was really feeling her mothering instinct kicking in.

AJ just looked at them both and went inside, going to his room.

OOOO

Later that night, once his father was home, AJ asked if he could speak to him on his own, before dinner was ready.

"Dad," AJ asked, once they were seated on the steps leading into the back yard, "When did you first really like a girl?"

Bud thought he knew where this was going, but did his best to answer his son.

"Well, I guess when I was around the same age as you are."

"And the first time you took a girl out?"

"Well…I was quite a bit older, AJ. I liked plenty of girls, but not many were that interested in going out with me…Your Mom was the first girl I was ever really head-over-heals for, though."

"And when you met Mom, there wasn't anything you wouldn't do for her?"

"No, I can't say there was, AJ."

"How did you know for sure, though, that you really wanted to be with her forever?"

"Well, I couldn't think of my life without her. We'd spent a lot of time together, we'd talked about so much and I guess our ideas of how we'd live the rest of our lives…they seemed to slowly merge together. I loved your mother and couldn't imagine my life without her and she couldn't imagine her life without me and…like you said, there is nothing I wouldn't have done for her…where is all this coming from? Have you met somebody, AJ?"

AJ slowly looked at his Dad and nodded.

"Did Mom tell you about the girl that was over here earlier? Sarah?"

"Yeah, I was real sorry to hear about her parents and where she's living, now."

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about it and I think I've come to a decision…"

Bud paused, knowing that his son was going to spring something major on him. He wasn't wrong, but Bud hadn't quite counted how thoughtful and dedicated his son was.

"I think that you and Mom should adopt Sarah, Dad…"

Bud just stared at his son, for a second.

"Well, son…I…This is a major decision."

"I know and I have thought it through, Dad," AJ said, in a very serious tone.

"Well, I know how much you probably feel for Sarah, it's natural that you want to help her. Your Mom and I have tried to raise you and your brothers and sister to question things and to fight for what's right…but not all things in this world are right. Sometimes things happen and they aren't anybody's fault, but there's not always something you can do about it…"

"But we can help Sarah," AJ maintained, "If we adopt her, she can come and live with us and she'll have a home and a family and she won't have to live in that horrible children's home. Dad, she's so unhappy there…"

"I know, son," Bud pulled his son into a hug, "and I'm so sorry that Sarah's life has turned out this way…"

Bud paused to think of a way he could calm his son down. But again, he would only learn how much he had underestimated AJ. His son was the best blend of him and Harriet and knew only how to give all of himself to a cause he believed in.

"Have you ever thought," Bud asked, "what would happen after we adopt Sarah and she becomes a part of this family? I know how much you like her, son…"

Here, AJ went to object, but Bud held up his hand, determined to finish.

"I know you do, AJ, but if she became your sister, any feelings other than those that are brotherly would have to be put aside, it's as simple as that. Do you really think you could do that?"

"There's nothing I won't do for her, Dad."

OOOO

Bud and Harriet were getting ready for bed and he was telling her about his discussion with their first-born.

"I was worried that he was going to take this to heart," Harriet told her husband, "I mean, I am so sorry for that little girl, Bud, but I really don't see how we can adopt her. We have five children, four of whom are still with us, by the grace of God and we're going to have to support every them in every way imaginable, for many years to come."

"I know what you mean, " Bud nodded, "with me working full-time and you part-time on top of that, we're making enough to get by, but our savings account isn't looking all that healthy. We've really got to make some provisions for a rainy day and yet, we're already looking at the prospect of forking out substantial amounts…"

For some time now, the family dentist had been concerned with Jimmy's overbite and Nikki and Mark both looked like they might require orthodontic treatment too, in the future. Factor in unpredictable life circumstances and you had a recipe for disaster.

"…I know we should be encouraging him to fight for what he believes in, but I really don't see how we can possibly encourage him in this idea," Bud continued.

"I know, Honey," Harriet agreed, "I really want to help that little girl, but I really don't think we can take on the responsibility of another child…"

Bud watched her for a second then asked, "What?"

"I just thought of something," Harriet told him, thinking it through again, "I had somebody offer to help and I think that they might be in a better position to do so. But I've got to be sure, before I say anything…"

Bud pressed her for details, but she requested some more time. And Bud knew his wife well enough to trust her. He knew Harriet and the magic she was capable of.

OOOO

They all watched the children running through the tall grass, as they followed, at a distance.

"Thanks for inviting us up here, Bud, Harriet," Harm told them, "It was a great idea, to have a picnic!"

"I hope you two didn't mind helping us cater for one more," Harriet tested, "I just couldn't leave her in a place she's so unhappy in. There are people at the home who do all they can for Sarah, but she just really needs a family. She really misses her parents on such a special day as today and I couldn't think of a better way to take her mind off what she's missing."

"Of course it's okay," Mac assured her.

"Absolutely," Harm agreed, "a little girl can't spend her first birthday since losing her parents on her own. In fact, we brought along a little surprise."

Harriet didn't ask anymore, but went about setting up the blanket and helping Harm and Mac unload all of the goodies out of the big picnic baskets.

After everything was almost ready, Bud called all of the children over.

Once they had all finished the picnic lunch, Mac looked to Harm and Harm looked back at her, giving her a nod before he got everyone's attention.

"Well, I hope that everyone still has room, because when Harriet told us that today was a very special day, Mac and I went out and bought something special for dessert."

Here, Mac lifted out an iced birthday cake, with two candles in the shape of a '1' and a '2.'

A big smile spread across the birthday girl's face and Harm and Mac seemed just as happy to see that Sarah was this happy.

Harriet smiled a knowing smile and looked to her husband, who was not surprised at seeing that this was the idea she had come up with and couldn't have told him about before now. He should have known that her hunch would be right on the button!

They weren't in the position to help Sarah, but it was possible for them to assist some people close to them, who were in the position to help…

OOOO