"Good morning Miss…Miss Annie, wake up", I slowly blinked my eyes open to the sound of Drake's voice. "Mr. Drake?" I croaked in confusion, then sat bolt upright in bed. "My parents! Are they here?"

"We haven't even begun screening people yet, Miss."

I blinked in disorientation. "Oh. I thought they might have made themselves known immediately."

"Give it time", the butler advised me with a gentle smile and I nodded in return. "Why did you come to wake me then?"

"Mr. Warbucks has asked me to bring your breakfast early and to ensure you are dressed as he has somewhere he'd like to take you this morning."

"Is it another radio show?" I asked him dubiously.

"No, Miss", Drake shook his head. "Hurry along and eat your breakfast and come downstairs when you're dressed, won't you?"

"Yes Sir, Mr. Drake."

He left me to eat and I devoured my food quickly, eager to find out where Mr. Warbucks was planning on taking me.

I put on my purple dress and hastily threw my white cardigan over top before hurrying downstairs to see Mr. Warbucks.

I went straight to his study where I found him and Miss Grace talking softly to each other. "I know this is overwhelming Grace, for many reasons, and I'm sorry to leave it all on you…"

I watched as she placed her hand on his forearm.

"No, no, it's for the best that you and Annie aren't here today, she doesn't need to be exposed to all of this, and…" She stopped talking when she saw me standing in the doorway.

"Hello Annie", she greeted me, replacing her look of distress with one of warmth.

"Hi Miss Grace, Mr. Warbucks. Drake says we're going somewhere?"

Mr. Warbucks turned around and gave me a tight smile. "Annie, how would you like to go to Washington to meet the President?"

"The President? Of the United States? Oh Mr. Warbucks, I would love to!" I answered him in awe.

He chuckled. "Well, good. At least one of us will be happy to see him."

Miss Grace threw him an exasperated look. "Sir…"

"Miss Grace, you will contact us if my parents come for me, won't you?" I asked her anxiously, not wanting to waste a single hour of my time with them.

"Yes dear, of course I will", she told me reassuringly.

I smiled in reply and then let out a breath of air. "The President…wait'll the kids hear about this!"

Mr. Warbucks and Miss Grace smiled at me in a way that felt like it wasn't laced with sadness for the first time in a couple of days.

"Well, I'll see if we can find you a cap and some goggles to fit you", Mr. Warbucks told me and I looked at Miss Farrell in confusion as he left the room.

"What do I need a cap and goggles for?"

"For the autogyro, of course."

My eyes widened. "The auto-what?"

I'd started out the week experiencing my first ride in a car, and now I was going to be flying in an autogyro. The roller coasters at Coney Island were nothing compared to this! I was equally exhilarated and terrified as we lifted off the ground in this compact little flying machine. As we soared over New York, my fears turned into absolute wonder though.

We were gliding over the tops of hills and trees, houses and farm animals below us appearing as small as specks of dust. The world was so pretty from up here - more spectacular than I'd ever known it to be.

There was no use trying to talk to Mr. Warbucks because it was so deafeningly loud, but I did turn away from the magnificent view out my window to grin at him several times.

I could see the Washington monument, standing proud and tall. Mr. Warbucks pointed out the Capitol building to me as well and I gazed at it, amazed by its structure and design. Fairly soon, we were hovering above Pennsylvania Avenue and landing on the great expanse of the White House lawn.

I'd heard about it on the radio a few times and sometimes Miss Hannigan spoke about it, or rather complained about the folks who lived and worked there, but until today I'd never even seen a picture of it. I was astounded by its size and grandeur. It was kind of like Mr. Warbucks' house, only much, much bigger - and I thought his house was grand!

A man dressed in a soldier's uniform saluted us as we carefully got off the plane. I ducked low as Mr. Warbucks pulled me out of the aircraft, wary of the sharp propeller.

The soldier led us across the lawn and into the back entrance of the White House. We walked through huge rooms, their walls so high and all adorned with photographs and artwork. Everything was so fine and immaculate, almost like a museum - not that I'd ever been to a museum, but this is what I imagined one to look like.

After walking through many corridors, we finally came to a closed door. The soldier asked us to wait there while he announced our arrival to the President.

Mr. Warbucks turned to speak to me. "You may come in and meet President Roosevelt, then you'll have to come and wait out here for a short time while I discuss some important business with him."

"Yes, Sir", I agreed, feeling excited just to have the chance to say hello to the President.

The soldier announced us as "Oliver Warbucks and friend", and President Roosevelt asked him to show us in. He waved us into the room and we walked in together briskly.

The President and Mr. Warbucks greeted each other as if they were old friends and I looked on in amazement, blown away for the millionth time over the societal stature Mr. Warbucks seemed to have.

"And who is this we have here?" President Roosevelt asked, referring to me.

"Mr. President, this is my good friend, Annie", Mr. Warbucks told him and I smiled at Mr. Warbucks for calling me his friend. I knew how incredibly privileged I was to have found a friend in Mr. Warbucks,

President Roosevelt recognized me from the radio. I was astonished to know he'd listened to our interview.

I greeted him cheerfully, reaching out my hand to shake his. He greeted me in response and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. I felt really very honored and thanked him for saying so.

Mr. Warbucks told me I could wait outside, but President Roosevelt insisted I stay, even though his staff seemed against the idea. He told them that having me there would keep them on their best behavior. I didn't know what he meant, but I was more than happy to stay.

I listened quietly as President Roosevelt asked Mr. Warbucks for his views on the current situation. The President's staff started to argue with him. They all seemed to have different opinions on the things that mattered most for America. Mr. Warbucks wanted his factories and his workers to be saved, the others were more worried about the homeless and the starved. I could understand why all of them were concerned. The one thing they all seemed to agree on, sadly, was that the situation was hopeless. Even the President.

I felt sad that he, and by the sounds of it, many Americans had no hope left. Hope was the thing that had kept me going through all those miserable years in the orphanage. I knew in my heart that if you didn't have hope - you didn't have a chance.

One of the members of the President's cabinet stood off to the side, his arms folded in despair. I approached him slowly and started to say words of reassurance to him. One of his colleagues tried to shush me, but President Roosevelt told him to be quiet and asked me what I'd said.

Feeling empowered by the President's interest, I sang my song of hope to everyone there. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mr. Warbucks listening to me with a proud smile on his face and my heart swelled even more. Soon, he and the President and all of his staff were joining in too, suddenly everyone became more optimistic and things felt a lot more possible than they had done before.

I felt so proud of myself and when Mr. Warbucks took my hands and congratulated me for bringing such positivity into the room, I felt like I was flying even higher than I had done in the autogyro.

My heart thumped even harder when President Roosevelt read out the message he'd just received and told us that it was from Miss Grace, informing us that there were hundreds of couples outside Mr. Warbucks' house who had come to claim me. I was so unbelievably excited - with hundreds of couples there, surely one of them had to be my Mother and Father.

We thanked the President and he thanked us in turn before Mr. Warbucks and I rushed out to the autogyro and flew back to New York. The trip home was just as fantastic as they first flight, only this time, I had a severe case of butterflies in my stomach knowing that when I arrived back at Mr. Warbucks' house, my parents could be waiting for me.

As we ran into Mr. Warbucks' house, he called out to inform Miss Grace of our arrival. "Where are they, Miss Farrell? Where are all the people?" I asked her frantically.

When she told me they had all come and gone, my heart sank in my chest. None of the people who'd come to claim me even knew about the locket.

I was severely disappointed and upset but I tried to be optimistic. Even when Mr. Warbucks read the note from the FBI stating that there would be barely any chance at all of tracing the identity of my parents through my locket, I simply thanked Mr. Warbucks for trying and accepted my fate of being alone and parent-less.

Mr. Warbucks however, had other plans. After Miss Grace and Mr. Drake excused themselves from the room, leaving Mr. Warbucks and me alone, the kind billionaire, the man who had spoiled me rotten and showed me so many wonders I had never known before meeting him, told me that I wasn't going to be alone again, he would make sure of that.

He told me how haply he was to have found me. To have had me come into his life. To fill a void that had been empty for so long.

His words touched my heart so deeply. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. We let go of each other, both smiling happily.

He called Miss Grace back into the room and when she came quickly, dutifully muttering, "Yes Sir?" He turned to her with a charming smile and said, "Call me Oliver."

I couldn't help the grin that completely overtook my whole face.

"Oliver", Miss Grace repeated, almost in wonder. Her eyes flicked to mine and we shared a pleased smile.

Mr. Warbucks had promised to be there for me, to be a part of my life and I think it was his intention to make the same vow to Miss Grace.

He drew my attention back to him again and told me, "Annie, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to find your Mother and Father but if we go through it all and we can't find them…I'd be pleased to adopt you."

I looked at him in amazement. He wanted to adopt me. He wanted to be my Daddy Warbucks. I knew in that moment, he wasn't trying to replace my parents and had never wanted to. He simply wanted to take care of me, to give me a life of protection, a life of joy that I wouldn't otherwise know.

Miss Grace smiled encouragingly at me as he asked me what I thought of his proposal and I emotively and proudly told him that if I couldn't have my real Mother and Father then there was no one in the world I would rather have for a Father than him.

Mr. Warbucks and Miss Grace were equally as overjoyed as each other that I had accepted and that I would be staying with them.

Miss Farrell gave me a great big hug as Mr. Warbucks began talking about the adoption and making it a real celebration.

When he told me I could have anyone in the world I wanted to attend, Miss Grace was, of course, at the top of my list. I still had hope that she and Mr. Warbucks would finally be able to admit their feelings to each other and to everyone around them. They had made me so happy and I only wanted the same for them.

Everyone at Mr. Warbucks' house had made me so happy. They all had to be guests at the celebration too. I wanted to share this special night with all of them.

They were all so happy when Mr. Warbucks told them I was going to become part of their family.

I felt so overjoyed. I was going to be a part of a family.

Mr. Warbucks wanted everyone to look their best for the party, including me. Miss Grace told me there was a surprise waiting for me up in my room and I couldn't believe that I'd been gifted with yet another beautiful thing. I bounded up the stairs excitedly.

When I got to my room, I went to my wardrobe and my mouth fell open in wonder as I saw the most gorgeous red and white dress. It was so unique, I'd never seen another one like it. It felt as if it had been made especially for me, like it was mine and mine alone. After so many years of feeling forgotten, of feeling like just a number, I now felt like the luckiest and most special girl in the whole wide world.

I changed into my new red dress and ran back out excitedly to the foyer. I stood at the top of the stairs and as I looked down upon the people downstairs, I happened to see Mr. Warbucks holding Miss Farrell's hands - right there in front of everyone.

A proud smile came to my face. Mr. Warbucks was finally showing her exactly what she meant to him. Now she would surely have no doubt about the possibility of being with him romantically.

Drake called Mr. Warbucks' attention to me and he spun around quickly. Miss Grace's eyes lingered on him a little while longer before she too cast her gaze up the stairs at me. Both of them grinned happily at me as I descended the stairs and the three of us and all of the staff began to celebrate together.

After only a few minutes though, Drake made an announcement, sounding very serious as he did so. "They're here for Annie", he said, and I felt like my whole body went cold, as if I were diving into the Hudson river again.

Two odd looking strangers walked into the room. They seemed very excited to see me. I looked at them dubiously and asked them who they were the lady told me they were my Mom and Dad and that their names were Ralph and Shirley Mudge.

I couldn't help but feel skeptical. Especially knowing how many people had already come to the house that day pretending they were my parents, all simply so they could get their hands on the $50,000 of course.

However, the Mudges had my birth certificate, they knew my birthday, and more than that, they had the other half of my locket.

I looked back and forth between them as they danced around me with joy. It was quite intimidating having complete strangers come that close to me. I always felt like as soon as I met my parents, I would recognize them, I would just know them by heart.

I didn't feel that way with the Mudges at all.

When they began all but pushing me out the door, I felt panicked. Thankfully, I heard Miss Grace yell out in protest and Mr. Warbucks stalled them by asking them about the money. They didn't seem to have any clue what he was talking about. I found that hard to believe.

At first they refused to take the check, then they started talking about taking me to live on a pig farm. I thought to myself that I'd rather be poor and living in a New York City apartment than to live on a muddy farm with the pigs.

Mr. Warbucks conceded with them and I felt my heart break. Did he not have the same reservation about the Mudges that I did? The same uneasy feeling.

I sighed in relief when he told them they could come back for me and the check tomorrow. At least that would give us all some time to talk and to say goodbye properly, and give me the chance to spend Christmas morning with Mr. Warbucks and Miss Grace and all of the staff.

I walked back over to Miss Grace and she held out her arms, reaching for me protectively. I suddenly realized how safe she made me feel, and how unsafe I had felt being held by Mrs. Mudge.

The Mudges didn't look very pleased about having to come back to get me, but they did agree and then went to leave hastily without even so much as a hug or any other words of gladness or comfort or love…nothing I had ever imagined my parents telling me when they finally came for me again.

Mr. Warbucks tried to be cheerful and optimistic. Usually that was the way I was, but I just couldn't shake the unsettled feeling I had. When Miss Grace told me I was lucky, I agreed but sort of sarcastically. How could she compare a life spent here with her and Mr. Warbucks to a life spent with Mr. and Mrs. Mudge on a pig farm and call it lucky?

It wasn't all about the money, or about the treasures and delights. It was about the warm feeling I'd had when Mr. Warbucks told me he was proud of me. How much joy he gave me when he'd carried me on his shoulders down the boulevard at Coney Island. The peace that came to me when Miss Grace tucked me into bed and kissed me goodnight, the security, the…love I felt from everyone here.

When Mr. Warbucks proposed a toast and raised his glass of champagne to "Annie Mudge", the name felt foreign and strange and just not right.

I bolted out of the room feeling upset and concerned that no one else could sense what I could about the Mudges, that no one was going to help me to feel more secure.

I ran straight to my room and jumped on my bed, my face down against my pillows. I howled, feeling sad, feeling frightened and alone. Worse than when I was in the orphanage, because now I felt like I had come to know true happiness and real love, and I just couldn't face the idea that tomorrow that would all be taken away from me.

As I sobbed into my pillow, I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. "Annie?"

Miss Grace spoke softly. "Oh Annie", I heard her sigh and then felt the bed slump a little as she sat down next to me and started rubbing my back.

"What's wrong sweetheart? I thought you'd be happy."

"I don't know", I told her truthfully. I was honestly feeling so many different things. Uncertainty, fear, disappointment, guilt. I was sad about leaving Miss Grace and

Mr. Warbucks but mad at myself at the same time for not being more excited to finally be meeting my parents.

If they really were my parents…

I raised my head up from the pillow and looked into Miss Grace's eyes. "I know I should be happy that my parents have finally come for me, but I'm going to miss you all so much."

I decided this was the prominent emotion and probably the one that was triggering all my feelings of doubt and insecurity. Change was never easy. I remembered what Mr. Warbucks had told me the day before about meeting your heroes and having it ruin the illusion. Perhaps I'd dreamt about my parents and had created such wonderful thoughts of who they were in my mind that the Mudges couldn't possibly measure up.

"We're going to miss you too", Miss Grace told me and I could tell she was trying to hold back her own tears. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and we held each other for what seemed like hours.

"It's going to be alright. I promise you, you'll be happy, OK? I'm going to make sure of it."

"Will you write to me at my new home?" I asked her tentatively and she smiled at me through her tears. "Of course I will, sweetheart. Maybe Mr. Warbucks will even let me come visit you now and again."

"Oh, I hope so. I hope he'll come too. The two of you should always be together, Miss Grace."

She chuckled softly. "Even the most in love couples need time apart now and again."

Forgetting my worries for a moment, I grinned at her. "So you are in love with him!"

She pursed her lips. "I may not be quite ready to tell him yet but I suppose I can at least admit it to you. Yes, I am in love with Mr. Warbucks…Oliver", she smiled shyly.

"I knew it!" I squealed and she shushed me with a laugh. I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Oh Miss Grace, he's in love with you too, you've gotta see that!"

Her cheeks flushed. "Well, he um, he did take my hands earlier in front of the other staff. He didn't say as much, but his eyes told me he just might be. Oh. Annie!" She giggled girlishly and I couldn't help but giggle right along with her.

I knew that part of her telling me this was to distract me from my sadness and worry about the Mudges, but I was just so happy for her and Mr. Warbucks.

"I think you and Mr. Warbucks should talk about this. I think you need to go and see him."

Instantly Miss Grace's joyous face turned somber. "Oh no, I can't leave you Annie. Not tonight."

"I'll be fine. I feel much better now", I smiled bravely and reassuringly at her.

"Are you sure?" She asked me uncertainly.

"Yes, I'm sure", I told her, even though it wasn't entirely true.

"Well, if you need me during the night, I want you to come and find me immediately, OK? It doesn't matter what time it is. Chances are we'll be up for some time still anyway."

"OK, I will", I said to her, but didn't intend to disturb her and Mr. Warbucks. They needed time to talk, especially now that it sounded like they were ready to admit their true feelings to one another.

"Alright", she said softly. "Can I tuck you in before I go?" She asked me and I nodded appreciatively.

She lifted my blankets up and covered me with them. "We're going to be happy, Annie. All of us", she promised me gently. I nodded my head. I knew that she and Mr. Warbucks were going to be very happy if they confessed their love for one another. I wasn't yet as certain about myself and my own happiness, but knowing they were happy would certainly help.

She leaned down and kissed my temple. I reached up and hugged her around her neck for a moment. "Goodnight, Miss Grace."

"Goodnight sweet girl", she replied emotively. She stood up and smiled at me, stroking my cheek with the back of her hand before turning out my light and leaving me alone.

Laying there in the darkness, I couldn't stop the flurry of thoughts that came into my mind.I really hoped that Mr. Warbucks and Miss Grace would find their way together. Of course, all of my excitement and happiness for them was overshadowed by my suspicions about the Mudges and the uncertainty of what my life was going to be like with them.

They were undeniably strange people. The whole situation was all so strange.

How was it that on the very same day that Miss Farrell had interviewed hundreds of couples who'd come forward to claim me as their daughter, did the Mudges turn up without knowing anything about our search or about Mr. Warbucks' reward? Why did these people just so happen to come looking for me on this particular day? It felt like too much of a bizarre coincidence.

I was upset with myself for being suspicious about the couple. Apart from their story being odd and their arrival being badly timed, they did seem like nice people and if they were really my parents, I would feel terrible for accusing them.

With all of the thoughts running around in my head - happy ones regarding Miss Grace and Mr. Warbucks and troubled ones regarding the Mudges, sleep did not come easily to me that night, nor did it stay very long.