Chapter 13: The Gift of Hope

Kira sat in the solarium as she waited for Ben to join her. He told her that he wanted to discuss something with her today but he had a client show up before he was able to broach the subject. He'd asked for her to wait for him in the room that overlooked the garden that was beginning to bloom with its springtime flowers. Kira knew what he was going to say. It was time for her to move on. He'd decided that he couldn't take caring for a sick orphan any longer.

She looked out of the French doors and was tempted to just walk out without hearing what Ben had to say. What difference would it make? Well, other than the fact that if she left then there wouldn't be time for anyone from the State to come and collect her. But she couldn't do that. She knew that with the way she was feeling, she wouldn't make it back to town on her own. Once there, how would she be able to care for herself? No, she was going to sit right here and wait for the same words that she'd been waiting for since January when she'd first been taken out of the hospital.

When Ben finally joined Kira in the solarium he was carrying an envelope with copies of the papers that had been filed. He'd gotten a call this morning that the adoption had been put through and now he only had to tell Kira about it. He'd also spoken with the doctors yesterday during her treatment and was pleased to hear that the results of her latest tests showed more promise than expected. He was eager to tell Kira about both bits of good news. Ben sat in the chair across from the couch that Kira sat on and smiled warmly before he began his news that he'd been anxious to tell the young teen since the day before.

"Kira, I'm sorry that you had to wait. I hadn't expected Mr. Gristmill to stop off to see me this morning."

"It's alright. I know you stay busy." Kira pulled her legs up underneath her to warm them. It was pretty in the solarium but it was cooler than the rest of the house, too. She pulled the afghan from the back of the couch over her shoulders to fight off the chill of the morning.

"Are you too cold? We could go back into the den if you'd like." Ben had forgotten that the room may not have been very warm yet in the early spring morning when he'd asked Kira to wait for him here.

"No, I'm alright. You were wanting to talk about something earlier. Well? What is it?" Kira didn't want to put off being told what she already knew.

"Always right to the point, aren't you, Kira?" Ben chuckled a bit as he leaned forward a bit in his chair. "Well, I spoke with the doctors yesterday and they seem to think that you are doing much better with the treatments than they had expected. They expect that the most that you'll need will be a few maintenance treatments from here on out. You won't have to be so tired all of the time."

"That's great." The way Kira had said it, it sounded as if Ben was giving her the worse possible news. In fact, she didn't even look up at him as she said it.

"I thought so. I also have something else to share with you. Something that I was waiting until after you've gotten to this point before sharing."

Kira felt herself brace for the words that were sure to follow almost as if she were expecting a beating at the hands of one of her former foster parents. The fact that it was Ben rather than any of them didn't matter. The words used to be sent away were sure to hurt far worse than being struck across the face.

"I've thought a lot about your future in the last few weeks. Mrs. Elkins has told me that you've been working hard with your studies. She even believes that if you decided to go ahead and take the test for your G.E.D. that you'd pass with no problem at all. That is unless you'd like to continue to prepare and join kids your own age next fall for your senior year."

Kira shrugged as she realized that Ben was waiting for an answer. At least if she got her G.E.D. before she was sent back to the streets she could then try to get some sort of a job. One that she wouldn't be able to get without it. Then she could try to find a place of her own. Rent a room, perhaps, so that she could stay out of the cold.

"No point in going back to school for just one year if I can finish now."

"I thought that you might would say that. I'll see what I can do about setting that up for you when you feel up to it. Of course, that is just one part of your future. You see, I've become quite fond of having you around here. So much so, I'd like to know how you'd feel about me adopting you?"

Kira's eyes darted up to look at Ben in response to his question. "Adopt?"

"Yes. I've started the paperwork and it should be official sometime in the middle of April. That is unless you'd rather that I didn't."

"You want me to stay?"

"Of course I want you to stay. I'll have to say, I've enjoyed our talks about the various books that you've read. I have seen a fire in you that reminds me so much of myself when I was your age." The look on Kira's face told Ben something just then. "You thought that I called you in here to tell you that you were leaving, didn't you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time that I was told that I was too much trouble to have around."

Ben could hear the truth of her words as she spoke them. Kira's file had almost nothing in it to tell him just what kind of life she'd had before being found in the library back during the Thanksgiving day holiday season. She'd refused to give them anything but her first name so there was no way to know just how many homes she had been in prior to being placed with him. But he'd heard her scream out in the night a time or two which told him that there were things that probably would have never made it into that file anyway. He'd tried to go in to comfort her but he'd found the door locked not only that first night but every night since. A couple of times he'd thought about using his key but he felt that finding him in her room would only weaken what trust he'd begun to gain with the girl.

Feeling his heart break just a bit, Ben reached out to carefully offer his hand to Kira. "Kira, you are not too much trouble for me. I'm here promising you that as long as I'm alive, you will always have a home here with me. That is if you want it."

Kira looked at the offered hand as she thought about what it meant. Ben was telling her that she would no longer have to worry about being cold or hungry again. Not only that but that hand represented having someone who would care if she lived or died. Care; he'd care for her.

Kira's eyes fell on the envelope that was in Ben's other hand. "What's that?"

Ben lifted the envelope and flipped it over before he handed it to Kira. "It's copies of the paperwork to make the adoption official. I thought that you might would like to see them. You've always been a bit of a I'll believe it when I see it kind of person."

Kira took the envelope and carefully opened it up to pull out the legal paperwork that it held. He was telling her the truth. He really did want to adopt her. Of course, the question had to be asked.

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why me? What did I do to make you want me here? You don't really know me. Where I've been. What I've done. Why do you want to keep me around?"

"It's true, I don't know what you've had done to you in your past but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to know. But only when you are ready to tell me. As for why I want you here, sometimes you find a person that you know was meant to be a part of your family. A family doesn't have to be one by blood. Like I've told you before, I've seen much of myself in you. But I can't make you stay here. Just like I can't make you trust me. What I'm offering you is a chance at a better life. If you want to make this your home you can. But the choice is yours."

Kira looked from Ben to the papers she held then back to his offered hand. She didn't know what to say. Ben was giving her a home and something that she couldn't remember having; hope. Hope that her life wouldn't turn out like those of the other kids that she'd met in the system and streets. Some of whom still haunted her. Kira swallowed hard as she reached out to put her own hand in Ben's as she forced two words past the lump in her throat.

"Thank you."

Kira looked in the mirror as she got ready for the day. She'd stopped her treatments for her cancer and she could slowly feel her strength returning. Unfortunately, her hair wasn't returning as quickly. She still wore the wig when she left the house since she'd learned that she was likely to draw less attention from strangers if she did so. Ben was taking her to another race as a way to celebrate the adoption being finalized.

She knew that there was no way to explain it but watching the bikes race along the track, and in some cases, disappear from sight as the riders rode their dirt bikes off track onto trails that were set up for them gave her such a thrill. She was amazed at how someone from the back of the pack could return into view leading the other racers. From what she saw, many times the leaders of a race would become so focused on one another that they would never even notice the new comer until it was too late.

Kira saw herself as that rider in the back of the pack. She has watched as others got ahead in life for as long as she could remember but now she was being given a chance to join the race. Not only join but she knew that she would fight to surpass any who tried to hold her back.

Once she was ready, Kira headed out of her room while holding one of the gifts that Ben had given her; a key. Taking her past into account, Ben had offered her the opportunity to have a new lock put on her bedroom door and only she had the keys to it. It gave her the comfort to be able to sleep in her room without worrying about being walked in on. Of course the price of that was that she was told that since only Kira had the key Gloria would no longer be responsible for cleaning her bedroom or bathroom. Kira gladly agreed to the condition since she was uncomfortable with having someone else do her cleaning anyway. She kept one key on a chain around her neck and had hidden her spare key down in the library in a book that looked as if it hadn't been opened in years.

With the door locked, Kira smiled and went to join Ben for a day of racing.

Ben stood next to the window of his den and watched as Kira experimented with her new dirt bike out on the back lawn. He'd agreed to get it for her a week ago and already she seemed to be a natural at riding it. Oh she was a far cry from being able to race it like he suspected was her intent when she'd asked for it but he was sure that with a bit of time and practice she would be out on a track in short order.

Truth be told, the main reason that he'd relented was because he knew that buying the thing would upset his son. Most likely his daughter, too, but she had become more careful of expressing her opinions in regards to her new sister. He knew that she was scheming and it had something to do with Dave and his bid for the state senate long before Elizabeth approached him about attending a few dinners with various financial backers.

Once he arrived, with Kira in tow as Elizabeth had requested, it was clear that the new cause that his daughter and son-in-law had decided to get behind in order to glean more support from the political and financially elite was creating new social programs that would be designed to help minors who were on the streets. And of course she used Ben's adoption of Kira as a way to validate their alleged sincerity. He'd been furious to be used in such a manner without even so much as a discussion about it first. He'd watched Kira squirm under the scrutiny of the strangers there all evening which is why he'd gone out the next day to buy the bike for her. He felt that after a night of being put on display that she had more than earned it.

Now in the late spring day, Ben watched as Kira cut sharply with her bike in the formerly well-manicured lawn. During her first week, Kira had crashed into the bushes so many times that Chuck had to uproot three of them. In the time since she'd first gotten the bike, Kira had scared him more than once after a spill but she never would let a crash stop her from getting back on. She seemed so determined to learn to not only ride the thing but to ride it well that she focused on her riding more intently than Ben had seen her since he'd met her.

Already, it appeared that Kira had mastered the throttle and clutch control as well as keeping the proper balance and body positioning as she zipped around the impromptu course that Chuck had helped her to design in the yard. Of course that on Chuck's part likely was just to save him from having to completely have to resow the yard as well redesign the gardens. Ben was surprised to see a very small ramp of dirt that had recently been added to the course. It was only about a foot up off of the ground but it showed Kira's confidence in her own riding and how it was growing.

Ben shook his head. Earlier in the spring he'd been looking for something to get her interested in something other than the books that she'd always been able to seek comfort in for so long. Now she had definitely found that interest. If books and learning had always been where she found comfort then it looked as if she was finding a new sense of freedom while racing along on her bike. Not only freedom but a lot of confidence.