Chapter 2

The next morning, with a semblance of mixed emotions, Sara got on an 8:00 flight with Alaskan Airlines. Her arrival time would get her into Portland around 10:15. She'd called her brothers lawyer the previous afternoon to let him know her flight times and he'd been both happy and relieved that she was coming so soon, so much so that he was willing to pick her up at the airport.

Unable to get a seat by an exit or a seat near first class, where there would have been more room; Sara shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Since she was traveling on her own the check in clerk had taken it upon himself to stick her in the last row of seats by the bathroom. As far as she could tell they were the worst seats on the plane and definitely the smelliest.

Sara sighed and shifted again.

The sandy haired man next to her smiled sympathetically, "I hate flying, but you're taller than me so you must hate even more."

"It's not something I do very often," Sara replied. She was not the least bit interested in getting into a conversation with a stranger so she reached into her purse to pull out a book in hopes of deterring any further communication. She was one sentence into the first chapter when a baby started crying a few rows a head.

"Great! I hate kids on planes. Parents with babies should drive everywhere so no one else has to deal with the crying," Sara cast him a caustic glance but held her tongue. She hadn't really thought that far ahead. She intended to return to Vegas with but hadn't solidified any plans, choosing not to do so until she had actually met the children. Renting a car was an option as was flying but she didn't know how a four year old and a fourteen month old would take the two and a half hour flight. Sara sighed again and looked out the window. It was looking to be a long flight.

The plane touched down in Portland at 10:19. Sara knew the exact time because she had been repeatedly checking her watch for the last half hour of the flight. She was able to get to the roadside pick-up quickly because she hadn't checked her bag and her brother's lawyer arrived there soon after. Within minutes they were then on their way to his office.

"What do I all have to do?" Sara asked getting straight to the point the minute she'd pulled the door shut.

"Well, first we have to discuss the children and the care that they will need, if you still decide to take them. Then we'll just need you to sign some forms transferring them into your custody. Since your brother requested you as guardian we don't have to do a home-study or anything like that. They won't be officially adopted for a few months, though. The courts are a bit backed up, and since you are in Las Vegas we can probably have the case transferred there so you don't have to fly to Portland again."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. What do we have to discuss about the children?" Sara asked concerned . The lawyer looked at her pensively trying to gauge if he should tell her everything. He sighed.

"Well, the youngest Olivia won't take a bath unless someone is in the tub with her. We aren't really sure why this is and her brother doesn't know why, or he isn't telling if he does know." Mr. Grant slowed to a stop for a light. "Other then that she is a very happy baby. She is crawling, but will take some steps if someone is holding her hands. She can also say momma and bubba, which we found out means bottle, I think that as long as you read to her often her vocabulary will grow quickly." Sara sighed, she had a long road a head of her. They pulled onto a side street where Mr. Grant parked the car.

"The middle child is Owen and he is four, for some reason he doesn't speak." They ran across the street to a large office building.

"He can't?"

"No, he can, apparently he does in his sleep. He just doesn't say anything when he's awake. According to the older boy, Jeremy, he has been like this for quite some time. Perhaps there was some trauma? I don't know, he is behind in development as is the older boy, they are both quite short for their ages and quite thin, although now that I see you maybe their build is hereditary. Owen is happiest when he is playing with his toy cars; he won't sit for stories except for at night when he is going to bed. He also is a fairly finicky eater, won't eat any meat at all." Sara laughed in response to that comment about her nephew.

"I'm a vegetarian, so that's not a problem for me," she responded to his confused look.

"Oh!" he chuckled, "that's a good thing then." He ushered her through the door to his office, past his secretary.

"What about the Jeremy?" She had a feeling Mr. Grant had left him for last for a reason.

"Well, that's the tricky part," He sighed, worried. "The younger children are, for the most part, easygoing children, but Jeremy...Jeremy is not an easy child." He handed Sara a fairly thick folder that contained her nephew's entire school history. She looked up, surprised.

"This is his file? He's only thirteen, only a seventh grader!" Sara was becoming increasingly worried about her brother's children. It seemed he hadn't been doing a good job.

"Jeremy has a fairly severe case of ADHD, according to his records, he is on 20 mg of Concerta daily, which is the second highest dosage, but it looks like he was just switched to this drug so they don't know how it is affecting him yet. He is attending school for half-days right now, because he can't handle being with others more than that, or concentrate during lots of noise. He really is a bright student he just has problems focusing and making the correct decisions for himself. A one-on-one type of schooling situation would be really good for him I think." Sara looked at the lawyer in shock; she didn't know that a little boy could have so many psychological problems so early in life. She hadn't even looked into schools around the area before she came to Portland, she didn't think that it would be a difficult task, but now she was reconsidering. She already knew that she needed a new place to live. Her apartment was only a two bedroom and with three new occupants they definitely needed a bigger home. Her search parameters would now be altered to be close to a specialized school for her nephew. This was way more involved than she had anticipated, but surprisingly she didn't feel as overwhelmed as she thought she would.

"Well I have plenty of vacation time stored up and I looked up the qualifications for maternity leave and adoption qualifies so I could also get six months off for that as well." Sara shifted in her seat at the thought of maternity leave. She had never considered having any children and now here she was sitting in the beige office of her older brother's lawyer discussing taking three children into her care.

"Cheryl will be happy to hear that, I'm sure," at Sara's confused look he elaborated. "Even though we don't do a home study in cases like this we still look into the background of the adoptive parent, and the time that they can spend with the children, especially in a case like this one where the children have just lost their parents. Actually, she will be joining us shortly."

"Can you tell me whether all three children belonged to my brother and his girlfriend or if they had different mothers or were adopted by my brother." Sara shifted in her chair making herself more comfortable knowing she was going to be in it for a while.

"Trisha was the mother of the younger two children Owen and Olivia and was in the car with your brother during the accident. Jeremy's mother left shortly after his diagnosis. Chris said it was too much for her to handle. They all get along fairly well though. Jeremy likes to think of himself as the protector of the other two and as the oldest child that is understandable," Sara smiled at that, glad that the children had a good relationship. The relationship she had with her brother had been strained at best especially with him being so much older then she was. A knock sounded on the door and a small round woman bustled in.

"Ah! You must be Miss Sidle!" This woman was far to cheerful for Sara.

"Yes, that's me," she replied nodding and taking the woman's proffered hand.

"Great! I'm Cheryl Joffrey and I'm your niece and nephews' social worker. I'm so happy that we found you I was really worried that the children would be separated or that we wouldn't find a home for them, but low and behold the Sidle gene continues in Las Vegas." She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a thick manila folder. "I have some forms that you need to sign and I have Jeremy's medical records so that you can continue his treatment in Las Vegas. Then when we're done with that I'll bring you the kids!"

By the time the woman was done Sara's eyebrows seemed to have reached her hairline. This woman went a mile-a-minute giving her the distinct feeling she'd better hold onto her seat!