Chapter 3
Sara had finally finished all the paperwork that needed to be signed and now she was impatiently waiting for them to be brought to Mr. Grant's office. Ms. Joffery was going to head down to get them, but her colleague called and said that she would bring them by instead, so Sara had to deal with the woman for an additional half hour while waiting for her new charges. It seemed to drag on forever.
"Jeremy is such a sweet boy, he thinks so much of his younger brother Owen, but he could take or leave Olivia, but she's a girl and pretty small so that is understandable. Ooo, but that little girl is so adorable! She looks a bit like you would have at that age I'd guess. Curly brown hair and dark eyes and she even has a cute little gap between her baby teeth." Sara ran a hand over her slightly wavy hair.
Sara enjoyed hearing about her niece and nephew but the woman hardly mentioned Owen and it was beginning to concern her. The niggling sensation in the back of her mind really became stronger when Sara asked about him and Mrs. Joffrey didn't have much to say. "Well, Owen is a quiet boy. He keeps pretty much to himself and I'm sure that Mr. Grant told you that he won't talk. Not a word to anyone, including his brother and sister!" The door creaked open and Sara saw the small head of a boy peak around the corner, he tilted his head and inspected his aunt. Sara looked over taking in the boy's features. He was small and thin, his skin was pale, paler than her own in fact and she hardly ever saw daylight, what had this child's life been like up to this point?. His features were similar to her brother's when he was a child, but his eyes were a bright blue and held a small sparkle. His hair was buzzed down on his head, giving no hint as to anything other than the typical Sidle brown. Maybe, she contemplated, when it was longer it would be curly like her own and Olivia's.
Ms. Joffery jumped up excitedly when she saw him. "Owen!" No wonder the boy didn't speak, Sara thought. "Owen, this is your auntie, she is going to care for you now,"
Ugh...? Auntie...? Sara was going to have to kill this woman.
"Hi, Owen. I'm Sara and I'm your Daddy's sister."
The little boy straightened up at the mention of his father and his face started to crumble into tears.
Sara quickly moved to the boy and gathered him into her arms. "Oh, no sweetie, I didn't mean for you to cry. It's ok. I'm going to take care of you now," his tears slowed and he snuffled into Sara's neck, she had a feeling that he didn't yet understand why his father wasn't there to care for him, but someone was and that seemed to help. The door opened again and a woman pushed a second boy forward and followed him in carrying her niece.
"Miss Sidle, this is my colleague Mary Andrews and this," Mrs. Joffery said taking the little girl. "Is your niece, Olivia." Sara stood with Owen in her arms and reached a hand out to Olivia who grabbed a hold of Sara's hand with her own. Olivia's skin was light, but not as pale as her brother's, her cheeks had a healthy rosy glow and she smiled happily at Sara showing a gap between her baby teeth. Her hair was still wispy like a baby's and it was light brown in color, her eyes were a chocolate brown with long eyelashes around them. Unfortunately the girl didn't have a lot of baby fat on her, making Sara worry more about her brother's parenting skills.
"Momma!" cried the little girl and Sara's eyebrows shot up.
"That's not your mom Olivia," countered the boy next to Ms. Andrews. "She's our aunt, she'll be caring for you now." Sara turned to the boy and smiled at him.
"You must be Jeremy? I'm Sara," she said now offering him her free hand, which he limply took.
"You live in Las Vegas right?" At the older boy's question Sara looked over to him and took in his appearance. He was very small for his age, maybe only 4'9 and 60 pounds. His hair was also the familial Sidle brown and had been cut very similar to his brother. There was a bald patch on one side punctuated by a scar. His eyes were hazel and no longer held the sparkle a young boy should have. His clothes were worn and hung off his thin frame. Sara didn't think that her nephew had been given a lot of opportunities in his life, but she was determined to change that anyway she could.
"Yes, I do."
"Well how often will I get to visit them?" The young boy asked.
Sara was confused.
"Visit who?"
"My brother and sister." Sara looked at him oddly and then turned to Ms. Joffery.
"What is he talking about?"
"Well, we told Jeremy that with his history, that well, maybe you would only want to take the younger two children, that you wouldn't want him." She said nervously picking at her necklace.
"What!" Sara gasped in anger and disbelief. She gently set the sleeping Owen down on the chair she'd vacated earlier and moved to Jeremy. "I would never abandon you like that Jeremy, just because you have some problems doesn't mean I don't want you." She knelt down to his level, which made her realize how small he really was, and looked him in the eye. "I am going to find a great school for you where you can flourish ok? I want the best for all three of you."
"Oh." A look of tempered surprise crossed the young boy's face. Sara stood and grabbed Ms. Joffery by the arm and tugged her to a corner.
"Why would you tell him that? What gives you any right to make that kind of an assumption about me?"
"Jeremy has problems; most people don't want to deal with that type of thing." She was defiant in her words.
"Everyone has problems, that doesn't mean they should be ignored or thrown to the side! When can we leave, I want them out of this environment now." Sara checked to see if her anger had scared any of the children, but instead was faced with two pairs of curious eyes.
"You can leave at anytime Miss Sidle, their things are in the other room." Sara nodded and woke Owen to get him ready to go. She then took Olivia and ushered them to the other room. Grabbing Olivia's bag, she asked Jeremy to grab both his own and Owen's and then they were off, a new family ready to conquer the world.