The next day, Kitty was dressed in her best jeans, and her hair was all loose apart from a little braid at the side. She had her favorite red top in, with a black cardigan over it, though not done up. She was wearing her new red trainers, and her eyeliner and mascara, as she wore everyday.
She was sitting on the sofa, butterflies seeming to flutter in her stomach as she waited for Maria and Joseph to arrive.
"How are you?" Faith asked, sitting beside Kitty. The rest of the kids were in the living room, banned from going anywhere near the office.
"I feel a bit…weird." Kitty said. "Like there are butterflies in my stomach."
"It's totally normal to feel a bit nervous." Faith said, putting a comforting arm around Kitty. "You look great, and everything is going to be fine." She said.
A knock on the door made Kitty leap up from the sofa. Faith smiled and got up too.
"Good luck, Kitty." Faith said, before she headed into the living room with the others.
Gina opened the door and Joseph came in, with Maria. She looked almost exactly as she had in the photo, only she was wearing a different top, which was pink, with the same jeans and cardigan that Kitty had. She was wearing black flat shoes.
Kitty stepped forward, and the girls looked at each other's outfits, then at each other properly.
"Snap!" they said, before laughing.
"You must be Maria." Kitty said with a smile.
"You must be Kitty. Wow, you're very beautiful, Kitty." Maria said.
Kitty beamed. "Thanks!" she said, before smiling and hugging her dad. "Hi, Dad." She said.
"Hey, sweetheart. I like your hair." He said.
"Did you do it?" Maria asked, as they all headed into the office.
"Yeah, Carmen taught me how to do plaits. She's my best friend." Kitty explained.
"I'm going to go and make sure the others have lunch." Gina said, heading off and closing the office door behind her.
"Okay, so have a seat." Mike said, pulling up chairs for Joseph, Kitty and Maria. Kitty sat in the middle of them both, and Mike sat in front of the three.
"So then, you want Kitty to come and live with you both, right?" Mike said.
"Yes, we do." Maria said, while Joseph smiled and nodded.
"Are you both prepared to do everything that can get Kitty to live with you? It does, after all, take a while to get children back with their parents." Mike said.
"We're completely prepared to do whatever it takes." Joseph said.
"Kitty, do you want to go and live with Maria and your dad?" Mike checked, looking at Kitty.
Kitty nodded instantly. "Yeah, I do." She said, smiling at Maria and Joseph. They both smiled back.
"In that case, we can start doing some of the paperwork now then." Mike said, handing over some forms. Maria and Kitty swapped seats so Maria could help Joseph with the forms.
While the kids were eating lunch and Gina was clearing up, they were chatting away.
"I'm glad she decided to talk to her dad." Carmen said.
"I thought you didn't want her to?" Lily said, kind of bitterly.
The others tensed, ready for a fight. But they were surprised.
"Well, I was at first, but you were right. People can change." She said.
Everyone smiled and continued eating.
"I'm sorry for what I said before, Carmen. I didn't mean it, and I was way out of line." Lily said.
"That's okay. Friends forgive each other, don't they?" Carmen said with a smile.
"Do you think we'll get to meet her Dad and Maria?" Jody asked.
"Maybe at some point, but don't rush things, yeah?" Gina said.
"Exactly. I mean, we don't even know if it's going to work out yet." Liam said.
"Don't be so negative, Liam." Faith said.
"I really hope it all works out for her." Elektra said.
"I will have to rearrange my schedule! Usually, Kitty watches TV at 5:00 with Carmen and Tee. Now it might change to 6:00 or something!" Gus said.
Everyone laughed at him and kept on eating, nobody answering him. After all, they didn't see the point.
"Okay, so at least we got half the paperwork done." Joseph said, as Kitty went to see him off. "As long as you're still okay with this, I think everything will work out, Kitty." He said, hugging his daughter.
"I want to come and live with you both, so no worries." Kitty said, before she hugged Maria.
Maria seemed surprised, but hugged back. Kitty pulled back with a smile.
"You seem really good for my dad, and it's been so nice meeting you." Kitty said.
"Thank you, Kitty. You seem like a very nice girl, I've enjoyed meeting you too, and I look forward to you coming to live with us." Maria said.
"Bye, Dad! Bye Maria!" Kitty called as they drove off. She waved until the car was gone, before she headed inside, shutting the door behind her, with a smile.