Cooper walks into the living room and hears laughing. He's not surprised. It's not the first time he's heard the two of them giggling. He's come to expect it actually, but it still makes him smile. He pads over to the couch and peers over the tops of their heads. He notices they're doing a puzzle. They're not quite far enough along for him to make out what the picture is, so he walks around the couch and grabs the lid of the box, which is propped up so they can reference the picture as they put the puzzle together. He smiles. "Unicorns—always a good choice." He sets the box back down and sits down beside his wife. He grabs a piece and tries to put it in the puzzle.
Betsey slaps his hand away. "It doesn't go there, Cooper."
He puts his hands up in defense. "My bad."
"He's just tryin' to help, Betsey," Charlotte explains, running her fingers through Betsey's brown hair.
Betsey nods. "Sorry, Cooper."
"It's ok, kiddo."
Betsey tries to put in a piece, but it just won't go in. She turns it and presses down, but it still won't fit perfectly into the spot. She's been trying for over ten minutes to find this particular piece, so she's getting frustrated. She scrunches up the work they've already done and pushes everything off the coffee table. She jumps up and runs into her bedroom, slamming the door.
Charlotte blinks. "What just happened?"
He shrugs. "I don't know." He pauses. "I'll go talk to her."
Charlotte shakes her head. "Let me." She rests her hand on his thigh and uses it as leverage. She gives him a kiss on his cheek and heads through the kitchen.
Charlotte takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly as she knocks on Betsey's door. She waits for a response, and when she doesn't get one, she opens the door anyway. "Sweetie, is everythin' alright?" She shuts the door and makes her way over to the child, who's sitting on the floor playing with her ponies. She sits down and pushes the little girl's hair out of her face. "What's wrong?" She gets silence. She lifts Betsey's head and smiles at her. "Hey, can you tell me what happened out there?"
Betsey sniffles. "It wouldn't go in."
"The puzzle piece?"
Betsey nods.
"That's 'cause it didn't fit. There's another one that fits in that spot perfectly. We just gotta find it." Charlotte pauses. "You can talk to me. What's on your mind, sweetie?" She figures Betsey isn't just upset over one single puzzle piece. There's something else bothering her.
"My daddy wasn't very good at puzzles." Betsey laughs softly.
Charlotte squints and shifts on her knees. "Cooper isn't either. I don't think he's done very many puzzles." She sees Betsey nod and shudder a little, and she's suddenly kicking herself for even bringing that up. That's gotta be it. "Cooper puttin' that puzzle piece in the wrong spot reminded you of your daddy. You miss him, is that it?" Violet's got nothin' on you.
Betsey looks at her and gives her another slow nod.
"I miss my daddy too," Charlotte admits, pulling the little girl closer to her. She sits on her butt and pulls Betsey onto her lap slightly.
Betsey rests her head on Charlotte's shoulder and holds onto her tight.
Charlotte's chest tightens when she feels the little girl shake against her. She's out of her element here, so she just takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, completing the embrace.
A couple minutes later, Betsey sniffles and drops her arms.
Charlotte smiles and brushes her thumb across Betsey's cheeks, wiping away her tears. "Why don't we go back in the livin' room, pick up the puzzle, and start over? We'll teach Cooper how it's done." She laughs.
"Charlotte?" Betsey starts, scooting off Charlotte's lap and standing up.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"Are you gonna be my new mommy?" Betsey pauses. "Forever and ever?"
Charlotte swallows. She's not sure what to say. Right now, she and Cooper are just foster parents. The paperwork hasn't been finalized yet, which means a court date hasn't been set either. Plus, she's stuck on that one word—mommy. She hadn't truly thought about that or what that means. "I don't know." That's the truth. She doesn't know.
Betsey's face drops and her bottom lip begins to quiver again. "Oh, you don't want me either." She jumps on the bed and buries her small body in the sheets.
Charlotte sighs.
Cooper knocks on the door and opens it slowly. "Can I come in?"
"Go ahead. Maybe you'll have better luck with her."
He glances at the shaking mass under the covers and then looks back at his wife.
Charlotte ushers him out of the room and shuts the door. She leans against the wall and closes her eyes. Her breathing slows and she swallows.
"What's wrong?"
"Betsey asked if," she swallows harder, "if I was gonna be her new—." She blinks, taking a pause before adding, "Mommy."
He can't help but smile at that. "What'd you tell her?"
"That I didn't know." Charlotte sighs. "Then she muttered that I didn't want her either and crawled under the covers."
"Then you told her what?"
She doesn't answer right away. "What did you want me to say, Coop?"
"That you do want her, maybe? That would be the logical choice." His voice is elevated and threaded with anger.
She cringes slightly at his tone and sighs.
He calms down and looks at her. "Do you not want Betsey? Do you not wanna continue with the adoption? Because it's not too late. I can call the social worker and the lawyer and stop it before it reaches the courts."
She shakes her head. "The mommy thing threw me off a little, that's all. I wasn't expectin' it. I do want Betsey, Coop. I wanna keep movin' forward with the adoption. It's just—it's a little scary, knowin' that she'll be—I'll be her momma."
He pulls her from the wall and wraps his arms around her, kissing her forehead as she leans in to complete the hug.
She separates from him a minute later and opens the door, taking a peek at Betsey. She sighs and looks back at Cooper. "What am I s'posed to tell her?"
He shrugs.
"Real helpful, Coop. I'm so glad I can count on you."
He sighs. He squeezes her shoulders and kisses the side of her head. He thinks for a second and then nods. "Just tell her that things are complicated, that nothing is for sure, but we're working on making this permanent, her living here with us. Most importantly let her know that we do want her."
She nods. "That's better. Thank you."
He gives her another quick hug and nudges her towards the door. "Good luck."
"I'm gonna need it." She pushes open the bedroom door and steps into the room, walking over to the bed and coaxing Betsey out from under the covers. She sighs and looks at Cooper, who's looking at her through the door.
"You've got this, sweetie," he whispers and heads back into the living room.
She nods and watches the door click shut before turning back to Betsey.
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