Family is Forever

Once again you guys keep inspiring me to continue on with this story, thank you all so much for your amazing reviews. Here is another fun question for my readers. If you could hang out all day with just one of the OCAT cast members, who would you pick and why?!

Chapter 6

I didn't want to leave the car but I knew I couldn't stop fate. I grabbed my backpack and placed it lazily over my shoulder. "Umm we'll thanks for the ride" I said. I just barely opened the door when Ginnifer spoke up.

"Wait Emma, I know that you don't want to be an extra on the show. But Josh and I would really love to see you again if your ever free" she asked carefully. I could actually see the hope sparkling in her green eyes.

My mind was yelling at me to say no, it was never good to trust a celebrity. But my heart was fighting against Ginnifer's warm and gentle voice that reminded me of a lullaby.

"I guess so, I would have to ask my foster parents first" I answered hesitantly.

Ginnifer smiled brightly and quickly pulled out a pen as she dug out a small piece of paper from her purse. "The top number is my cell number, and the bottom one belongs to Josh. You can call us at any time you like so that we can set up a day to meet" she explained while writing the numbers.

I blinked surprised as she handed me the small slip of paper. Her hand writing was very graceful like. "Umm thanks, I guess" I shoved the paper into my pocket and got out of the expensive car.

"It really was nice meeting you Emma" said Ginnifer.

"We'll have to meet again soon" Josh added.

"No promises" I said. "But thanks again for the ride" I waved and headed inside the hell I have come to know. When I reached to the front door I glanced back and watched the car pull out of our dirt drive way until the car became invisible to my eyes. With a heavy sigh I opened the door and walked inside to find Lisa staring at me with venom in her dark eyes.

Wanting nothing to with the woman I tried to walk around her, but she was quick and grabbed me by the hoodie of my jacket. The sudden pull caused me to whimper in pain, but I didn't cry as I was force to turn around and look at her.

"Don't walk away from me when I want to talk to you brat" she spat.

I looked up at her with my stubborn green eyes that suddenly held fire in them. I am so sick and tired of people walking all over me! I might not stand a chance against Dayne's larger body, but I held a small chance against Lisa. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that staring down on someone meant that you wanted to speak with them" I said sarcastically.

Like a speeding bullet her hand came flying at me, but ignoring the pain in my ribs I ducked and easily caused her to miss my face.

I slowly and carefully stood back up, now glaring at her hatefully. "I am not some damn punching bag that you and Dayne can strike at whenever you feel like it! I have done nothing wrong to deserve your fucking abuse!" I spat angrily. Normally I would never yell back at foster parents, but my body was tired, my mind was exhausted, and my soul was sick of this abuse. I would rather die than let another hand strike me, I was done being a punching bag. I wasn't sure where all this courage was coming from, maybe it was from Ginnifer's warm voice that was somehow encouraging me to fight back, but even that didn't make much sense to me.

Lisa's face became red with anger. "You ungrateful bitch! My husband and I work hard to keep a roof under your head and this is how you repay us? Who the hell was that giving you a ride home?" she asked furiously.

I folded my arms and leaned my back against the wall. "It was a friend giving me a ride. I told her that I was fine with walking, but she kept on insisting that she give me the ride, and I just couldn't refuse her" I shrugged.

"Did you whine about how you have to walk to school every day, she must have felt sorry for you. You know your father and I work hard all day and that we just don't have to the time to drive you" she explained.

I looked at her with anger spreading through my veins. "I already told you once that man is not my father, and you most certainly are not my mother. And no I didn't whine about how I have to walk to school every day. Ginnifer was just being nice, something you wouldn't possibly understand" I answered.

"Oh so who are your parents then huh, the idiots that left you to die on the side of the road?" she asked grinning.

My body froze and I looked down in shame as tears threaten to fall. I hated when people reminded me that my parents threw me away.

"You should feel damn lucky that Dayne and I decide to put up with you at all. I can understand why your parents abandon you, they probably knew you were going to turn out into being a selfish brat anyway" she mocked cruelly.

Suddenly whatever courage had been spreading through me seemed to quickly disappear with her words. My body was shaking as I fought the unwanted tears. I didn't want to believe in her words, there just had be another reason why I was separated from my family.

Finally I glared up at the woman as I refused to let the threatening tears fall in front of her. "If my parents really never wanted me to begin with then they could have just had an abortion instead of letting me live at all!" I argued viciously.

Lisa looked at me surprised and for a moment I think I had stunned her into silence with nothing to argue back on, but that didn't last long. "Perhaps the dumb bitch was just too far along when she found out that she was pregnant with you. I'm sure she felt disgusted for having a child like you inside her" she nearly laughed.

It was getting harder, and harder to fight these unwanted tears. I needed to get away from here. I quickly dropped my backpack to the floor and ran out the door, completely ignoring Lisa's yelling and the aching pain my body and soul was feeling. As I started running for the forest that wasn't far from my home I could feel the rain slowly beginning to fall, but I ignored it as I ran.

Why did life have to be so unfair?! If my parents hated me so much, why couldn't they have just killed me before I was born into this nightmare? All these thoughts ran through my mind as I ran further and further into the woods and finally letting my tears fall with the rain.

Once I had gotten deep into the forest I headed to a small lake and stared out at the lake as the rain let my tears hide away from the reality of this world. I begin to see the memories of all the pain I have been dealt with. I could see the little me hiding, crying, screaming, and begging for some kind of hope.

Shaking my head from the haunting memories I decided to take a seat on a large rock that stood beside the lake, not caring that I was completely soaked from head to toe by now. The rock had a flat surface and was large enough that I could lay on my back and stretch out my legs if I wanted to, it was about as tall as I was. I decided to lay on my back and placed my arms under my head as a pillow while I looked up at the sky, almost enjoying the feel of the rain washing away my pain. I closed my eyes and thought about today's events.

My mind kept flashing back to Ginnifer Goodwin, she was so kind and gentle that I could almost forget that she was an actress. I allowed my mind to accept the darkness that wanted to take me away from reality and dreamt of a place where a warm and loving family was waiting for me.

-Meanwhile at Redwood Hotel-

I couldn't believe how much Emma reminded me of Josh; I really hoped that she would call one of us soon. I hadn't stopped smiling since Josh and I left Emma's place.

"Dear people are going to think you won the lotto or something with that big smile" Josh chuckled as he opened the door to the hotel.

I laughed. "I feel like I have Josh. We might be getting our baby girl back!" I said with excitement.

He looked at me sadly. "Gin we still don't know for certain that she's ours" he said carefully.

I frowned and didn't speak for a moment as we headed for the elevator that led to the top floor to our room. Josh pressed the number 15 button. "I know Josh; I know the chances are one and a billion. But couldn't you just feel it, she has to be our baby" I explained.

Josh sigh and leaned against the wall as the elevator went up to our floor. "It would be great if she was ours. But even if she is ours, what if she doesn't want anything to do with us. She thinks her parents have abandon her, and she hates celebrities"

"We'll just have to explain to her what really happened. She can't hate us for something that was completely out of our control. I still feel guilty that I was unable to protect my sick helpless child every day that passes by, she just has to see that we never wanted her out of our lives" I whimpered softly.

Josh wrapped an arm around me and hugged me gently. "No matter what happens Gin, well find out the truth together" he vowed.

I smiled sadly and snuggled into his loving arms as the elevator door opened and we stepped out of it together. Josh was right; no matter what the outcome of the situation would be, I would always have him by my side. Just as we were about to enter our room Meghan popped out of her room which was right next to ours and came over to us. Meghan as always was dressed up nicely. She had on her dark black jeans, a Gigi blue top with an ombre design, a high neckline, long sleeves, relaxed fit, a raw hem, and one batwing sleeve with draped detailing all along the side. She also had black boots to complete the fitting outfit.

As for me I was wearing simple blue jeans, a simple nice white top, along with black boots, and a Silk Embroidered Kimono by Blu Moon that features an open shawl collar, short sleeves, long fringe trim, and beautiful, ornate embroidery throughout. Josh was wearing blue jeans, sneakers, and a nice white long sleeve sweater.

"Hey you to, how was the walk down memory lane?" she asked grinning happily. Meghan had no idea about Emma yet, but she knew we had decided to take a look around the school once the other students had already headed home for the weekend.

I smiled brightly at my closest friend. "It was wonderful Meghan" I replied honestly.

Her eyes twinkled. "You know when I was signing some autographs there was this one girl that told me she was a cheerleader but hoped to become an actress someday. The moment she said cheerleader all I could remember was that time you and I got back at the girl that had been trying to steal your man" she laughed.

"Josh and I were thinking about that earlier today also actually" I giggled.

The three of us were laughing loud enough for Lana to hear from her room and to come see what the commotion was all about. Her room was right next to Meghan's and she found the three of us standing in the hall.

"Just what is all this noise about, I thought I had left that all behind back at that school?" She had tried to sound annoyed, but I could see the grin gracing her lips. Lana was in her black high heels, along with a Silk Summer Lovin' Dress by Blu Moon; that features a low back, thin straps, ruffle overlay at the bodice, a relaxed fit, and a V-neck.

"Oh it's nothing, we were just remembering Gin's mean streak back in high school" Meghan answered.

"I was not mean!" I cried.

Josh laughed. "Let's face it dear, you can be quite scary when you want to be"

I rolled my eyes as everyone else seemed to be getting a good laugh.

"So Gin, how did it go?" Lana asked carefully. Her voice had now become serious.

Meghan looked at us confused. "How did what go?" she asked.

I sighed and leaned into Josh, needing his silent comfort. "You remember when I had to use the restroom earlier back at the school?" I asked.

Meghan nodded and grinned playfully. "Secretly I still think that you were trying to leave Lana and I with all the screaming fans. Poor Jared (Henry) didn't know how to handle all the girls fussing for him" she laughed.

I chuckled lightly; Jared was such a sweet kid but he was still getting used to all the spotlight that came with being an actor. "I swear I wasn't ditching you all" I laughed. I calmed myself down and was grateful for the small laugh I had been given, but then became serious. "I met one of the students on the way into the restroom and had accidently bumped into the girl, and caused the poor thing to fall. I had felt really bad because it looked like she was in a great deal of pain but ignored it and said it was nothing" I explained.

"Let me guess she freaked out when she realized who had bumped into her?" Meghan pointed out.

I shook my head. "Lana guessed the exact same thing, but it turns out she hates celebrities and wants nothing to do with them" I answered.

Meghan's eyes widen in surprise. "Boy I bet that was a fun, did she yell at you for causing her to fall, threaten she was going to sue and all that?" she asked annoyed. Meghan was a very protective friend and I could already tell that she wasn't liking the girl, but I had to finish the story before she claimed the girl as an enemy.

"No she didn't threaten me or anything like that. But because I had felt bad for causing her pain I asked if she would like to be an extra on the show. But she declined and said that if I really wanted to make it up to her even though I didn't need to, she asked if I could get her friend to be an extra on the show since she was a big fan of the show and the cast. There's something else you should know about this girl Meghan" I said carefully.

"What is it?"

"Her name, her name is Emma" I whispered softly.

The hallway suddenly became eerily quiet for a few minutes until Meghan finally spoke. She sighed heavily. "Gin, just because…"

"I know already, I know that the chances of her being our Emma are very small. But if you met her you could see it, she looks so much like Josh. And when I'm with her I feel such a strong protective bond that I have never felt towards anyone other than Josh" I explained, quickly cutting off her doubting words.

"Did you get to find anything out about this Emma?" asked Lana carefully.

"Maybe we should take this conversation into one of the rooms" Josh suggested.

"Good plan" Meghan agreed.

Josh opened the door that led to our suite room. The Deluxe king room was really gorgeous with the king size bed that had a gorgeous view of the entire small Redwood town. The room also included a hypo-allergnic down comforters and pillows, triple sheeted beds, new custom-designed mattresses, dimmers on all lamps, high speed wireless internet access, flat screen HD TVs, a small mini bar in the kitchen, and windows that open. The master size bathroom included a luxurious Italian made shower heads, granite vanities, premium AVEDA bath products, premium towels from a Turkish Towel Company, and even plush robes.

The four of us decided to take a seat in the living room that was filled with gorgeous furniture. Josh and I took a seat on the couch, while Meghan and Lana used the free chairs.

I finally explained to Lana and Meghan on my encounter with Emma, and how Josh and I took the girl and her friend home. I explained the strong connection that my heart was pulling towards Emma, and how I just had to find out the truth. Even if it wasn't the truth I wanted it to be, I still needed to know. After I told my tale my friends were quiet and I knew that they didn't want to get my hopes up, but they also wanted to me to see the reality of what I was assuming.

"Gin, if she really is your Emma. What do you and Josh plan to do? You say that this girl hates celebrities, and believes that her parents abandon her. If that's all true I can't really picture her being all thrilled to find out that you two might be her parents" Megan said carefully.

I sighed, I wasn't exactly sure how to answer her.

"Listen, what you two want is to find out if this girl is really your child or not right?" asked Lana simply.

"Of course, we just need to know" Josh answered for me.

"All right then how about this. Try and get the girl to become close to you, let her open up a little, and when you think she's ready tell your story and the theory that you have on her. Then maybe she'll agree to do a DNA test to see if you really are her biological parents" Lana suggested.

"Do you really think that we can get her to trust us? I mean Josh and I were able to get her to laugh today and something tells me she doesn't laugh often enough, but I feel like she has this giant wall around her that she won't let down easily" I replied sadly.

"That's to be expected from someone who has grown up in the foster care system" said Lana wisely.

Meghan nodded. "The girl is probably used to being tossed around into a bunch of different homes and simply gave up trying to be close to anyone" Meghan stated sadly.

A tear silently slipped down my cheek. The thought of my baby girl never being able to know a real mother's love just broke my heart completely, just how much pain has Emma been through all this time. I can never forgive the person that robbed me of my child. Josh wrapped his arm around me and placed his hand on mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"We gave Emma both our cell numbers and told her that we would really love to meet her again. She said she has to ask her foster parents first and that she may call us to meet up" Josh added.

Lana nodded. "That's a good start. Perhaps she is already opening up to the two of you. The both of you are going to have to extremely patient with this girl and go at her own pace. It won't make it any easier on her knowing that she hates celebrities"

"Did she explain why she hated celebrities so much?" asked Meghan curiously.

"No, she didn't really want to talk about it. Her friend Lilly doesn't have any idea either. Lilly said that Emma doesn't care to talk much about her personal life at all really" I answered sadly. I suddenly found myself wondering what Emma was doing right now. I wanted to drive back over to her place just so I could wrap my arms around the girl and promise her that everything would be all right.

Meghan sighed. "Like Lana said all we can do is take baby steps for now. I'm not sure if anything happened to her and another celebrity that may have caused the hatred. But if she can see that neither of us many her any harm, then perhaps she'll open up to you two" she said hopefully.

"Either way well be here for you guys no matter what happens" Lana promised.

Josh and I both smiled. "Thank you guys, you both don't know how much that means to us" said Josh gratefully.

-Meanwhile back in the forest-

By now the rain had slowly begin to die down as I allowed my eyes to open. It had only been probably an hour or so that I had allowed sleep to take me. I knew eventually I would need to head back home, but I was scared. If I returned home I was certain a beaten would be waiting for me when Dayne got home from work tonight. I knew my fragile body wouldn't be able to handle another night like yesterday. I then remembered Gin and the numbers that she gave me. If I called her could she be my haven from this hell? Would she be too busy to worry about my problems. I couldn't possibly tell her about Dayne and Lisa, but maybe I could hide away them for just a while longer. Finally making up my mind I pulled out the small slip of paper, relieved to see that it hadn't been completely soaked and that the numbers were still readable. I pulled out my phone and begin to dial Gin's number. I prayed with all my might that I could find some kind of safe haven, even if for just one night.

TBC!

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