Goodbye Jazz and Danny
Vlad remained silent. It wasn't a sad silence, but it was more like a happy silence, like when you couldn't believe that this wonderful thing could ever happen to you. It had been several moments before he remembered that Ms. Yu was present in the room. Slightly red faced, Vlad cleared his throat and faced her, Tori still being held in his arms. Just holding her made him feel much warmer. After all, it was October, and the air was getting much cooler.
"I can see that you two like each other already. I have a few forms for you to sign before you two can head back to Wisconsin. And her sister and brother have to say goodbye to her." Ms. Yu said, heading towards her desk. Vlad quickly raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Wait a minute. Did you say that she has a sister and brother?" Vlad said, the surprise evident in his voice. Ms. Yu looked up, a sad look on her face.
"Well, she does have a brother and sister, but their relatives are taking them in." Ms. Yu said, her voice sounding like she wanted to end that topic right away. Now Vlad was confused. Why hadn't the agency left Tori's brother and sister to him as well. Vlad didn't want to ask, but he had to know.
"Umm…Why aren't the relatives taking Tori in as well?" Vlad said carefully. Ms. Yu looked up, a form in her hand. She slowly closed her eyes, as if in deep thought. She then opened them again.
"Well…Nobody asked for her. They only wanted Jazz and Danny." She said in a voice almost too quiet for Vlad to hear. The sad realization hit him: Nobody wanted Tori. Why take in a baby and have all of that work to do such as walking, talking, and potty training when you could have a child capable of taking care of themselves? At that thought, Vlad held Tori closer to himself. How could family do such a thing? How could they leave a baby? Vlad suddenly felt very cold all over. At that moment, the door to Ms. Yu's office opened. A middle aged woman came marching in, holding a small boy with black hair in her arms while yanking a small red haired girl behind herself. The girl looked reluctant to come in, and she tugged in vain to try and get away from the woman.
"Now, Jasmine, there's nothing to be afraid of!" The woman said, trying to keep the little boy from falling out of her arms and pull the little girl in at the same time. It was a rather odd scene, and Vlad had to use every ounce of his willpower to keep himself from laughing. Ms. Yu cleared her throat and smiled.
"Hello Jazz! Hello Danny!" She called out to the two children. It was as if she had pulled a switch. The girl, which Vlad guessed to be Jazz, instantly stopped her balking and ran inside of the room towards Ms. Yu. The little boy, which Vlad knew right away was Danny, began to struggle wildly in the woman's arms, desperate to run up to Ms. Yu. The woman let Danny go, and he toddled right up to her. Ms. Yu embraced both of them into a hug, laughing softly. Ms. Yu let the two of them go and stood up.
"Vlad, this is Jazz," she said, putting a hand on top of the girls red head. Jazz beamed at the sound of her name.
"And this little macho man is Danny." Ms. Yu said, tousling the wild black hair of the little boy. Jazz held up four of her tiny fingers to Vlad.
"I'm this many years old!" She piped up, smiling her baby teeth. She then held up two fingers and pointed at Danny.
"Danny's this many years old!" She said. Danny looked up, his ice blue eyes big and curious. His cheeks were chubby. He looked a lot like Jack when he and Vlad were kids. Jazz had big and beautiful green eyes that seemed to glow when she smiled. She had Maddie's nose. Vlad bent down to their level, Tori still nestled in his arms. She was drooling slightly.
"Well, Ms. Yu said that you two have to say goodbye to your little sister…" Vlad said sadly. The woman that had brought Jazz and Danny into the office had a very impatient look on her face. She glanced at Vlad, then tapped the watch on her wrist. Vlad felt a small pang of anger. But it subsided when Tori looked up at him and smiled again. Jazz bent down and kissed Tori on top of her brown haired head.
"Bye bye, baby Tori! I love you!" Jazz said. Obviously, she had no idea that she was never going to see her baby sister again. Vlad swallowed, a lump in his throat. He suddenly felt quite sickened. Danny toddled up to Tori, and put a small hand on top of her head. He stared for a while, then said very quietly:
"Bye, baby. Wuve you." Was all Danny said before toddling back to his sister. Vlad thought he felt tears stinging his eyes. His heart seemed to ache. The woman looked at Vlad, then looked at Tori. The look on her face was riddled with disgust.
"I already know how that one is going to turn out. She's going to turn out like her father…" She seemed to spit out the word 'father', as if she had tasted something bad. Obviously, she was a member of Maddie's family who didn't approve of Jack's antics. Without another word, she scooped up Danny in her arms, grabbed Jazz by the hand, and walked out of the office.
That was the last time Vlad had seen them.