Chapter 2:
The whole house had to be perfect. Shelby turned the guest room into Rachel's room. It had curtains and a twin bed with pink sheets. She isn't sure what the girl's favorite color is but she knows she'll have to change it depending what Rachel likes.
Shelby made sure the all floors were spotless. Her little girl would be coming any minute. It was just her and her dog, a golden retriever named Molly.
"Deep breaths Shelby Corcoran." Shelby says to herself as she takes a deep breath. She recently got a call from Rachel's babysitter Nancy Wilson and the social workers that they just arrived at the front door. Shelby also made homemade meatloaf with mashed potatoes for them since she knew they flew from Lima, Ohio.
The doorbell rang. She opens the door being face to face with a little girl and dark big sunglasses. She was holding her purple suitcase along with a stuffed teddy bear she named Abby.
Nancy the babysitter stroked the little girl's back. The social worker also comforts Rachel. "Rachel? Remember what I told you last night? How you were adopted? This is your mommy." Lauren Wein says. "Hi Shelby." She introduces herself. "I'm Lauren Wein. I've been a social worker for years now. " She says as she shakes hands with Shelby. "This is Rachel and Nancy." Shelby nods. She wants to smile but she knows how heartbroken Rachel is.
She has not even taking off her sunglasses. "Rachel? Can you say hi?" Lauren asked. Shelby, Lauren, and Nancy notices Rachel suddenly starts sneezing none stop. Nancy remembers Rachel's allergies.
And that's when Rachel is met by Molly who greets her. "Are you allergic to dogs?" Shelby asked feeling as it was a dumb question.
"Dogs and cats." Rachel sneezes. "Get him away from me." She tries escaping from Molly.
Shelby gets Molly away from Rachel. "Actually it's a girl." She corrects Rachel. "Come here girl. Come on." She walks back inside with Molly. "You guys are welcome to come in." Shelby says. She is followed by everyone. Shelby takes Molly outside the backyard.
"Nancy I have to go home with you please." Rachel announced. Shelby came back and this is the first time she's seen her daughter's beautiful brown eyes. "I can't live here. She has a dog and my friends are back home." Rachel says convincingly.
Nancy bends down to the girl's height. "I'm sorry sweetheart. This is where you have to stay."
"How will I survive here?" Rachel asked. "I don't even know her!" She said pointing to Shelby.
"But you will get to know her. It takes time." Lauren convinces Rachel. "We'll still come and visit you."
"And you'll take me back right? I can live with Nancy." Rachel already has her life planned out.
"I'm sorry." Lauren apologizes. "Rachel your mom is going to take care of you. She's going to love you just like your-" Lauren stopped. Rachel collapsed on the floor and started sobbing.
Why did her daddies have to go? Why did their work need them just for a couple of minutes? Sure they were lawyers and everything. But couldn't whatever had to be done wait in the morning? Why did they get in that car? It was rain and thunder. Her daddies promised they'd be back. That's the moment when she learned to hate promises.
"My daddies promised me. I wish they never got in that stupid car!" Rachel sobs. Nancy immediately tries to comfort Rachel but she pushes her away. She tries once more and Rachel accepts the comfort. "Oh Rachel sweetheart. I'm sorry..."
"I hate promises! I hate them!" Rachel sobs onto Nancy's shoulder causing Nancy's clothes to be covered in wet tears and snot.
Lauren and Shelby watched as Rachel broke down. Shelby's heart crushed into millions of pieces. Her daughter is so little to be dealing with the loss of her fathers. The only men she's ever known and love.
Rachel walks to the dresser of her new room. It had a jewelry stand, some nail polishes, scarves, and gloves. There were some empty photo frames. She wonders why they are there. She continues to look around the room noticing a lot of gold stars. So maybe this new lady in her life loves gold stars. Rachel thought.
On top of the dresser was a little shiny silver box . On top of it had a card with the name written Rachel in pink ink. She asks herself if she should open it? Or if she should wait for the new lady Shelby to give it to her? Rachel placed the gift back.
She jumped when the door opened. She immediately knows who it is. The woman who's going to be taking care of her for the rest of her life. She never even knew she was adopted until recently when her daddies passed.
After a day, Lauren, and Nancy headed back leaving Rachel behind. They've had told the girl about keeping in touch. Rachel liked that idea but didn't like the fact she had to stay behind.
"Hey." Shelby spoke giving a small smile.
Rachel sat on her bed glancing at Shelby.
"I haven't seen you much. You also didn't eat a dinner." Shelby reminds the girl.
Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "It's meatloaf." She simply says.
"You don't like meatloaf? I would of made you something else-chicken Parmesan-" Shelby was cut off.
"I'm a vegan. I'm not a meat eater." Rachel finally told Shelby.
Shelby plays with her gold star necklace. "Oh. I didn't know.."
"You don't know a lot of things about me." Rachel rolls her eyes.
Shelby took a step back. The words coming from her daughter has hurt a lot.
It's true she doesn't know alot of things about Rachel but she will like for that to change.
Shelby is giving Rachel time and space. She doesn't want to push Rachel into accepting her. Just like Rachel, Shelby walks over to the gift. "I have something for you." She holds it with both hands.
"It's a special something. I love them too." Shelby smiles. Rachel slowly takes the box. She hesitates to open the gift. "Go on sweetie." Rachel sighed and opened the tiny box. Shelby watches Rachel's reactions as she takes the gold star necklace out. It's not just a gold star, it also has her name graved on it. "Gold stars are my thing." Shelby begins to explain.
"I bet you noticed with the stars decoration." Shelby laughs. She takes the necklace and puts it around Rachel's neck. "Looks beautiful." Rachel gives a half smile. She thought about the color walls and bed sheets. It's pink. And she hates the color pink. "Do you also like the color pink?" Rachel asked curiously. Shelby sighed. "I just thought-"
"Well you thought wrong." Rachel responds. "I hate the color pink. My favorite color's purple."
Shelby nods. She will remember this new information. "How about this? I'll let you pick the color and w e can paint it together?"
Rachel shrugged her shoulders. It sounds fun .She always wanted to paint a room. Shelby places a hand on Rachel's cheek. "I really want to get to know you. I'm so sorry about what happened and I understand where you are coming from..." Shelby pauses. "I will always be here for you." She kisses Rachel who closes her eyes.
She leaves the room with both of them silent.
It's only the beginning.
Things were not going well for Rachel and Shelby. Shelby had meals where Rachel refused to eat. Rachel tried her hardest not to be in the same place as Shelby. She also tried to avoid Molly as much as possible.
It was midnight on a Friday. Shelby couldn't sleep. She turns around to see that Molly is. She gets out of bed and decides to sit by the fireplace until she feels sleepy again. It was then when Shelby heard noises coming from the kitchen. She saw a small light as well.
Shelby caught a little cookie monster late at night. Her little monster ended up stealing recently bought vegan cookies. "What are you doing?" Shelby asked in a calm voice. Rachel immediately stopped what she was doing.
"My stomach was growling. I wanted something to eat." Rachel responds.
"Dinner was not too long ago sweetie." Shelby says.
"But I wasn't hungry then."
"You weren't hungry during breakfast and lunch either."
Rachel rolls her eyes. "Don't worry about me. Let me just have what I want and I'll be f fine." She tells Shelby.
"But I'm worried about you..." Shelby says honestly.
"Don't be." Rachel said with the box of cookies in her hand. "I'm fine." With that Rachel walks away. Truth was, Rachel isn't fine, and she knows she might not be for quite a while.
She misses her daddies. Their hugs, the kisses, the laughs, and their voices. She misses her old life. The life she had to leave behind. She's afraid of forgetting everything. She's afraid of getting closer to Shelby.