Elena spent the next hour talking to Julie, Mrs Andrews explained that lennon and Ellie were separated from their sister because no foster family had the proper space for 3 children.
She gave Elena information on were Brynlie was living now and decided to talk it over with Stefan. Elena wanted to take the girls to see their sister, she knew it would make them happy and that was all she wanted to do.
Mrs Andrews told Elena that they could take the girls home tomorrow since they had adjusted so well. Elena was happy, she said goodbye to the girls and gave them big hugs and kisses.
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At home Elena told Stefan the situation and he thought it would be good for the girls to have a relationship with their sister, even if they weren't living together. She didn't tell Stefan this but, she wasted to just go and get Ellie and Lennon's sister and take them in, but she figured she couldn't do that its called kidnapping. . .
Elena decided to call Brynlie's foster parents and asked if she could take the girls over to see her the next day. But she got no answer, she left a message with her name and number but never got a all back.
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The next day, Stefan and Elena went to pick up the girls from the center to take them home. When they arrived lennon and Ellie were waiting for them in the front garden. They ran and jumped into Stefan and Elena's arms.
"Can we go now?" Lennon asked
"I wanna leave" ellie said
"I know you want to leave but we have to fill out some paper work first" Elena said
Stefan walked inside with Ellie and Lennon in each hip with Elena in tow, after signing the forms Elena picked up the girls things and headed out. While she loaded the girls bag into the car, she wondered what it would be like to only have one bags worth of belongings in your whole lifetime.
The girls waved to a few of their friends at the centre and hopped into the backseat of the car. Stefan helped buckle the girls into their booster seats and were on their way.
"Before we go home I wanted to know if you wanted to make a stop somewhere" Elena said looking at the curiosity on their faces
"How would you like to go visit your sister?!"
The girls faces lit up "REALLY!" Stefan and Elena got their answers.
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They pulled up in front of a small house and stopped the car. Stefan and Elena got out of the car and got the girls out too, Elena was sure Ellie was about to bolt for the front door so she held her hand, Lennon you could Tell was anxious She grabbed stefan as hand and held it tight.
They rang the doorbell a few times but there was no answer. All of a sudden, Stefan and Elena heard a faint cry from inside, they didn't want to scare the girls so she asked Stefan to take them to the car and wait.
"Elena be careful" Stefan told her taking the girls to the car.
Elena turned back to the house. The crying was louder now. "Hello!" Elena yelled. When she still didn't receive an answer she tried the door. It was unlocked. She stepped into the house and it was dark. All she could see was dirty old furniture. The house was so gross she wished she could erase it from her memory. Then she heard it again, it was definitely the cry of a small child. Elena followed the cry into a makeshift bedroom with about eight small beds in it. On the bed furthest from the door was a small girl, sitting naked on the bed. Elena saw her piercing green eyes as she cried and bulled at her sandy blonde hair.
Elena ran over to her, picked up a blanket and wrapped it around the freezing cold child. She rocked her In her arms trying to comfort her.
"Sshhhh. It's okay baby girl, your okay" she repeated this over and over again, trying to convince herself too. She searched the room for some clothes for the little girl but all she could find was a Mickey Mouse t-shirt that was 2 sizes to big and a pair of undies.
"Do you know your name baby girl?" Elena asked placing the geary-eyed girl on the bed and began to dress her. She was horrified to find bruises all over her body. She cursed the person who would do this to a child.
I'm going to take you to the hospital okay?, you don't need to be scared, your safe with me"
"Me Brynie momma"
Elena was now crying too, this was Lennon and Ellie's sister Brynlie, she thought she was her mom"
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Elena nicked Brynlie up and carried her out to the car.
"Stefan help please drive to the hospital" Elena said jumping into the car with Bryn still in her arms.
"It's Brynlie, is she coming home with us?" Ellie asked
"No we have to go to the hospital El"
"Is she hurt" lennon asked
"Im not sure honey" Elena said anxiously
Stefan called the Adoption center and a social worker met them at the entrance to the ER. Brynlie was taken back immediately, Stefan and Elena were forced to sit with Lennon and Ellie in the waiting room. The girls were scared that their sister was hurt and so was Stefan and Elena.
An hour later, the social worker and a doctor came from behind closed doors. Stefan left Elena and the girls and ran up to them. The social worker explained how Brynlie had X-Rays and a PET scan done to assess her injuries. She was severely dehydrated, slightly hypothermic and required IV fluids and medication, the doctor explained that he saw signs of physical abuse and estimated that she was alone for over a day. They had already contacted the police and were searching for these horrible foster parents.
This was to much for Elena, she was crying and didn't know if she could hear anymore bad news. The social worker and doctor commended Stefan and Elena for saving Brynlie's life and credited her life to the. She would have been dead soon if they hadn't found her.
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Stefan and Elena took ellie and Lennon by the hand and the doctor led them to Brynlie's room. ShE was sleeping and was connected to many wires, but the girls wouldn't leave without seeing her. They kissed her head And her eyes fluttered open Elena held Bryn's hand and they talked to her.
After hours stefan and Elena finally got the girls to agree on going home and seeing their sister tomorrow.
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When they got home after Elena gave the girls a tour of the house, they ate a welcome dinner made by Stefan. Lennon didn't eat very much of her meal, but neither Stefan or Elena thought anything of it. While Stefan cleaned up Elena took the girls up to their room and showed them all their new clothes and helped them pick out which pyjamas they licked best, Lennon's were winnie the poo pjs and Ellie's were beauty and the beast pjs.
When the girls were in their pjs Elena, Stefan, Ellie and Lennon sat down and watched finding memo. Stefan and Elena took this time to talk about Brynlie. Stefan suggested they try take in Bryn too, Elena was happy and decided they would call the social worker in the morning.
When the movie ended the girls were half asleep, Stefan carried Ellie and Elena carried Lennon to their room and placed each girl in her bed. They stood back and held each other.
"Goodnight momma and dadda" came from Ellie's bed
"Goodnight" was faintly heard from Lennon's
Hearing Ellie call them mom and dad made their hearts melt, they weren't disappointed that Lennon didn't they knew should would take longer to adjust.