Chapter 4
Hello Again! Here is the next chapter! I'm so excited for the new episode TOMORROW! If you haven't seen the sneak peeks I highly recommend you go watch them now!
As for this chapter it may seem weird that Elizabeth/Zoe is just taking to this new situation but she is just in shock so she's not really sure how to act. Things will pic up in future chapters! :)
Please review! I love knowing what you think!
It wasn't long before the three were on the road. Within the first few minutes Elizabeth, or Zoe now, was in the backseat sound asleep shortly followed by David in the passenger's seat. Mary had agreed to take the first driving shift as she had been at home sleeping when David had called her in to help with Elizabeth so she was the only one who had gotten any sleep. She looked in the rearview mirror at the small sleeping girl in the backseat. She had thought she looked young when she saw her at the station but seeing her curled up, peaceful, she looked even younger.
Mary was glad that they could give this poor girl a small piece of her childhood back. By saying she was 14 it gave her a chance to step back in time and have a real family. Granted they would have to go over all the background story because they weren't going to make her go back to school, but she also was going to have to get used to not being able to drive again for another two years, but all of that was minor in comparison to all that she was going to gain, even if she didn't realize it just yet.
David and Mary continued to take shifts driving to Florida. Thankfully Elizabeth slept for much of the first half. All the events of the previous day had wiped her out and Mary and David were glad to see her take the time to sleep. They had already called Killian and Emma a few times to update them on the status of their trip and to update their ETA. The pair were excited to finally meet their new daughter, even if it was under these circumstances.
They finally arrived in Tallahassee the following evening around 5pm. They had called ahead and had Killian and Emma order Pizza so they could all eat dinner together. Along the way, once Elizabeth had woken up, they had had a few short conversations. Elizabeth wasn't ready to share a whole lot of her past so they focused more on her new future and shared funny stories about Emma and how she met Killian and what brought them to Florida. They hoped that, by breaking the ice now, it would leave a small crack for Emma and Killian to start building a foundation.
They pulled in the drive way and saw Emma and Killian waiting by the door to greet them. Mary helped get Elizabeth out of the car while David greeted Emma and Killian and tried to give them a very brief run down. Thankfully he had been able to explain a lot over the phone while Elizabeth was sleeping. "So she avoids anything about herself so we have been talking about us and you guys and she got a little bit more comfortable so let's keep along that line of conversation"
"What name did she choose dad?" Emma asked curiously. That was one of the few things he hadn't shared over the phone.
"I think that it would be best if it came from her. Speaking of, I want you to meet Emma and Killian!" He said placing a protective arm around Elizabeth. He didn't want to say her name out loud while they were outside just in case there were anyone around who would accidently overhear them.
"Hello Love, why don't we all go inside?" Killian said holding a hand out to the young woman. Elizabeth took a moment and looked up at David who nodded in approval so Elizabeth took Killian's hand and let him lead her inside.
"She looks so young" Emma said turning around and talking in a hushed tone to her parents
"She has been in foster care since she was 5 and just aged out. But now you can see why we decided to make her new age 14" Mary explained
"I guess so. Well we better get in there, I'm sure she knows we're talking about her" Emma said turning around and heading inside. They found Elizabeth and Killian in the kitchen getting their pizza.
"So do you prefer simple pizza or one with lots of toppings?" Killian asked
"I'm more of a just cheese girl I guess"
"Well then we have that in common, Emma loved all kinds of nasty things on her pizza. Now I finally have someone on my side" He said nudging her a little. A small smile went across her face as quickly as it had come but, it was a start.
"Well I guess I will just have to become a better negotiator" Emma said coming into the kitchen. It was so great to see her husband falling naturally into the role of a father figure. She knew it would take a long time for this girl to accept them as her parents, but she determined in that moment to do everything in her power to make sure this girl knew she was loved.
"This pizza looks so good! I mean, burgers are great but there is something about pizza" David said plating up his own pizza. The little family all moved to the living room and, surprisingly enough the conversation just flowed between the five. Mary and David loved getting to catch up with Emma and Killian and getting to watch them fall into a parental roll warmed their hearts. They knew that they had made the right decision for Elizabeth and that they would love her like she was their own.
"So we never did find out your name love" Killian said. He knew it was killing Emma but she just didn't know how to ask
"Oh, I figured David and Mary would have told you" Elizabeth said a bit embarrassed
"We thought that, because you picked your name, it would be your choice wither or not to share that" Mary said with a small smile. She knew that everything in Elizabeth's life had just been turned upside down and she wanted to give her a small piece of control back.
"Thank you…I really appreciate that" Elizabeth said. She was shocked by the fact that Mary had even thought about that. "My given name is Elizabeth…my new name…the name I chose…is Zoe"
"Zoe…that's a beautiful name" Emma said with tears in her eyes "I never told my parents this but…" She looked at Killian and he simply nodded. "Killian and I had found out we were pregnant right after we got married but…" that's when the tears started coming. Killian placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and continued.
"We were very excited to find out we were going to have a baby and had picked out both a boy and a girl name. Unfortunately, two weeks later we found out that we had had a miscarriage."
"The name we had picked out if it was a girl, was Zoe" Emma said taking the young woman's hand. Mary and David were now crying. Emma and Killian had never told them that they had had a miscarriage and it broke their hearts that their daughter went through that without them there. But at the same time, it was amazing that Elizabeth had picked the name Zoe. If that wasn't a sign they didn't know what was.
"I'm sorry…I…I can pick a different name…"
"Please don't. We always loved that name and we can't think of a better way to start our family, then by having you and you having the name that we had always wanted for our first daughter" Emma said moving closer to the young lady.
"Aye love, you're our daughter now" Killian said placing a hand on her shoulder.
All of this was a bit much for Eliz…Zoe. She never knew how to handle emotional moments like this. "Thank you. If it's okay, could you show me to my room? I'm really tired"
"Of course! We have it all set up for you" Emma said holding her hand out to her daughter and showing her to the new room they had set up. It wasn't too long after Zoe went to bed that the others followed suite. All the events of the last two days had been both physically and emotionally draining and they all needed the rest.
