Chapter 8 – RPOV

"My baby," I whispered as tears flowed down my cheeks.

It was her and I knew it. I could see myself in her: the hair, the set of her mouth as she thought, her mouth itself and my slim build. There was also so much of Emmett: the eyes which were so mysterious, the dimples when she smiled as she'd done to the girl next to her before we'd come in, and his height. She had the best qualities of both of us, and she was utterly gorgeous and as perfect as the day she'd been born.

"Pardon," the brown haired girl who looked like her friend asked, looking confused.

I sniffed before smiling at both of them and turning to Emmett for support. He nodded and squeezed my hand.

"As stupid as this may sound, we're...we're Savannah's parents," I sobbed as a fresh wave of tears started rolling down my cheeks, "I'm sorry I left you here, we both are and I'm sorry we didn't keep you; but I want you so back so badly."

The room went silent as all the occupants turned to look at my daughter who looked unsure.

"I don't want you," Savannah stated glaring at us.

"But darling, we love you," I said fixing her with my sorrowful gaze.

"Don't darling me! No-one loves me. If you'd have loved me you would never have left me here alone. Ever. You would have kept me no matter what. I don't want you. I don't want any of you!" and with that she ran out of the room, leaving us all in a stunned silence.

I looked at Emmett before I once again broke down in tears.

"I'm so sorry about that. She knows not to act that way, and she'll be reprimanded about her behaviour I can assure you," Miss Macey apologised.

"No don't do that," Emmett said as he held me, "It was right, and she was right. We shouldn't have left her, but we want her back so badly and well we thought she would be eager to come back with us. But we see now that she's grown up without us, and we never were there so she has every right to act like that when we come back out of nowhere asking for her back."

"If you'll come with me, we can arrange if you'd like for you to take Savannah home for a trial period, and if everything works out and we've taken blood tests to prove you are her parents you can keep her. Given that she gives her consent," Miss Macey said leading us down a hallway to her office.

In the office we were asked to sit down as Miss Macey rummaged around in a filing cabinet for a folder which, upon finding, she brought over to us.

"Here we have Savannah's file, showing she joined us on the 15th November a week after she was born on the 8th November 1995. Is that correct?" she asked looking at us for consent.

Emmett must have nodded but I was too caught up remembering that day. The way she was so small, and how it hurt so much giving birth but it was so worth it. She had looked at me as I first held her and I could see the look of recognition in her eyes between the voices that had spoken to her throughout the time she was inside me to the person now that she could see, with the same voice.

"Mrs McCarty are you alright if I continue?" Miss Macey asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes sorry, I was just remembering that day," I said sadly.

"Well, here we have information on the schools she's attended, the grades she's got and her exam marks," Miss Macey said pointing to various sheets.

"She takes after her mother," Emmett whispered looking at the results."

I looked too, and saw that she was (like me) more academic with the main subjects like English, Maths, Sciences, Humanities and Languages being A's and A*s. However, it seemed that unlike me she didn't have an artistic flair that I needed in becoming a designer. Not that Emmett wasn't clever, it was just he'd never really been thought of as clever until something finally happened the year before his GCSEs leaving everyone who knew him astounded.

She'd attended the local school throughout primary and secondary education, unlike the twins who had gone to the local private school their whole lives. I sighed as I realised what different upbringing my girls had had.

"And here," Miss Macey said handing us more pieces of paper, "Are her allergies and her extracurricular activities."

It seemed that like her father she was allergic to cats, which was why we'd always had a dog. Then looking at her 'extracurricular activities' I saw that she was an avid swimmer and horse rider. This was the opposite of my twins who were ballerinas, no mess and glitter through and through.

Oh Rosalie, stop comparing your children. They'll never be all the same, even Alice and Jessica aren't the same. Savannah is allowed to be different and I shouldn't try to mould her into a stereotype of anyone.

Emmett nudged me and I looked up to see then both looking at me in concern as I had this silent battle with myself.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," I said smiling sheepishly.

Miss Macey nodded sympathetically before continuing to go on about how her health was fine, how she was a delightful child, etc...

"And finally, here are our yearly pictures which I thought you might want to look at," she said handing over a plastic wallet filled with pictures.

They were in order, and there was one for each year she'd been there.

She'd started off as a small little baby which was how I remembered her, then as she'd grown she looked more like Emmett; a bit chubby but in a gorgeous way. The same smile was always there, and you could see as she hit her teenage years she'd blossomed and grown: becoming tall and elegant - the person she was today.

"She's beautiful," I gushed.

Miss Macey laughed:

"Well she is yours."

"May we have her on a trial?" Emmett asked the question I so wanted to know the answer too.

Yes of course, we've checked the database and you have no criminal records or anything to hold against you, so if you'll just sign these forms and we can sort out blood tests soon," she told us handing over yet more sheets of paper.

Emmett and I read through each piece of paper before signing them and in the end we gave them back to Miss Macey.

"Well, Valerie has gone up to help Savannah to pack so if we go outside and wait then it'll be perfect," she said standing up and gesturing to the door.

When we got outside we were met by the brunette girl.

"She's not leaving. At least not without me. We're not going to be separated – ever. We're like your twins, we're closer than sisters, and in fact people mistake us as twins. So please don't take her away," she said before running up the stairs.

"Don't listen to Bella, she's a bit melodramatic at times," Miss Macey said ushering us along.

But what Bella had said resounded in my ears. I realised then that Savannah had lived without us and got on with her life, more than we'd imagined. She'd formed a sisterly relationship with this girl and I knew how hard that would be for her to break. The twins could never live without each other, and I figured this surrogacy of sisterhood was like that also.

I don't know anything about adoption processes so I hope this is ok. We're on holiday for a week, but I'll try and update when we get back before school starts. Hope you enjoyed it, and please review. Thank-you, XxX