Molly threw the dishcloth she was holding on the chair and quickly crossed the room to scoop Jade into her arms in a big breath-taking hug.
"Oh dear, it's such a beautiful quote!" she told her daughter and Jade smiled wide, obviously proud of herself.
Then Molly looked her into the eyes and whispered, more serious than Jade has ever seen her:
"I love you so much Jade, more than you can imagine. We all love you, and we're so happy to have you as a part of this family."
And those simple words whispered in confidence, made their way to Jade's heart and she was starting to believe Molly, she was starting to believe she could actually stay in this family forever. Jade's eyes filled with tears. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like crying. Suddenly she had someone to care for her, someone who would take all her worries and let her be a little child again. And it felt so good to rely on someone but at the same time it was a scary feeling for little girl who took care of herself since she could remember.
Molly sat down on the couch holding Jade in her lap like she held all her kids when they were babies. It didn't matter that Jade was too big to fit there comfortably, her legs too long, and herself much heavies than little baby. But Molly didn't show any discomfort; she held her daughter and let Jade rest her tear-stained face in the crook of her neck. It was the first time Jade let anyone hold her like this.
After a while when Jade calmed down, Molly wiped her face with a clean handkerchief and stood up, giving Jade one more hug, to make sure everything was fine.
Jade smiled at her with an apologetic smile, suddenly feeling shy, standing in front of this stranger who acted like mom to her, but whom she didn't really know.
Molly broke the silence by pointing on the clock on the wall which showed that Arthur was on the way home.
It was only 2 p.m. but he took an afternoon off from work.
Few seconds after that, the backdoor opened and Arthur walked in carrying his briefcase and big box neatly wrapped in brown paper.
After kissing his wife on the cheek he set everything down and hugged Jade, spinning her in the air.
"It's good to see you awake, how are you feeling honey?" he asked, checking Jade's palm.
"Good." She answered, still a little bit shaky and red-eyed from crying recently.
Arthur noticed, but didn't say anything, he will ask Molly later, plus, he was sure it was nothing serious, so why should he upset her by asking.
"Good? Ok then, I have a little project for us to do, if you want to help me." He smiled at her.
"What is it Arthur?" asked Molly cautiously.
"Don't worry sweetheart, we will clean everything when we finish" He winked at Molly and then excused himself, going upstairs to change from his work clothes.
"Jade, could you go upstairs and call Ron, maybe he'd like to help with the project too." Suggested Molly, shaking her head and already thinking about all the crazy things her husband could possibly came up with.
Jade run to Ron's room, taking two stairs at the time, excited to see what the project will be, although she didn't care about the project itself, she was happy to spend some time with Arthur in general, he always had lots of fun things planned for them, like flying and such.
When she reached Ron's door, she knocked two times and then opened it slowly, only to find Ron, sleeping on his bed, with face covered in chocolate and drooling on his pillow.
Now what? Should she wake him up or let him sleep? She was sure he'd want to spend time with his dad, but at the same time, Molly seemed happy when her kids took naps and she never woke them up, unless it was time to eat.
Arthur who appeared behind Jade and reached over her shoulder to close Ron's door solved the dilemma.
"Let him sleep, he will wake up soon and he can join us later. Ron's not very enjoyable company after someone wakes him up from his nap." Arthur chuckled and went back downstairs to the kitchen.
Molly had two bottles of ice-cold ginger ale ready for them and a box of chocolate chip cookies as a snack.
Arthur put on his sun hat and Jade's nose and shoulders were coated with the sun block potion again, before Molly let her go outside.
Jade didn't bother with shoes this time, the garden was dry from the sun and there was no more mud from the morning watering.
Arthur was already coming out from his garage carrying a toolbox and the big parcel he brought from work. He handed Jade a long piece of rope, and some metal rings.
They carried everything to the trees in the back of the garden, where they had a grill and an old picnic table.
There was also a little tree house, just a couple of old planks on the lower branches of an old maple tree.
They didn't talk much because it was still too hot outside and they enjoyed the silence and the shade from the tree.
It was a hammock, made out of brightly colored fabric, wide enough to hold two persons. Jade was helping Arthur fasten the rope to the end of the fabric when Ron came out from the back door, still half asleep with pink cheeks and messy hair, carrying a chocolate cookie in one hand and a cup of cold raw milk in another.
"Hi daddy! What'ya doing?" asked Ron, jumping on the back of his father, hugging him around the neck and spilling some of the milk on Arthur's tee.
"Hey buddy, easy with the milk, I don't need any more stains on this t-shirt!" smiled Arthur and then explained his plan about having a hammock in the garden so kids could play there and maybe they could even have a BBQ later this week.
Ron looked excited but Jade didn't know if she liked the idea.
All the barbeques she's been to, were formal evenings with lots of strangers, usually held in gardens with nicely trimmed bushes and grass which was only for looking, not for stepping on it, everyone always expected her to behave well, and wear a dress, and one time even a bow in her hair. There was ridiculous food which she didn't know, and drinks which were only for adults, swimming pools where you couldn't swim and million of rules you had to follow.
Nobody noticed her lack of enthusiasm and they finished the rest of the hammock in good mood, and a little help from Ginny who finally woke up and joined them.
The kids then piled into the hammock and were rocking back and forth while Arthur relaxed, snoozing under the tree. They were interrupted by Molly who ordered everyone a bath, or at least good long shower before dinner, rushing them upstairs to get clean after a hot sweaty day.