"My name is May Parker," said the semi-silver haired woman, giving a nice warm smile like the sun, "and this is my husband, Ben." She leaned over towards an equal spouse, who offered a similar grin, making him look a bit younger.
Quickly, the girl across from them could tell that the couple was close, almost like those paid actors in TV commercials with how they held each other's hands; their fingers woven together, the woman's left hand reaching across her husband to hold his left so that their matching wedding bands clinked together. They looked happy, perhaps too happy. Something about them seemed fake to the child, as though the bond between the two might be forced.
They looked about in their forties, possibly older than that by their hair already fading gray and shallow wrinkles around their smiling eyes, mainly the woman. The man, on the other hand, seemed to shine the brightest and drew in the girl. He was fairly handsome with longer locks then his partner that was groomed to perfection and tied back in a ponytail. But the girl should have known better not to fall for a pretty face. She had heard many horror stories back at the orphanage, especially how grown-ups change once the caretaker or the agent leaves, leaving them alone with the family they now have to trust. Mostly, the children came back with scars, bruises and malnourishment to tell their stories to her. And the ones that never came back were never heard from again. But with these two, on how perfect they looked, it was so unnerving to the girl that she could feel her heartbeat pounding in her chest that she was desperately clinging to her teddy bear she brought with her. The only thing that reminds her of her old home.
"Hey, kiddo. Welcome to the family," greeted the one introduced as Ben. He reached out a hand to pat the young, dark-haired child's head. But she would shift herself away from his reach like a stray kitten, clutching to her large stuffed teddy bear in her arms and burying her face partially in the crook of its neck.
It was foreign to her that this old couple wanted a child. They looked old: old enough to be more like grandparents than suitable parents for her. It baffled her that this was acceptable. Is this why the children have returned and taken in like pound animals to these adults? She has heard plenty of stories from the kids at the orphanage, mainly those who have returned. And those who never returned, were never heard from again.
"Well, the paperwork has been taken care of. You are now the official guardians of this child," said the adoption agency woman, Sharia Banks, as she began to finish filing the paperwork.
May squealed with delight as she spread her welcoming arms wide open. "Come to your new mommy!" She beckoned the child to jump into her embrace, but the child didn't move and would sourly glare at her behind her teddy bear. She didn't need a mother, nor did she want a new family. Expectedly not fond of the name change. What is this new one? Parker was it? Why would they want to get rid of her old one, Lyon.
"She's a shy one," said Mrs. Banks with a slight hesitation in her voice, "It will take some time for her to get used to you both. I'll be visiting from time to time to check up on her to see how she's coming along." She placed the last of the files into her briefcase. With a brief moment of doubt on her decision, as she looked at the slight middle aged couple, the agent then asked, "Are you sure you're capable of taking care of a second child?"
The little girl peeked further out after hearing a mention of a second child. Are there more children?
"We're certain," Ben assured her, "My wife has been wanting a daughter for a long time. Plus, it'll be great for our nephew to have someone around his age and a member of the family once again."
Reassured, the agent nodded her head, "Right, well then, if she ever does become too much or too hard to handle, we can still transfer her to another ho-"
"That won't be necessary," the elderly man cut her off, as he led her to the front door. "We will see you next month," he continued speaking to the adoption agent as he escorted her to her car.
Once they were both gone, it was just the girl and the older woman alone together in the living room. There was nothing but awkward silence. What now? The girl looked towards the door that the two left and was deciding to chase them down, begging Mrs. Banks to take her back to the orphanage even though there was nothing for her to return to. All her friends were no longer there and there was no point in making new friends that will soon be rehomed in time like her.
"So," Mary broke the silence as she stayed low to the girl's level, "Are you going to tell me your name?" She keeps that sweet, trusting smile.
"N-Nova…" the girl spoke up finally, but her voice was muffled behind the teddy bear.
May didn't need to hear her name, for she had already known ahead of time. "That's a lovely name, Nova. For a lovely little girl yourself."
It didn't get much of a reaction from her and would brush off the compliment as if it means nothing. Huh…
"Well, Nova. You're going to love it here," May insisted to the girl. "So you don't need to be nervous around us; we're family."
"No, we're not…" the girl mumbled in her teddy bear, which got a puzzled reaction from the woman. "My mom died a long time ago, and I want my daddy back. He promised he would be back for me." Tears started to welled up in her eyes before she started to whale. Rubbing her face into her teddy bear, that seems too used to it by now.
May frowned and pulled the girl into her embrace, hugging her. "Shhh, it's okay," she whispered as she stroked her hair and back. "I know we cannot replace your family, but I promise you. We will take care of you, like our little nephew since he's also going through something similar as well."
Nova looked up at her, "He is?" she sniffled.
May nodded, and her voice became sad suddenly, "We all lost someone, which we can never replace, no matter what. But they would not want us to be sad and alone either, right?"
Nova nodded as a bit of her tension melted away.
The smile returned to the older lady's face. "That's good and I know I cannot replace your original mother, but I could one day become your role model of one. How does that sound?"
The girl nodded once again, feeling a bit more comfortable with the woman. Maybe this family would not be so bad.
Inspiration by Foxfire09
Remaster story from my 2019 the Ultimate Duo