#

I pushed the door open slightly; peeking first, as I slowly stepped inside and closed the door once more behind me. The usual, the slight intake of breath from the two people seated in the plush blue chairs that seemed to have be gotten out of a sale at a garage sale, then the signature clap of the hand over the mouth, as they took in the sight of my scars. Everyone saw the cosmetic factor of what I was, choosing to ignore the fact that I had been through much more than a child of merely twelve should have seen. They didn’t notice the fact that my eyes were dabbed with fear, grief and loss, or bring out that I was playing the part of a mute, just so I didn’t have to speak in my croak of a voice.

The couple was younger than the rest, both looking around the age of twenty-five. They could have been twins, the only thing negating that fact was that they wore matching wedding bands and their hands were locked in a loving way. Their blue eyes matched their perfectly blonde hair: hers waving down her back to rest at the point in the middle of her back, his chopped stylishly above the ear. Both of their faces were twisted with worry, as if they actually cared.

But their eyes, unlike the rest, held a genuine worriness that was deep enough that it normally couldn’t be faked. But my analysis was cut short when I heard the click of a pen, and saw the lawyer like woman was pushing it forward on top of a stack of papers across the mahogany desk. The blonde ladies hand quickly snatched up the pen, “Yes, I’m certain now, we’ll take her,” she glanced over at her husband who looked back at me before nodding affirmatively, “she’ll be a welcome addition to our home,”

She smiled warmly, before moving her hand to sign lavishly on the line of the paper dotted with an x.

I was shocked, the thought of being adopted had never really crossed my mind in the time I’d been hear, mostly I was just taking the meetings so I didn’t get kicked out of the care facility. Always thinking that my destructive features marked me un-wanted, I had dealt with the looks and the careful gestures. But here was a couple, defying the odds I had set, and taking me despite it all. And after only taking a glimpse at me.

My counselor looked as shocked as I did, but she held it inside much better than I did, my chin could have been grazing on the floor. The man couldn’t take his eyes off me, filled with the same sorrow that was always present in mine.

The papers signed, I was then formally introduced the couple I had started referring as the Blondies. A Mr. and Mrs. Cynthia and George Hildman. The first thing I did when I heard the last name was to seriously say if I could keep my own last name. The question, not entirely meant to be a joke, caused an uproar of laughter within the room, erasing the last trace of tenseness inside of the small enclosed room. “Of course, dear, we’d never take away anything that means so much to you,” George said, his eyes starting to twinkle in a way that I knew I’d grow to be fond of. With the happiness that had suddenly filled me, I had momentarily forgotten my main reason for being here in the first place, “Where’s Jake?” I asked, worried at the thought of my baby brother being left behind in this place all alone, together we would have been able to take it, but alone both of us were nothing, “I’m sorry, but I will have to refuse being adopted if I can’t take him with me. He’s my only family,” I begged, at the first sign of the couple’s hesitantness at the mention of him. If they would have been able to adopt me: the damaged child, they certainly would have been able to take my brother, the most innocent being I had known, perfect and whole.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***