The call goes dead and Taylor starts crying silently. Tears drip on her phone screen, she doesn't know what to do. She literally just brought this little girl into her home an hour ago. How is she supposed to tell her that her parents are dying? She can't. Not right now. She's to upset herself and she doesn't even know them. She stood up abruptly and hurried out of the room, up the stairs, not caring she heard Joe get up and follow her. She goes to slam the door shut but it's stopped by a hand. Joe's hand. Not turning to look at him, Taylor wraps her arms around her stomach with her head low. "Taylor what's wrong?" Once she finally looks up at him he can see her tear stained face. "Baby...what happened on the call?" Joe walks closer and rests his hands on her waist. This is when she fully breaks down and wraps her arms around Joe's neck, sobbing on his shoulder. He comforted her to the best of his ability by one hand going up and down her back with the other one in her hair. "Tay, calm down. You need to breathe. You're going to make yourself sick." She took deep breaths that were uneven, they turned into small hiccups as tears poured out of her eyes. Joe brushed her bangs to the side, away from her eyes. "What made you so upset, who was that?" It took a few minutes but she got ahold of herself enough to speak, "That was the hospital. They said that, t..that her parents had minutes to l..live." slow hot tears cascaded down her cheeks as she told her boyfriend what was going on. He didn't know how to respond, just pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, we'll be okay, she will be okay." He was right, but they wouldn't be okay for a long time. "How am I supposed to go out there...and tell her?" Taylor's voice cracked as she hugged Joe. "We don't have to right away. We have time Taylor. Let her be happy. We will discuss it with her, it'll be hard but we will get through it." As always, he was right. "Thank you." She lifted her head off of his chest for a moment to look at him, he pecked her lips and she smiled sadly. "I did nothing, I'm just telling you the truth, love." Dinner time came around and the couple had sat the six year old down, ready to have a hard conversation. "Am I in trouble?" The little girl asks innocently. "No, no darling. We just need to explain something to you..." Taylor looked at Joe for help. "Do you know what death is, Indiana?" Taylor's eyes went wide, she didn't know where he was going with this. "When someone leaves earth to another place." That's one way to put it. "That's right." Taylor encouraged, if it were her own child she would've explained what and who God is. But she wasn't her child, so she kept her religious beliefs out of the girl's mind. "There is no easy way to say this sweetie, your Mommy and Daddy died from the virus." The girl's face fell, not really knowing how to react. When she started crying, Taylor pulled her onto her lap and hugged her for as long as it took for her to calm down. "I've got you, baby. I'm right her. It's okay, you're allowed to be sad." The sobbing slowly stops through the course of ten minutes but Taylor still hold onto the girl. She needed comfort right now and Taylor was going to sit there all night if it meant Indiana was going to be okay. Fingers were running up and down the girl's back, lulling her to sleep. She was emotionally drained from the news she was given and needed a break. When the couple was for sure she had fallen asleep on Taylor's chest, she let out a soft sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do, I'm definitely not handing her off to a foster home, even though that couple was really nice. That's just not the best place for a child to thrive." Joe agreed, laying a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "She's going to be okay, no guarantee it will be this week or in the next five years but she will be okay." Taylor stood up from the couch and started walking upstairs to put the girl to bed. Joe followed behind her, not knowing if she was going to need help or if she was going to break down again. This was hard on Taylor just as much as Indiana. Taylor had a way of feeling the same emotions other people did and it hurt her more than it helped her understand what they are going through. Once she was tucked in, Joe took Taylor's hand and started her a hot bath. Relaxing would help. "Thank you, you didn't have to but I appreciate it." Joe shrugged and helped her out of her shirt, revealing a black Nike sports bra. "When did you buy this? I haven't seen it before." "I just got it in the mail today, I ordered it online, we've been working out together and I needed new ones." Joe nodded as she continued to undress. He added some bubbles to the bath mixture to make it fun. "Really? Bubbles? Don't you think I'm a little old for bubble baths?" She cocked her head and giggled as she stepped into the hot water. "You love them, don't deny it." They smirked at each other just enjoying the company they give one another. "Thank you, for just standing in here with me to make sure I'm okay. It means a lot. All of this is messy and isn't going to be fun."
Two long and hard months later, Taylor and Joe find themselves at Tennessee's courthouse getting custody of Indiana legally. They are now her full time foster parents until she is eighteen. "This was the right decision, right?" Taylor worried outloud to Joe. "I think so, she's as happy as she can be due to the trauma that's effectived her." And that was the best decision they ever made. As she got older, those memories faded and she no longer remembered her parents. Taylor and Joe noticed this when she got into her teen years when she started asking to see pictures of herself as a baby.
"How come I don't ever see pictures of me when I was smaller than five or six?" Indiana asked, what she always thought, was her mom. Taylor looked at her weird while she cut things up for dinner. Did she not remember? All those long nights, laying with her in bed until she cried herself to sleep, was that just a memory for Taylor and Joe? No longer Indiana's memory? "We don't have pictures of you during that time, Indy." Taylor answered, now it was the fifteen year olds turn to be confused. Why didn't her parents have pictures of her as a baby? "Why?" Taylor looked up from her cutting board and wiped her hands clean with a rag, "I'll go get your dad, we need to have a talk." She smiled at her daughter, kissing her forehead as she passed her. "You guys needed me?" Joe asked as he walked down the stairs hand in hand with his wife. "Well there are a few things that need to be addressed." "Why are you bringing dad out? Can't you just answer me? I want to know why there are no baby pictures of me. It can't be that bad, unless the reasoning was because I was ugly." She chuckles at herself. "No, that's definitely not it." Joe says, sitting down next to his teenage daughter. "Do you know why you know me and Taylor?" Indiana looked at Joe weird, he had called her mom by her actual name. "You're my parents. That's how. You had me as a child and I'm here." The teen was beyond confused. "Um, no. Indy, that's not true. We aren't your biological parents." Taylor's face softened and took her daughter's hand. "I don't understand." Both Joe and Taylor looked at each other, basically reading the other's minds. Joe spoke this time, "Your parents died when you were six and we adopted you really soon afterwards. We will try to answer as many questions as we can, but we thought you knew that you weren't biological." The fifteen year old smiled softly, "I don't care if I'm not biological, you're all I remember so you are my parents. But do you have any pictures of me when I was smaller?" Taylor nodded slowly and led Indiana into a closet that was hardly ever used and pulled out a box filled with pictures of Indiana and her parents from a few minutes after birth until a few weeks before they passed away. "I look just like my dad." She said in disbelief. Taylor nodded in agreement, handing her a picture of her mom holding her in the hospital. It brought both Indiana and Taylor to tears. Taylor rubbed her daughter's arm for comfort. "You okay?" Indy nodded, "I am, just a lot to take in."
Ten years later...
"Mom, seriously I don't want wine. I have to drive home and James wouldn't want me driving home intoxicated." Indiana and James had started dating senior year and ended up getting married in the summer this year. Taylor rolled her eyes not buying it, "Yeah right. You always drink my wine, something's up." She pointed a finger at her daughter as she took a big gulp of her own wine. "Nothing's up, I just don't feel like getting arrested tonight or lectured by my husband when I get home. Leave me alone." Taylor let ot go for a while, trying to figure out why she refused to drink tonight. After a while of thinking and being in her own world, she almost choked on her wine once it clicked. Indiana looked over at her mom, concerned that she was actually choking. "Are you okay??" Taylor nodded vigorously as she coughed. Once she stopped coughing she smirked at the twenty five year old. "When's the last time you've had sex?" Taylor's eyebrows rose, "Uh, I'm not comfortable talking about this with you." Indiana's cheeks flushes crimson red as she looked at her hands in her lap. Taylor hit her lightly on the shoulder, "This isn't something to be embarrassed about, tell me. If you don't tell me I'll tell you the last time I did in 5..4..3..2...." "Okay okay! Fine! A few weeks ago okay?? Is that what you wanted to hear?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking back at the TV in front of both of them. "You're pregnant aren't you?" Both girl's eyes were on the TV, both taking small breaths, slowly, Indiana turned her head in Taylor's direction. "Yes."
