Unexpected Family

I Want You To Stay

Billie's POV

It's weird how hard it is to talk to a toddler about something serious.

Like, you can sing songs about brushing teeth or make up a story about a magical potato who eats his vegetables... but how do you explain custody? Foster care? Permanence?

You can't.

So you do what I did.

You try.

Skylar was sitting on the couch, drawing with a purple crayon, her tongue poking out between her lips like it always did when she was concentrating hard.

The tip of her nose was smudged with marker. Mackenzie was napping, sprawled on the floor like a cat in the sun.

I sat down next to Skylar slowly, my heart already racing.

"Hey," I said gently. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

She looked up at me, then went right back to coloring. "I'm making a big cake."

"Looks awesome," I said, then paused. "I wanted to tell you something kind of important."

She blinked at me. "Did the dog die?"

"What? No what? Shark's literally right there."

She pointed at him. "He's not moving."

"He's asleep."

"Oh."

There was a long silence. I ran my hand over my face.

"I've been talking to some people," I said, slowly, carefully. "About... maybe having you and Mackenzie stay with me longer."

Skylar didn't say anything. Just kept coloring.

"Like... forever kind of longer."

She paused. Looked up. "Like... we don't have to go to a new house again?"

My chest tightened. "Yeah. Like that."

She was quiet. For a second I thought maybe she didn't understand.

Then she whispered, "Even if I do bad stuff sometimes?"

I could've cried right there.

"Sky," I said, brushing her hair gently behind her ear. "You're not bad. You're learning.

And even when you mess up especially when you mess up I'll still be here. I want you here. I want both of you here."

She dropped the crayon and crawled into my lap like she did it a hundred times before. Like she was just waiting for the words.

I held her close, tighter than I probably should've. But she didn't pull away.

She just whispered, "Okay."

And I knew she believed me.

I don't know what's going to happen next how the meetings will go, what hoops I'll have to jump through,

how I'll prove I'm good enough to be their real mom.

But in that moment, with Skylar's head tucked under my chin

and her tiny fingers gripping my sleeve, I knew one thing for sure:

This isn't pretend anymore.

This is us.