Mom's new love (marina)

Competition

October 2nd
Carina pov
Saturday

"Evie, can we talk to you?" Maya asked from her seat on the couch next to me.

"Yeah," Evie replied, coming to sit between the two of us.

"Jessica is coming later today to talk to you, is that okay?" Maya asked Evie who was leaning against my side to look at Maya.

"Is she going to take me away?" She asked, panic stricken.

"No,baby. She just said she wants to talk to us. Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise," she said, stroking Evie's cheek.

"Okay," Evie shrugged and went back to her toys on the floor.

..

"Harley! Can you answer the door?" I called from the living room where I was wrestling Evie into a sweater.

"Hi Jessica," I heard as I made my way into the hallway followed by Evie and Maya.

"Hello Harley," she replied in her usual kind tone while pushing herself into the house. "Hi Maya. Carina," she nodded, "Hi Evie," she said when she saw Evie behind my legs. "I won't be here long; I just wanted to let you all know that I have two possible adoptions lined up for Evie," she said excitedly, obviously not picking up on the confusion across all of our faces.

"Sorry, what?" Maya asked. I felt like I couldn't speak, was she going to take our baby away?

"Well, you're only foster parents so this is a temporary placement. The main aim of all of this was for Evie to be adopted and I have some lovely people who are interested. Isn't that great, Evie?" Jessica said, wide grin spread across her face.

"I don't want to go, Carina," she whispered, pulling on the back of my pants. Evie had gone back to calling us Maya and Carina so I guessed that her calling Maya mommy was an accident.

"Okay, bambina," I whispered back to her. "Jessica, why don't you come in so we can have this conversation properly," I said, inviting her into the dining room. She took a seat in one of the chairs, Maya and I sat opposite and Harley lifted Evie onto her lap at the end of the table.

"I would like Evie to meet the couples some time next week so we can work out which family would fit her best and then the adoption could be processed next month and she'll be out of your hair," she said, turning nasty - like she had a tendency to do.

"What if we wanted to be considered as an adoptive family? Surely, we're the best option because she already lives with us," I suggested, glancing to Harley whispering something to Evie and making her giggle.

"Are you seriously suggesting that you be considered? Those aren't just comments you can throw around," she scoffed.

"Of course I'm seriously suggesting it. She's part of our family and we love her," I said, feeling the anger bubble in my chest at thought of Evie being someone else's little girl. I looked to Maya, checking everything I was saying was okay, but I was sure it was what she wanted as well.

"It would be processed the same; she would spend time with each family and a decision would be made in a couple of weeks. But she would have to live somewhere else for the duration of the time she is meeting with each family so a true decision can be made," Jessica said, crossing one leg over the other and crossing her arms across her stomach.

"Where would she live? And how long would she be there for?" Maya asked.

"She would go to another foster home and she'd be there about two weeks. The foster parents would make sure she was at school everyday and would drop her to her meetings with each possible family." She explained, seeming very unsympathetic about the whole situation.

"How often would we get to see her?" I asked, glancing to see Evie and Harley now intently listening.

"Twice a week for 90 minutes," she said sweetly.

"When would the two weeks start?" Maya asked, gripping onto my hand.

"Probably Monday. I'd just have to make a call to foster homes tomorrow and she'd be in by tomorrow night," she shrugged.

"Okay. And she'd live here while a decision is made?" I said, hoping she'd say yes.

"Yes and the decision would probably take a week."

"Okay," I sighed. "I guess we'll see you again tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jessica said, standing up and showing herself out.

As I stood up from the table, Evie came over to me and raised her arms for me to lift her onto my hip, "Mama, is she going to take me away?" She asked. I looked from Evie to Maya with raised eyebrows, really hoping my wife heard her call me Mama.

"Only for two weeks and then you'll come home," I said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "This is what we have to do so that you can hopefully stay forever," I said, kissing her nose.

"And you'll be my mommies?"

"We will," I said, moving to sit on the couch with Evie on my lap.

"Will Harley come with me?" She asked, her cute pouty sad face melting my heart.

"No, Harley lives here," I said, stroking my thumb across her cheek.

"So do I," she whined, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know, but you'll be back in no time. And you'll still see Harley because she volunteers in your school, doesn't she?" I said, pulling her arms apart to hold her hands in mine.

"Okay," she said, leaning forward to rest her head in my chest.

"I love you, Evie," I said, trying not to cry. The whole situation was starting to sink in: Evie could possibly be adopted by someone else and we'd never see her again.

"I love you too, Mama,"she said, calling me Mama again.

***
Sunday

"She has her school stuff in her backpack and her clothes and stuff in that bag," I explained to Jessica.

"Okay, thank you," she said, getting ready to direct Evie out of the door.

"Wait!" Harley yelled, running down the stairs and kneeling in front of Evie. "Keep him safe," she said, handing Evie the dog stuffed animal she took from Harley's room. "I'll see you soon, Eves," she whispered, pressing their noses together.

"Come on Evie, let's get going," Jessica said insensitively.

"Bye," Evie said quietly as Jessica ushered her out of the house.

"Bye baby," Maya said as the door closed behind them. "Oh my god," Maya groaned, rubbing her face with her hands, "What if she prefers them to us?"

"That's not going to happen," I said, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and nuzzling my face into her blonde hair, "She'll come back and she'll be our's," I said.

"I hope so."