Classified: A New Life

Chapter II: Day 1; Afternoon

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has commented or voted so far! Your support means a lot! This is my first original work, so some more feedback would be great if any more of my readers can spare the time to comment. I know everyone has lives and things to do, and I'm not going to lock the story behind votes/comments or anything like that. I'm just super curious to see what everyone thinks so far!

On with the show!

########

Emory rubs her thumb over her new ID card as she sits on her new bed. There's a raised 'L-2' in the top left corner, the same shade of pastel purple as her onesie had been yesterday.

The new bed and changing table are nice, made of beautifully stained oak wood. The mattress on the bed crinkles, no doubt from a protective sheet beneath the bedding. It's thick and comfortable, much more so than Emory's old bed. She hasn't been on the changing table yet, but it looks just as comfortable as the bed.

Melody is busy putting away the diapers that had been delivered while they were out, some go into the storage shelves built into the changing table, and the rest go into the closet.

Emory knows she should be helping, but she just doesn't feel up to it at the moment, drained and upset from her visit to the CLASS office. Besides, Melody doesn't seem to be expecting her to do much anyway...

A tear falls from her eye, dripping onto her new ID card. She stares at it for a moment before rubbing it away.

"Mellie?" She asks softly. "What's this 'L-2' for?"

"That's to identify you as a Little, and the two is for your subcategory. Littles have a pretty big range of ages, all the way from an infant up through elementary school age. One is an infant, Two is between infant and preschool, Three is preschool age, and Four is elementary school age range." Melody explains.

"Oh...thanks..." Emory says in a subdued voice. She's still hurt by her parents reaction, a dull ache in her throat manifests as she struggles to hold back tears--she's already cried so much today...

She'd expected that kind of reaction, but it's still painful to have it confirmed. Her parents are the only biological family she has left in the world, and they've rejected her for something that's completely outside of her control. She'd known that rejection would be painful, but not...not like this.

"Can I have my paci please, Mellie?" Emory asks. She doesn't even feel shame at asking for it--the pain of rejection outstrips that in spades.

Melody gives her a concerned look as she kneels down in front of her to take off her shoes. "Sure, sweetheart. Are you okay?" She hands Emory her pacifier.

Emory takes it gratefully. "No," she croaks before putting it in her mouth. She stares at her lap, trembling and quiet. Her lower lip quivers, and she sucks in a shaky breath. Despite having just admitted that she's not okay, and the fact that Melody's seen her cry several times already, she doesn't want to cry in front of her again. It feels like giving up, to let herself be so vulnerable and dependent, and she's afraid of losing herself.

Melody gently takes her hands as she continues her heroic effort to hold back her tears. "I know you must be hurting, little one. It's okay to cry if you need to. I'm right here."

And then the dam breaks.

Emory bursts into tears--the kind of ugly, undignified crying that comes with immense emotional pain. She collapses forward into Melody's arms and just sobs. She's been abandoned, in her hour of greatest need, by the people who are supposed to love her more than anything in the world.