Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

4. Sarah

I don't know what drew us to Callie. We had planned on an older kid. We weren't sure if we wanted a boy or a girl, and left that to chance.

At the Children's Home, we were basically accosted by a girl who went on and on about Bren. He was getting obviously uncomfortable with how much she seemed to know.

We had both sort of been drawn to the girl sitting alone in the corner, but decided to save her for last, in case she was shy or something.

We sat down in front of her and introduced ourselves. She just looked at us, shook her head and covered her ears. She then showed us a notebook in which she'd written that her name is Callie, she's 12 and she is deaf.  But something about her had Bren and I just, wanting her. We talked with her a little and found out she'd been in the Children's home for four years after a litany of foster homes, all of whom had failed her because she's deaf. That settled it for us. We wanted Callie as our daughter. We could give her a loving home. And we would make sure to learn her language and also help her as much as possible.

As we were talking with her, the director came up to us and tried to tell us not to adopt Callie. That she was a lot of work and too much trouble. Brendon was angered by that and told her Callie is who we wanted and who we were going to adopt.

I offered to help her pack and when we went to her room, she mentioned she didn't have a suitcase. I went downstairs to ask the director for a bag for her and was given a pack of trash bags. I found that so depressing.  Callie would have to pack whatever she owned into trash bags. Well, I thought, this would be the last time she'd have to pack in them.

When I went upstairs, Brendon following me, having signed the paperwork in the office, we walked into a parent's nightmare. The girl who'd accosted us in the waiting room, Natasha, was on top of Callie, who was lying across a bed, and Natasha was punching Callie. Brendon moved to pull her off but not before Natasha punched Callie so hard in the head, she blacked out. Brendon tore a strip off Natasha and Miss Jones, the director.  I rushed to Callie's side to make sure she was okay. Brendon, after yelling at Natasha and Miss Jones, sat on Callie's other side and picked up her hand.

Callie was breathing just fine, she just seemed, unconscious.

"Should we take her to a hospital?" I asked Bren.

"Maybe. Let's see how long she's out for."

A few minutes later, Callie opened her eyes and shook her head, as if clearing the cobwebs.

I asked her if she was okay, which she said she was, but had a headache. I decided I'd keep an eye on that.

We packed her things and got out of there. But not before Natasha came by, yelled at Callie and kicked her. I asked her again if she was okay, and she nodded.

We got in the car and drove home.

Callie seemed happy to see the house and taught us the sign for home. We went in and she met Bogey and Penny. She taught us the sign for dog, too.

We gave Callie a tour of  the house and showed her her room last. She told us it was beautiful and  we told her we'd take her shopping to make the room truly hers.

We told her we'd be signing up for sign language lessons and she seemed happy.

Through her writing and us texting, we talked about Callie's life and how she wound up in care. We asked her about her favourite foods and if she had any allergies.

Since it was just after lunch, we asked if she was hungry or if she wanted to maybe go out for an early dinner to celebrate. She shrugged. I didn't know if she'd ever eaten out before. So I asked. She said sometimes with her mom when she was little.

We agreed we'd go out for dinner and asked if she'd ever had sushi. She said no and we asked if she'd want to try it. She shrugged and said yes.

'But it's raw fish, right?' She wrote.

'It is, but they have some cooked foods too. And there are rolls that are just vegetables. Sushi is good. You might be surprised and like it.' I typed.

"Ok," Callie signed. And then wrote it, so we knew the sign for OK.

Bogart came over to Callie and sniffed at her. He was intrigued by this new person.

'Tomorrow,' Brendon typed and showed Callie, 'I want to invite some friends to come meet you, if that's okay. I work very closely with them and they're a big part of our lives.'

Callie shrugged and said 'ok' again.

Then she asked what he did for work. Brendon smiled and pulled out one of her CDs. It was a burned copy, so there was no label on it. But it did say 'Panic! At The Disco, DOAB'

He pointed at the CD and then at himself.

'You're in Panic?' She asked.

'I AM Panic,' Brendon said. 'I'm the lead singer.'

'Sorry, I've never heard you,' Callie wrote, with the cutest and most impish grin. Brendon laughed.

'You ARE very cheeky, aren't you?'

Callie shrugged and then made an innocent looking face. We all laughed. Callie actually had a pretty nice laugh. It was a shame she'd never heard it.