5 Words

Elizabeth

"Elizabeth and Marco Rivera" the lady told the already silent room. My brother and I got up from the bench and walked towards her. His little hand gripped my own with such strength.

She ushered us down a long hallway. Marco never let his grip on me falter, and I was glad. It felt like an anchor to reality. After so many years of having him right next to me, his presence was something I needed.

She led us into a room where a couple stood. Marco hid behind my legs.

The couple seemed alright. I mean, I have seen worse. They actually looked nice. They were probably in their mid-thirties. The man was starting to gray, but he looked fit. No beer gut, no obvious wrinkles, no sign of health issues. He had a squared, shaved face with warm brown eyes and a welcoming smile. The woman was slightly shorter than the man, and her hair was pulled into a bun, very much like my own. Her hair was the same light brown as the man's eyes. Her expression matched the man's. I felt a little pang of hurt deep down.

"This is Mr. and Mrs. White. They are adopting you."

Marco looked up at me. I picked him up and carried him. To my pain, he was light. He inspected them the same way I had. When they saw him, he hid his face into my neck.

"It's very nice to meet you Elizabeth," Mrs. White came closer to me, "we've heard all about you."

I just smiled. We've heard all about you. That's not true. All they've heard is of our medical history, and the things past families have commented about us. They just know what's on paper.

The man spoke up in a low but friendly voice. "I'm sorry, but we have to get going."

Marco shook his head.

"It's okay buddy, I bet we'll get to see the stars tonight. You wanna see the stars?" I whispered in his ear.

He nodded.

"Well, all the paperwork is done, so you are free to go." The woman motioned to the door.

The Whites went out first. As they started walking, I noticed the woman let out a long and relieved sigh. Two more kids out of her care. Two less mouths to feed. It must be a great feeling.

The couple kept looking back at us. We had a little suitcase with the few belongings we had gathered throughout the years. When we got to a small car, they put the suitcase in the trunk and opened the car door.

I got in and settled Marco into his seat. He was still holding my hand.

They got into the front seats and started the car.

"What kind of music do you like?"

"I-I don't know" as a foster kid, I have been in a lot of homes, and not many of them were the same. I haven't really been able to look into things.

"How's that?" The man looked at us from the rear view mirror. "Everyone has to have a favorite kind of music"

"Well, Mr. White-"

"None of that. My name is Kris, and that's what you can call me," his wife nudged him, "and that's Elly." She smiled at us.

I'm so glad they didn't just go into the whole I'm Mom and I'm Dad, thing. It was really hard for Marco.

"Well, Kris, I haven't really been able to focus on music."

He shook his head.

"That's a monstrosity!"

His reaction actually made Marco giggle. Oh, how I missed that giggle! He had been a bit down lately.

"Elizabeth, Marco, I'm really sorry but we have to take a trip today." She looked at us as she explained. "We didn't want to make the flight today, but that's how it had to be. I'm sorry it's probably a very hard day for you today."

"A-A flight?" I've never been on a plane. Neither of us has.

"Yeah, we have to go, I'm sorry." She looked sad about it.

"It's okay" they had probably already paid for our ticket. It must have been expensive. Why would they spend their money on us?

"Don't worry though, you can sleep on the plane. It'll be a long ride. Then you can hit the sack as soon as we get home. And we can help you settle down tomorrow."

And they already had a room for us. It's already way too much.

"Thank you" I whispered.

They started to talk among themselves about the house. They seemed so excited about it. Marco just looked out the window.

I love how you could tell right away we were related. For some reason this calmed me. We both had high cheekbones, brown eyes and the same tanned skin. Hispanic all the way. But his eyes still had a childish gleam to them. A gleam I hope they never lose.

We made it to the airport and I couldn't help the little excitement that swelled up in me. There were so many people. They were all so different. Marco pointed at everything. He couldn't help the amazement he felt from showing. The procedures were new to us, and we had to pay close attention to what they were telling us to do.

When we finally stepped onto the plane, I couldn't help a smile. My very first flight. Marco hugged me and Elly showed us to our seats. I let Marco seat near the window while I sat beside him and Elly sat at the aisle.

More people started to come in, and it started to feel a bit crowded. Then some lights started flashing and the flight attendants came around. Everything was going okay until the plane started taking off.

Marco's eyes got big and he started shaking his head. I grabbed his hand with one hand and touched his cheek with another.

"Hey, everything's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen."

He just looked into my eyes and nodded.

"Tell me about the constellations"

He started to list as many constellations as he could until an attendant said, "Congratulations passengers, you are now on your way to Australia."

Australia

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