Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

20. Sarah

Brendon came inside about five minutes after Callie came running into the house and went upstairs.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know. She was doing fine then someone asked about her birth parents and she took off. I'm going to go talk to her," he said. I nodded.

"Call me if you need me," I said. He smiled back at me.

About five minutes later, he came back downstairs. Without Callie.

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know. She said she doesn't really like talking about her birth parents. I realized, the Home never really told us much about her past. We don't know what happened to her mom besides that she died and her dad didn't want her. I feel like there's more to the story," Brendon said.

I nodded.

"We really need to see if we can speak to her social worker or someone at the home," Brendon said.

I nodded again.

"I'll give them a call," I said. Brendon nodded. He looked upset and I knew it was because Callie was upset and we didn't know why, really.

Brendon went back out to his studio while I called the Children's Home. The receptionist answered on the second ring.

"LA Children's Home, how may I direct your call?"

"I'd like to speak with Miss Jones, please," I said.

"May I let her know who's calling?"

"It's Sarah Urie," I replied.

She put me through and Miss Jones picked up immediately.

"Mrs. Urie. I expected I'd be hearing from you.  You can bring Callie back whenever is convenient."

"Oh," I said, disappointed that she immediately went to that line of thinking. Poor Callie. How many times had this happened to her? "That's not why I'm calling. We're not giving Callie back."

"Oh? Then what can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if there is any way to speak to Callie's social worker, or if you have more information on her parents and how her mom passed away, or why her dad gave her up."

"Well, from what we understand, after Callie's mom died, her father simply gave her up because she was too difficult for him to handle. He never learned sign language and he said he wasn't willing to. That's all we learned. But I can get you her social worker's information."

"I would appreciate that," I said, tersely.

She put me on hold while she went to get the information.

"Hi. Mrs. Urie. Are you there?"

"Of course. Where else would I be?"

"So, her social worker's name is Sheri Patch and her number is 555-2570.  That's her cell phone. She always answers it. But you're sure you aren't looking to give her back. We'd completely understand."

"We are not giving her back. We adopted her, she's our daughter and we aren't giving up on her," I said with a frown.

"Okay, okay," she said defensively.

"Thank you for the information. Have a nice day," I said and hung up.

I shook my head while I dialled Sheri's number.

"Good afternoon. Sheri Patch speaking," she sounded nice.

"Hi there. My name is Sarah. I believe you're Callie's social worker? The Deaf girl from the LA Children's Home?"

"That's right. I am. How can I help? Is she alright?"

"She's great. My husband and I adopted her a few days ago and we realized we hadn't learned much about her past from the Home and were wondering if you could tell us more about her and her past."

"Callie's been adopted? That's wonderful!" Sheri exclaimed. "I can certainly fill you in on her history. The Home didn't tell you anything about her past?"

"Nothing more than her mom died and her dad gave her up."

"Oh. Yeah. I should come fill you in more. I can come by, Thursday around nine?"

"That would work for us. Thank you."

I hung up after giving her the directions and debated telling Callie her social worker was coming. Part of me worried she'd think we were giving her back. I decided not to say anything for now.

I picked up the paper and read. I was stopped by an article in the Entertainment section. Oh boy.

BRENDON URIE, PANIC! FRONTMAN IN VERBAL ALTERCATION AT LOCAL SUSHI BAR

AP - Diners at the Kyoto House sushi restaurant on Vine Ave., were treated to a rare scene.

Brendon Urie, the frontman for the band Panic! At The Disco, and his wife were dining with an unidentified girl when Urie got into a verbal altercation with their server and the manager.

The reason for the altercation was unclear though witnesses to the spectacle said he was ranting about the girl sitting with them at their table.

The girl, it was later found out through a press release through Urie's management, is their adopted daughter, a 12-year-old girl from the LA Children's Home. The girl, evidently, is Deaf and the couple felt the server wasn't showing her appropriate respect.

The restaurant and the Uries were contacted for comment but neither party responded.

Oh boy. Did Brendon's management company even know about this? Were they handling it? Had Brendon told anyone yet about the incident? How would Callie feel about being in the paper, despite not having been named?

I sighed. We'd get through this. It was hardly a scandal we needed to worry about. There would be more questions about Callie and why we'd adopted her, but Brendon standing up for our daughter is hardly a huge scandal.

I smiled remembering how upset Brendon had been by how he perceived the server's treatment of Callie. He was a real Papa Bear. Callie was in good hands with him.