Only In My Dreams

Chapter Fourteen

TW: VERY BRIEF MENTION OF SELF HARM/SUICIDE. VERY UNDETAILED BUT THE IDEA OF IT IS THERE
 
 
 
Genesis ate a lot of dinner. Turns out she loves tacos!

I'm glad she's feeling comfortable around us already.

The dinner conversation was far from the topic of her past. Mom and Dad told her that she has to start school in a week or two. We're letting her get settled in first, but soon she'll be going to the last three months of seventh grade. She's not as excited for school, but then again, who is?

After dinner, she hugged Mom and Dad and asked me if we could finish unpacking and talk. Of course I agreed, so that's where we're headed right now.

She plops onto the bed as soon as I close her bedroom door behind me. Without hesitation, I join her.

She sees my phone in my hand, "Ooh can we listen to music while we talk!?"

I giggle and open Spotify, "Sure! What do you want?"

"I don't care. You choose," she shrugs.

I click on the long playlist that Izzy and I made together. Sorry by Halsey begins. Genesis nods her approval, scooting a bit closer to me. She eyes me with furrowed eyebrows, "So, what do you want to know?"

"Everything that you're willing to tell me," I say. "How about start from the beginning."

She taps her pointer finger on her chin, gaze fixed on the ceiling. "Hmmm...like the very beginning?"

"Like when you when you were born."

Her eyes widen, "Oh geez. You really mean from the beginning."

I can't help but laugh at her, "Yep!"

She takes a moment to gather her thoughts. Then she tells her story, "Well I was born on April 23 in Orlando, Florida. My full name is Genesis Anne Thompson. Um...I'm not sure what happened to my dad. I never met him. I think he left my mom when she found out she was going to have me."

I frown when she says that. Who wouldn't want someone amazing like her? Who could just abandon someone just because they're pregnant?

She continues, "After I was born, my mother and I moved here. I don't know why. Maybe she had a better job opportunity or something."

Genesis remains almost emotionless when she tells me the next part. Her face stays straight. "I think I was about a year old when I was put into the adoption center. At least they told me I was a year old. My mother and I lived in a small apartment. One of my neighbors heard me crying and crying without stopping one morning. He got worried because I kept crying. They said he only waited a few minutes before knocking on our front door. Nobody answered and I was still crying. He called the police, and when they went in..."

I already have an idea about what she's going to say. I close my eyes, holding back tears. Genesis pauses a little longer before quietly finishing, "She had...ended herself."

The fact that she can't go into more details about what happened, tells me it still hurts her. Tears threaten to spill over at the thought of her mother giving up. She left behind such a beautiful girl. She has no idea what she's missing.

Genesis keeps going, "The police found my dad, but he refused to take me. None of my other family wanted me or they just couldn't take me. So they put me into the adoption system and I've been there until today."

My heart breaks for her. She's twelve years old and hasn't had a real family until now. Part of me is happy that we have her, but the other part is sad that her dad or the rest of her family didn't want to raise her.