Callie has been in foster care for six years, since her mother died when she was six, and her father gave up custody, citing caring for her was just too difficult.
Foster home after foster home would call her social worker and tell them to take her...
Dinner out was fun. Way better than the first time. PopPop was being nice and was giving me space, but also texting and joking. So I decided maybe he was okay. Nothing had happened since the night in the bathroom. I'd keep the knife under my pillow, just in case.
Dad was getting really good at sign language and could make himself pretty well understood with just one hand. Mom was just as good.
Granny and PopPop even tried to learn a few signs. They could say 'good morning' and 'good night', spell their names and say 'hello' and a few other signs. PopPop said he wanted to try to learn more and maybe we could FaceTime sometimes. I shrugged.
Because of the accident in the ocean, they stayed a couple of extra days and then, it was time for them to leave. I was a little sad to have them go, but a little relieved that I knew PopPop couldn't hurt me like my birth dad did.
A couple of days after they left, Mom told me that Anna was coming by with her sketches for my room. I'd forgotten about that. I was excited to see what she had come up with. We had talked about a bunch of different things. Music, and animals and the ocean.
The morning Anna came I was so excited. Mom and Dad were laughing because I couldn't sit still.
"What did you two talk about?" Mom asked.
"It's a surprise," I smirked.
"You are a brat," she said. "Just like your Dad."
Dad caught what Mom was saying and grinned. I rolled my eyes.
The doorbell light went off and I ran to the door. Penny and Bogey followed me. There, standing at the door, was Anna, with papers and a notebook and a bag.
"Hi Callie!" She signed and smiled. I smiled back and returned her greeting.
"Are your Mom and Dad home?"
"Of course!" I said.
I let Anna in, and introduced her to Penny and Bogey. She said they were very cute. They are.
She came in and Mom and Dad said hello and she commented on how good their sign language is.
"They practice all the time," I smiled.
Mom and Dad led Anna to the dining room where Mom had put out some coffee and cookies.
"Milk or water for you, young lady," Dad said. I pretended to pout. He didn't buy it and ruffled my hair. I frowned at him.
Anna pulled out her laptop and started it up while also pulling out her sketch book and other papers.
"So, I did some research and most of what I'm bringing to show you is very preliminary. Mostly ideas I got from other artists and images on the internet that I would then put my own style into."
She showed us some of the things she was thinking about.
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