Where do we go from here?

The Orphan

It's a month later and after getting approved, Emma is on her way to stay with the family.

"Will, Rachel- this is Emma." Annie said as she ushered the little girl in.

Will took Emma in and he practically felt his heart break. She had a yellow t-shirt on with a pair of dungarees which had evidently been through several owners before being passed down to her. And on her wrist, her yellow cast. She anxiously was clutching on to a faded white blanket.

"Hi Emma, I'm Rachel. I'm your Daddy's partner." Rachel said as she vent down to the little girls level.

The little girl anxiously took several steps back, her eyes wide.

"Come inside." Rachel encouraged.

The group slowly made their way inside.

Will looked towards Emma and his heart wanted to break. She was So incredibly small for her age. If he didn't know she was six, he would've guessed three or four years old.

"Emma's just feeling a bit nervous. Aren't you sweetie?" Annie said as Emma didn't reply, and instead looked around anxiously.

"Emma, would you like to see your room?" Rachel asked as the girl nodded.

She followed Rachel and into the room.

"You'll be sharing with Madeleine, our eldest. She's three." Rachel said as she felt a pang in her heart.

"Where is she?" Emma asked, so quietly Rachel barely heard her.

"She's in the hospital currently. She and your Daddy had an accident 3 months ago and she's got a few things that need to get better before she comes home. I know she'll love you, she's always wanted an older sister." Rachel smiled fondly.

"Oh yeah. Just like I was." Emma said as Rachel nodded.

"I'm sorry." Emma said as Rachel smiled warmly.

"It's okay. She's improving daily, So hopefully she'll be home soon." Rachel said.

"You can sleep in her bed for now. Then once she's home we can get bunk beds." Rachel said as a flash of a small smile formed on Emma's face.

"Do you want to play in here for a while? Me and Will- I mean daddy are just going to talk to Annie about some boring adult things." Rachel asked as Emma nodded.

"Okay I'll come and let you know when Annie is leaving." Rachel said as she smiled warmly, leaving Emma to play.

The last thing the girl needed was to feel suffocated on her first day.

Rachel returned, settling down beside Will.

"What did I miss?" Rachel asked, clasping her hand into Will's.

"Annie was just about to start filling us in on Emma's history." Will replied and Rachel nodded, swallowing deeply.

She knew this wouldn't be easy. Hearing what this sweet, incident little girl had been through, clutching onto Will's hand the two swallowed deeply before allowing Annie to begin.

"Terri did her best with Emma for the first six months. Then she started missing rent payments, and not paying bills so they'd have no heating or electricity. When we were alerted to that something was wrong, Emma was seven months old. Terri had started taking drugs to cope and we found Emma playing with a needle and surrounded by drug paraphernalia." Annie said as Will sat up and clenched his fists.

"Luckily she hadn't injected herself. After that Terri was arrested and imprisoned for three years. Emma was placed into care and unfortunately incurred abuse, sexual assault and suffered from malnutrition."