Mute | A New Beginning

Chapter 1

Scarlett would be the first to admit that she had made herself a nice life. She had earned enough income through acting to be able to live comfortably, and she was never short of upcoming job offers and new roles, so it was safe to say that money shouldn't be a huge issue for her in the future. Because of this, Scarlett often allowed herself small moments of peace and calm, between shooting scenes and photoshoots. However, it was during these moments that, as of late, Scarlett was starting to get the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right, like there was a missing piece somewhere. At first, when the feeling had only just made its presence known, Scarlett simply pinned it down to the fact that she was taking a longer break between jobs, and so inevitably had much more time on her hands to let her mind wander.

It wasn't until she had finished her first movie, after the small hiatus, that she started to take this thought more seriously. Initially, once Scarlett figured out the main subject of the longing feelings, she spent her evenings on her laptop, researching how the adoption process functioned, keeping notes, both mental and physical, on all the important details. It didn't take too long for Scarlett to understand the basic requirements of becoming eligible to be an adoptive parent. Some of the many things she noted was that she was going to need to complete a home study and 20-30 hours of training. The home study would consist of a case worker assessing her fitness to be an adoptive parent, as well as educating her and providing her with resources. More research told her that it could take anywhere between 3 to 6 months for the home study to complete, and it would include: multiple visits from a case worker to her home, health exams, proof of income and health coverage, a criminal background check, and the names of several people close to her who could serve as references. The list was extensive and complex to say the least, but the more she learnt, the more Scarlett found herself wanting this more and more.

As time went on, while Scarlett was still carrying out her thorough research, she started to believe that this could become a reality for her. As a result, her mind started to subconsciously ponder on the specific child her heart yearned for. Almost all the websites she had read had told he that this was quite a crucial step in the process. They mentioned age frequently and even whether she was open to adopting sibling groups, although Scarlett knew that it would be for the best to aim for the one child, having no parenting experience under her belt and only having babysat a few times in her life. The thought of a small girl appealed to Scarlett, being a girl herself was part of the reason as she would be able to understand more about the child and therefore, hopefully, be more of use as the girl grew up. Another question that needed asking was the age range she was looking for. Scarlett knew that a lot of these kids under foster care came from traumatic places, and she accepted this. However, she couldn't deny that having a girl on the younger side of the scale sounded like a better fit for her. Scarlett wasn't looking for a newborn, and she certainly was hesitant about an age under 3. The ages 4 and 5 were in the middle of the scale, tipping neither side, but she knew she wouldn't be well equipped for a girl aged 8 and up. Overall, she felt like she was blindly shooting at a target, unsure of where it was going to land, if it was going to land at all.

As soon as Scarlett had completed a large portion of research, she started right away with the process, contacting an agency, which quickly led into the background checks and home inspections. So far, everything had been smooth sailing, although this wasn't much of a surprise to anyone as Scarlett had a nice home, was a healthy, stable woman and was not a criminal of any sort. Scarlett had also started the training and was also quite a way through the course and was grateful that she had a pleasant woman, Holly White, there to guide her through learning all that she would need to know about adopting and taking care of a child. Holly was also helpful enough to aid Scarlett in starting to make the decision on what kind of child she would want to adopt. So far, the two women had narrowed it down to a little girl no older than six, granted that this wasn't much of a difference to what Scarlett had decided when she was starting out the research, however it was nice to know that someone else thought the same about her abilities. Holly had also recommended an orphanage that was relatively nearby, one that she had worked with before, so she knew that they were reliable and trustworthy.