A Place in This World - A Taylor Swift Adoption Story

Wish I had known this from the beginning

April 22, 2023

~~

Rose woke up to Danielle lightly tapping her. "Rose. Rose. Rose, Juliette's been calling you for a while now, you need to wake up," she said, and Rose turned around in her bed, grabbing her phone to check the time. 11:23. She had slept in. She rarely did that.

"Crap. Thanks, Dani," Rose said, rolling out of bed and onto the floor. She walked to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, fixed her hair, and made her way to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. She still had her pajamas on when she walked over to Juliette.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Results came in!" she told Rose, who's tired face grew wide. "She got accepted. Scheduled to come in the 25th."

"Right. Forgot she's in Houston," Rose said, and she sat down in her chair.

"Girl, get up. You're going to scare any families that come in. Go finish your coffee and change into decent clothes. Then we can talk." Rose rolled her eyes as she got up to do just that. She served herself more coffee, taking the mug up to her room and setting it down on the nightstand. She played some music as she changed and finished her coffee in bed. Dani and Ellie walked in together, all giggly, saw Rose, then left again. Rose thought this weird, but continued her doom-scrolling before the Eras show that night. She got up after a while, grabbing her mug, taking it to the kitchen, rinsing it, then heading to Juliette again.

"Good morning, this time for real," Rose joked, sitting down again and starting to sort papers. 4 people were in the waiting room, 3 women and 1 man. Rose's job was to sort out which papers had to be uploaded online and which could be faxed. So complicated for no reason.

"I get off at 5 today, by the way. So I won't be able to listen to your screaming about surprise songs," Juliette said, smiling. Rose rolled her eyes.

"I don't even scream with you. I scream with the girls. You wouldn't have to worry at all," Rose rebutted, lining up the papers and taking them over to the fax machine. When she came back, Juliette had extended a enveloped paper out to her.

"Came in the mail. Don't open this until during surprise songs. And you can show it to your girls too," Juliette said, and Rose looked at her weirdly. She took it reluctantly, nodding.

"Thanks, I guess," Rose said, hiding the envelope in her pocket. She went to her room after a while, finishing her work. She sat on her bed, waiting for the other girls to return. She fiddled with the letter, hesitating but deciding to leave it on her nightstand instead. Alice walked in and sat next to her.

"Almost time for the start, right?" Allie asked. She was the most clueless of them all when I came to Taylor Swift.

"Yeah. Where are the other girls?" Rose asked, setting up her phone so they could watch a stream.

"Last I heard, they were hanging out. Might be out all night," Alice said. "Or something else." Rose raised an eyebrow. "No way you're this clueless."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, and Alice facepalmed.

"They're dating. No one knows how long, but it's been a while. Girl, you really didn't know?" Alice asked, chuckling. Rose just shook her head.

~~

Sets came and went, and all of a sudden, it was surprise song time. Dani and Ellie had joined them. Rose fidgeted with her envelope. Taylor started her speech. "Oh hey guys, how are things doing here?" she said to a group on the floor before continuing with her normal speech. "Houston, welcome to the Eras Tour! I'm coming to hang out with you a bit." Rose took a deep breath. Why did she have to wait until surprise songs? What was so important? "I was thinking since this crowd is so... vocal, you guys seem to know every possible song, and it's okay if you don't know this song, but if you do you get bonus points."

"DEBUT!" Ellie yelled, and Rose flinched. "Sorry. Debut! A Debut song!"

"Before I do start, there's someone in New York with an envelope. She knows who she is. Open it up. This song is for you, kid." Rose's eyes widened, and so did everyone else's.

"Rose, is that envelope from Taylor Swift?" Danielle asked. Rose ripped it open as Taylor started strumming. Rose read it fairly quickly.

"Oh, my God."

"I don't know what I want, so don't ask me," Taylor started, and Rose broke out into sobs. Alice gently took the paper that was in the envelope and read it out loud.

~~

"Rose,

From the moment I met you, I felt like something called me to you. Your energy, your smile, and your voice is a bonus. I knew there was a reason I went in there, and I found it when I saw you. I applied for a foster license not only so I could be a mom, but more so I could give a kid a better chance. You are that kid. You deserve much more than being treated badly all your life, then leave, and never be given another chance. You're just a girl trying to find a place in this world, and that's why I'm singing this right now. I'll see you on Tuesday.

Love,
Taylor."