Nothing new

~07~

Taylor was home, trying to cook a curry dish she had never heard of. But her friend Abigail's mom had recommended it and she figured she'd have to introduce Juno to some new foods eventually. Juno did not eat many foods, pasta was always safe, rice too, the rest, it varied from day to day.

Juno was only gonna be staying with her for two more days, Taylor knew that, and she wasn't going to pretend like it didn't hurt. In the few days Juno became everything to her, the little girl filled her entire world, making it bigger and better and Taylor knew that all the smiles on Juno's face would soon disappear.

Juno walked in, her hair in French braids and without hesitation she climbed up onto the kitchen counter, a sweet innocent smile on her face. "Taylor?"

"Yes?" Taylor asked, turning around to face the little girl who grinned up at her and Taylor mockingly raised an eyebrow "After dinner, can we maybe maybe maybe watch a movie together?" Juno whined and she pushed herself up on one of the chairs, which she used to climb on the counter, propping herself up, smiling up at Taylor.

Taylor was her absolute favorite adult, Juno never thought adults could be that nice, or nice at all. Her father was never nice to her and she barely even remembered her mother, but Taylor was always so nice to her and Juno never felt bad when she was around Taylor. Taylor was her absolute favorite person.

"Which movie do you wanna watch bug?" Taylor asked and Juno's eyes lit up happily
"Can we watch ice age?"

Taylor had told Juno a while back that it was a movie that they should watch together sometime, ever since then Juno had been obsessed with the idea and had asked Taylor every spare minute if they could finally watch it. "Maybe, but go change into your pajamas first, and can you help me set the table?"

A few minutes later the blonde child skipped back into the room, in navy blue pyjamas. The sleeves were a bit too long and Juno was grinning up at her. It was obvious she tried changing as fast as humanly possible because the top was definitely inside out.

"Bug? Your top is inside out sweetie." Taylor chuckled and Juno looked down, grinned but she didn't seem too bothered by it.

After dinner they had settled to watch the movie, Juno was sitting beside Taylor. Her pyjamas now worn correctly, and her little eyes focused solely on the tv. Taylor knew she was going to miss this so much.

"Taylor, on Halloween, can we watch Halloween movies and go trick or treating?" Juno asked,  starring up at Taylor with hopeful eyes and Taylor struggled to find the right words. A lump formed in her throat and she didn't know how to tell this to her little girl

"Sweetie, you will be back at your dad's when it's time for Halloween, remember?" Juno didn't look thrilled at all, instead she hugged her monster just a little bit tighter, starring up at Taylor and Taylor could only begin to imagine what was going on in that little girls head.

Juno buried her face in the soft furr of the monster, Taylor could only see a mop of blonde hair as the rest of her body was either covered by a fuzzy blanket or the monster.

"I don't wanna go back." Juno whispered softly and Taylor could only sigh, she didn't know what to do or what to tell Juno. Juno really didn't want to go back but what was she supposed to do? It's not like she could just let Juno live with her.

"You can visit me." Taylor said in a sad attempt to make her feel better, she knew it wasn't helping but she didn't know what to say or do. She wanted to hug Juno, taylor knew that often times this was the only way she could help Juno, but even though they had made significant progress, she knew Juno was probably also mad at her. Juno was just a child, she didn't understand that Taylor wasn't able to just fix any problem.

To Juno, Taylor was an adult, she could make her own decisions. Juno was sure that Taylor could just let her live here if she wanted it enough. Juno was a child and maybe it was for the better she thought that's how the world worked.

"Look bug, there's not much I can do. But you can come to work with your dad as often as possible and see me all the time." Taylor suggested but she only got a small huff in response.

Taylor moved a little closer to Juno. She could make out a beauty and the beast hair clip, tangled somewhere in the blonde hair of the child. Juno had wild and untamable hair and Juno had grown to love it whenever Taylor did that for her.

"I'm sorry baby." Taylor whispered softly and she could hear Juno, faintly sobbing in her pillow. "I don't wanna go." Juno's voice was shaking with sobs and Taylor didn't know what to do. She didn't even know how to help her.

"Bug I'm really sorry. I promise I'll do everything so you can stay maybe just one more day."  Juno didn't move and Taylor was out of options at this point, she loved Juno so much and it pained her to have to explain to her why this was all happening. Juno didn't want this to happen. Juno just wanted to stay with Taylor and Taylor already regretted telling her, she should've just asked Juno which costumes they were gonna wear. Not tell her she was leaving. Just tell her about the movies they could watch.

"Can I hug you?" Taylor asked and Juno nodded softly, the little girl instantly burying her face in Taylor's neck. Taylor was surprised how Juno managed to gather this amount of strength. She definitely wasn't letting go of Taylor.

Taylor just sad there, holding her broken little girl in her arms and all she could do was hope that things would turn out okay. The worst part was Taylor didn't even know where she was running from, she didn't know what monster had terrified her so much. Or well, she did. It was Juno's dad, but what had he done to harm this perfect little girl in her arms.

The night rolled around, Juno remained asleep, still in Taylor's arms and with one hand, Taylor grabbed her lap top from the coffee table. They were going to have to watch ice age again tomorrow so Juno could finish it.

Taylor opened her laptop, adjusting the small girl on her lap so she could see the screen better and she carefully typed out the words

Requirements for Adoption, Nashville