Rescue Nova

Foster Kitty

Kimberly got home at three thirty that afternoon. She was surprised to find the house dead quiet. After leaving her bag and keys in the foyer, she went to the kitchen to wash her hands and retrieve the fax Martina said she sent. Kimberly picked up the stack of seven pages. Right from the top of the first page, she was able to see this was going to be a dismal report.

Line after line, page after page all attested to how grossly neglected Nova's education had been. Kimberly knew it could be bad, but she was not expecting it to be this bad. By the time she finished reading, Kimberly nearly had tears in her eyes. She left the kitchen to bring the report to her and Leila's room, where she planned on keeping it so that when she and Leila had a minute alone, they could hide in there and discuss it.

But when Kimberly walked into the master bedroom, she was greeted with the most adorable sight - Leila and Nova sound asleep in Kimberly's and Leila's bed. Nova was snuggled as close to Leila as physically possible, and Leila's arms were wrapped around the girl.

I needed this, Kimberly thought as the sadness caused by the report eased while she looked at those two.

•••••••••••••••

Kimberly was preparing dinner later that afternoon when her cell went off. She abandoned her post at the stove to retrieve the phone on the counter.

"Hello?" Kimberly answered.

"Hi, Kimberly. It's Liam."

Ten days after Nova came to them, she announced that she wanted to terminate her biological mother's legal status as her mother. Leila called Beth, who told her that she'd give her and Ashleigh's attorney, Liam, a call and give him Leila's and Kimberly's contact information. He called the next day, telling Kimberly and Leila that he was booked solid for a few weeks and would call them when he could schedule an appointment to meet with them and Nova.

Now, one week later, he was calling to inform them of a cancellation in his schedule and to ask if they wanted to see him tomorrow morning. Kimberly wasn't sure this week was good, what with the upcoming doctor's appointment on Wednesday, but she knew finding a way to terminate her biological mother's parental rights was important to Nova.

"Well, think about it," the lawyer suggested. "You can tell me her decision later, provided it's before I go to bed at ten."

"Okay, I will. Thank you."

•••••••••••••••

Kimberly had hoped that Nova would be out of headspace at dinner that evening so that Kimberly would be able to ask her about seeing Liam tomorrow, but, thanks to the stress of the assessment, Nova was still little. Kimberly would just have to ask headspace Nova and hope the little girl's answer would reflect what she'd say if she was asked out of headspace.

"Did you have fun playing with Miss Martina?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah," Nova answered tentatively. "But I don't want to do it again."

"No, you don't need to see her a second time," Kimberly told her.

Nova seemed relieved to hear that.

"Do you remember what you told us about wanting to get rid of your mommy, and we called the lawyer that Emily had to help her do that, but he was too busy for the next few weeks?"

"Yes."

"Well, he's free tomorrow. He asked me to find out if you'd like to see him. Would you like to see him tomorrow or wait a few weeks?"

"I will see him tomorrow. I need him to help me get a judge to tell my mommy that she's not mine anymore."

"Okay. Leila, can you bring her to his office tomorrow at eleven?"