Spirited

Chapter Seven

    Its been a week and my family members haven't come home. My mom, on the other hand, has called me a few times. I didn't answer, though. Peter would stay until late at night and pick me up early in the morning. None of my friends have talked to me since Tuesday, but I don't care anymore. Peter is the only thing that matters to me. All the teachers know my situation.

   I've been put into an adoption program as of this morning. Peter doesn't know about the adoption yet. I don't want to make him think that we will be separated. It could happen, though, which I don't want to happen. 

   The clock turns 7:10. Peter walks into my room. I'm sitting on my bed. He kisses me, briefly. Then sits down.

  "Good morning," he says. 

  "Good morning," I reply.

  "You sleep OK?" he asks. I nod my head.

  "I got put into an adoption program. I got the information this morning. I asked for it to be near you, and the did the best they could. They were able to get a range from Sacramento and Menlo Park. I hope that's OK." I explain. I don't dare look into his eyes.

  "That's... amazing, December. You did your best, and that's all that matters to me. We'll make it work, because I will make it work." he tells me . I smile. 

  "Thank you. You're making this a whole lot easier on me. I'm actually meeting a couple in a couple of hours, and I want you to come. I asked if you could come along and the couple said it was OK. I would really appreciate it." I plead. He nods his head. I kiss his cheek. As I'm pulling away he moves his head and puts his hand on my right cheek. He presses our lips together. I wrap my arms around his chest. He pulls me to him. We are so close that we are almost touching. 

   I feel my heart rate go up a lot. I have to pull away. Even after I do, he keeps me really close. Peter has one arm around me. I lean my head on his shoulder, enclosed in his warmth. 

   "No matter what, you and I will always end up like this. I will make sure this happens." Peter mentions. "Always."

   "I know you will," I say sweetly. I relax. I know that he will be here, because I will make sure my foster parents know how important he is to me.

    We stay there for a long time, hand in hand, lip on lip. I never knew how much you could love a person and know that they love you back. 

   By the time we finally leave my room, it's 11:49. 

   "You want to get something to eat?" Peter asks.

   "I think the couple is going to take us out to lunch just to get to know us, but thanks for the offer." I say.

  "No prob, like always." he answers. I smile and he returns it. I sit at the old family dinner table. "Do you miss them at all?"

  "Its the little ones that I miss the most. I had thought that they loved me and cared about me, especially Willow. I think I miss her the most. I heard her speak her first words, saw her take her first steps, and I was always there to hold her hand." I see the first picture Willow had drawn for me. I walk to it. "She said that she had made this for me because she loved me the most. I thought she was telling the truth then. She would always come up to me and tell me about her first day of preschool before anyone else. I wonder if Alexis put those bad things into all of there heads. But at one point or another they had all told me that they didn't care about me. Or that they wanted me gone. I miss the way the boys would play outside, doing basket ball and shooting three's. Or the way Ariana would write stories or poems about the family. Alexis never did anything with me when we were older. It just doesn't seem right that they just suddenly didn't like me. I just wished they could have told me everything I did wrong. My mom would just watch them tear me apart and do nothing, and then when I need her most... I don't know, I just thought she cared. I guess I have to put all of that behind me now. New parents. New family. New life. No one but you, the one person I trust." I say. I stifle a sob. Peter comes and hugs me.

   "Cry if you need too. I understand." he tells me. I cry. I know nothing in my world is right, but Peter is. He tells me what I want to hear, and what I need to hear. But mostly he tells me that he wants me, and only me. I start calming down.

    "Thank you Peter." I say, though my voice is muffled. I look at him again. I go to kiss him but the door bell rings. I rub my eyes. "Does it look like I've been crying?"

 "No. Are you ready to meet someone who could potentially be your parent?" he says. I nod.