Reunited

Chapter 1

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to do it. It had been twenty long years. I was sixteen when I found out I was pregnant, Toby took off after seven months together. I was just about to tell him but he left a note and took off. I never heard from him again. I stupidly didn't try to track him down. Maybe then I could have kept her, the little girl he helped create. Maybe he'd still be around, or maybe he could have at least provided financial help. And I'd still have my angel.
But I was sixteen and stupid, so I told myself I could do this on my own. But the more I looked around at diapers and formula and clothes, and me unable to find a job, I couldn't. My mother found an adoption agency to take her after she was born.
That day was the hardest, the day I gave birth to her and heard her crying. I was the only person in the room who could comfort her, but I couldn't make myself. The doctor told me I could change my mind, but I looked the other was and shook my head. I cried into my mother's shoulder as she waved the doctor out. My mother cried with me. I'd never seen my mother cry before.
The next few weeks I cried more and more, fighting a battle with my heart, which was screaming at me to find her before it was too late. But I never did. How stupid I was.
Twenty years later and here I was hiring a private investigator to track her down. Because it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. My best friend had her own baby, a while ago maybe but it made me realize how much I wished I still had my daughter. I never even looked at her, not once. I was afraid if I did I would be tempted to keep her and not be able to care for her.
I jumped when my phone rang. I answered it.
"Hello?" I said.
"Ms. Morrison." It was the private investigator. I waited silently for him to continue.
"I have news. You're going to want to sit down."
I backed slowly to my couch and felt behind me for the arm, then cautiously sat down, squeezing the hell out of a pillow. I still didn't speak so he continued.
"Your daughter is a short drive from you. She was adopted by a family in Texas, but they changed their minds."
My heart sank at the idea of my baby girl without a family.
"They had a baby of their own and sent her back. From there she was bounced around the state until she left the foster system at 18. She moved to California shortly after. I found out where she works through her Facebook page. I followed her to work and then home yesterday. She's maybe half an hour from you."
I almost dropped my phone.
"Do you want her address?" He asked.
"No." I said in a shaky voice. "I don't want to overwhelm her."
"Well, she went into a Starbucks and sat there for an hour or so a few times. I can guess that she goes there regularly."
"Okay. Thank you." Was all I could say.
"I'll email you everything. Call me if you need anything else."
He hung up. I waited patiently at my computer. When I finally got the email I found the address of the Starbucks and the times she was there. I took a deep breath. If she were there today, she would be there in about fifteen minutes. I made up my mind right then and there.
The entire drive I thought about what to say, what to do. I was there in twenty minutes. I mentally steeled myself and marched inside. I had already memorized her picture weeks ago when it was sent to me.
I spotted her within seconds of getting in line. I got a drink and a muffin and pretended to be looking for a seat. In reality, I was looking for anything on her table to talk about. I spotted the Deathly Hallows symbol from Harry Potter on her laptop. I made my way over.
"Harry Potter fan huh?" I asked with a polite smile.
She looked up at me and smiled a dazzling smile.
"My favorite books. In ten years nothing has topped them." She said.
"I know what you mean. I read them all within days of them coming out." It was true. When they were advertised I was intrigued. The first book had me hooked.
"Do you mind if I sit?" I bravely asked.
"Not at all. It's always nice to socialize." She invited me with a hand gesture.
"I'm Jennifer." I introduced myself, reaching out a hand. "You can call me Jen."
"I'm Adaline." She said, extending her hand as well.
Adaline. I repeated the name in my head. It was beautiful. Something I might have chosen.
"You can call me Addy." She added.
"Addy." I smiled at her. "I hope I'm not intruding, I'm on a break from work and it's not worth driving home so I thought I'd grab a coffee."
My lie seemed to work. I just didn't want to seem like a creep to her. I just wanted to get to know her before I revealed why I was doing this.
"I know what you mean. I come here on breaks from work, and on my days off. It's always quiet, a good way to study." She explained to me.
"You can't study at home?" I asked.
"I can, but I'm usually tempted to clean, or my cat wants to lay across my work." She said with a giggle. "And that's on my days off. On the weekends my daughter is home with me all day. I usually pick her up at around 5:30 so I can't study at home during the week until she goes to bed."
I'm a grandmother! I thought to myself, trying not to drop my jaw. She's only 20. I desperately hope she didn't have the same issue I did, where the father takes off. But here I was at 36, a grandmother. My own mother would lose her mind when she found out she's a great-grandmother.
"I see. You must have your hands full between school, work, and being a parent. Do you not have any family or her father to help?" I dared to ask. I wanted to take it back, but I also wanted to find out. But then she looked very downcast and I wanted to hug her.
"I'm sorry. That just sort of came out." I apologized.
"It's alright. A little curiosity can't hurt." She assured me. She was so gracious. "I was a foster kid, never had a family. I met my ex when I was seventeen. I moved in with him when I got out of the system. We lived in the Dallas area in Texas. I got pregnant at 18 and had my daughter when I was 19. Her dad was around for a while and so was his family, but then he split so I saved what I could and moved here for a fresh start. I was just going to school when we were together, he said he would provide for us so I could focus on that. When he left us I moved in with a friend and got a job. The state paid for daycare and most of our food so I was able to save a majority of my checks. When I had enough to make sure I wouldn't fall on my face, I secured a job and an apartment here and transferred my credits from there to the college here. I've been taking online classes since and working at a home health care business since. It works out great because I only work during the week and I'm off at 5 every day. And the patients tend to break the rules and slip birthday and Christmas checks into my purse when they think I'm not looking." She finished with a sheepish grin.
I couldn't be happier. She'd had a rough start but here she was settled in California with a good job and working on a degree. She seemed so happy.
"Well you certainly seem to have it all figured out. You're doing amazing for a single mother. And you look so young." I praised her.
"Oh, I'm actually almost 21. Everyone thinks I'm a couple of years younger. It's hard to get someone to take me seriously but once I show them how committed I am they take it right back." She proudly said.
"I bet. You seem so responsible and it sounds like you're a fantastic mother. I'll bet your daughter grows up to be a wonderful person with you as an example."
"Do you want to see her?" She asked me eagerly. I smiled, because Ginny does the same thing with Oliver.
"I'd love to."
She clicked the home button on her phone and a picture of a little girl showed. She couldn't be more than two, she also couldn't look more like her mother.
"She looks exactly like you!" I exclaimed.
"From the few baby pictures I have of myself, I can tell she's a little carbon copy of me."
Quite the opposite for me. Adaline looked as much like Toby as she did me. She carried my bright green eyes and facial structure, impeccable cheekbones and a dimple in her chin. But she had his dark hair and long form. Something in her nose also reminded me of him. Maybe it was the way it turned up slightly. Either way, she was by far the most beautiful thing on this Earth.
"Oops! It's just past five. I have to go pick up Cadence." She started packing her things.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up." I said.
"Oh, no. It's alright. They're open until seven, she's just used to me picking her up around this time. I like to keep her on a routine."
Of course someone who had grown up in such an unstable environment would have their child on a schedule. I smiled at the thought and stood.
"Well it's been wonderful talking to you. Your daughter is adorable and I must say it's refreshing to see someone of your age taking on so much responsibility and handling it so well." I told her.
"Thank you. It was nice talking to you too." She replied before seeing herself out. I smiled to myself and threw away my empty cup before going to my car and driving home. I slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.