Reunited

Chapter 7

Jennifer POV:
I woke up excited the next morning. It may have come about through something bad, but my daughter was under the same roof as me, finally.
I made my way downstairs, they must not have been awake yet. I made a breakfast that both a two year old and an adult could appreciate, pancakes, eggs, and fruit. Just when I was about to finish I heard an excited yell. I smiled. I heard tiny footsteps running my way. I turned around to see Cadence coming at me full speed. I stuck my hands out to catch her and picked her up. Adaline walked in, still wearing her pajamas and the biggest grin I'd ever seen on her.
"I made some breakfast. Today's Saturday, you're off right?" I asked.
"Right." She said. "I'm just waiting for a phone call from the police, and then I can call the insurance. Until then I try to live as normal as possible."
"You can stay here as long as you need. Goodness knows I could use the company."
There was a bang on the door. I set Cadence down and went to answer it. It was Ginny.
"Hey! I'm sorry to drop by but I was worried about you. You haven't been answering your phone and you were so upset last time I saw you."
I laughed. "It's okay. Come in."
She walked Oliver in and was very surprised when Cadence waltzed up, excited to see someone her size.
"Oh! Hello there!" She said in surprise. Then she caught sight of Adaline and dropped her jaw.
"Is that...?" She asked me.
I nodded. "Adaline, this is Ginny and Oliver. Ginny, this is Adaline. My daughter."
Ginny tentatively stepped forward and shook Adaline's hand.
"It's so wonderful to meet you." She said to Adaline. Then she turned to me.
"Jen, she has your eyes." She said, taking my hand in both of hers.
I smiled and felt tears welling up. I was so proud to introduce her as my daughter. Then she caught sight of Cadence.
"So is she your granddaughter?" She asked in astonishment.
I nodded.
"Wow!" Ginny whispered. "My best friend has a granddaughter the same age as my son!"
I laughed.
We all spent the rest of the day talking, discussing anything from work to upbringing while Cadence and Oliver played. As far as I was concerned, it was the best day I'd ever had.
Adaline got a phone call from the police the following Monday. They wanted to do a thorough investigation of the house, then they would question her. I could tell she was still a little unsure of leaving Cadence alone with me, so I didn't bother suggesting. Instead, I offered to come along with her so she wouldn't have her hands full.
Three days after that I asked her if she wanted to meet Colin. She was all for it. I was afraid it would be strange for her to see me with someone, especially someone who wasn't her father. But, then again, she'd never met him.
We all went out to dinner that night. Cadence was a remarkably calm toddler. She would be fixated on people walking around, or play for the longest time with a napkin or straw wrapper. That might went off without a hitch. I wanted so badly for Colin to stay for the night, but I didn't want to push my luck. He didn't question me, he simply kissed me on the cheek and said goodnight, promising that if I needed him all I had to do was call or text.
Adaline POV:
The more time I spent with my mother, the less willing I was to let her go. She would be going to Vancouver soon to start filming season five of her show. I had finals in less than three weeks, from there j would need to find a job. Not to mention my house would be fit to live in again around that time. Not that I didn't love my home, it's just that I was just getting to know my birth mother and soon we would have to separate. I thought about the job she'd told me about. I wondered if it was still an option, I just couldn't figure out how to bring it up. I wasn't sure if she still wanted to have me around that much, to have Cadence and I follow her to Vancouver.
As it turns out I didn't need to bring it up, she did it for me.
"Adaline?" She asked me one day when I came back from work.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Remember when I asked if you would like to work on the set?" She shyly questioned.
My stomach turned to knots. "Yes."
"Aren't you graduating in a few weeks?"
"Yes, finals are two weeks from this Friday."
"I'm leaving two weeks after that for Vancouver. If you still want a job, we need a few people like you. You'd get on site childcare so you wouldn't be far from Cadence, there are fantastic benefits, and you'll have a salary, a great one."
The knots came undone. I felt myself smile from ear to ear. "I'd love it!"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! Because I just found you and I'm not ready to let you go!"
I hugged her and she hugged me back.
I felt a small arm wrap around my leg. When I looked down Cadence was hugging the both of us around our legs. I laughed out loud.
She pulled back and looked me in the eye. "If you'd like, you can stay here until then. I don't know when your house will be fit for living again..."
"Not until just before finals, and I still have to throw out all that furniture. The insurance will send me a check to replace what's been torn up. I'm sure some of it is salvageable."
"If you don't mind me saying, there's no point in staying there for two weeks after its fixed up."
"I don't mind at all. I just have to throw out what is trashed and pick out what I can save."
"Well, I'm free until we start filming. Let me know when you want to get started."
"Well, I work five days a week. I occasionally get a day off. Other than that it's just Saturday's and Sunday's."
"That sounds like a plan."
"It should only take us one day to pack what I can save. Throwing the trash out is another story. Most of the furniture is trashed."
"I'll take care of that. We can rent a huge dumpster. The company drops it off and then picks it up by a certain time."
"You don't have to." I said with a polite smile.
"Please, I insist. Between finals and Cadence, I know you're under a lot of pressure. I've been through college, I know how bad it can be."
"Thank you. I really can't thank you enough."
"I'm your mother, it's what I'm here for. Now matter how old you are."
Jennifer POV:
Three weeks passed by in a blur. We spent an entire weekend cleaning her house. Colin and Josh joined in and Ginny kept Cadence and Oliver in the living room after we cleaned it out.
Adaline wasn't kidding, whoever was searching her house must have dug everywhere. Multiple people were probably involved. The couches were gone, Colin and Josh took those straight to the dumpsters. The bed was also a wreck. They had left Cadence's room most intact though. I guess they didn't think there was anything valuable in a nursery. A shelf was knocked over and the dresser drawers dug through but that was it.
Most of the kitchen was salvageable as well as the dining room, although the table had been tipped over for whatever reason and one of the legs was broken clean off. Adaline resolved to put the chairs on the curb and buy a new set with the insurance money. Less to move all the way to Vancouver. All of the TVs were gone, naturally. Ginny lent a hand by wrapping breakable sin bubble wrap and packing them away. The rest of us packed away the house room by room. All of it added up to a small enough amount that it would fit in our vehicles. It would be stored in my garage until we moved. Then a moving company would drive it to my house in Vancouver, where Adaline and Cadence would be staying until she found a home of her own.
Everything was going so well it felt like a dream. I was afraid I would wake up soon and it would all be gone. I was just as worried for her, as much as I didn't want to feel alone again, I feared her being on her own again even more.
Finals came and went. Her grades posted days later, high marks in everything. I was so unbelievably proud that she accomplished this all while being a working, single mother. She thanked me, insisting that now that she had a little help with Cadence it made all the difference. And now that she had me, she could attend the graduation ceremony. She would graduate regardless, but now that I could watch Cadence she could proudly walk across that stage for everyone to see that she did it. She even had honor cords for her achievements.
The night she graduated, she came downstairs in a beautiful black and white dress. I almost cried.
"You look lovely!" I complimented her.
"Thank you!" She said with a bright smile, a smile that looked a lot like mine, or so Ginny told me.
Cadence squirmed in my arms, so I let her down. She sprinted for her mother. I smiled watching the two of them, my daughter and granddaughter. I carried Adaline's cap and gown to the car for her while she strapped Cadence into her car seat.
The drive was brief. We lived in the middle of Los Angeles, and the ceremony was being held at UCLA. We met up with Colin, Ginny, and Josh at the front doors. Adaline greeted them with joy and excused herself to join the rest of the graduating class. She hugged me and kissed Cadence on the cheek before heading in a different direction. I realized this was the first time she was really trusting me with her daughter. Sure, she left us alone at home from time to time. But this was out and about, they were truly separated. In the small amount of time I'd known my daughter, I'd realized she didn't let her daughter out of her sight very much. I didn't ask why, I didn't want to stir any bad memories. I prayed to God she wasn't seriously abused as a child. In time, I figured I would know.
We found our seats. I made sure to sit by the aisle in case I needed to get up with Cadence. Colin held my hand. He was, as usual, supporting me in every way.
The ceremony took some time, the graduating class was massive. When her name was called I cried for what felt like the millionth time in the past month or so. Cadence put a hand to my cheek as if to ask why I was crying.
When it was all over, our group went to dinner. Colin insisted on paying, something he does often that I despise. I supposed it was my determination to do everything on my own. He insisted that I should be proud too. Even though I hadn't raised her, I had given birth to a wonderful and successful daughter. And had taken a huge step by reaching out to her and taking her in.
Ginny and Josh went home after, Oliver was long overdue for bedtime. Colin came back to the house with us. Adaline put Cadence to bed and returned downstairs, where Colin opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate her success.
"Congratulations! Most people take four years for college, you did it in two and a half! Never forget, that is a huge accomplishment!" He said to her.
We all drank some and chatted late into the night, until Adaline excused herself to bed.
"Goodnight you two." She said, sauntering up the stairs.
I waved as she went and turned to Colin. He was smiling an adorably wicked smile.
"Colin," I told him, "I wish you could stay, but-"
"No, my dear." He interrupted me, putting a finger over my lips to shush me. "Your daughter and I talked recently. I asked her how she felt about you and I. I told her I know I'm not her father, but that I love you. I told her you didn't want to scare her off."
"And?" I urged him to continue.
"She said you were being utterly ridiculous. She said her father doesn't deserve you or to know about her, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you being involved with someone who cares about you."
I laughed. "Oh, that is such a relief!"
And with that, I nearly knocked him over. I moved from one couch to another in a flash and kissed him.
"God, I've missed this!" I said.
"Me too." He took me in his arms and buried his face in my hair.
"Meet you upstairs?" I said with a sly grin on my face.
He grinned back and chased me up the steps into the bedroom.