Mona of Dreamweaver (Book 1 of The Sisterhood Trilogy)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Maybe I did fall asleep for a little or dozed off, because I was awoken to the smell of pancakes and eggs seeping into my bedroom through the crack under the door. It startled me at first. I felt a little disoriented. Where was I? How did I get here? This isn’t the orphanage. The orphanage never made food with such a delicious smell. Then it all quickly went away. Reality dawned on me and crashed with a force of a thousand bricks. The events from the day before replayed in my head like they just happened several minutes ago. Stacy’s voice was loud and clear. Didn’t we instruct you to get a boy? What do we need a girl for? We’ll talk about this tomorrow. It was tomorrow. They would be telling me that I had to go back or they would kick me out on the street to fend for myself in this foreign country. I dreaded going downstairs, but my empty stomach had other ideas. It growled a loud growl indicating that he didn’t like waiting. Slowly I got out of bed and made it up. I went into the large bathroom and did my usual ritual. After getting dressed in my usual black clothing, I crept out into the hallway.

As I neared the breakfast room, the smell of the food triggered my taste buds and my mouth watered. I felt like I could eat a whole elephant. Stacy and Kyle were sitting on across from each other at a small, four place table. They were fully dressed for work. Stacy sat elegantly eating her pancakes, as Kyle sat sitting his coffee and reading the newspaper. It looked like a movie. I took a deep breath and decided to make my presence known.

“Good morning,” I said softly.

“Oh,” Kyle said looking up from the newspaper. “Good morning Kai Lin, how did you sleep?”

“As well as can be expected sir,” I said politely.

“Call me Kyle, please sit down for some breakfast.”

I slowly walked toward the table, and took my place where plates were set. A maid brought me pancakes and a glass of milk. Stacy didn’t look up or say anything. I picked at my food. My heart thumped as I was waiting for her to say something. The something that would decide my future. In my peripheral vision, I saw her wipe her mouth with her napkin and look at me.

“I have spoken to Jennifer last night, and she said she knows a family that was interested in adopting a girl but didn’t have enough money for it. I want you to pack your things and I will take you there.”

Stacy got up and went out of the room. I stared at my plate. I never expected that. They actually weren’t going to send me back or kick me out on the street. I looked up and saw Kyle looking at me with a sad expression. It kind of shocked me. Why was he sad? Didn’t he also want a boy?

“Thank you for the breakfast,” I said quietly getting up.

“Good luck to you,” he said. “It would have been kind of nice to have a daughter.”

I sighed and went up to get my bag. When I walked outside, I met Stacy. She was sitting in a bright yellow Porsche, the car running. She looked a little impatient, so I quickly climbed in. As soon as I closed the door, she revved the engine and sped out of the yard. I didn’t even have time to make a last glance at the beautiful mansion. The drive was silent and tense. Everything outside flew by at the speed of light. It was different from yesterday. I was nervous. I didn’t want to feel too hopeful anymore. I didn’t want to feel disappointed again. They wanted a girl? Maybe it was a mistake just like with the Weavers. Stacy drove into a part of town that I didn’t see yesterday. It was poorer than the middle class but not too poor like I have seen back home. We stopped in front of an average white house. It looked rather homey and decent looking. There were so many children’s toys scattered around the yard, that it was hard to walk through without stepping on one. We walked up some steps and Stacy rang the doorbell. As we waited for an answer, she looked around. From her expression, I saw she didn’t really like this place. The door was finally opened and a petite woman opened the door. She woke an apron and had a small toddler in her arms.

“May I help you?” she asked with an accent.

“Yes, Jennifer Potter sent us to you,” Stacy said.

“Oh, you must be Mrs. Weaver. Jennifer is my niece, please come in,” the woman sounded very excited.

We stepped through the door and into a small cluttered but neat living room. There were lots of traditional looking items on shelves. The walls were covered in photos of children of different ages.

“Please sit down.”

“Thank you,” Stacy said politely and sat down on the couch. I followed suit.

“I heard from Jennifer that you were looking to adopt a girl but didn’t have the funds to do so,” Stacy said, not wasting time.

“Yes.”

“May I know what made you want to do that?”

“I have 7 small children, and it would be nice to have an older daughter that would be able to help me take care of them,” the woman explained.

“Seven children?”

“Yes, two sets of twins and triplets.”

I could see Stacy’s eyes widen. Even I was shocked. Two sets of twins and triplets. Wow, that is a lot. What do these people do? I like children, I really do. At the orphanage, I helped out with the younger children, and they say I have a way with them. But this is 7 little children. Twins and triplets. I started to imagine my life here. How I would be taking care of them and what my future would be like.

“Well, I’ll talk to my husband about this and get back to you,” Stacy said suddenly. “Thank you for your time.”

Before the woman could say anything, Stacy was up from her seat and heading towards the door. I jumped up and practically ran after her. She walked so fast in her three-inch stilettos, that I could barely keep up. By the time I got to the car, Stacy was already inside and had the car running. I held my breath on the way back. I wanted to know what she was thinking. Why did she suddenly change her mind about leaving me there? After about a half hour of fighting with myself to keep quiet. Taking a deep breath I spoke up.

“Mrs. Weaver?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you not leave me there and take me back?”

“Because I am a sensible person. It’s one thing to give you away to someone who is really interested in a child, but its another when those people want to use you as a baby sitter so that they can have some private time. If they wanted that they should have waited or tried to not have twins and triplets every time.”

Her answer really shocked me. It was as if she cared. Maybe she cared for me as a fellow human being. A new wave of hope flooded through me. Maybe things will turn out just fine.

“By the way, call me Stacy.”