Just When I Needed You Most (Sequel to Forever & Always)

Chapter 35

TIM POV: It's the day after Christmas, and I'm heading out to go see what's going on with my kid. I don't even know her name yet. I go to restaurant of which this lady and I agreed to meet. She waves me over.

"You're Mr. McGraw correct?"

"You can call me Tim. You are?"

"Claire Eldrige. Nice to meet you." She says shaking my hand. She has brown hair, blue eyes, and youthful tan skin. She looks like she's probably about my age, but gorgeous.

"Hi, so what's going on with..."

"Allison?" She finishes for me. That's a pretty name. "She's gone through about 5 foster homes. None of them for more than a year and a half. Nobody wants to foster or adopt her right now." She says, fiddling with her napkin.

"Did they just give her up or what?" I ask

"The last few have. She's been through a lot. Her first foster parent was killed in a home invasion. Her second killed themself. The third just gave her back because they didn't have room. The fourth... we took her away from them. The fifth gave her back because she was getting night terrors." She says, sounding very emotional.

"What happened with the fourth?" I ask. She cringes.

"The father would abuse her physically and sexually. He was a very twisted person after his wife died about two weeks after they got her. One of the social workers came by to do a check in about 3 months afterwords, and they saw she was covered in bruises." She says looking at me. My heart drops. 

"Oh god-"

"She's been through a lot, but she's a pretty tough kid you know? Allison is just one of those people who, no matter what, she see's the light. I would love to take care of her, but I just don't have the room. Single parenting four kids already is hard and I don't want her to feel neglected. Could you maybe foster her, until someone else comes?" She asks me. She looks exhausted.

"Yeah. I know this sounds crazy, but is there a way I could adopt her back? I made the decision the day my wife died and I regret it. I was just too emotional at the moment to really think through it."

"Absolutely. If you want, you could swing by my house after this and we can grab the paperwork and you can meet her and everything." She says excitingly.

We just pulled into Claire's driveway and my palms are sweaty. Am I nervous? I follow her up to the door and wait for her to unlock it. The door swings open to two little kids, one boy and one girl, with what looks like spaghetti sauce on their hands. She laughs as she hands them tissues to wipe off the sauce. She begins to list off all the kids' names and ages, as she invites me in.

"Well these two messes are Sarah who is four and Michael who is five. Over here there's Linsey who is fifteen. Then upstairs, there should be Neil, who is seventeen." She says as we walk to the back of the house. In the kitchen, Linsey is making what looks like spaghetti. I guess Sarah and Michael were trying to help her. 

"Hey guys! This is Tim." She says introducing me

"Hi!" They all say. I smile and say hello back. We walk onto the back porch where there is a lone little girl sitting on a tree branch reading. I guess this is Allison.

"Hey Alli, what you reading?" Claire says endearingly to her. Alli points to the cover and replies.

"Frog and Toad." She says, not taking her eyes off of the book. She looks just like Carrie, it's insane. Her blonde hair is wavy and her green eyes are gorgeous. She's so tiny and lanky for her age, but she was born a month early, so I wouldn't expect her to be a normal sized six year old. 

"Well Alli, this is Tim." Claire says introducing me. Alli puts down the book, walks over, and shakes my hand. "Do you guys want a minute to talk?" Claire asks me.

"How much does she know already?" I ask.

"She knows who you are. She knows about Carrie. She doesn't know the circumstances around everything." Claire says quietly to me.

"Alright, yeah, I'll have a minute." I say as Claire walks back into the house.

"Aren't you my Dad?" Alli says after Claire shuts the door.

"Yeah, I am." I say, sitting down next to her on the tree branch. 

"Why did you give me up then?" She asks.

"Your mom died the day you were born and I just felt that without her, I couldn't raise you that well. I was too overwhelmed to really think about what decision I was making. Giving you up is my worst regret." I say, brushing back her blonde hair.

"It's okay. You're here now, right?" She says. She's so smart for her age. She reminds me a lot more of Faith than Carrie. I smile and wrap my arm around her.

"Yeah, I am. Would you be okay if I adopted you?"

"Yeah! As long as I can still visit Ms Claire." She says.

"Are you guys really close?"

"Mhmm! She always reads me stories and sings me songs to help me get to sleep when I have nightmares." She says looking at me. 

"As long as she's okay with it, then I will make sure you see her as much as possible." I say, smiling. We walk into the house and sign all the paperwork. Then, we get in the car and head home. I hear her in the backseat singing along to the radio. It's Faith's song. I smile.

"Cause a Mississippi girl don't change her ways just cause everybody knows her name. Ain't big-headed from a little bit of fame. I still like wearing my old ball cap, ride my kids around piggy back. They might know me all around this world, but y'all I'm still a Mississippi girl." She sings effortlessly. She definitely got that from Carrie. 

We pull into the driveway, and I get her things out of the trunk. She grabs her pillow and blanket. I take her upstairs to Audrey's old room, where she'll stay till she decides what she wants to do with the room. I give her sometime to look around, as I head downstairs to make some dinner. 

"Can I call you Dad?" She asks me, as she comes up and sits on a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Sure! Can I call you Alli?" I say, smiling at her.

"Well duh!" She says giggling. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was my mom like?" She says, proping her head up on her hand.

"She was beautiful, and really talented. She had a smile that would light up a room. Hold on a minute." I say, opening one of the drawers to find a photo of her. I find one and give it to Alli. "You can keep it if you want." I say.

"Thanks" She says, investigating the photo. "She looks really pretty." She says, after a few minutes.

"Just like you." I add, stirring the mac and cheese. She laughs. 

"Can I turn on the radio?" She says, pointing to the radio on the counter.

"Yeah absolutely. Just twist the dial and it should turn on." I say smiling. I don't know why I'm so happy. I mean I know why but I just can't wipe the smile off my face. Carrie's song is the first song on the radio.

"This is actually your mom's song!" I say turning it up. 

"Really? She sounds really good! I love this song." She says.

"Yeah, I actually wrote it with her."

"Funny how love can make you feel. Crush you like a ton of steel. Fake you out, make you think it's real. Funny how love can make you feel, yeah" Alli and I sing along, dancing around in the kitchen. This is the happiest I've been in a really long time.