Only You- Jade and Leigh-Anne

Leigh 1.4

April/May Laila 3 years old

Mother's Day

"Hey Laila." I called out. "Mummy wants to talk to you." Okay so maybe my mind was going at a million miles an hour, and maybe this was a rash decision, but I knew I wanted this.

"What mummy?" Laila giggled, running in the living room, dressed completely head to toe in princess. Princess shows that were pink with pictures of Cinderella on the points of the shows, a blue Cinderella dress that had a small tear in the top portion of the dress that had happened as a result of one of the dogs not agreeing with the tea party she was throwing. That was quite a meltdown. The princess crown on the tip of her head was crooked as she smiled up at me.

"You know how mummy wanted you to have a sibling?" I started. I bent down to her level. She had been promised a sibling for the last year and a half, every one of those opportunities had slipped through my hands. It was time for me to have another little one and for Laila to have the sibling she craved so much. "Mummy is thinking about adopting."

"What that mean?" Laila asked, plopping herself on the floor.

"That means mummy would bring home a little girl or boy that doesn't have a home, or a mummy or daddy." I explained. For the longest time I thought one was enough for me, that Laila was all I needed. I had always thought Laila enjoyed being the center of attention, and she had when she was little, but now she was dying for the constant playmate. She was three and at the point in her life when she craved that socialization. "What do you think?" This idea had been running through my head far before Jordan and I had split, but I couldn't shake it from my head. It was all I thought about. If I couldn't have a baby, why not do some good and help a little one out that hadn't been as fortunate as Laila had been to grow up in a house full of love.

"I say yes, cause I wanna brother." Laila nodded.

"You want a brother?" I smiled. "What happened to I only want a sister?" I laughed.

"Dunno, I want a brother." Laila shrugged.

"Well we will see what mummy can do, but I think you'll be happy either way." I replied. "You're okay with this? We can't return them, they'll be with us forever and ever."

"I love them no matter what." She squealed. "Cause they my sibling like- like Maya has a baby sister, now I get one, and I take care of them nice."

"You'll be a very good big sister, I promise." I nodded.

"I will be?" She asked, her eyes going wide.

"Of course you will be!" I exclaimed. "You're very good around Harlee and Haven, you're sweet and you share nicely, the little girl or boy we bring home will be very lucky to have you."

"I take good care of them." Laila grinned.

"I know you will." I smiled back. "Now mummy has a lot of work to do to get this started." I could only hope we could have a new addition by Christmas, but I knew that was pushing it. I wanted this child in my arms now.

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"Age?" I read off to myself. I wanted a baby, but those were the hardest to come by, as everybody wanted a baby. I sighed before putting one to three in the box. The paperwork was endless, questions that I could answer within a split second, and other ones that took me ten minutes to figure out what I wanted. "Preference on girl or boy?" I mumbled. After a few long talks with Laila, she was set on having a little brother, I still didn't know why. She had little to no play experience with boys, maybe she didn't realize that most little boys didn't enjoy playing dolls and getting dressed up as princesses. I wrote down boy. A boy would be nice, different then Laila, then I could feel complete, I had a girl and a boy. The thought of having a little boy was scary, I knew little girls, I knew how they worked. I was a little girl at one point, I knew all the dolls and princesses and I was ready for that. My nephews were the closest experience I had, and you'd think that was quite a lot but watching little boys and raising one were completely different things.

"Mummy?" Laila whispered, rubbing her eyes as she came down the stairs.

"Yeah sweet pea?" I responded, looking up from the paperwork.

"Why you up? It bed time?" She replied sleepily.

"I'm working on some things, you can go back to sleep." I smiled, setting down my pen.

"But you up." Laila frowned, walking up to my leg.

"That doesn't mean that you need to be awake." I laughed. "Go back to bed Laila, mummy will go to bed soon, I promise."

"Pinky promise?" She asked.

"I pinky promise." I smiled. "Now get that bum of yours back to bed."

"I get my bum back to bed," she repeated, walking towards the stairs. "Here a kiss." She stopped, blaming a sleepy kiss to me.

"Thank you, sweet dreams love." I giggled, blowing one back. I watched as she clumsily went up the stairs, tripping on a few as she was exhausted. I looked down at the paperwork in front of me, maybe ten pages left. If I finished tonight maybe I could end up with my little one a day sooner.

A few hours later, it was well into the early morning hours. I had finished all the necessary papers, everything was signed and ready to be sent off. All I could hope for was for this time to work, I wanted a family so bad, and maybe it would feel complete after another one was added.

...

"Happy mummy's day!" Laila giggled, waking me up from my four hour sleep. "I make you this in school." She explained, holding a card out for me to open.

"Wow, thank you baby." I smiled, opening it up to reveal the messy writing, but none the less I could still read it. "Mummy loves you."

"And I love mummy cause you pretty and nice and I like you hair straight-"

"You've got quite the list." I laughed, running my fingers through her hair.

"And you love me and give me baths and let me wear you makeup." She continued.

"Thank you for making me a mummy." I replied. "You're the best gift anybody could ever give me little miss Laila."

"I love you more then puppies and sparkles." She squeaked.

"Wow, that's a lot then isn't it?"

"You read what it say mummy?" Laila asked.

"You want me to read it out loud?" I wondered, opening the card.

"Uh huh!" She giggled, curling up next to me.

"I love my mummy because..." I started off.

"They say mommy but I say mummy."

"I love my mummy because she dresses me nice, she makes me food, she tucks me in at night and sings me songs. I love my mummy because my mummy is pretty, I like mummy's curls and mummy's hair straight. Mummy is a good singer, my mummy dances too." I read off. "My mummy is the best mummy because she loves me and she gives me sweeties."

"You like?" She smiled.

"I love it."

"Good cause I work very hard."

"It's beautiful my love." I grinned, pulling her in for a hug. "You've made my day Laila."

"I did?" She asked.

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Short but sweet? I should have this updated by tomorrow, so stay tuned!