Wait He's My Dad

Mall Time

-Hope's P.O.V-

I can't believe that Mom is actually taking us to the mall. Back when we were in the center, it wasn't an everyday thing that happened. I wish that we could've done this more often. When Ashley and I had Miss Evans at the center, we were allowed to go with her if she didn't mind. Usually she didn't and she'd watch over us. The people there usually gave her extra money for us. It was something they did. She had a job before she was adopted. Most do. They try to get the older kids some responsibilities before they leave. Ashley and I even had a job before my Dad and Tre adopted us. Honestly I'm glad that my Dad adopted me. I just can't believe that they took me away from my dad like that. I would have been pissed if someone took my child away from me. "What are you thinking about?" Ashley asked me. "What it was like in the center before all of this." I said. "I'm glad we were adopted by Billie and Tre." Ashley said. "Why is that?" Mom asked. "Sometimes the kids that came back from adoptions had horrible stories about their adopters. I was always afraid we would end up separated or we'd both go to the same horrible household."  I said. "It's true. There were so many horror stories growing up that I didn't know what to believe after a while. Some people just made them up or the stories got changed each time they were told. We actually made the rule that we would never be separated because we didn't want one of us to get a really bad family. and the fact that when we were younger we were so close that we never talked to anyone expected for each other." Ashley added. "Was it that bad?" Mom asked. "Not all the time. As children we were bad. It got to the point that they tried to force us to talk to other kids but we wouldn't. We actually would start throwing fits causing them to let us be back together." I said. "Other times though, it was pretty bad. There were days where it felt like they were torturing us, but we could have just been being children at the time." Ashley said. "We did like to over exaggerate as small children." I said.

We finally pulled into the mall parking lot and all of us got out. "What store are we going to first?" Mom asked. "Hot Topic." I said. "Are we seriously just going to be there all day?" Mom asked. "Nope. We also like to shop at Spencer's." Ashley said. "Please tell me you'll not go to the back." Mom said. "No promises." I said. "Have you two been to the back?" Mom asked. "Yep. When you have no one really looking after you, you just do whatever you want." Ashley said. "I swear if either of you two buy anything from the aback you're grounded." Mom said. "But Mom." I said. She gave me the 'I'm gonna beat you if you do what I said' look. "Let's go get whatever you two want." Mom said. We went ahead of Mom. We may not have been able to go to the mall that much but we have learned where Hot Topic was. That was our store. It's usually where we spend all of the money we have saved over the year. Those were the times that we could spend whatever we wanted on ourselves. Ashley grabbed my hand. When it was just the two of us this is what we did. We never wanted to loose each other. That was our biggest fear coming to the mall. Miss Evans actually started this. She would have one of us hold her hand while holding onto the other one. When she was adopted we continued to do that. We'd always get weird faces made at us, especially from adults. People our age never really cared. I guess that's the difference between the generations. "Why are you two holding hands? Is there something going on?" Mom asked. "Nope. It's an old habit we have. This is what we did so we never lost each other." Ashley said. "You guys can stop that you know." Mom said. "Actually knowing me it's better we keep doing this." I said. "Why?" Mom asked. "I get distracted very easily. It could be the most stupidest things too." I said. "She really does. It's kind of funny to watch her sometimes." Ashley said. "I guess that makes sense. From the stories your father has told me about your mother she was like that too." Mom said. "Dad told you about my Mom?" I asked. "Yes. He told me about her and you. I always felt bad for your father. It looked like loosing you slightly killed your father. I remember when he first found you, he cried tears of joy. He was so worried you wouldn't want to come live with us. I had to calm him down before he went and got you." Mom said. "Wow. That's cool to know I guess." I said. "Did you ever get upset that Billie had another kid with another woman?" Ashley asked. "Yes and no. He was on tour at the time when everything happened, but he told me right away. He was also really out of it. I was glad that he did help Hope's mother out as much as possible." Mom said. "He did?" I asked. "Yes. We were actually on a break at the time too. He did love your mom even though we got back together. He cared a lot about the two of you." Mom said. "Wow. Okay." I said. We all quieted down and continued our walk to Hot Topic.