ZADIE

Chapter 3

                                                                Chapter 3

Scott's POV

I walked out of the house very overwhelmed by everything. How were we going to take care or a child? I drove to the closest department store and walked in. I wanted to get her clothes, new bedding, and some toys. I walked over to the girls department and froze. I had no idea what I was doing. I must have looked helpless because a female worker came over to me. " Can I help you sir?" She asked sweetly. 

"Yeah actually...I'm...um....I have a little girl staying with me...and she needs clothes but I have no idea what I'm doing." I sighed in frustration and she laughed at me. 

"How old is she?" She asked. I looked at her blankly. I didn't know how old she was. I thought for a momment. She looked to be about my cousins age, but she was a little smaller. "Five." i took a shot in the dark. I guess if they didn't fit we could always try again. "Ok let me see here." She walked over to some shirts and held one up. "Does this look like her size?" She asked me. 

"Yeah it looks like it would fit her." I smiled and she laughed again at me. 

"Ok so with these you'll need different pants and the cool thing about it is that you can mix an match everything and it makes things so much easier." She walked me around the drpartment picking out shirts, pants, socks, ect. "Anything else she needs?" She was clearly having fun shopping for me, "Um, well I need bedding and oh shoes!" I answered. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the shoe section. 

By the time I was done I had a cart full of stuff for her. I laughed at myself. I think I went a little overboard. 

Mitch's POV

Scott's been gone quite a long time and I chuckled at myself thinking he's probably wandering around the store lost. The little girl and I sat on the couch together. I was telling her about Scott and I and even though she wasn't speaking she was nodding and I almost got a smile out of her. I heard a car door close and then the key in the door. The girl jumped and hugged my arm, "Whoa it's ok it's just Scott." She relaxed as Scott walked inside. "Uh Mitch I need your help..." Scott said nervously. I stood up and led her to the door. "I'm going out here to help him. You can stand here and watch us if you want." She nodded and stood in the doorway as I followed him to his car. He opened his truck and I gasped at how much stuff was in there! "Holy sh....crap Babe what did you do buy the whole store?" I quickly changed the curse word realizing she was watching us. 

"Ok, ok so I may have gone a little overboard..." He chuckled

"A little?" He rolled his eyes and began taking out bags. I helped and between the two of us we were able to get everything in one trip. We walked back inside and set the bags in the living room. The little girls eye lit up when she saw all the bag full of little girl things. Scott reached into a bag and pulled out a soft, fluffy bear and walked over to her knealing down to her height. He handed it to her and smiled. "He will help keep you safe." he said sweetly. She smiled big and hugged him. I could have cried at how beautiful the sight was. 

After we finally got the girl clean and got her room all set up we walked her down the hallway. I put her in bed and sat next to her while Scott stood next to us. "Now if you need me or Scott we're right next door ok?" I stroaked herhair lightly and she nodded. I got up and we walked out of the room leaving the door open. "Goodnight." Scott whispered. 

"Wow, what have we got ourselves into..."I sighed plopping down on our bed. He sat down next to me and wrapped his long arms around me. "I have no idea. All I know is that she needs us right now." He kissed my forehead and I laid my head on his shoulder. "I know but, we can barely take care of ourselves let a lone a child, especially one who needs extra attention. How are we going to do this?"I was overwhelmed by the thought. Scott and I were barely twnty one years old and neither of us had ever taken care of a child before. "It'll be ok, we'll make it work. It's only temporary and I'm sure the others will help us if we need it." I looked at him as we laid down. "You mean Kirstie, Avi, and Kevin?" I asked. I had almost forgotten about them. "Yeah but we can't tell them yet. We need to wait until she's more comfortable and is talking to us before we introduce her to them so she doesn't get too overwhelmed by everyone." He stated cuddling up to me. "Yeah you're right. Ok whatever we have to do we'll deal with it together. Night babe." I kissed his lips. "Night." I heard his slow, even breathing as he feel asleep almost imediatly. 

Scott's POV

Mitch and I shot up from bed simultaneously to the sound of a shreik. "MITCH!"The little girl screamed. It was the first she'd spoken since the hospital. We rushed to her side and wrapped her into a big bear hug. She was crying. "Shhh we've got you, you're safe." I cooed. She calmed down and we laid next to her. She was holding our hands. Finally we relaxed as she drifted off to sleep. Neither of us wanted to know what she had dreamed about.

Mitch's POV

It has been two days since we brought her home and she seemed happy but still wasn't talking. The clothes Scott bought her fit great and she looked good in them. We were going to have a visit from Heidi, the social worker, today and Scott and I were anxious. Finally she walked in and looked around the house. "How is she doing?" She asked us. 

"She seems to be doing ok. She acts more comfortable with us." Scott answered.

"Has she spoken?" She asked while she wrote.

"Other than our names no." I replied with a sigh. 

"Well at least she's saying your names. That's progress. It's going to take time."We led her around the house showing her the bathrooms and the kitchen. Finally we came to her room. "Wow! you two have been busy. " She laughed looking at all the stuff we bought her.

"We just wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. i can't imagine how strange it is for her to be living with two guys she doesn't know." Scott said shrugging his shoulders. We walked to the living room where the girl was sitting on the floor playing with the bear Scott bought her. "Hello again, you seem to be quite comfortable here. " She said to her and smiled. The girl looked up at her and smiled nodding her head. Heidi looked at us with a surprised look. "Yes this is progress. I want you to know that I admire you two for what you're doing for her. Keep it up. " She shook our hands and told us to call if we got her talking more then walked out the door. 

Scott's POV

I watched Heidi leave and then felt a tug on my hand. I turned and knealt down to the llittle girl. "What is it honey?" I asked in my sweetest voice. She pointed to the kitchen and then to her stomach.  laughed a little at how cute she was. "You're hungry?"She nodded.

"Ok we'll make lunch."I said. Mitch and i walked into the kitchen and she sat on the couch.

"I don't like the idea of that guy still running around." Mitch said in a hushed tone. He started boiling water for mac and cheese. We learned really fast that that was her favorite. "I know me either. He's seen our faces and he obviously knows what she looks like. Who knows what he would do if he found us." I agreed. 

We finished cooking and the girl came and sat at the table. "There you go missy, eat up." I said placing her plate in front of her. She took a big bite and smiled brightly. I was back in the kitchen with Mitch making a sandwich when suddenly we heard a soft voice. "Zadie."Mitch and I looked at eachother in confusion. Did she just speak? "What?" Mitch asked slowly making his way over to her and I followed. 

"My name is Zadie." She said quietly. I smiled as big as I could. 

"Zadie is a beautiful name!" I said sitting next to her.

"Can you tell us anything else? Like how old you are?' Mitch piped up.

"Five..." She said in the sweetest, high pitched voice ever. 

"Wow! You're such a big girl!" Mitch laughed and she beamed at him. I knew I shouldn't push her for more answers but I had to ask. "Zadie, where are your parents?"i was afraid she would shut down and not speak again but she looked at me. "Mommy and daddy died." She said sadly. Mitch looked to me in sadness. We were afraid of this. "I'm sorry sweetie, you have us now. You don't have to worry." Mitch said hugging her. She went back to eating which told us she was done talking. We walked to our room so we could talk privately. "So she's an orphan...then who was that man?"I was confused. 

"I don't know but we need to call Heidi and tell her what we found out. Mitch answered and I nodded. We called Heidi and gave her the information. She was happy that she spoke to us but upset about the information we found out. She told us that she would tell the police about what we found out and told us to keep trying to find out more about her. We hung up and went back to making lunch.