Alone, David M. Cope [rosie project TXT] 📗

that.” Thirty minutes later they were at the mall where they shopped for clothes and swimming outfits for the kids. Jennifer found two beautiful pink dresses for Emily, one of which was almost identical to the one her mother bought her. Emily wanted to wear it right then. After she put it on Jennifer hugged her and told her she looked beautiful. Emily thought of her mother and how she used to tell her she looked like a princess, and she cried.
Jennifer hugged her and told her everything would be alright. She asked Emily why she was crying. Emily told her about her mother and how she died six months ago. Jennifer began to cry also.
“Your mother was a very good mother. She must have loved you both very much.”
“Yeah, she did. And we love her, too. She was the best mom in the world. Mark doesn't remember but there were times when mom went hungry so me and him would have enough food to eat. I hated to see my mom going hungry. But I couldn't do anything. I tried to get her to eat some of my food, but she just smiled and said she wanted her two favorite children in the world to eat.”
That brought more tears to Jennifer's eyes as she hugged Emily tighter. “She was a great mom. Always remember that.”
They made one more stop for ice cream cones before going to the hotel where they rented a suite with two bedrooms, kitchen and living room. Both bedrooms had a TV and the living room had a large screen TV. The kids were fascinated by so many televisions, especially with having one in their bedroom. But they spent most of the weekend in the pool. They both learned to swim by the end of the day on Saturday. Emily followed Jennifer everywhere. Mark loved it when Delbert put him on his shoulders and let him ride. Everyone had a great weekend.
On Sunday evening, after they returned home, Delbert and Jennifer sat the kids in the living room and told them they needed to talk with them. They explained that they had discussed it and they wanted to adopt both the kids.
“What's adopt mean?” asked Mark.
“That means we want you to come live with us. We want to be your mommy and daddy,” replied Jennifer. “We know this is a lot to think about, but I want you to know, we don't want you to forget your mother and father. We just want to be your new mother and father. Do you think you could come live with us?”
“We never knew our daddy. Why do you want us to live with you?” asked Emily.
“We can't have children and we want to have a little boy and girl so much. I promise we would love you more than anybody or anything in the world,” replied Jennifer as she began to cry. She had begun to love these children very much. She really wanted to adopt them.
“Can you take us to where our mother is buried? I need to talk with my mom about this. Please?”
Delbert and Jennifer looked at each other. “Of course we can. Do you know where it is?” asked Delbert.
“I know where it is,” said Emily. They drove to the cemetery and Emily showed them where the grave was. She and Mark got out and knelt at the grave. They bowed their heads and Emily prayed for a moment. Then she began talking to her mother.
”Mom, it's me, Emily. Mark is here with me.” Mark looked up at Emily then bowed his head again. “Mom, we haven't been doing too well since you left. I been working some, and I'm trying to take care of Mark like I promised. But it's hard, mommy. We've been living under a bridge and sometimes we don't have much to eat. I'm tired, mommy. I'm really tired. I don't know how much longer I can do it. I promised I would take care of Mark, and I will keep that promise. But I need help,” said Emily as tears fell on her new pink dress.
“These people in the car are Mr. and Mrs. Grey. They are really nice people, mom. They want us to come live with them. They want to adopt us. What should I do, mommy? I don't want you to be mad at me, but I like them. It would be so much easier living with them. I miss you mommy. I promise I won't forget you. I love you. But I need someone to help me. Would it be alright if we live with them?”
Emily and Mark stayed for another fifteen minutes with their heads bowed before they got up and came back to the car. “Do you still want us to come live with you?” asked Emily.
“Oh yes, we do. We want that very much,” replied Jennifer.
“I think it will be okay. Can we visit my mom sometimes?” asked Emily.
“Of course you can, Sweetheart. Anytime you want. I think your mom would love for her little princess to visit her.” They drove home and Jennifer and Delbert showed the kids their bedrooms. Jennifer and Emily made plans to paint her room pink with pink bed accessories. Delbert and Mark decided his would have a race car bed with sports paraphernalia.
Later that night after the kids were in bed, Delbert and Jennifer made plans.
They both knew the children would have to go to a temporary foster home until the adoption was finalized and that might be a problem. Emily and Mark had accepted the move into their new home, but might not like having to go to a different home with strangers. And Delbert and Jennifer were not happy about it either. They both knew there were some homes in the system that was not fit for children. If the children should fall into one of those, there could be irreparable mental damage done to them. They could lose their credibility with the kids. Jennifer was not willing to risk that. Delbert, while not wanting to risk that possibility, knew they had no choice.
“There might be one way out.”
“What are you thinking, Jennifer? You're not going to do something stupid, are you?”
Grinning sheepishly she asked, “When did you ever know me to do something stupid, honey?”
“Oh Lord. What do you have in mind? Out with it.”
“I need to check on a few things, so give me a couple of weeks.”
“Give you a couple of weeks for what?” asked Delbert with more than a little anxiety.
“If everything works out, we might not have to put the kids in a foster home while we wait for the adoption to go through. Maybe we can apply for a foster home license. When we get it, we can tell them about Emily and Mark. Then they can live with us for awhile before we adopt them.”
“Honey, they investigate every home before licensing them. They will go through all our finances, our home, our background and everything. We can't get away with this. They will talk with the neighbors and find out we have the children.”
“I've always wanted to live in a rural area where the nearest neighbor was about a quarter mile away. What if we sell this house and either buy or build one away from town? Then we can hide the children until the license comes through. What do you think?”
“I think you're crazy and I think I'm crazy for even considering going along with you on this. We could get into a lot of trouble if we're caught. You do know that, don't you?”
“Aren't they worth the trouble?” asked Jennifer.
“But if we are caught, we will lose the kids forever. Do you really want to risk that?”
Jennifer got up and walked around the room for a few minutes and finally said, “No, I guess not. You're right. Anything could happen. But how do we tell those two innocent children in there that we didn't tell them the whole story? How will they react?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that I don't want to lose them for any reason,” replied Delbert.
“We'll have to talk with the kids tomorrow and let them know what's going to happen. I just hope they don't get scared or upset. They've been through so much already. I don't want to be responsible for getting their hopes up only to let them down.”
“I have a friend in Human Services. You remember Janice, don’t you? Let me talk to her and see what I can do. Maybe we can work something out so we can keep them with us during the adoption proceedings.”
“Oh Delbert, do you think we can? That would be so wonderful. Thank you, honey.”
“Hold on now. I said maybe. But I'll try.”
“I have confidence in you. You've never let me down so far.”
“Oh, no pressure there. Thanks.”
Jennifer laughed and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “You're certainly welcome.”
The next morning Jennifer made breakfast before waking the kids. When she went to their rooms she found Mark sleeping with Emily. They had slept together for the last six months, so it might take awhile to get him used to sleeping in his own room. She woke them and helped them to dress. They had bought them some clothes at the mall so they had several outfits to choose from. Emily seemed to have a knack for matching her outfits, even though she probably didn't have many clothes to choose from after the death of their mother.
After breakfast Jennifer told the children she had to go to work but she had hired a babysitter to watch them until she and Delbert got home.
“We don't need a babysitter. We've been taking care of ourselves ever since mom died.”
“Well, I guess you have, but the law does not like for children as young as you to be alone. I know you have been alone for awhile now, but you don't need to be alone any more. We are with you now. We have to work, but we will never leave you alone because we love you. Do you understand?”
“I guess so. But when will you be home?”
“I will be home about six o'clock but Delbert will get home about four. I think he might have a surprise for you. Would you like that?”
“Really?” asked Mark. “I've never had a surprise.”
“Well, you will have a lot of surprises from now on,” said Jennifer as she laughed and hugged both children. Mark felt a little warm.
After checking in with the school board, Delbert made a visit to his friend at Human Services. Her name was Janice Linden and she loved children. That was the biggest reason she was so good