Chapter 22

Samantha came downstairs, but kept her head down and refused to look at Jenna or me.

"Test, and insulin, kiddo," I said, putting her kit on the breakfast bar in front of her.

She tested, but didn't tell us the number, and just stared at her insulin pen.

"Sam?" Jenna said, going up beside her. "You have to take your insulin before you can have breakfast. You know that."

Samantha didn't move an inch. Jenna sat in the chair beside her and checked the history on the monitor's log.

"Okay, your blood sugar looks good. Let's get your insulin calculated, huh? How much do you need for eggs, bacon, toast, and milk? Or do you want hot chocolate? Tea? Coffee?"

Samantha's shoulders shook.

"Oh, Samantha," Jenna said, pulling the girl into her arms. Samantha wrapped her arms around my wife. "What's the matter?"

"I don't want to leave," she said.

"Who said you're leaving?" Jenna asked, shooting me a look. I shook my head.

"If Marie is coming, that means she's going to make me leave," Samantha said. "Tyler says he doesn't think so, but that's what happens every time. She'll find some reason I can't stay here. Like, you're too far from my school, or you don't have experience, or you're away too much or something stupid."

"Not this time, sweetie," Jenna said. "I promise. Not this time."

"You can't promise that," Samantha sniffled.

"Maybe, maybe not. But we can't borrow trouble. We'll do everything we can to try to make sure you stay here as long as possible, okay? That I can promise you. Let's get your insulin done, and have breakfast, okay? Marie will be here at ten, and we'll all meet with her and then we'll see what's what then, okay?"

Samantha clearly wasn't convinced, and we didn't know how to make this easier for her. We were hoping Marie would be bringing news that we were cleared to start the process of adopting Samantha, but we didn't know, and we didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure. Samantha had enough disappointment in her life, we didn't want to make a promise we weren't sure we could keep.

Samantha prepped her insulin pen, and measured out the dose she said she'd need. She still trembled when she passed the lowest number her dad would have allowed her, but I think with so much on her mind today, already, she was resigned that nothing good was going to happen anyway, so why not use the right amount and deal with the consequences, which of course, with us, would be none.

"Good job, sweetie," Jenna said, clearing up Samantha's kit and needle and kissing her on the head. Samantha seemed stunned by the affection. She stared after Jenna.

I put a plate in front of Samantha and handed her a fork. She pushed the eggs around.

"Eat those. I worked really hard scrambling them and adding just the right amount of cheese."

"You make cheesy scrambled eggs?" she asked, looking at me.

"Of course the cheesiest. Probably the only one who makes eggs cheesier than me is Josh. Man, I really need to catch him up on what's been going on," I said. "Anyway, what's wrong with cheesy eggs?"

"Nothing. They're my favorite. My mom used to make me cheesy scrambled eggs. My dad never let me have scrambled eggs after..." she trailed off.

I rolled my eyes internally. He really did everything he could to drain any amount of joy out of Samantha's life.

Despite being pleased with the eggs, she still pushed her food around. I knew she was nervous, but she needed to eat. And I reminded her.

She managed to finish the eggs and had a few pieces of bacon. She ate a piece of toast and asked for a glass of milk.

While she was finishing her breakfast, Jenna and I cleared up and Jenna put on a pot of coffee, in case Marie wanted some and pulled out some pastries she'd run out early to get.

At exactly ten, the doorbell rang. Samantha looked ready to bolt. I put my arm around her shoulders while Jenna answered the door.

"Good morning, good morning," Marie said. She seemed pleasant enough. I noticed the social worker from the hospital had joined her. "Samantha, you remember Ms. Simpson from the hospital, don't you?"

Samantha nodded.

"Well, why don't we get started."

"Do you want to sit here, in the kitchen, or the living room?" I asked.

"Wherever you're all more comfortable," Marie said.

"Why don't we go into the living room," Jenna said. "Samantha, you want to help me with the coffee tray?"

Samantha looked at Marie, then up at me. I winked at her and nodded. She went over to Jenna and took the plate of pastries. Jenna followed with the tray with the coffee and mugs.

"So," Marie said, when Samantha sat down at the edge of the couch. Ready to bolt, I could tell. "Samantha. How are you?"

She shrugged.

"It's been an eventful few days for you, hasn't it?"

"I guess," Samantha said.

"How have Mr. and Mrs. Joseph been treating you?"

"They're good," she said. "They're nice."

"How has the insulin dosing been going?" Marie asked me.

"She's still struggling to dose properly because of how her dad made her ration, but she's doing well. We just encourage her, remind her that we want her to be healthy. She's doing pretty good, considering," I said.

"And how about testing?"

"She's a bit better with that. We make sure to leave a test kit in her room at night, and I was up last night to make sure she tested. She was a bit low, so we had a juice box in her room for her."

"You're really making sure she's covered, aren't you?"

"We're doing the best we can. But we do want to speak with her doctors so they can help us learn. Especially if we have an issue like the other night where her sugar got too high. It would be nice if we could know how much insulin we should be giving if she goes high. She was too out of it to be of much help."

"I'm sorry," Samantha said.

"Don't be sorry, sweetheart," I said. "It wasn't your fault. Jenna and I will learn. I promise."

"Samantha, you should probably go back to school on Monday, hey? What do you think? Do you want to go back to Maple Middle School? Or would you want to go to a school closer to the Josephs?" Sheri asked.

"Wherever you're moving me, I guess," she said.

"Samantha, I'm not moving you," Marie said.

Samantha looked up at Marie. She didn't look like she believed her. She looked at Jenna and me. I shrugged.

"Samantha, I have something very important to tell you. And the Josephs," Marie said. "And I need your full attention for this."

Samantha looked up at Marie.

"Your dad, he's got more charges against him now because of what you told the police last night. He confessed to killing your mother, and that his intent was actually to kill you. A judge has already decided that your father is not fit to be a parent."

"So back into the foster system I go forever," Samantha said.

"Actually, no." Marie said.

Jenna's eyes were filling with tears as she smiled widely.

"Does this mean?" I asked, sitting up.

"It does," Marie smiled. "Samantha, you have a very big decision to make, and you need to make this decision today."

"I'll go back to Maple," she said.

"No, that's not the decision you need to make. Samantha, I need you to look at me, because I need to know you are listening to what I have to say," Marie said. Samantha's eyes met hers.

"Your father's parental rights have been terminated. As you have no living relatives, and that would make you a ward of the state, the Josephs have asked to begin the process of adopting you. Would you like them to be your parents?"

"I guess. They're pretty decent foster parents," Samantha said.

"No, honey," I said, touching her arm and getting her to look at me. "Samantha, we want to be your forever parents. We want to adopt you. We want you to be our kid."

Samantha's jaw dropped. She looked at me, and then at Jenna, who was nodding and crying and smiling. She looked at the social workers and then back at me.

"You're lying," she said flatly.

"No, baby," Jenna said, coming over and kneeling in front of Samantha. "We found out the other day that this might be possible after what you told the doctor. As soon as we heard, we asked Marie if we could adopt you if your dad's rights got terminated."

"No. No. This can't be true," Samantha said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why would you want to adopt me?"

"Because, Sam, we need you. You need us. We were a family the day you landed in our backyard. Tyler and I never even discussed becoming your foster parents before deciding to become your foster parents. You came to us for a reason, and I think it's because you needed a stable and loving home. And we want to give that to you."

"Can I change my last name? Do I have to keep his name?"

"No, baby, you don't have to keep his name. If you want to change your last name, we'd be honored," Jenna hugged Samantha tightly.

Marie and Jane were smiling. Samantha looked incredulous. I moved in and hugged my wife, and my soon-to-be daughter. We still had a process to go through, but Samantha was in our care forever. We just had to complete a few steps and go before a judge for the certificate to be signed. Marie had told us it could take about a month, and she'd have to conduct home visits until the adoption was finalized, to make sure we were all settling in.

Samantha started crying.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I've never been this happy. Never in my entire life," she said.