Just Friends

Chapter 27.

"Okay, so the adoption process as a whole  takes at least a month and can last up to a year if problems arise. It might take longer for you, especially considering the fact that you are a new parent with no husband. You will have to undergo a couple interviews, you need to give a social worker a tour of your living space to make sure it fits the standards, and you would need to have some basic necessities prepared for the children. I would schedule an interview as soon as possible and try to get a room set up for them because that is something the social worker cares about-the living space of the child. Also..." 

Mariella was sitting on my lap as usual while the caregiver was informing me about what was going to happen in the adoption process. She was facing me, examining my face and playing with my hair, every now and then she would stand up and play with my face, squeezing and pulling my cheeks to make funny faces. She would start laughing, fall down in my lap then repeat the process over again. Her brother, Gabriel, on the other hand was not as excited. He looked suspicious of me, and sat on the other edge of the couch with his hands crossed and an angry look on his face. I gave him my phone to play with while we were talking and even though that seemed to do the trick he still looked mad at me.

"So, do you have any questions?" She said, handing me pamphlets and piles of papers .

"How long do you think the process will take for my particular case?"  I asked, stroking Mariella's hair. She was getting a  little to hyper at this point and was distracted me from what the lady was saying.
The caregiver was watching us, smiling happily, "Probably not much, considering who you are. Possibly one, maybe two months?" She replied in a questioning tone. I nodded, taking a moment to absorb all the information she told me.

"I'm really glad your adopting them," she said after a moments pause, " I have never seen Mariella so attached to someone, she's usually very reserved."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. I could kind of tell from the way she was only playing with herself earlier this morning that she was somewhat reserved, but I thought she was just scared to meet new people.

"Yea, she really only talked to her brother at the care home. It was nothing new, you see a lot of kids have similar characteristics, but I'm really glad you have adopted both of them." The lady said with a smile.

"Well I'm not!" Gabriel yelled angrily, mumbling a string of words as he jumped off the couch and ran into the sea of people. I tried to run out and find him but he was too quick for me. He ran into the next room, getting lost in the crowd of rowdy children and young adults. 

"Excuse him, he's been through much more foster homes than Mariella has" the caregiver explained. "I think he considers the care home as his only home, he must be scared to leave it." 

"Its okay, " I said, understandingly. "I'm going to try to go find him and talk to him, can i finish these another time?" I asked her, referring to the papers i was in the midst of filling out.

She nodded in response, stacking the papers and organizing them carefully in different piles. 

"Mo-Mani? You're not mad at him, are you?" I heard Mariella ask me quietly. I think she might have almost called me 'mommy,' and the realization that she was already so connected to me made me feel worse about the situation. I could tell by her facial expressions that she was scared to find out my answer. She had her finger in the mouth again, and her eyes were as big as saucers. She was terrified.

"No baby, im not mad." I answered softly in an attempt to calm her down. Tears were slowly cascading down her cheeks, and she kept blinking in an attempt to stop them.  "You're brother is just scared babygirl, and when people are scared they do and say mean things to help them feel less scared." I answered, wiping her tears away with a smile. "Everything will be okay, don't you worry your pretty little head." I poked the top her nose playfully, trying to get her to smile before I go find her brother.

I looked up for a  moment, trying to find someone I knew that could watch Mariella while i go find Gabriel. I didn't want her to be in the middle of whatever was going to happen. 

"DEMI!" I exclaimed from across the room once I noticed her. She turned around, confused by who was calling her. Once she realized it was me, she rushed over. 

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Did he say something?" She was rambling off a bunch of questions that I just did not have the time to answer. She probably thought the issue was August- related, but surprisingly I didn't even get to see him tonight. I guess Jesus was on my side today. 

"Everything is fine Demi, promise!  Just please watch over Mariella for a couple minutes, I said, handing my little one off to Demi. "I'll explain everything later, but right now theres something I need to do." 

"Ms. Mani where you going?" Mariella asked in an adorable baby voice. 

"I'm going to go talk to your brother princess, can you be good for your Auntie Demi?" I asked her, bending down to make eye contact.

"Yes! Promise!" She answered enthusiastically, sticking her pinky up to promise me.

"Good girl." I kissed her forehead quickly before going on my adventure..