Looking for a Mind at Work (Incomplete/Discontinued)

Marie the Flea

*Sorry this update took so long, kinda got distracted from... Well life lol. Enjoy!

Ever since the Churchs arrived in London, people had been urging them to have a kid.

First of all, ew. Angelica had said. And second, I've witnessed motherhood firsthand and I'm not ready for that.

Yet, they kept insisting.

John wasn't too keen about the child thing either, but he suggested that if Angelica didn't want a biological child, they could adopt. After a few months, she decided to give it a try. Not because she was dying to have a kid, but she was super bored without her sisters or anything familiar, so she thought maybe having someone around would change that.

So, Angelica went searching on the internet for good options and came across an eight-year-old girl named Marie Beauchêne. She was a cute French girl with sandy-blond hair, light blue eyes, and rosy cheeks. One thing that stuck out about her appearance was her smile. The way one end of her mouth creeped up her cheek reminded Angelica a bit of herself. She could basically see the wit and mischief in her eyes. There wasn't much in her description, other than that her parents abandoned her in France and she was adopted by a family that eventually moved to London. Recently, the family couldn't care for her anymore, so they dropped her off at an orphanage.

Now it was Angelica's turn. She was confident that she wouldn't mess up, but then again, she'd never been a mother before. She got into her car and drove a few miles to the orphanage.

The Green Wood Orphanage was made of (despite the name) orange wood and had a white frame with a porch. It was two stories tall and had many windows. Overall, it was small and simple, but Angelica could tell it contained many rooms and had been around for decades. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. She waited a minute and she heard voices of children inside.

"Hello! You must be Mrs. Church!" A small, middle-aged Asian woman greeted her. Her smile was so big and white, it reminded Angelica of marble tiles.

"Please, call me Angelica." Angelica told her.

"Of course, dearie! You can call me Mrs. Sands. Are you here to pick up Marie?"

"Yes, I am. Can I come in?" She asked.

"Oh yes!" Mrs. Sands moved out of the way to let Angelica through. "Wait here. I'll fetch Marie. She is thrilled to meet you!"

Angelica beamed. "Really? That's so sweet!" She watched as the woman skipped up the stairs, pushing past curious children.

Mrs. Sands must've had a different idea of thrilled.

After five minutes, Mrs. Sands came back down with Marie. She looked the same as she did in her picture, but angrier. Her head was low and she dragged her suitcase on the floor behind her as she walked. She wore tattered jeans and a brown bomber jacket that was three sizes too big. When she got close to Angelica, she gave her a pale blue glare.

"Uh, hi!" Angelica greeted her, a little unsure of what to say. "I'm Angelica, your new adoptive mother!"

"I know who you are." Marie muttered, without looking up. "Just take me already."

Angelica was astonished. She looked at Mrs. Sands, who gave her the same perky smile. "Don't worry. Marie's just a little bummed to leave this place. Isn't that right, dear?"