Finding Family |Adopted by Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood|

Chapter 3

"So I found an agency about half an hour away. Lucky for us, there is a class tomorrow which is very rare. I got on the phone with the agency after filling out the paperwork." Chris informed as soon as his wife walked into the door, handing her a printout of the schedule.

Warily Melissa took off her shoes and greeted the two dogs, her eleven year old Jack Russell Terrier named Farley and five year old Great Dane named Drift, before plopping down on the couch, taking the piece of paper to read silently. Roles and responsibilities, child development, discipline, cultural sensitivity, child safety and development, CPR, background check... and a lot more... Okay, this is so much!

"What do you think?"

Melissa put the paper down, slouching even further on the sofa and closing her eyes, allowing herself to drift into thought  ignoring Farley who jumped onto her lap before curling into a ball and drifting off to sleep. What was I thinking... I can't do this... I'm not cut out for this... I wonder what Chris thinks of this... she thought to herself.   Turning to her husband, she looked at him before opening her mouth to speak "How do you feel about this? I personally feel a little overwhelmed because this is a lot of stuff we need to do.... I've never even met the child before... Maybe... maybe she's better off without us..."

Chris was quiet for a few minutes, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing the bowls of food he had set out earlier  before handing one to his wife and sitting down next to her, ignoring Chris who kept nudging his owner with his nose. "Cool it Buddy man" Chris laughed, pushing the dog's head away and tossing him a piece of chicken. "I mean... I trust your judgment Mel. If you think this is the right move for us, I will support you. To be honest, I feel apprehensive about a commitment this big... but like you said, we could take the classes and if it's not right for us, we don't have to use our license."

Melissa looked at her husband and smiled, gently stroking her dog's soft silky ears. "You know, you're right. We should just try it and see what happens."

A small gray car cruised down a long road surrounded by grass and farm houses. The road was quiet but the dark clouds above casted a shadow. "It's only going to be temporary while we find you a place to stay for a little while as there is a current shortage of emergency placement or long term foster homes." Star's social worker, Alan Harding,  explained, keeping his bleary eyes on the road and trying to explain the situation to Star who was sitting in the backseat, her gaze fixed on the social worker's large, rough hands while running her fingers up through a rough yellow piece of fabric that she called "blankie." . Don't move your hands... don't even think about it. Star commanded the social worker in her mind, fearing he would let go of the wheel, reach back and hurt her in some way.

"Look, I know it's tough so I am here for you if you need anything." Alan continued, glancing at the rearview mirror, frowning slightly at Star's clear attempts to ignore him. "I know you probably have lots of questions, maybe if you ask me, I can answer some and help you feel better."

Star pursed her lips and curled into herself, almost feeling the brief gaze of her social worker burn a hole on her body. She swallowed hard and tried to calm her racing heart, gripping her blankie tightly. I... I don't have any questions...please don't hurt me.... Star responded silently.

"Yeah I didn't think so." muttered Alan before swearing under his breath and slamming the brakes as another car cut him off. Glancing back once more, he saw his client's ghostly pale face and a wild look in her eye. "Sorry about that kid. These drivers, they're so irresponsible" he apologized. "We are pulling in now."

Star shifted her gaze away from the social worker and to the group home. The red bricked three story house had vines crawling up the sides, dirty large windows with rusted bars on the outside, stained white curtains and a black roof with a pointy top loomed over the car as Star's social worker stepped out of the car and walked over to the backseat where she was sitting.