Traveling Vivian

Chapter FortyThree - Old Encounters

Traveling VIvian

Part 43

Catherine finally had the home she wanted. She had six girls under her watch and that was enough for her to run the facility. Catherine’s foster house had five bedrooms. One for herself and the four other for us.  The older girl had one room, two girls shared one of the rooms in the lower room by the washroom, two other girls who were a tad older than me shared a room next to the staircase and I had a big room to myself. The room used to be filled with an abundance of children and toys swarming around with toys in their hands, but since the majority of them were adopted, I was alone in this room. It was too big for me but I didn’t mind. Catherine told me she wasn’t going to take in any more children because the state opened a new foster care that can house over forty children so the six kids remaining in her care were here to stay.

Because of that, Catherine called construction guys to help clean up the house. She wanted to redecorate the whole house. The process took at least four months as Catherine packed up our clothes and shoved them all in her minivan. We squeezed ourselves inside the car to the nearest hotel. It was a double suite but it had a living room and kitchenette. It was perfect for the mean time. I slept in the bed with Catherine. Two of the girls, Lana and Willow, slept in the bed close to us. Haylie and the two other girls, Jasmine and Ariel, slept in the living room futon. It wasn’t bad. Catherine drove all of us to school and then when we got back home, Catherine brought us to the park to enjoy the scenery while doing our homework. Then we would come back to the hotel where Catherine made a delicious meal for dinner.

When the whole renovation was complete, we could finally come back to the house. The moment we stepped out of the car, we could tell the difference. The house had a new siding. It was no longer a pale grey shade, it was now dark emerald green with white shutters. The roof wasn’t falling apart either. It was of a dark black color. Inside the house, the kitchen and walls no longer had wallpaper. The kitchen was a deep burgundy tiled wall with 70’s style appliances. There was an island where Catherine could prep our food. Then the dining room was a yellow beige color with a beautiful round table. The living room was made into a cinema styled home. The bedrooms were also all changed. The four girls shared bedroom had two full sized beds. Lana and Willow’s room was painted into a white and dark purplish color and there was furniture that accommodated the theme. Jasmine and Ariel’s room were painted sea blue and they also had white furniture with two full sized beds. Haylie’s room was a watermelon red shade with a queen sized bed with a canopy and a desk with two closets. It was definitely a princess room.

 My room was the biggest. I really wanted to see how my room was. Catherine opened the door and when she did, it was like the size of a living room. The walls were painted a light green color with daisies and butterflies stickers adorning the wall. There was a tree painted in the corner. There were two three-tiered bookcases around the corner with the trees. A rocking chair was placed in front of the chair and a big beautiful butterfly rug. To the other farthest corner, there was life-sized doll house with plenty of toy boxes. There was a drawing table in the middle with an easel. To the right corner, there was my bed. It was a twin-sized bed with yellow and white bedding and a white canopy hanging over the bed.  To the end of the bed there was a desk with a new desktop computer, colored in red and white. There was dresser with dolls on top of it. A mirror adorned the wall between the dresser and the door. I jumped in joy and spinned myself around in the middle of the room.

“this is such a beautiful room!” I cried out.

Catherine smiled and let the other girls go in. The girls stormed in and started playing with the toys. “Now Vivian, this is your room but you must remember,. This room is for the other girls too. The toys were all put here because it is the biggest room, okay?”