Kept Safe From You

Unus

On April 3rd, 1993, Emilia Ghallager, gave birth to a baby girl. Being that she was unemployed and had no way of tracking down the man who had impregnated her, Emilia feared she would not have the sufficient income to raise the child and had made arrangements months before to give the girl to a family who would be able to take care of her. She chose Renae Sinclaire, a 54 year old widow who'd never been able to have a child of her own. Renae had owned a few very successful businesses and had made even more money from selling them, meaning she had more than enough to be able to raise a family. Even better, she'd been a foster parent for a few years before she decided to properly adopt some of her wards. Her experience with raising children was extensive; she was the natural choice.

In her final hours with her daughter, Emilia gave her the name Kit. "Like a baby fox," she told a nurse, feeling the need to explain. "They go off on their own when they're seven months old. I know she's younger, but...I don't know. It feels fitting." She stared down at the baby sleeping in her arms, swallowing hard around the lump forming in her throat. "Foxes are smart and good at surviving. Kit will be, too."

Kit was never given any more information about her mother than her name. She had no memory of what Emilia looked or acted like, so it wasn't really possible for her to feel any sorrow about being separated from her. Kit felt like there would be no reason for her to be upset about it, anyway, as her childhood in the Sinclaire house ended up being some of the best years of her life. Mrs. Sinclaire ('mom' to Kit) was raising three other kids along with her. There was John, who was two years her senior; Nathan, one year older; and Riley, one year younger. Mrs. Sinclaire would sometimes joke that Kit was her favorite, since she was the only other girl in the house.

Kit got on with the three boys like they were her biological brothers. Once, when she was seven, John convinced them all to pick a scab and swap blood. "That way we'll be blood brothers! Oh," he'd given Kit a smile, "and sister." Kit had told him that just 'blood brothers' was fine, and they'd all rubbed there reopened wounds together. Mrs. Sinclaire hadn't been overly happy when she found out.

Kit believed herself to be very lucky when it came to her childhood. Her family was brilliant, and she was pretty spoiled. John moved out when she was 16, which was difficult to deal with for a time, but they all got used to it. Shit didn't really hit the fan until 6 months later.

............

"I tracked down my mom."

Kit looked up from her book with a frown. "What."

"My mom," Nathan repeated. "I found her."

Closing the book, Kit sat up straighter. "This is the same mom that literally left you at a church's door, yes?"

Nathan nodded. "Yes, that would be her." He held up the notebook he'd been holding and pointed at the few lines jotted down in it. "Got her current address and stuff. Been thinking about going to see her."

"Really?" Kit gave him a look. "You wanna visit the woman who literally abandoned you without a note or anything."

Nathan frowned at her. "Look, Kit, I get that you think that she's a bitch, but--no, no, shut up." He waved her off before she could interrupt. "She probably had her reasons for doing that. And either way, she's my mom, okay?" Sighing, he sat down next to her on her bed. "Don't you wanna meet your real mom someday?"

Kit closed her book, shifting to the side so she could give Nathan her entire attention. "Honestly? Not really." She gave a snort at his incredulous expression. "I'm happy where I am. I'm pretty convinced that Mrs. Sinclaire is the best mom I'm ever gonna have, so I don't really see the point of looking for another one."