Family Portrait (Demi Lovato) COMPLETE

Chapter 37

Carlie's POV

Days kept passing, weeks kept passing, and I still hadn't heard anything about my mom. I wondered if she had gotten lost or something on her way to finding us.

She is coming, there's no doubt about it.

I walked outside of the building with Savannah after the last bell of the day had rang.

"Did today seem longer to you than normal?" She asked.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Everything just seemed to drag on."

If I was speaking truthfully, every day seemed to drag on a little more than the previous one.

"So I'm having a sleepover for my birthday Friday night. Wanna come?" Savannah proposed.

It caught me off guard. I never get invited to stuff like that.

"Yeah sure, that'll be great. I'll have to ask Demi," I responded.

"Oh, is that not your mom?" She asked, pointing to Demi's car.

Oh crap. I was trying so hard to hide that I wasn't living with my parents.

"No, that's not my mom."

Oh, well isn't that your sister?" She asked, pointing to Ella, who was climbing into Demi's car.

"Mmhmm," I answered with a nod.

"I just overheard her saying your mom picks you two up from school everyday."

I rolled my eyes. "She not our mom. She's just... a neighbor," I said with hesitation, trying to think of what to say. "My parents work, so Demi picks us up from school. It just so happens she's watching us this Friday since my parents are having a date night."

"Oh," Savannah said with a nod of understanding, but she still had a look of skepticism.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said, quickly turning towards the car before I made things worse.

"Alright, bye!" I heard Savannah call out. I turned around to wave, then continued towards the car.

"Hey, Carlie," Demi said as I got into the passenger seat. "How was your day?"

"It was fine," I answered. "I have a friend who's having a birthday sleepover on Friday night. Can I go?"

"I don't see why not," she said with a smile. I couldn't help but smile, too. I was actually going to a slumber party for the first time. It felt good to be wanted somewhere. "We can stop by the store after school tomorrow to pick up a gift."

The rest of the way home, Ella explained to us what she had learned in school that day, and the conversations she had with her friends. She gets along with everyone in her class so well. I'm happy for her. However, I was a little pissed that she had been telling people that Demi was our mom. I know she hasn't forgotten our real mom.

That night, after we had gone to bed, I asked her about it.

"Ella, why are you telling people Demi's our mom?"

She turned around and looked at me, then shrugged.

"You can't just lie to people about stuff like that."

"Well maybe I want a Mom," she said, looking at me with a serous face. "All the other kids have one. I want one, too."

"Ella, you do have a mom. She's coming."

"But what if she isn't? She hasn't come yet and it's been a long time. She didn't care when Dad was alive. Why would she care now that he's dead?"

"I don't understand why you don't care if she comes or not," I told her.

"I hope she doesn't," she admitted.

A moment f silence filled the room. "What?"

"A mom takes care of her kids. Demi's done more for us than our mother ever did. I want to live with Demi. She's at least acting like our mom. Why can't we act like she's-"

"Because she isn't, Ella," I interrupted her.

Ella turned around so her back was facing me and didn't say another word. I didn't either. I let the tension fill the room as we both went to sleep.

I knew Mom wanted to find us. Maybe I should start looking, too.