Moving Forward (Completed)

Chapter Forty Two

MJ pulled back from Katherine, sitting so that her feet dangled off the edge of the bed while she wiped her eyes. Katherine reached passed her to the bedside table to grab the box of Kleenex, letting her grab a few and then set it on the bed between them.

"She wasn't a bad person," MJ sighed once her breathing was controlled enough to speak, "she just made bad choices."

"I know." Katherine nodded, feeling like she had nodded a lot that morning... that perhaps everyone had.

"What happens to me now?" MJ's eyes didn't lift from the floor as her fingers worked to rip the Kleenex she held into tiny pieces.

"If social services signs off on it, you'll stay with Rafael and me until they can locate family."

"There isn't any family to find." MJ set the Kleenex down, but didn't look up. "My moms parents died when she was ten... she grew up in group homes and foster care." MJ's chuckle seemed inappropriate until Katherine realized it was accompanied by more tears. MJ quickly wiped them. "It's darkly poetic, isn't it?" She lightly chuckled again, but didn't stop the tears from falling this time.

Katherine took a breath as she watched the girl break down all over again. She knew that MJ was still ten, that her birthday wasn't until June... "Come here." She pulled MJ into a hug again, letting her cry for as long as she needed.

"Now would be one of those times it would be good to know who my father was, huh?" MJ sighed, leaning back against the raised portion of the hospital bed. Katherine was quiet, not really knowing what to say. "He wasn't one of her... 'friends'." MJ added quickly.

"Do you know much about him?"

"No. He was some guy she met at a party. I'm not even sure she knew his name."

"How old was your mom when she had you?" Katherine had thought Amber was close to her age, but she also knew drinking and drugs tended to age you, the latter of which she was making an assumption on.

"Twenty. She never went to college... barely managed to graduate high school. She never said it, but I think she's always regretted not applying herself more in school. Of course... I also sometimes wonder if I'm already smarter than her..." MJ trailed off a bit. "Maybe it won't be so bad for me."

"Maybe what won't be so bad?"

"Group homes and foster care," MJ shrugged.

Katherine's heart pounded so hard she was sure it could be heard by more than just her, but she managed to keep her composure. "It's not always a bad experience." She had known people who'd fostered kids, adopted kids... a few of the teachers she'd worked with in Atlanta had chosen to adopt rather than have their own children. One was perfectly capable of having children... adoption had been a choice she'd made for personal reasons, the others she didn't know the circumstances behind. Not that any of that mattered... they were fantastic parents and their children, well adjusted. Even Liv had adopted... good homes were out there. All those children had been babies though... her fear was that most everyone she had seen in the system once they were older didn't fair so well. She had always hoped her interactions with foster kids had been limited and that there was a group of older children thriving somewhere... she hoped that even more now.

"My mom said horrible things happened to her there, but she never told me what they were." Tears formed in MJ's eyes again, but she didn't cry.

"Did your mom tell you anything about your dad besides that she met him at a party?" Katherine feared she'd cry herself if they kept talking about group homes and hoped maybe there would be something... anything... to help find some existing family.