Lisa didn't sleep at all that night.
Chaeyoung did, however. Lisa had propped up a pillow against the head of the bed and gently moved Chaeyoung back, out of her slumped position. The girl in her lap was fast asleep, holding onto Chaeyoung's arm.
Lisa was tired, sure. Exhausted was a better word. But she wasn't going to sleep, because she needed to make sure that they were okay. And she couldn't do that if her eyes were closed.
She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew it was morning when the smaller child stirred awake. Lisa noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye and watched as the girl's eyelashes fluttered open softly.
A look of terror flashed across the small child's face. She was in a new place, she wasn't home. And then she remembered the events of the night before. Paralyzed by fear, she burst into tears.
Lisa's eyes widened when the child started crying. Chaeyoung didn't stir awake, though, so she quickly hopped to her feet, lifting the girl out of her wife's lap and into her own arms.
"I got you," Lisa whispered, rocking back and forth slightly to calm to smaller girl down. She balanced her on her hip and used her free hand to reach up and brush her wavy hair out of her face, gently wiping the girl's cheeks with her thumb. "No one is gonna hurt you. I promise."
Sniffing, the child gazed up at Lisa. Her bottom lip jutted out slightly and Lisa could tell how hard she was trying to stop crying.
The Thai girl sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the girl in her lap and rubbing small circles in her back to try and calm her down.
Chaeyoung had stirred awake by this time, and she slowly sat up, watching as Lisa sang softly to the younger girl. There was a knock at the door just as Lisa looked back and realized her wife was awake.
It was the same nurse as before, but accompanying her was another, older woman holding what appeared to be a briefcase. The nurse gave Chaeyoung a friendly smile, allowing the woman to enter the room before closing the door behind her.
"Hi," the woman smiled, walking over to Chaeyoung and extending her hand. "I'm Georgia. I'm the social worker who's been assigned to her case."
Chaeyoung shook her hand, noticing how the woman eyed the girl in Lisa's arms. It didn't go unnoticed by Lisa, either, who scooted back slightly and tightened her grip on the girl.
"I'm Chaeyoung. She's Lisa," the blonde girl nodded towards her wife. Lisa just nodded slowly.
"They've identified the parents," the woman explained, sitting down on one of the plastic chairs and pulling a stack of papers from her briefcase. "Malachi and Rebecca Allen."
"Parents of a 3 year old daughter," she motioned to the girl in Lisa's arms. "With one on the way." Chaeyoung bit her lip. "Unfortunately, only one survived the accident." She nodded towards the child, and Chaeyoung felt her stomach drop in her chest.
"Obviously our first order of business is to get her into a permanent living situation as quickly as we can," the woman explained. Chaeyoung nodded.
"The only problem with that is that the only living family she has left is her 78 year old grandfather with Alzheimer's," she held up the papers to show them.
Chaeyoung and Lisa exchanged glances, both feeling a pang of sadness for the small child.
"But, I made a few calls, and I was able to find a group home that can take her in until we can find her a more permanent living situation," the woman nodded. Chaeyoung's jaw clenched.
"A group home?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "For a three year old?"
"It's the best we could do given the circumstances," the woman attempted to explain, but Chaeyoung shook her head.
"You're positive she has no family? No family friends?" Chaeyoung refused to believe the older woman.
"Honey, I've done as much as I can," the woman shook her head. "I assure you, the group home will be fine until we can place her in a b-,"
"Fine?" Chaeyoung raised her voice, taking Lisa by surprise. "You're really going to settle for 'fine' for a child? A living child? You really want to mess her up at this young?" She sat up taller.
"I don't know what you expect me to do," the woman looked back and forth between the two girls. "I'm only doing my job."
"You need to do more than just your job," Chaeyoung shook her head, standing up and motioning to the girl in Lisa's arms. "That is a life, not just another number on your stupid paycheck. That's a living, breathing human with an entire future ahead of her. You're in charge of her future and she has no control over it. You have to be her voice. And right now it just sounds like you're settling."
"Again, I don't know what you expect me to do," the woman shook her head.
Chaeyoung could feel it. She didn't even have to look to know that Lisa's eyes were looking at her pleadingly. She sighed, taking a deep breath before sitting back down on the bed.
"Well, what about us?" Chaeyoung spoke up, taking even Lisa by surprise.
The woman grew confused. "What about you?"
"What if we take her?" Chaeyoung bit her lip, running a hand through her hair. She wasn't used to doing these kind of things. But something inside of her was pushing her.
"You can't just 'take' her," the woman laughed at Chaeyoung's words, which only angered the blonde girl more. "You'd either have to apply for adoption, which is a long process. Or you'd have to have a foster license."
"How do you get a foster license?" Chaeyoung asked. Lisa watched her intently from her spot on the bed, holding the timid child protectively in her arms.
"It's a case by case basis. Sometimes i-,"
"Well how do we get one?" Chaeyoung interrupted her, making Lisa struggle not to laugh from behind her.
"You have to apply for one, it's a pretty complicated p-,"
"How do we apply?" Chaeyoung asked once more, ignoring the annoyed look on the woman's face. That wasn't her concern.
"Give me a moment," the woman sighed, grabbing her things and slipping back into the hallway. As soon as the door shut, Chaeyoung groaned and fell back onto the bed.
"What are you doing?" Lisa whispered in confusion.
Chaeyoung sat up, turning to Lisa and biting her lip. "I don't even know," she laughed nervously and shook her head.
"You really want to... you know?" Lisa nodded down to the girl in her arms.
"I, uh," Chaeyoung swallowed the lump in her throat. "I mean, I thought you... I just..."
"Rosie," Lisa laughed, placing a hand on her wife's arm to try and calm her down. "Do you want to?"
Chaeyoung took a deep breath before nodding softly. "Toby and Maia said there's never a right time. And... and she needs someone, you know? I know it's a rush decision but I've always wanted kids and I assumed you did too and m-,"
"Okay," Lisa interrupted her, squeezing her hand. "Me too."
"Wait, really?" Chaeyoung's eyes widened in shock. Lisa laughed softly and nodded. A slow realization washed over them and Chaeyoung let out a deep breath.
"We are doing this?" Lisa asked, looking down at the girl in her arms and then back up at Chaeyoung hopefully.
Her wife nodded softly. "We're sure gonna try."
Before either of them could say anything else, the woman reentered the room, hanging up her phone and putting it in her pocket. The couple exchanged nervous glances.
"So," the woman took a deep breath, sitting back down. "I just made a few calls, and if you really are serious about this, we can make a few exceptions for this case and you will have a license within a week."
"But, in the time inbetween, she will have to stay at the group home," the woman explained, handing Chaeyoung a paper before she could interrupt. "It's rated wonderfully, and there's always more than enough staff with the children. I've sent kids there before." Chaeyoung nodded slowly.
"But I need to make sure you're 100% serious about this," the woman nodded. "It's a big commitment you're making." Chaeyoung and Lisa exchanged glances.
"Yes," Lisa spoke up, nodding confidently. "We want this."
"Alright," the woman smiled, clasping her hands together. "A woman from the group home is on her way now to pick her up. In the meantime, I'm going to run and print out some of the papers that I need you to sign." She grabbed her things, heading towards the door.
"Wait!" Chaeyoung called out, causing the woman to pause and turn around.
"What's her name?" Chaeyoung asked shyly, biting her lip. The woman laughed softly and glanced down at one of the papers in her hand.
"Presley. Presley Rose."
The woman nodded once more before exiting the room, leaving Chaeyoung and Lisa to glance at each other.
"Presley Rose," Chaeyoung repeated the name, a soft smile on her face. The smaller girl in Lisa's lap looked up, meeting Chaeyoung's eyes quietly.
"Little flower," Lisa whispered, combing her fingers through the girl's hair.
Chaeyoung laughed softly to herself, reaching over and squeezing Lisa's hand. She knew their way of doing things might be unconventional, but that's how it always was for them. Everything good that happened to them came abruptly and unexpectedly. And like Maia said, sometimes the best things come in the form of a surprise.
-
"I do not know what I am doing."
Chaeyoung groaned, setting the screwdriver in her hand down and nodding in agreement. "You'd think they would make these things easier to put together," she laughed softly.
Lisa nodded in agreement. They'd been struggling to put together the toddler bed for too long. She set down the large piece of wood and joined Chaeyoung on the floor, laughing softly to herself.
"How are we going to do this?" Chaeyoung sat up, shaking her head. "We can't even put a bed together, how the hell are we supposed t-,"
"Woah," Lisa quickly sat up next to her wife, grabbing her hand. "It is just a bed."
"Yeah, but how are we going to take care of a kid? How are w-?" she started, but Lisa interrupted her.
"Together," Lisa whispered, squeezing Chaeyoung's hand. "Just like we do everything else."
Chaeyoung took a deep breath and nodded. "Right," she whispered, looking around the small spare bedroom they'd been converting into Presley's room. "Together."
"Like always," Lisa smiled softly. Chaeyoung watched as her wife got to her feet, scanning the room and nodding. "I will call Toby."
"Wait," Chaeyoung shook her head and quickly got up to follow her wife into the kitchen. "We haven't told them yet, we haven't... oh my god, we haven't told anyone..."
"Rosie," Lisa laughed, amused by the girl's tendency to overthink everything. "Breathe. Do you want to tell them today?"
Following her wife's advice, Chaeyoung took a deep breath and thought for a few moments. She needed to stop overreacting. "Yeah," she nodded, reaching out and squeezing Lisa's shoulder. "But we have to do it like we always do."
"Right," Lisa nodded, a mischievous smirk forming on her face.
Half an hour later, a worried Maia and Toby pulled in front of their house after receiving a phone call from Chaeyoung, saying there was an emergency. Chaeyoung quickly let them into the house.
"What's going on?" Maia asked, holding a sleeping Lucas in her arms.
"Over here," Chaeyoung shook her head, feigning anxiousness. She led them down the hallway to the previous empty spare bedroom, opening the door and watching as the couple's faces contorted in confusion.
"We need help," Lisa slid past them into the room and pointed to the pieces of the bed. "I can not build."
"What are you talking about?" Maia furrowed her eyebrows together and passed Lucas off to Toby. She took a few steps forward, scanning the room. "What is this?"
"How the hell did you get pregnant that quick?" Toby's eyes widened.
At that point, both girls dropped their act and burst into laughter. Chaeyoung quickly shook her head, holding out a hand to explain herself.
"There was an accident on Halloween," she explained, feeling Lisa grab her hand. "We pulled over to call the police. Well, I called. She ran," Chaeyoung pointed to Lisa.
"There was a kid in the car. Three year old girl," Chaeyoung continued once the couple nodded, still somewhat confused. "Lisa got her out and then we just... we just sort of ended up staying with her at the hospital and making sure she was okay."
"They wanted to take her to a group home," Lisa spoke up.
"Yeah," Chaeyoung nodded. "She didn't have any family that could take her in. And I sort of flipped out and now... well, we've been running around the past few days getting background checks and clearances of health, and... yeah, if all goes well after the home inspection..."
"We have our license and we pick her up on Friday," Lisa finished her sentence.
The young couple watched as Maia and Toby exchanged glances. Chaeyoung bit her lip, feeling Lisa squeeze her hand lightly for reassurance.
"Well when do we get to meet her?" Maia asked, tilting her head to the side with a soft smile. "What's her name?"
"Presley," Chaeyoung breathed a sigh of relief. "Presley Rose."
"Little flower," Lisa added quietly.
"Jisoo's gonna flip," Toby laughed. "That poor child is going to be so overwhelmed when she and Jennie meet her."
Chaeyoung and Lisa exchanged glances, a soft smile on each of their faces. Chaeyoung locked their pinkies together and nodded softly at her wife. Lisa got the message.
Things would be alright.