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Drew and I left the courthouse full of excitement; we couldn't stop smiling even if we tried. On the way home I had Drew stop at Walmart allowing me to run in a grab a picture frame to put the document in. I carefully put it in the picture frame before we left out the parking lot and I proceeded to facetime Kierra in excitement.
The phone rang a few times before she finally answered.
"Hey mommy what's up?" She said hurriedly.
"I was calling to show you something but if you're busy I can call back later." I said.
"It's fine. Um I gotta finish something up and I'll call you back in like 30 minutes okay?"
"Alright. Love you." I barely got out before she hung up the phone. I just shook my head before facetiming my sisters.
Jacky was the first to answer and soon after Twinkie joined. We were just waiting on Dorinda.
"I wish this girl would hurry up and answer the phone." Jacky fussed as we sat there waiting for her. About 30 seconds later she finally joined the call.
"Sorry y'all I couldn't find my phone." She said with a laugh once she finally joined.
"Wow. Ms 'Take yo cellphone with you' can't even find her own phone." Jacky said jokingly making us all laugh.
"Okay okay enough guys. I called to tell you something really important." I said with a smile after we all quieted down.
"Well what is is?" Dorinda asked as she stared at the screen. I picked up the picture frame and held it up in the camera so the could read it.
"Tadaa. Vicky's officially ours!" I exclaimed with a excited squeal.
"Oh my goodness Karen that's amazing." I heard Twinkie say.
"Aw sucky sucky na we gotta have a party!" Dorinda exclaimed as she did a little dance.
"That's wonderful. Have you told her yet?" Jacky asked while clapping.
"No not yet. Drew and I are gonna go get her from school around lunch time to tell her." I said as I set the frame back in my lap.
"How bout we all just come over for dinner and you tell her then? So we all can be there." Jacky suggested.
"That'll work too. What we gon have for dinner?" Dorinda asked.
"I'll just order some pizza and wings and it can be a little family night." I said making a mental note of what all I had to do.
"That's perfect. We'll start making our way to you around 6 o'clock." Jacky said.
"Alright great. I gotta go, I love yall!" I said with a bright smile before blowing them a kiss.
They all responded with their 'I love yous' before ending the call. I set my phone down on my lap as I looked over a Drew with a smile as we continued to ride home.
~At Home~
It was almost time for the girls to get home from school so I started preparing them a snack as I usually would when the doorbell rang. I quickly wiped my hands off with a paper towel and walked up front to answer the door. I heard a big of arguing so I opened the door in confusion just to see Kierra and J Drew standing outside fussing at each other.
"What is y'all fussing about?" I asked as I let them in the house. I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek as they entered the house.
"He mad cause I rung the doorbell before he could. Just being a baby." Kierra said as she went over and set her purse down on the couch.
"I said I wanted to ring it and you did it anyway." J Drew said with a slight attitude making me smack the back of his head.
"Grow up its a doorbell. And since y'all here I can tell you the surprise. Since someone didn't call me back earlier." I said as I made my way back into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry mommy I got caught up doing something." Kierra apologized as she and her brother followed me into the kitchen.
"Mhm sure but I gotta hurry and tell you before Vicky gets home so hush up and listen." I said as I went back to making the after school snacks. They both nodded and waited for me to continue.
"Well after Vicky's incident at the hospital your father and I sat down and had a talk about officially making Vicky a part of the family. It took a few months to get everything in order but as of 9:30 this morning Vicky is officially a Sheard." I said with a bright smile as I looked up at them.
"Y'all adopted her?! Ma that's amazing!" J Drew replied with a smile brighter than mine before continuing to speak.
"I finally have a little sister! Have y'all told her yet?" He asked excitedly causing me to laugh.
"No we haven't. We're having everyone come over for a family night tonight and we'll tell her then." I replied as I finished up what I was doing.
"Ouu we should record it Mommy. So we'll always have this memory." Kierra added with a smile.
"That's a great idea Ki. Call Shamika and have her come over to record it. In the mean time can y'all run to the store and pick up a few things for me? Just some pops or something that we can drink tonight and a few snacks." I said as I looked at the clock.
"Sure thing. What time you want us to come back?" Kierra asked as she pulled out her phone to call Shamika.
"Around 5:30 cause everyone will be here a 6." I replied as I heard the front door unlocking.
"Oh that's probably her. Hurry up and don't say anything understood?" I said quickly as I looked at my children.
"Yes ma'am. We'll be back later. Love youu." Kierra said as she walked out of the kitchen with J. Drew following behind her.
"Love you too sweetie." I replied as I watched them walk out and Vicky walk in without her friend.
"Hey sweetheart, where's Em?" I asked as I greeted her with a hug.
"She went to go get the rest of her stuff from her foster home. She'll be here a little later." She replied as she dropped her bookbag and sighed.
"They gave me all these books like it's only the second day. My back hurts." She complained as she stretched to relieve the tension from her back.
"Well look at it this way, in a few more months you won't even need them." I said as I moved her bookbag away from the door and led her into the kitchen so she could eat.
"You're right. What were Ki and J doing over here?" She asked as she sat at the table to eat.
"They came over cause I needed them to run to the store. We're having family game night later." I replied as I sat across from her.
"Oh okay that's cool. What games are we playing?"
"Every game we got so you might wanna take you a little nap." I replied with a smile. She just nodded and continued to eat her food while I sat here feeling blessed to be finally able to call her my daughter.
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