To late to be my father.

My father? He couldn't be. I looked over at him. There were some similarities. We were both tan, though my skin was a tad bit lighter. We both had the same kind of brown hair, a nice chestnut brown that looked close to light brown, and emerald green eyes but those were the only similarities. I looked like my mother. Almost an exact look alike everyone would tell us. I looked back at Ms. Booker. I didn't know what to say.

"You're insane." I snapped without thinking. Okay maybe I did know what to say. She looked at me surprised. Her face calmed. Ms. Booker was a calm woman. I haven't known her to flip out or yell at anyone who spoke to her like that. She was old yet she looked young. She had a wrinkled face, dark hair, hazel eyes, pale skin, and verging on over weight. She wasn't that tall of a woman so she looked like a small dwarf.

"Teagan, I know this might come a bit of a shock to you-"

"No. It doesn't come to a bit of a shock to me because he can't be my father." I snapped cutting her off. His keys started to jingle again. He was hitting them with his fingers and looking down at his hands. Then I started to see how young he really looked. He looked very nervous. Anxious even. It looked as if he was about to throw up. There was definitely no way he could be my father. He was to young.

"Teagan. He is your father sweet heart. You're just shocked. I know I would be if this happened to me." Ms. Booker said kindly. I shook my head.

"No. My father left my mother and I when I was born. Why in the hell would he come back looking for me?" I snapped at her.

"I didn't leave." Tim said quickly as his head snapped in my direction. I turned my head to look at him.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't recall you being with us. I don't recall you being there on my birthdays. I don't recall you being there to stop my mother from being an addict or an alcoholic and I don't recall you being there at her funeral. So either I'm suffering from amnesia or you left for damn sure." I barked at him.

"Teagan Cadence Moore! Watch your language!" Ms. Booker said to me shocked. I sat back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest.

"Okay I admit I wasn't there for you and your mother when you were growing up but I'm here to make it right and be here for you." He said desperately now messing with the keys in his hand. I snorted and glared at a spot on the ground.

"Teagan, your father wants to take you home." Ms. Booker said calmly. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at her.

"Home? What do you mean by home?" I questioned.

"Your father wants to adopt you." She stated blankly.

"Adopt me? If he was my father he shouldn't have to adopt me." I grumbled still trying to prove that he wasn't my father.

"His name wasn't on your birth certificate." She explained.

"I stopped coming around a month before you were born." He explained.

"How do we know he's even my father? He could be some creepy guy that wants a teenage girl for whatever reason floats into his mind." I snapped at Ms. Booker.

"It doesn't matter. He qualifies to adopt. Either way he can adopt you if he wants." She explained exasperatedly. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I already figured out he was my father. The similarities in the skin color, hair color, eye color. Plus he had that nervous twitch I have. When I get anxious or nervous I do the same thing he does with his keys.

"I came here to adopt you Teagan." My father said shortly. Of course you're here to adopt me. Why else would you show up looking for me? I hissed in my head. I shrugged then shook my head.

"I'm not leaving." I stated simply and sternly.

"Teagan, I'm here to take you to a home, to go to school with a lot of other teenagers, to be like all the other kids your age." My father said calmly. I stood up abruptly.

"I'm. Not. Leaving." I hissed as I turned to leave.

"Teagan Moore. You sit back down this instant." Ms. Booker snapped at me as she stood up as well.

"No. I'm not leaving. Why should I leave with him just because he magically wants to be my father?!" I hissed as I walked out of the office.

Gracie was waiting in my room when I got there. She was sitting on the bottom bunk looking at her hands as she patiently waited. When she saw me walk in she jumped off the bottom bunk and ran over to me. I lifted her up and held her on my hip.

"Are you leaving me?" She asked sadly.

"No Gracie I'm not leaving you." I said smiling at her. Her face brightened up and a huge smile appeared on her face. I let her down off my hip and sat down on the floor in front of her.

"So what was that about anyway? Who was that guy?" She asked curiously as she sat down on the bottom bunk again.

"He was my father. He wanted to adopt me but I refused to go." I said nonchalantly. Her mouth dropped agate.

"What?!" She shouted startling me from the sudden raise in her voice.

"Did you not go because I asked you not to leave me?! Teagan you can go if you want! If its your dad then I'll understand!" Gracie said frantically. I shook my head.

"I didn't not agree to go because of that." I stated with a sad tone to my voice.

"If your dad is here to adopt you why wouldn't you want to go?" She asked confused.

"I don't know how to explain it." I stated with the same tone to my voice.

"Oh." She said as she looked down with a sad face. I didn't know if she was sad over the fact that I was staying for whatever reason besides her or that I have a chance to go with my birth father and she didn't. A knocking hit the door and I turned around when the door opened. Tim stuck his head threw and then pushed the door open all the way for him to walk in. He was jingling his keys. Ms. Booker was to the side standing there probably trying to give us some alone time. I glared at him.

"What?" I snapped at him. He swallowed tightly and his eyes wondered to Gracie.

"Is she your sister or something?" He asked as his eyes widened.

"No she's just a friend." I said still glaring at him. He seemed relieved, why? I don't know.

"Oh." He said with a sigh. I gave him a look that said 'What the hell do you want?'. He cleared his throat and started to jingle his keys more.

"I talked to Ms. Booker and I'm going to adopt you even if you don't want to go." Tim said nervously. I stared at him blankly.

"I'm not going to leave my daughter in an orphanage when I can just adopt you." He explained suddenly as if he thought I was waiting for an explanation.

"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes.

"You'll be leaving in a week. The papers have to process and such." Ms. Booker said coming from around the corner.

"Fine whatever." I grumbled as I turned away from him and looked down at the floor. I heard heavy footsteps walk away from me and the door closed. Then two sets of footsteps walked down the hall. I heard sniffing and I looked over at Gracie.

"You said you weren't gonna leave me." She sobbed.

"I have no other choice Gracie but I promise I'll visit you whenever I get the chance." I said smiling at her with reassurance in my voice.

"You promise?" She asked as she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Promise." I said smiling at her.