Paradise Lost

Hannah, Quinn and I were waiting at the place that the social worker had told Hannah to go to to pick up the girl we were adopting. Man, I didn't even know where I was, just that we were somewhere in Sacramento, and that the girl, Nikole I think her name was, was flying in from somewhere in Georgia.

I hadn't paid attention to hardly any of the proceedings, that had been Hannah's thing. She was the one who wanted to adopt this girl, and of course, she knew I would be alright with anything that made her happy. And, it wasn't like we didn't have space for another kid. I mean, Quinn's four and has her own room and bathroom, all of which is princess-ballerina themed. Don't even ask how I got roped into that one.

Hannah and Quinn had already deocrated a room and bathroom for her. Apparently. Nikole was really into photography and loved to draw and go to the beach, so, they had painted one of the bigger rooms a cool blue-green color. They'd put an easel in one of the corners and gotten some paint from one of the local art stores. I'd pitched in and bought a cool camera and a laptop. Hey, I figured if she was technically our daughter now, I could do that stuff for her.

I just realized how absolutely cool this is going to be, even though I hadn't really wanted to adopt a kid at first. The guys and I had always wanted a kid to spoil, just because we can. I mean, we already spoil the hell out of Quinn and Daniel, Matt's son who's a year older than Quinn, but, we couldn't wait until they were old enough for us to teach them to play instruments and shit. Daniel's already learning to play guitar from Zacky, and had gotten Matt's voice. Hannah's probably going to kill us all, if we spoiled the shit out of Nikkie, too.

Quinn was in the backseat, bouncing up and down in her car seat. She was super excited to be getting a new big sister, and that made me smile at my daughter's excitement. But, I wasn't sure how Quinn would react to this girl's not talking. According to Hannah, the social worker had said that Nikole hadn't spoken a word since her mom died in a car wreck, and Nikole had witnessed her mother dying before she'd lost conciousness. I didn't blame her for not talking. I wouldn't want to talk if I'd seen my mom die right next to me either.

"Jimmy! Look!" exclaimed Hannah, pointing down to the other end of the parking lot. "I think that's her! The social worker said they'd be in a silver sedan," she added, a bright smile crossing her face.

I smiled at Hannah's reaction; she was so excited to meet this girl, it was pretty cute. "Mommy! Is that my sister?" asked Quinn, a happy note in her voice. Hannah turned around and smiled at our daughter, nodding. "Yay!" Quinn started to struggle with her car seat, trying to get out.

"Hold still, Quinn," I told her, leaning back and unbuckling her car seat's belt. She squealed with delight as Hannah opened her door and then Quinn's, lifting the little girl out of the black Escalade. Hannah had Quinn's hand so the girl couldn't run off, but Quinn was bouncing up and down as she watched the car get closer and closer.

Finally, as the car started to slow to a stop, I jumped out of the SUV as well. Perfect timing, because right as I did, Nikole did as well. I walked over to Hannah, wrapping one arm around her waist and holding her lightly as this girl walked slowly towards the front of the sedan. The social worker, a short blonde woman, stepped out of the driver's side, heading towards us with a smile.

"Are you Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan?" she asked us.

I just nodded, but, Hannah spoke. "Yes, that would be us," she told the woman, who gave us a curt smile.

"My name is Jean Galloway, and I'm Nikole Ryan's social worker. I believe it is time you met her," said the kind of creepy social worker.

Hannah nodded, pulling both Quinn and I forward a few steps. "Hi, Nikole-" she started, but a raspy voice cut her off.

"Nikkie."

Looking startled, Hannah's mouth snapped shut, so I picked up where she stopped. "Hey, Nikkie, I'm Jimmy, this is Hannah, my wife, and Quinn, our daughter," I introduced us each, and Quinn bounced up and down even more when her name was said, waving at Nikkie.

Quinn pulled her hand out of Hannah's and ran towards Nikkie, and before Hannah could catch her, Quinn had thrown her arms around Nikkie's waist and was hugging the older girl tightly. I saw a tiny smile flit across Nikkie's face, and she hugged Quinn back before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a white board and purple Expo marker.

Can she read?? Nikkie wrote, holding the sign up for Hannah and I to see.

Hannah's startled expression returned, but she responded, "I- uh, well, yes, Quinn can read." It was true. The little girl was pretty damn smart.

We watched as Nikkie erased the board, and then wrote something else, holding it up for Quinn to see. Quinn smiled and giggled, saying, "Hi, Nikkie. You're pretty." I saw another smile on Nikkie's face, and she wrote something else on the board for Quinn to read.

I watched as the two continued to converse that way, wondering if Nikkie had been like this with any younger kids in her foster homes. Apparently, she'd been to two, only having been moved because the first family had a money issue; as in, they didn't have enough for six people in their house, so Nikkie was moved.

Just as I turned back to Jean Galloway, I heard Hannah asking the social worker questions about Nikkie. "So, that's the first she's spoken since the car accident?" Hannah asked, and Jean Galloway nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, in fact, that's the first I have heard her speak since I've been working with her, which has been about eight months," confessed Jean Galloway, who's first and last names just seemed to be one, as I'd decided.

"She's good with younger children, I assume?" Hannah said, making a guess.

Jeam Galloway nodded. "According to her last foster parents, she would've done anything for their little girl, Hope, who's the same age as your daughter."

Hannah let out a soft sigh of relief, and I was right there with her. We'd needed that, a kid who got along with younger kids. "I think she will fit right into your family, Mrs. Sullivan," added Jean Galloway suddenly.

I grinned. "Well, if that's the case, we'd better get going. We've got the rest of the family waiting at home to meet her!" I said, chipper as ever. Jean Galloway's eyes widened slightly, like she thought they lived with us.

"Re- Rest of the family?" stammered out Jean Galloway. "They do not all live with you, correct? Because, we were told there were three occupants to your home, Mr. Sullivan."

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah, you know, extended family. Our close family friends, grandparents. We've got about twenty or so people back at the house, just dying to meet Nikkie," I said, and heard a soft gasp of surprise from behind me.

Twenty people? Are they really THAT excited to meet me that they all gotta come over at once? was written on the board that was shoved under my nose. "Uh, yeah, they're part of you're new family, Nik," I told her, and a bright smile crossed her face.

Okay.



We walked into a silent house, much to my surprise. But, as I walked towards the back door and the noise level increased, I realized everyone was out in the backyard or in the pool. I turned to smile at Nikkie, who smiled back slightly. "Man, I hope you brought a swimsuit," I told her, and heard a raspy laugh as she nodded.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I asked her, and she tilted her head questioningly at me. "Go get changed! You've got a pool party to attend, my dear daughter."