Chapter 6

Ding! Dong!

I sat up in bed and looked at my clock. It was only 7 o'clock in the morning, who could be at the door.

Then I heard the person knock.

I slowly walked down the hall to the door. Then I looked at the peep hole. I couldn't make out who it was.

"Who is it?" I called out.

"Mr. Countrymen," he called out.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hold on," I said.

I ran back to my room and grabbed my key. Then I went to open the door.

I slowly opened the door halfway.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning," I said.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Um. . .no," I said.

"I need to talk to your parents," he said.

"They're not home right now," I said.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"At work," I replied.

"All ready?" he asked, as he looked at his watch.

"Yeah," I said.

"Both of them?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Well then I need to talk to you, so can I come in?" he asked again.

"Uh, no cause it's a mess," I said.

"Well I don't see a mess," he said as he looked in. "In fact, I don't see anything."

I stared at the ground.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Lily, where are your parents?" he asked.

I looked away as tears began to fill my eyes.

"Talk to me Lily," he said.

"I don't know where they are," I said as a tear fell.

"Come on, let's go inside and we can talk," he said.

I moved out of the way and let him in. I closed the door and locked it. I watched him as he looked around the room. Then I walked back to my room as he followed me.

"I'm sorry there's no where for you to sit," I said as I sat down my blankets.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind sitting on the ground," he said as he sat down in front of me.

I wiped away my tears.

"What happened Lily? Why are you here alone?" he asked.

"Because they didn't want me anymore," I said as I began to cry again.

He got up and moved next to me. Then he wrapped his arms around me.

After I had finished crying, I looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"No, that's okay You can always cry on my shoulder," he said.

"Thanks," I said.

"So tell me what happened," he said.

"They said they couldn't provide for me anymore," I said.

"They told you that?" he questioned.

"No, it was in the note they left me," I said.

"Can I see it?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said as I got out.

I handed it to him and he read it over.

"I came home from school the other day and everything was gone, except for my stuff," I said.

"So they were your adoptive parents?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Do you know your biological parents?" he asked.

"No," I said as I shook my head.

"Okay. Well we'll get you taken care of," he said as he gave me the piece of paper back.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Why don't you get dressed and pack up your things," he suggested.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well you can't stay here by yourself," he said as he got up.

"All right," I said.

He walked out of my room closing the door behind him.

I got dressed and began picking up my things. Then I heard him talking on his cell phone.

Once I finished packing I walked out there.

He finished his conversation quickly and then hung up.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Okay, let's get your things and we'll go," he said as we headed towards my room.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to find you a good home," he said.

"A foster home?" I questioned.

"Yeah. But it's just temporary until we find you a home," he said.

I picked up my backpack and put it on.

"You promise?" I asked.

"I promise," he said as he picked up my box of clothes. "Don't worry. We will get you in a good home with a good family."

"Okay," I said.

"Can you get that other box for me?" he asked.

"Sure," I said as I picked it up.

"Let's go," he said as we began to walk out.

We closed the door and then walked out to his truck. We put my boxes in the back and then got into the front.

He started the truck and we drove off.

Orlando, Florida

Kevin rolled over and then all of a sudden he hit the ground.

He quickly sat up and looked around. Then he remembered that he had fallen asleep on the couch.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Damn couch," he muttered as he stood up.

He stretched his arms above his head. Then he went upstairs and took a shower.

He got out of the shower and put on a pair of a jeans and white shirt. Then he went downstairs and made himself some breakfast. Once he finished, he walked out into his living room and sat down on the couch. He flipped on the t.v. while he ate his egg.

After he ate, he grabbed a pen and a pad of paper. Then he listened to his messages.

"Hey baby. It seems like we're always missing each other. I'm sure you're out having fun with the guys. But not too much fun right, because I'm not there with you. I just wanted to let you know that I did get your message earlier and couldn't get back to you until now. Well they're calling for me, so I better let you go. Call me whenever you can, I'm missing you terribly. Love you, Kris."

Kevin smiled as he heard his fiancee's voice. She was on tour right now and he hadn't gotten a chance to really talk to her. They were always playing phone tag. He hated that she couldn't be with him when he was home. But he understood that her career was also important. Then he remembered that he was searching for Lily. He would have to tell Kristin about her. But he hated to do it over the phone. He wanted to explain it to her in person. He hoped that she would understand.

"Hi Kevin. It's me Judy. I just got a very interesting call. I've tried calling you all day, but I guess you're out. Just call me when you get in. It's about Lily."

Kevin's heart began racing. He couldn't believe that Judy had called him back so quickly. He hadn't expected her to call. He played the message again to make sure he had heard her right. Then he listened to her voice. She sounded so happy and excited.

He ran up to his room looking for Judy's phone number. Once he found it he grabbed the phone and sat on his bed. Then he called Judy.

"Hello."

"Hi Judy. It's me Kevin."

"Oh, hi Kevin."

"You have news about Lily?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well. . .what is it?"

"I think I've found her."

"Really? Are you sure? How do you know? And how did you find her?"

"Calm down Kevin and let me explain."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Actually, she found me."

"How?"

"She called me. Actually, she called for Robyn and asked for her. I told her that I didn't know where Robyn was, and she sounded so disappointed. Then I began to ask her why she was looking for Robyn.

"Did she tell you?"

"No, but I asked her for her name and she told me that it was Lily."

"Really? She did?"

"Yeah, and then when I asked her if Robyn was her mother, she said yes."

"It is her! Where is she? Do you have a phone number? Or an address? Anything?"

"She didn't give me an address, but she told me that she lives in Jacksonville, Florida, not too far from you. And she gave me a phone number. Do you have a pen and paper handy?"

"One second."

"All right."

Kevin quickly got up and grabbed a pen and paper off of his night stand.

"Okay Judy, I'm ready," he said as he picked up the phone.

"Okay, it's 602."

"Uh, huh."

"555."

"Uh huh."

"6109."

"Okay, I got it. Thank you so much Judy."

"You're welcome. Oh, and make sure to ask for Mr. Countrymen. She said that he will be able to get a hold of her."

"Okay, Mr. Countrymen," he said as he wrote his name down. "You'll call me again if she calls you?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Thanks Judy."

"So are you going to call that number right now?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well I'll let you go then. Bye."

"Bye," he said before he hung up.

Then Kevin stared at the number he was given. Of course he wanted to call, but he was afraid. What was he going to say? Hi, you don't know me, but I'm your father. Or hi, how's it going, I'm your dad. He didn't know how to come out and say it.

"Don't be stupid Kevin," he said to himself.

He picked up the phone. As he dialed each number, he became more nervous.

Then the phone began to ring. After a few rings the answering machine picked up.

"This is Mr. Countrymen. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the phone, but if you. . ."

"Ugh!" Kevin said as he hung up the phone.

"All that worrying for nothing," he said as he walked back downstairs with the phone in his hand.

He sat down at the computer and got online. He needed to do something to keep himself busy, so he decided to send an e-mail to Kristin. He planned on calling her later, but for now this would have to do.

Every hour on the hour he tried calling Mr. Countrymen, but he always got the same message.