Chapter 8

Kate continued to work on finding a place for Lily to stay.

At about 6 o'clock she had finally found a family for her.

"Sweetie, wake up," Kate said as she gently shook Lily.

I opened my eyes to see Kate standing there.

"Hi there," she said as she smiled at me.

I sat up. "Hi."

"Are you ready to go to your new place?" she asked.

"I guess," I replied.

"Okay then, let's get your stuff and we'll head on over there," she said.

"All right," I said as I grabbed my backpack and stood up.

We grabbed my two boxes and then walked out to her car.

The ride to the foster home was complete silence.

I wondered what they were going to be like. Was there a lot of kids there? Did they all have a lot of problems also? Were they going to be mean? Was I going to be stuck with this family for a long time? Or would I be placed in another home soon? Was I going to be moved around until I was with a family that wanted me? Or would I never be loved and wanted?

Then she pulled into their driveway.

"We're here," she said as she interrupted my thoughts.

I just shook my head yes.

"Let's go," she said as she got out.

I grabbed my backpack and also got out.

We walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. Then we waited for someone to answer the door. We heard a couple of kids yell, but they didn't answer it, finally a man opened the door.

"Hi," he said. "You must be Lily."

I shook my head yes.

"Well come on in," he said kindly.

"Thank you," Kate said as we walked in.

I followed behind her as we went into the living room. Then a woman who looked to be about in her thirties walked up to us. She had short blonde hair and brown eyes. She smiled at us.

"You must be Ms. Johnson, right?" she asked.

"Yes," Kate said as she shook her hand.

"And you must be Lily," the woman said.

I shook my head yes, again.

"Well my name is Jaime and this is my husband, Ryan," she said as she introduced them.

"I'm so glad that you guys could take Lily in," Kate said.

"Oh, it's no problem. We love the kids," Jamie said happily.

"Well Lily, we want you to meet everyone else," Ryan said as he pointed to the couch where five other kids were sitting.

"Everyone, this is Lily," he said.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"All right, from left to right there's, Doug, Tyler, Scott, Jaclyn, and Samantha," he said.

Each one of them said hi.

They all looked so much older than me. I felt like a little kid.

"Well it looks like you're going to be well taken care of," Kate said.

"You're leaving?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," she said. Then she handed me a piece of paper.

"If you need to contact me or Mike, just call," she said.

"Okay," I said as I placed the piece of paper in my pocket.

"Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Martin," Kate said as she shook each of their hands.

"You're welcome," they said.

"Bye Lily," she said as she walked out.

"Bye," I said.

The door shut and I was left standing there by myself as they stared at me. One of the guys stood up and turned the t.v. and began watching it along with the others.

"Well, Samantha and Jaclyn, why don't you girls help Lily get situated in your guys' room," Jaime suggested.

"Okay," they said, then they got up.

I followed them down the hall.

"I've got your things Lily," Ryan said as he picked up my boxes and went with us.

We walked into the small room and there was a bunk bed on one side and a twin bed on the other. Then underneath the small window they had a little vanity desk.

"You can have this bed," Samantha said as she pointed to the twin bed.

Then Ryan walked in. He set down my two boxes at the foot of the bed.

"Is it okay if I put this stuff here?" he asked.

I shook my head yes.

"You can get situated later, right now it's time for dinner," he said.

"I'm not hungry," I said quietly.

"You're not?" he questioned.

"No," I said. "Is it all right if I go to sleep now? I'm really tired."

"Yeah, I guess that's fine," he said.

"Girls! Time to eat!" called Jaime.

"Coming!" yelled Jaclyn as they walked out.

"Um. . .where's the bathroom?" I asked.

"Oh here, let me show you," Ryan said.

I followed him down the hall to a couple of doors down.

"Right here," he said as he pointed at it. "Anything else?"

I shook my head no.

"All right then, sleep tight," he said.

I walked back to the room and sat down on the bed.

Ryan went out and joined the family at the dinner table.

I took my backpack off and then grabbed my box full of clothes. I began searching for my pajamas. Once I found them, I walked out to the bathroom and changed. Then I went back into my room and pulled back the covers. I took out my bunny and placed it on the pillow. Then I shut off the light and climbed into bed.

I began to lightly cry as I hugged my bunny. I was frightened to be in this new place. I was finally with a family, but I was kind of just throw in with them. It just happened to be that they had room for another child, so that's why I was with them. It wasn't because they wanted me or were going to love me. They were just stuck with me, like I was stuck with them. I still felt so alone, even though there was seven other people in the house.