Better or Bad (Sequel to Lizzy Walker - Adopted Story)

The Secret Child

After Bryce's punishment, I'm finally better since getting enraged about Jace's accident. More likely I'm glad we had the conversation with our kids about adopting a kid. They kind of traded insults over which gender the kid should be. We'll make up our mind once they'll give us pictures, information and more. It's now 6pm and I cooked spinach soup with cheese. Everyone loves it especially Jace. The soup is orders from the doctor to eat and take his medicine. He hissed in pain, touching the stitches. Breanna sipped her bowl and raised an eyebrow. "Don't play with your nose. It'll hurt if you do." She told him. He rolled his eyes. "Relax. I'm touching the stitches only." He said. Bryce was eating on the couch. "Jace, don't focus on it. Just let it heal and drink your medicine." He said. I'm a little relieved the medicine is a drink instead of pills. I'd have to be extremely strict with him taking those. I smiled innocently. "We're lucky it's not broken nor his sinus issues." I said sarcastically. He sighed. "Babe, it was an accident! I thought you're over the whole thing." He said. Jace frowned. "Mom, don't blame dad. It's only eternal bleeding and I practically made stains in the backseat in the car." He said, smiling sheepishly. Bryce's jaw dropped and hopped off the couch."Excuse me?! In my car?!" He freaked. Me and Breanna covered our mouths with giggles. He shrugged. "Just in the middle." He told him. I broke off laughing. She chuckled. He groaned, flunking himself on the couch. Thoughts flew back to me about our kid's gender. If we bring a boy, Jace will have another brother beside Lucas. If we bring a girl, Breanna will another sister alongside River. Hm...thinking still. I finished my bowl and sat beside Bryce. He yawned and stretched his arms. I'll need to be quiet so the kids won't flip about the adoption. "Baby, we need to pick a gender at the adoption. This seems like a big decision." I whispered. He scoffed, smiling. "Not really! All we have to do is pick which kid we desire to have. Imagine if we brought another son. He'll have two brothers Lucas and the other- I cut him off. "I know! Same thing for Breanna too but I think Jace and Lucas is enough. They'll have each other. Breanna needs more girl time. I'm always off to work, catching up with the girls and writing music." I said. He looked at me confusedly. "What do you mean? Bri does get time with you. You're not always working." He said. That only means one answer to our situation. I tried hard to hid my smiles and got off the couch. It took a minute for him to realize what I meant. His jaw dropped. "Are you trying to say we should..." He trailed off. I nodded and smiled excitingly. Bryce cheered but I shushed him. "Don't alarm the kids!" I whispered/yelled. He nodded and took a deep breath. I know he really can't contain his excitement. I sighed happily. "We can't tell the kids or everybody yet. We oughta surprise them." I whispered. He quickly nodded and gave a thumbs up. Our eyes diverted to the kids who yawned from exhaustion. Uh oh, Jace's medicine. I pulled out the bottle from my purse and walked up to him. "Time for medicine." I said, smirking. He groaned softly. I poured one cap and he sipped the whole cup. Breanna stretched her arms, yawning. "Time for everyone's sleep." I said. They hopped off the counter and went upstairs. I motioned Bryce to follow behind. He kissed my forehead as we walked to bed. I'm so pumped to find our child in adoption!

In the afternoon, we dropped the kids to school and drove on the way to California's adoption agency. The agency home looks nice. I inhaled a deep breath and smiled widely. Bryce laughed, parking in the driveway. I took off my seatbelt and got out. He did the same and shut the door. Our hands intertwined as we came to the door. We opened the door, making eye contact with the receptionist. She smiled kindly. "Hello!" She said. We returned the gesture. "Hi, I scheduled an appointment with Ms. Baker." I said. She chuckled and pointed to herself. "Here I am." She said, getting off her chair. We shook hands with her. "I'm Lizzy and this is my husband Bryce." I introduced. He nodded, smiling. "We're looking to adopt." He told her. Ms. Baker nodded. "Of course! Follow me." She said. We followed behind as she led us in the hallway to her office where a dark lady was writing papers. She cleared her throat. "Ms. Maya, we have visitors who want to adopt. Mr. and Mrs. Dunham." She said. She looked up and smiled. "Hi, I'm Ms. Maya! Go ahead and sit down." She said. Two chairs were in front of their desk. We sat beside each other as Ms. Baker sat next to Ms. Maya. "Alright, first question. Do you have children of your own or just adopting?" She asked. I quickly nodded. "Just two." I said. They asked a few questions about our health, jobs and if we ever broke the law. Everyone knows I'm not that type. It's important for the kid to be in a safe and comfortable home. The ones who don't breaks my heart. Ms. Maya popped the question we've been waiting for. "Do you want to adopt a boy or a girl?" She asked. Me and Bryce readied ourselves and smiled happily. "A girl!" We said in unison. Ms. Baker slightly chuckled. Ms. Maya smiled warmly. "That's great! Would you like a girl under twelve or nine?" She asked. He nodded his head no. "We figured one under thirteen or fourteen." He told them. They nodded in understanding. Ms. Maya went to their gores and pulled out five stack of papers. She laid them on the desk. "There are pictures and information of four girls under thirteen and fourteen. You can look through them and take your time." Ms. Baker told us. I nodded as she spread them across the desk.

******

We already checked three papers about these little girls. Sadly, they weren't what we picked. I checked another one of a girl with brown hair, hazel eyes who had a pink bow. So cute! She's actually under twelve but turning thirteen in two weeks. "What about this one?" Bryce asked, picking up the last paper. Ms. Baker hummed in response. "That's a shocker." She said. I looked at her confusedly. "What do you mean?" I asked. Ms. Maya smiled and motioned me to read about the next girl. We studied her photo and were astonished. She's so beautiful!

Wow, she is...wow! Ms. Baker gasped. "That wasn't supposed to be her photo! She should look presentable!" She panicked. Ms. Maya scoffed. "What do you suggest? You know that girl has instagram!" She sassed. Bryce cleared his throat to get their attention. "Who is she?" He asked. They smiled nervously. "Her name is Bella. She's fourteen and has been in adoption since she was two years old. Sorry about the photo, Bella tends to be on Instagram like all kids are. It may look like she's mighty rich- Ms. Maya cut her off. "Meaning you can't always believe everything on social media." She added. We nodded in agreement. "True! Some things come off as lies about us on social media." Bryce agreed. "Um, what about her parents?" I asked. Ms. Baker smiled sheepishly. "This may sound really awful but her parents are...mentally sick..." She trailed off. Ms. Maya raised an eyebrow. "Mother had bipolar depression, father was an alcoholic, sent to jail for collecting drugs from a dealer." She explained. Our jaws dropped. Awe, I can't imagine what she's been through. "Could you excuse us for a minute?" Bryce asked. Ms. Baker nodded. We got off the chairs and stood beside the doorway. I looked at him weirdly. "What's wrong baby?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow in shock. "Alcohol and depression? I understand that's what happened but hon...you never know. What if Bella turns out like that? What if we let her out of our sight and she goes to drink with her—I cut him off by cupping his face. I smiled softly. "Babe, I'm feeling what you're feeling right now. A little scared and nervous. All because you want to give her the best. We'll never let her become like that. She's in our safest and loving hands." I told him. He took a deep breath, rubbing my shoulders. "Ok. This is just baby steps. Thank you for being there Liz." He said. We shared a small kiss and returned back to our chairs. Ms. Maya smirked. "Thoughts?" She asked. I quickly nodded. "We'd love to have her." I said. Bryce smiled and nodded in agreement. "Ok, shall we start this week? We'll give you the location to her foster home and talk about inspection after two months." She said. "And then we'll see how it goes from there." Ms. Baker added. We nodded in understanding as she handed me a piece of paper. The address to Bella's foster house. Bryce put his hand out. "Thank you so much." He said, smiling. She kindly shook it. "No problem!" She said. Can't believe we did it. We're gonna have another daughter once everything turns out good. Hopefully, she won't be too much trouble. I smiled. "By the way, what is she like?" I asked. They low-key chuckled. We shared confusion. "You'll find out." Ms. Maya mumbled.

After picking up the kids, we're in the living room watching Beauty & the Beast. Not the animated movie. "So, did you find our sibling?" Jace asked. I looked at them in awe. "You already think of her as a sibling?" I asked. They nodded but shared confusion when I said 'her.' Bryce covered his mouth to laugh. Uh oh. "Did you just say we're having a sister?" Breanna asked. We held hands and smiled. "Yes, you'll be getting a big sister." He told them. She screamed happily and hugged me. We laughed more. Our attention turned to Jace. He was still in shock. Bryce patted his shoulder. "Son, are you happy about it? It's ok if you feel a little left out." He said. He nodded his head no. "No, I'm ok guys. Breanna deserves a big sister and I'm glad there's no other boy that'll mess with my stuff." He said. I laughed, shrugging. "Alright then!" I said. "But make sure to protect your sisters from boys. They will break their hearts." Bryce told him firmly. Jace winked, giving a thumbs up. Breanna rolled her eyes annoyingly. I chuckled. I can't wait for us to meet her.