Matching Rings [h.s]

39

POV: BAYLIN GRIGGS

"Foster care?" I question in disbelief as to the words that just came from Harry's mouth. I knew I heard him correctly, but a part of my brain only praying that I'm going fucking crazy and just imagined him saying that.

I look to Alice and the social worker in hopes for clarification that Harry had gotten something mixed up, only to see that Alice was looking at me with sorrow in her eyes and Shannon with a blank expression— both telling me that Harry wasn't mistaken.

"You're sending me to a foster home?" I ask further when no one answered.

"We aren't 'sending' you anywhere dear," Alice murmurs using air quotes. "You're a human, not to be passed around. You're just going to be living with a family for a while."

"How long is a while? Why can't I just keep living here?" I had so many more questions, summing up to the two I thought of first. I felt my palms clam up and skin jitter with stress.

"How ever long it takes, could be as fast as tomorrow if the police can locate your sister then she could register to be your legal guardian, it could be until you're eighteen or you get adopted which could take just as long." Shannon informs. "And unless Harry is registered as a foster parent then he's eligible to home you."

"How can I register?" Harry speaks up, walking around the couch and leaving Margot in the kitchen— who looked rather scared by the tension in the room. "I'm eighteen."

Once Harry was at my side he reached and held onto my hand to comfort me, he could tell I needed it right now. My head was spinning and everything felt like I was listening from inside a bubble.

"Bringing to consideration your juvenile background and whatever is going on there," Alice points to our hands being together, to which Harry was quick to let go of when she did so. "they'll never accept your application."

Harry curses under his breath, scanning the room in hopes for an idea to spark in his head.

"What if we find someone to formally adopt her?" Harry comes to action.

The thought about someone having legal guardianship over me other than a parent sounds fucking crazy, but at this point I'm willing to do anything to not have to go into the foster system— I know how fucked it is.

"Potentially that would get her out of the foster system, but the adoption process itself could take," Shannon pauses, searching her memory for the answer I'm sure she knew. "twelve to eighteen months. She would still need to be placed in a foster home until then regardless."

There were only about a million different things going through my head, I didn't fully understand what this all meant.

"Am I going to have to leave the apartment? Like right now?" I ask, my voice coming out shy and quiet as my throat felt timid and tight.

The two women look at each other as if they were reading each other's minds— possibly knowing what to answer because they seemed to have talked about it.

"We can hold off for one more day before CPS will need her to come with us." Shannon says picking up her clipboard from the couch and turning back. "Fourteen days is the maximum a minor can be alone after an unpredictable or sudden incident detaching the parents before you'll be removed willingly or unwillingly."

"Someone from my team will be back tomorrow to take you to your foster home, once you're there you'll go over all the necessary actions that will need to be taken with your foster family." She continues.

So I have one fucking day to figure myself out before I'm going to be thrown into a home with some random family I don't know. This is absurd, this can't be happening. I feel like I'm in a nightmare.