Mute | Adopted by Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett

Scarlett was currently in her car, headed out on her fourth attempt to find the right fit. The feeling of anxiety and nervousness hadn't left her alone since last night and she was starting to accept that it probably wouldn't leave her alone until this was all over. The drive is just over 30 minutes but she left at 10:20 AM just in case, she really didn't want to be late and keep the caretakers or the kids waiting, as she knew they probably had a lot on their schedules and wouldn't appreciate being set behind on their long list of things to get done more than they probably already were.

After a quiet drive, with barely anyone else on the road, Scarlett arrived 5 minutes early, taking this extra time to take deep breaths and focus all of her thoughts, before she potentially found the child that would ultimately change her life for the better.

After letting herself have a few moments to herself, she walked up to the front door and was greeted by one of the caretakers. She told her that all of the kids were so excited that they were having a visitor today and then took Scarlett into the little office right next to the front door and proceeded to ask questions about things she needed to know in order for Scarlett to be able to proceed with the adoption process.

Scarlett thought she must have checked all the boxes because the caretaker then led her out of the office and upstairs where a long corridor awaited them. Down this corridor we're a few doors on each side. The woman told Scarlett that all of the kids were having free time inside of the building so that she could see the children in a more relaxed environment, where they were doing the things that they enjoyed doing the most.

Before they started all of this, the woman told her about a little girl, she said she was mute and didn't talk but she assured Scarlett that she would remind her before they entered the room she was in so that it wouldn't make either of the two uncomfortable. Scarlett said she didn't really have a specific age that she was looking to adopt so the caretaker said that they would look at as many as they had time for.

After spending 30 minutes looking at all of the other rooms with different ages of kids in them and having a chat with a few of them, they stood in front of the last door. The caretaker paused before she opened it and turned to face Scarlett.
"This is the room with the girl we talked about earlier in it" she said, followed by a brief explanation of what she looks like, so Scarlett knew which one she would be, and her age as she wouldn't be able to ask the girl any of this stuff herself.

The caretaker pushed the door open carefully to reveal 4 girls, all playing a board game, huddled up in a circle on the floor. Scarlett's eyes were instantly drawn to the only other girl in there, sat alone on her bed, reading her book intently. As soon as she looked at her, the girl glanced up from the page she was on, looking directly into her eyes, before quickly returning her focus on the words of her book.

The woman introduced Scarlett to all of the little girls sat playing the game and then gestured towards the last girl,
"And this is Arlo"
"Hello Arlo" Scarlett said, not wanting to make her feel left out from this interaction. In return she gave a small nod of her head and once again went back to her book.

With that being the last room, the visit was coming to a close. The caretaker that took Scarlett around brought her back into the front office and they started to discuss all that had been seen.
"Are there any in particular that drew your attention?" She asked with a pleasant smile on her face.
"Ummm, I really don't know yet, I think the best thing for me to do is to go home and think this all over and give you a call tomorrow with an answer." In truth, she said this because she didn't know how to feel about what she had seen, there were so many delightful kids here, and her thoughts and emotions were everywhere, but somehow they all led her back to one specific child, one that she would have least expected.
"I think that is a fair plan, we wouldn't want to rush your decision and risk making the wrong choices." She replied, still as cheerful as ever.

With that, Scarlett left and went home. She now had the rest of the day to think and reel in all of her emotions and thoughts, in an attempt to try an understand what both her heart and mind were trying to tell her. All she knew was that this visit was like no other she had been on before, which gave Scarlett hope. Hope that maybe she would soon have the perfect fit for her.