Better Off Alone (Adopted by Brendon and Sarah Urie)

17. Callie

I couldn't let Mom and Dad know what the dreams were about. Why they scare me so much. They wouldn't understand and they'd probably realize the mistake they made and send me back to the home.  That's why the Cunninghams did. They couldn't handle the dreams.

When I woke up in the morning, I decided to pretend nothing had happened. I got up, took a shower and got dressed.  I looked at my phone and saw it was nine o'clock. John was supposed to come over soon and install the lights and alerts and stuff. Then I don't know what Mom and Dad have planned for the rest of the day, but if we were staying around the house, I thought I might go swimming again. I like that we have a pool.

I went downstairs and Mom was in the kitchen. I didn't see Dad. Knowing that they knew some sign already, I asked:

"Where's Dad?"

"Studio," Mom fingerspelled, and pointed out the back door. I nodded.

"Eat?" Mom signed.  I figured she was asking if I was hungry. I nodded.

Mom went to the fridge and took out eggs and showed them to me asking if I wanted eggs. I shook my head.

Mom signed "What?"

I thought and very carefully spelled 'cereal'. Because I knew they didn't know the sign for that yet. Mom nodded and waved me over.  She opened the pantry and showed me the cereals. I chose Corn Pops. Mom touched my shoulder and showed me that she was laughing. She pointed at the Corn Pops, signed "Dad" and then hugged herself. I took that as 'Dad loves Corn Pops'. I smiled and pointed at myself. I love Corn Pops, too.

Mom got me down a bowl and a spoon and I took the milk out of the fridge.  I poured myself a bowl of cereal, poured the milk and then sat down to eat. Mom got my attention and pulled out apple and orange juice asking if I wanted any juice. I shook my head. I'd drink the milk in my bowl. 

I ate quickly. Mom stopped me.

'Don't eat so fast!' she texted to me.

'Sorry,' I replied. 'At the home, someone was always tossing my cereal into my lap. I'm not used to not having to eat fast so my meal doesn't wind up on my pants.'

Mom made sad eyes at me.

'That won't happen here. Not on purpose, anyway,' she smiled.

I finished eating and put my bowl in the dishwasher.

Mom said the doorbell rang and asked me to text Dad and tell him someone was here. Probably John.

Mom went to answer the door and I texted Dad, who texted back he'd be right there.

I sat at the breakfast bar and scrolled through my phone. Dad had set up an Instagram account for me and had made my account follow his. I scrolled through. There was a picture of him in the living room signing 'I love you', while I was sitting in profile, talking to Mom. I smiled and read the caption. 

'@Callieurie, the best thing that's happened in my life since Sarah,' he had a huge grin on his face. Is this what love feels like? 

I kept scrolling through older posts. A photo of the outside of the Children's home.

'@Sarahurie Our lives change forever today. #LAChildrensHome #adopting

There were also some photos from the party the other night. And a couple from their sign language class. In every picture they're smiling so brightly.

There was even a picture from when Uncle Zack and everyone left the class and I'd waved goodbye because I was immersed in my movie.

'Cheeky kid too involved in her movie to say a proper goodbye. Love ya @callieurie!'

I liked the photos and responded to a few.

I felt a kiss on my head and looked up. Dad was standing over me and smiling. I smiled back at him.

'How are you doing?' He texted.

'I'm good. Just scrolling Instagram,' I replied. Dad smiled.

Mom came in with John and some other guy. They had a bunch of boxes.

John signs while he speaks so I can be a part of the conversation.

"Good morning. This is Alex. He's my technician and he's going to help install the equipment and help us get it set up. It'll take a couple of hours but we'll also set up which sequence is triggered by which alarm. Okay?"

I nodded. I looked at Mom and Dad, who were smiling at me.

'No one has ever done this for me,' I texted to them and smiled. They came over and hugged me.

'We want you to be safe. We love you,' Mom texted. I hugged them back.

Over the course of the next two hours, John and Alex wandered around the house installing lights and wiring them to things. He handed me a box with an alarm clock in it and said I could probably manage that one on my own. I smiled. It was a pretty nice alarm clock. And I could charge my phone on it and have the phone trigger the vibrating pad that would go under my mattress.

"Callie," John signed, getting my attention.  "We need to go up to your room to install the door knock alert light. Do you want to come or is it okay if we go up?"

"It's okay," I said. "You can go up." Bogart was in my lap and I was scrubbing his belly.

"We'll need you at some point once we start setting the sequences, okay?" John said. I nodded and John and Mom went up with them.

Dad sat down on the floor beside me with Penny.

We just sat against the couch playing with the dogs.

Life would be perfect here, if I can keep the nightmares away.