Finally Home

57. Samantha

"Hi, Samantha. I'm Carrie," the lady said, as I carried a sleeping Rosie over the threshold and into the cozy, clean-looking house's vestibule. I had my clothes from my trip. Rosie had nothing. They hadn't let us go home to get anything. I didn't say a word to Carrie. Or the social worker who was telling Carrie why we were suddenly in care, and that it was supposed to be temporary.

"It's getting pretty late. Do you want me to show you guys to your rooms?"

I nodded. She could show me all the rooms in the house, Rosie is staying with me.

She showed me a room with a crib in it and said Rosie could sleep there. Then she showed me another room with a twin-sized bed, a desk and a dresser. I dropped my duffle bag inside the door and walked into the room while Carrie was telling me where the bathroom was and where she and her husband, Tom, slept. I closed the door in her face and carefully lay down on the bed so as to not wake Rosie up. It wasn't until I got both of us comfortable on the bed that I allowed myself to cry. I cried silently. I'd learned to do that when Stanley had taken me. I curled up on the bed, facing Rosie, whose tear-stained face looked so sad in the dim light. I fell asleep staring at my sleeping sister.

I was woken up by crying. Rosie was sitting up and looking around, tears running down her cheeks.

"Mama! Dada!" she wailed.

"Shhh, Rosie," I said, rubbing her back.

"Sammy. Mama, Dada. I want to go home," she hiccuped.

"I know RosieRo," I said. "Me too."

She lay back down and curled into me.

We slept through the night curled up like that.

In the morning, Carrie came in and woke us up.

"Good morning. Breakfast is almost ready. I know you're diabetic so you probably should get up and get some breakfast. And I'll bet Rosie needs a diaper change and is probably hungry too. Who wants waffles?"

"I want Dada's awfuls," Rosie whined. I hugged her to me.

"Waffles," Carrie corrected. I frowned at her. I wasn't going to speak to her as long as I could manage it.

I got up and picked Rosie up. I went into the room that Carrie had shown me the night before and saw that there were diapers in the room. I got Rosie changed and found they had some clothes her size, so I changed her but made sure her clothes went into my room, so I could be sure if I did laundry, I didn't lose her clothes. I hoped we weren't going to be here that long.

"Are you hungry, Rosie?" I asked her quietly. She looked up at me with her sad blue eyes.

"I want Mama and Dada, SaSa," she whined.

"I know, bug. I do, too," I hugged her. "Do you want to have awfuls? Even though they aren't Dada's?"

Rosie nodded sadly.

"I hungry," she said, putting her head on my shoulder and her thumb in her mouth. I held her tight.  She was too little to be dealing with this.

I went downstairs, Rosie clinging to me.

In the kitchen there were two other kids. A boy, about eight and a girl about ten. Carrie introduced them but I barely acknowledged their existence.

Carrie put a plate of waffles in front of Rosie already cut up and syrup poured on them. Rosie looked at me with the saddest eyes and looked like she was about to cry. I took her waffles away and gave her mine, which I cut into strips for her. Then I grabbed the syrup and poured some on the side of the plate. Rosie looked at me and smiled sadly.

"Awfuls, SaSa," she said sadly to me, picking up a waffle strip and dipping it in the syrup. I ate her pre-cut ones.

"They're waffles," the boy said, emphasizing the 'w'. I turned around and glared at him. He startled and went back to his breakfast.

Carrie started talking about the rules of the house and plans for the day. I tuned her out. As soon as Rosie was done eating, I picked her up, carried her upstairs, cleaned her up a bit and went back to our room. I closed the door and curled up with her on the bed.

"SaSa, where Mama and Dada?" She asked me.

"They're probably at home, missing us as much as we're missing them," I said. I was trying not to cry. I had to be strong for Rosie.

"I wanna go home," Rosie said, her blue eyes filling with tears. I pulled her into my lap and hugged her.

"Me too, bug," I said.

At some point, because we were both so upset, we dozed off. The best way to make the time go faster is to sleep as much as you can.

Rosie woke me up telling me she needed a diaper change and so I got up, took her into the other room, changed her and went back to our room. Rosie didn't complain. She just kept her thumb in her mouth and her head on my shoulder.

At some point Carrie came into the room.

"You two don't have to stay in here all day. Come downstairs. We're watching a movie and having popcorn."

I glared at her. Rosie curled tighter to me.

She came in and sat on the bed.

"I know you two are upset. And I'm sure everything will be fine and you'll be home with your parents in a couple of days. But you can't lock yourselves away."

I rolled over and turned my back to her. I'd show her. I'm really good at holding a grudge.