SOS

Forty-Five

Elodie steps out of the car with a smile on her face, even the dreary overcast sky can't dampen her mood currently. Glancing around she bounces slightly, anxious for Sadie to appear, excited to spend a couple hours with her little sister again.

"El!" She turns as she hears Sadie call out, gasping when she sees the woman walking beside her.

"Amber?" She questions as the dark haired girl throws her arms around Elodie's middle, hugging her tightly.

"I'm here too!" Elodie gasps yet again as she hears a third voice, glancing up to see Lily has jumped on Sadie's back, grinning at her.

"What?"

"Say cheese, girls!" Elodie turns, still shell shocked as a phone is pointed at the four of them, freezing as if on command until the others move off her.

"Oh my goodness!" She chuckles, trying to keep her emotions in check, pulling Amber into a proper hug, "I have missed you so much!"

"That feeling is so beyond mutual." Amber laughs, squeezing her back tightly.

"And you," Elodie turns, pulling Lily into her chest, "You have grown into the most beautiful young woman, Lil! How are you all here?" She turns to the group at large, accepting the hug Sadie also pulls her into.

"I told you I had a surprise for you." Sadie shrugs, "I've been busy trying to find them since you and I reconnected, after finding one sister I knew I needed the other two not crazy ones in my life again too."

"Thank you." Elodie nods, swallowing the lump in her throat as she looks at her three favorite girls in the whole world.

"Lil, call me if I need to come pick you up, if not your curfew is still midnight." The woman who took their photo interrupts.

"Thank you, it'll keep you updated, and my location is on." Lily responds quickly.

"Good, I sent you the photo I took, enjoy your day together, girls." She waves quickly before heading back up the street.

"Is that your mom?" El turns to Lily, smiling as she throws her arm over her youngest sister, leading the group into the cafe she and Sadie had decided to meet at.

"She's my guardian, technically my mom." Lily nods, "She's actually my biological cousin, she found out about me a little less than a year after our lives imploded, and she petitioned the courts for custody. She was only twenty-one then, but won, and I've had a really good life since, including getting to see her fall in love and get married. I'm part of a functional family now, and I have a baby brother coming in a few months." Lily explains as they find a booth in the back, Sadie and Amber sliding in across from Lily and El.

"I'm so happy for you, Lil. I love that you ended up somewhere great. You're seventeen now, right? Going into your senior year of high school?"

"Ya, and I can't wait. I'm a little nervous about trying to figure out college, what I want to study and where I want to study it, but I'm excited too."

"If you come out to California let me know, I would love to have one of you on the west coast." El grins, picking up her menu to glance over it.

"You moved to LA, right?" Amber asks El quickly.

"It wasn't supposed to be permanent, and really I've lived there all of about three months, but ya." She shrugs, "What about you, Amber? How has your story unfolded since everything?"

"I aged out, passed through three other foster homes between thirteen and eighteen, graduated with good grades and my Associates degree though and just graduated with my bachelors degree in Nursing in May. I'm going to take some time off from school to work and pay down my student loans and then probably go back to get my NP. I'm lonely, but I'm okay. Better now that I have some family back in my life."