Finding Emma

Everything Changes

The ride home was completely silent with no radio playing in the background. Jimi would look at Karen every once and a while. He noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked out the window. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. She gave him a slight smile. "She is going to be ok. She's strong." Jimi told her. "I know" Karen replied still staring out the window. "And we are going to see her on Thursday." He stated. Karen looked at him and smiled.

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When Emma walked in the door she said hi to Kelly. "How was your weekend?" Kelly asked. "It was awesome." Emma said. "Well I'm glad you had fun" Kelly said. "Just a heads up, Mike left for the bar earlier than normal so he will probably be home earlier." Kelly stated. "Oh... great. Looks like I'm going to bed early." Emma stated. She hung out with Kelly downstairs for about two hours when Mike's car pulled up. "I'm going to bed" Emma said. "Probably a good choice" Kelly said.

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The next morning Karen woke up around 8:00 and got up and made a pot of coffee. Jimi got up shortly after and joined Karen in the Kitchen. "Are you still on board about becoming a foster parent?" Karen asked Jimi. "If you want to, I want to." Jimi replied. They went and sat on the couch and drank their coffee. "I was thinking we could go down to the Department of Human Services today and fill out the paperwork to become foster parents." Karen said after a while. "Sounds good to me" he replied.

Once they finished up their coffee and ate breakfast, they got ready for the day. When they were done getting ready, Jimi and Karen went down to DHS and filled out paperwork. They finished filling out the paperwork and the lady at the desk said that once the paperwork goes through someone would contact them to do a house visit to make sure they had stable living conditions. As Jimi and Karen were walking out to the car Karen had the biggest smile on her face and Jimi couldn't be happier because his wife was happy.

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The week went by pretty fast for everyone. Emma was at school and Cassie walked up to her. "So you're getting those stiches out today?" Cassie asked. "Yep, Jimi and Karen are picking me up from school and taking me to the doctor." Emma replied. "That is so awesome how you get to hang out with famous people" Cassie stated. "And to think all of this happened because I was running away from Security because I snuck into a Martina McBride concert." Emma said and they both laughed.

It was finally the end of the day and Emma couldn't be happier to see Karen and Jimi again. She saw their car outside in the pickup lane. Emma hopped in. "Hey kiddo!" Jimi said. "Hey guys." Emma replied. "How has your week been?" Karen asked. "Pretty good I guess" Emma said. "Let's go get your face fixed." Jimi said and Karen and Emma laughed.

They got to the hospital, Karen checked Emma in at the desk while Jimi and Emma sat in the waiting area. Jimi was watching Karen take care of all this stuff for Emma and she isn't even their kid. All he could think about was how good of a mother Karen would be. Then he realized how much he wanted to be Emma's dad. Karen came and sat down next to Emma while they waited for the doctor to come out. About 15 minutes later Emma was called back. The doctor checked out Emma's cut. "It looks like it has healed nicely. Let's get these stitches out" said the doctor. Emma smiled. The doctor finished up and Karen and Jimi thanked him. "Let's get some dinner before we get you home." Said Karen. "Sounds good" Emma said. "They went to a burger place on Broadway for dinner. After dinner Jimi and Karen took Emma home.

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About a month later Karen and Jimi finally got approved to be foster parents. They had been in contact with Emma and would take her out to dinner once a week. It was Friday and a social worker was coming by their house to check it out and do an assesment. The social worker arrived and knocked on the door. Karen opened the door and let her in. She looked around for about 15 minutes and did her assessment. "You have a lovely home here Mr. and Mrs. Westbrook." The social worker said. "Thank you" They said at the same time. "I am going to approve you and you will be officially approved next week." She said. "Thank you so much" Karen said. It was Friday and the band had the weekend off. It was 10:30 at night and Jimi and Karen were cuddled up one the couch watching a movie when Karen's phone rang. It was a number neither her nor Jimi recognized. Karen answered it "Hello" she said. "Do you remember how you said that I could call you if I was in trouble and I didn't feel safe?" Karen sat up. "Emma?"