Armored

9

Izzy:

After having my little moment, Martha came up to come get me. She saw the position Kevin and I were in and immediately understood.

"I'll go tell them you need a minute. Come down when you're ready, they're pretty adamant about adopting the two of you."

With that, she let me regain my composure and mentally prepare for the seemingly inevitable conversation.

"Confused as to what the fuck just happened? If you're looking for an answer from me, keep lookin' then 'cause I'm not talking," I spoke, not giving a crap about whether or not that was rude or uncalled for, as I finally came down after taking a fat nap upstairs for all of five minutes.

"Okay," they all shocked me with their response.

It's like they completely understood what was going on without actually knowing a thing. I knew I would later get a good scolding from Martha for taking up that type of tone with potential adopters, but hey, if they're for real, they better be able to put up with this, 'cause this girl doesn't do sugar coating.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, pulling the yarn ball Rosie was playing with away, seeing as she was now just making a mess at this point.

This, of course was not okay with her, but I was having none of her childish nonsense today. I was pissed at the world and if there was one thing that kept me living in this shit show of a world it was that goddamn kid. She was getting fussy, likely due to missing her afternoon nap, but I was really not in the mood to deal with her at this very moment, so I took the stupid yarn away and let her storm off, likely to complain to either Martha or Kevin.  I rolled my eyes in annoyance, completely done with everything right now.

"Anyway, why the hell was I summoned out here, besides being the reason of the child's  temper tantrum?"  I asked in my nonchalant tone.

"Well, I though it would be a good idea for you to get properly acquainted with them, seeing as they've decided to adopt both you and your sister," Martha spoke as she comforted a very cranky Rosie, whom I had just scolded for making a scene. I hated when people undermined my discipline implementation, but hey, what the hell do I know about taking care of a child, I've only done it longer than I've been a teenager.

"Didn't we already get through the formalities, is this really necessary," I rolled my eyes. It's not that I didn't want to be adopted, I was just afraid of getting hurt again, so I built my walls up higher than even I could reach.

Martha let out a sigh before taking Rosie out of the room to calm down as she was getting cranky from everything happening so quickly. I sat on the couch, putting in my earbuds, hiding behind my phone screen, not really giving a damn about the fact that there were other people in the room. I could tell one of them was talking and looking to me, to which I promptly flipped them off, my eyes never leaving my phone. Of course my little rude gesture did not go unnoticed by my loving Mrs. Martha Johnson.

"Isabelle Rose! I know I did not just see you make that gesture your lady!"
I side eyed her, before resuming my stance. I didn't really care if she would scold me later because she knew why I was being that way to her.

She pulled me aside to the kitchen before talking.
"Izzy I know this is hard for you honey, but lashing out isn't going to help. These people want you no matter what. They want the good the bad the ugly, they're willing to deal with anything you throw at them. Sweetheart, I know it's hard for you to trust men, but I promise you sweetie, these people have been thoroughly checked through every background check out there. I promise you this time will be different. They all have so much love to give you and your sister. No one's rushing you, we all understand you need time, but I really think you owe it to yourself to at the very least give this a chance. You know I would adopt both you and your sister in a heartbeat if I could honey, but you know I can't, so why not give this a chance?"

"I don't want to leave you Martha, you're the only one who's given us a stable loving home for the first time in years. Rosie doesn't even remember what things were like before, but I do. I remember every time I wanted to follow in mom's steps but couldn't because she left me with her child, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that to Rosie. I remember every horrible thing that happened in every horrible home. All I've ever known is pain and I don't know if I can go through that again especially now that Rosie is older and she'll be able to remember things that happen now for the rest of her life. They probably want her anyway, maybe we can arrange it so that they can take Rosie and I can just wait another year and a half before I age out of the system."

"Izzy, they want you. They came here hoping to adopt a teenager, there was never any intention to separate you two. I know it's hard to believe, but I think if you give it a chance, this could be something amazing. I promised you I'd make sure you'd end up in a safe place when you got here didn't I?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm not calling them dad or taking their last names."

"I didn't think you would," she chuckled, pulling me into her warm embrace.