Searching for the Key

Chapter 3

The rest of the week flew by and before she knew it, it was Katia's eighteenth birthday. She didn't usually make a big deal of her birthday but this one was special.

Katia jumped out of bed and got ready as quickly as possible. She threw on some jeans and a cute print top then quickly curled her hair so that it fell down in loose waves. After she was ready she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Surprise!" shouted Carrie and Sean.

On the table was a huge breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs, and fruit. Then in the middle of the waffles were two candles that made the number eighteen. Katia stared at it all in wonder. Carried held the waffles up to her face. She made a wish and blew them out happily.

"Thanks you guys! This is amazing!" Katia said with a smile. Most of the foster families she lived with never remembered her birthday. This was a nice change for once.

"Congratulations, now you're old enough to leave," Fiona said grumpily from the couch where she had a bowl of cereal.

"Fiona!" Sean scolded her.

"Whatever," Fiona said with a wave of her head. She grabbed her stuff and proceeded upstairs to finish getting ready.

"I'm sorry about that," apologized Sean.

Katia hardly even paid Fiona's treatment any attention. She was too busy staring at all of the food on the table.

"No problem, I'm used to it. I'm just excited to eat this breakfast," Katia said and she dug in.

They accompanied her for a bit before Carrie left and came back moments later with a box in her hand.

"Here's your present," Carrie said. She handed Katia a small box with a red ribbon on top.

Katia's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting anything especially after the breakfast they already prepared for her. She took it in her hands and opened it excitedly. A small gasp left her mouth. Inside was a small camera. She just stared at it silently, not knowing what to say. She wasn't expecting a gift, especially one so nice.

"Thank you so so so much!" Katia said. She jumped up and gave them both a huge hug. "How did you know I loved photography?"

"We asked Jason if you had any hobbies and he said you loved to take pictures, so we got you this," Carrie replied.

"It's perfect! Let's test it out," Katia said. She fiddled with the settings then snapped a photo of the two of them. Afterwards she turned the camera around to take a group selfie. They then spent the next couple of minutes taking all sorts of crazy pictures until Katia had to leave for school.

"Bye I'll see you guys later! And thank you so much for all of the gifts!" Katia said. She was actually going to miss this place when she left.

At school it was just a normal day, but Katia was still happier than usual. It was her birthday after all.

"Wow your foster parents are amazing," Julie said as Katia showed her the new camera after school.

"I know, I'm actually going to be sad when I leave them," she said as she took a picture of Julie who smiled widely.

"When are you going to move?" Julie asked.

Katia placed some books in her bag and closed her locker. "Probably in a couple of months. I'm still saving up money but I'm almost there."

Katia had a job over the weekends at a local restaurant and during the summers she worked as a lifeguard. She hardly spent her money on anything and devoted it all to her future home and college fund. But her and Jason had a plan that she was going to move in with him and Asher in a couple of months.