“Hey Kory! I found this GIANT cornucopia at the antique store and came up with some new ideas for….Thanks….giv…ing…? What’s going on you guys?”
Lena had burst into her foster-sister’s normally unlocked house like she always did. The girls had been bonding over shared responsibilities of planning the big family gathering for Thanksgiving dinner.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lena and Kory were best friends from the time Lena’s family moved in next door to the Mulder’s when the girls were 1st graders. Their friendship was instantaneous and they were like two sides of a coin – opposites, but you can’t have one without the other; they were never apart. When they were in the 4th grade, a man, who had a weakness for whiskey drove on the wrong side of the highway. The head-on collision with Lena’s family SUV killed her mom, dad and little brother. They said it was a miracle Lena survived. For years Lena blamed herself because she was buckled into a seat in the third row. She had had an outburst at the mall, shouting at her parents for refusing to buy her an American Girl doll. Wanting to be as far away from them as possible she chose the back seat so she could slouch down and sulk about how unfair they were.
Kory’s parents said it was the right thing to do, taking her in afterward. There was no other family to take Lena. They said they didn’t even have to think about it they just scooped her up, moved her in, helped her heal and showered her with compassion and love. She never forgot her parents, and never thought that calling Helen and Tom mom and dad was a betrayal. For her it became an honor to be lucky enough to have two moms and two dads. She cherished her new sisters Kory and Kim and she gained Kevin, the big brother she never knew she needed.
Lena and Kory grew, graduated High School, went to college and the year before at 22 Kory married Rod. The house they bought was two blocks away from their parents where Lena still lived while she finished nursing school. Mom and dad told her it would simplify her life and make it easier for her to focus on her studies. So no knock entry was normal for the Mulders.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Muffled grunts, squeals and thumps (was someone giggling?) were followed by her brother-in-law Rod stumbling down the hall with a suspicious look in his eyes. (was that panic?) Lena looked at him confused, leaned her head to look around him and pushed passed him to walked down the hall.
“Who’s back there Rod? Why are you home? Is Kory back there?”
She approached the family room with dubious apprehension, peering from side to side trying to look through the door which was slightly ajar, and the gap on the hinge side. Her eyes were wide with an electric mix of worry bordering on fear and curiosity. Cautiously, she pushed the door open. The crepuscular darkness of the room was shattered as light bathed the room and grinning, smiling, beaming laughing faces materialized before her. Her eyes rapidly twitched around the room and settled on a large, magnificently elaborate sign with her name written in elegant script, Lena Elizabeth Mulder. Wait, her last name is Jackson. Her eyes filled with tears that quickly spilled over.
Her voice strained with emotion, “Mom? Dad?”
Her dad stepped forward and declared with a strong official voice, “Lena Elizabeth Jackson, with integrity, love and devotion we hereby declare our intent to adopt you. It is our hope that from this day forward, you will be called Lena Elizabeth Mulder. Mr. James, Esquire has the necessary paperwork to begin the process. All that is required is your consent and signature. What say you?”
She looked around the room at eyes full of anticipation, compassion, and empathy as they waited for her reply.
Her tears flowed freely as she pulled her hands away from her face and gave a resounding, “YES!”
Day 4 – Writing for 7 Day Personal Challenge. I missed a day so Day 4 is on the 5th day after I began, but resolved to continue. I had a hard time finding inspiration tonight so I posted this request on my Facebook page: Give me a word that has special meaning to you. I need inspiration. I’ll use all that get suggested for today’s writing.
The response was impressive! I received these words from my friends:
Dubious, Weakness, Family, Hope, Honor, Bond(ing), Betrayal, Cornucopia, Compassion, Love, Empathy, Simplify, Integrity, Cherish, Apart, and Corpuscular.
I put each word in bold italics. I also created each character name using letters from the names of the friends who submitted words. Those names are in bold red text.
Don’t let anyone tell you teaching teens to drive is fun. If someone does, and you actually have a 15 year old with a greedy gleeful facial expression, you know the one; it says I’m waiting to snatch the keys from your fearful grip; yeah. Those Sally Sunshine’s are liars.
Day In and Day Out 