He held her stare until Sadie dropped her head down to his shoulder. She couldn’t look him in the eye. He kissed her head. She remained silent taking it all in.
“You did almost everything on your own. You hardly complained and you did what your mom told you to do. You made sure no one ever got too close. You learned to fade into the background.”
A tear rolled down her face onto his shoulder. He was right. Everything he just said was completely true. She was that little girl but she never felt sad about it as a kid. Sadie wanted things, lots of them. She wanted her mom to be like other moms who played with their kids and hugged them, showed them real love. But she didn’t realize what she had missed until she was much older. Hearing Stone talk about her as a child made her sad. Sad for a sweet little girl who missed out on so much. She never felt sorry for herself. That was how her life was, others had it far worse. But now the sadness washed over her for that little girl.
“How do you know all this stuff?” Sadie cuddled deeper into his side.
He hugged her tighter and one hand held her hip while the other caressed her arm. He took a deep breath.
“That night I gave Bogs your ID, told him I wanted everything. He got me everything. I knew your background, your mother’s, every doctor visit, which were not enough for a child by the way. Transcripts from school, other stuff. I was looking for a police record or a pick-up as a kid but you had none of that. You were a good girl, Sadie. I did, however, come across your file from children’s services.” He stated the last part but it was meant as a question.
Sadie remained silent.
“A teacher reported you to social services after you came in with bruises to your arms and hands. The social worker checked it out, spoke to you, and it was filed as an accident.”
“It was. An accident I mean. I was riding a bike my mom’s boyfriend at the time grabbed from the garbage and fixed up for me. It was great. It was rusty and old but he fixed it up and even added a new basket and bell. I loved that bike. I rode it everywhere in the trailer park. One day in February I was riding it and I hit a sheet of ice and flew off.” Sadie smiled at the memory.
“That was the same story that was in the report. Your file continued on until you turned eighteen. Did you know that?” he inquired.
She shook her head. She didn’t.
“Yeah, well, she couldn’t prove any abuse. Not physical or verbal. She wrote in your file that not loving a child should be a crime. I got the impression that she watched and waited for your mom to fuck up legally. She wanted to give you a family that would love you, take care of you, and give you sweet. She wanted that for you, Sadie, because it’s what every child deserves.” His voice was filled with emotion.
Another tear fell from her eyes. Sadie spent so much time watching others that she didn’t see anyone watching her. Her heart grew heavy knowing someone was watching out for her. Sadie hugged Stone as deep as she could and lifted her lips to his ear.
“I’m glad you had sweet, Stone. I wish you still had it, your mom sounds like she was an amazing, loving, woman.” She sighed.
“She was.” He leaned back and cupped her jaw. “But I got sweet back in my life, and I’m never letting you go.” He touched his lips to Sadie’s in a long tender kiss.
They spent the rest of the morning in bed. They talked about everything. He told her more about his time in the Marines with T. He didn’t go into too much detail but he told Sadie they were some of the hardest days of his life. He saw combat during his tours.
“It was hard to be away from my family for so long. I had T with me and it helped. But I saw things…I saw things I’ll never forget. It changed me, I came home different. We lost so many guys…” Sadie watched as Stone stared at the ceiling. He looked lost in a thought or maybe a memory.
“Well, I’m glad you came home safe.” Sadie hugged him deeper.
He said nothing more about his time in the Marines and she didn’t ask. He talked about growing up with his biological mom.
“She was really young when she had me and an addict. I was placed in foster care more times than I was in her care. But I couldn’t be adopted because she refused to relinquish her rights. You fucking believe that shit. That selfish bitch.” He paused. “Anyway, by the time she was sent back to jail for ten years, I was too old to be adopted. Most people want babies. My time had come and gone.” He snorted and his eyes lightened. “Or so I thought.”
Sadie loved hearing about Stone with his mom and dad. He was their first foster child when he was eight. Two years later they adopted him when his mom finally gave up her rights. Darla and John showed him love, honesty, and discipline. They adopted Bogs and then Ethan and Roxanne. Six months later, T came into the mix and the family was complete. He talked about T being distant at first. But his demeanor changed by one simple statement from Darla after they had signed the adoption papers. She said, “T, we had been waiting for you, finally we have the missing piece to this family puzzle.”
She loved that story.
“Come on, we
