“She’s working hard again,” Nolan grumbled to June. “Oh leave her be Nolan, she wants to be a doctor, this is just something she will keep doing, it’s called studying.”
“Oh..”
“Yes, and studying is a good strategy. You should try it some time dear, then maybe your boss will think highly of you.”
He muttered something before making his way to the table in which Clara was sitting, such proper stance in how she was reading, not to mention how she sipped her tea while tipping her glasses. “So, Clara, how about we do something fun today?”
“No thanks.”
It was like a big smack to the face, here Nolan thought that he would actually bond with her, and they’d have a Father, Daughter, relationship, but instead she’s stubborn, barely leaves the table, her room is neat as if she hasn’t slept in it. Finally though, the young girl smiled, “I think I’m going to adopt a child.”
Her mind was made up, but as always, not everyone agreed with this. Nolan was confused as hell by that statement, but June understood very well. Clara couldn’t have kids, she was just infirtile. Her Father made a few growls about it, making Clara seem more irritated in some way. “Look, I didn’t ask for anyone’s opinion, if you don’t want to be the grandparents of the child, then don’t, but since I was little I have wanted a good husband, and a child, but I’m completely infirtile, and will never get pregnant, if I do, the possibility of dying in the hospital could be a slight chance. Too much strain could cause me to just keel over. Maybe taking the safe side of this is rather the best idea, don't you think?”
“If that’s what you want, Clara. I support you, so does your Father, he just has a funny way of showing it.”
She was about to make a smart ass comment about him, but decided to keep it to herself, “also, I am leaving soon, I’ve opened another account, where my money is being held, so that my husband..doesn’t get into it.”
At first they all just stood so quiet, eventually Nolan patted her shoulder, “good for you, we are proud. Your Mother is right though, we both support you all the way.”
“Really? I mean this isn’t some kid I’ll be bringing in, hell it might even be a teenager..”
“A teen? Now?”
“Well, I want a boy, not because when I was with my husband I lost my baby boy, but besides that..I just want a kid who needs a home.”
Lucky for Clara, there were many teens who needed a home, it’s just the acceptance that Clara needed from them. Clara never would have thought about a girl, but she found this girl sitting quietly at a bench, the girl just had all black on. June and Clara made their glances, that’s when Clara smiled, signaling that she has probably found the right girl. Indeed she had short hair going on, big shades covering her eyes, and her hair was black. She wasn’t chubby, but she was curvy.
So she then sat at the table, waiting for the girl to look up from her phone. “Oh..” the girl squeaked. “Hi there,” Clara didn’t mind the chatter, but seeing how the girl’s face lit up with freight and embarrassment, she knew right away, this was the girl. “So I’m not looking for anything specific of any traits, or anything…well…”
“The kids…” she whispered, “they are over there.”
“I don’t want a child,” she almost burst with laughter, “no, if you don’t mind, you actually have caught my attention.”
The girl’s glasses slid off her face, revealing a scar across her eye, Clara smiled and kept nodding to her. “Do you mind then?” She asked one more time. “What is your name?”
The girl was awfully silent, her lips thinned, then she tipped her head over to the kids, “they..”
“No, I want you.”
Want was another thing, but she started crying, Clara didn’t mean for her to start crying. She wasn’t joking to the girl, and she made that obvious really fast, “my name is Clara,” she said this with some enthusiasm, then her eyes glimpsed at her name tag, Bella.
….
“I can’t believe you are doing this, she is such an emotional girl, I mean..that girl always balls her eyes out.”
“Maybe because she thinks nobody will want her, I know it seems crazy, but I want to be a single foster mom, for now, and if she seems to change, or you know, we get closer as a parent relationship, then I’ll ask her if she’d like things to be permanent.”
The old looking crab smacked her lips at Clara, Clara was understanding why she had short hair, the scars. Her Father had run off, her Mother was drunk, and she cut her eye, so Bella was blind in one eye. When Bella had turned six she was staged with cancer. Since then it’s been a battle. Because of the problems, nobody has had interest in her. Clara knew what it was like to be in the system, the woman speaking to her was her case worker back when she was in school.
“Out of all children, why not choose a child?”
“Because Stacy, I see something that nobody else does, everyone wants to be loved, that girl especially.”
Stacy started to smile, those crinkles rubbing out across her forehead, “you certainly have changed since the last I saw you.”
“I hope so.”
“How have you been Clara?”
“I uh..am just fine Stacy, I mean I finally met my parents after almost getting a divorce.”
“Really?”
“Turns out my Mother was my lawyer, things just work in mysterious ways..don’t they?”
“I suppose so. This husband of yours?”
“He’s..he’s...not in the picture, that’s all you need to know, the divorce was going to be put through to a trial, then I changed my mind, he lived all the way in Vegas now, and I am living now in a small apartment with three two bedrooms.”
“Well, that actually doesn’t sound too bad. You understand the conditions of this evaluation, right?”
“I do, and you will find that I’m more than prepared for this.”
“A teenager could be a lot, Clara.”
“I understand what you're getting at Stacy, but I just think that she is what I need.”
Need wasn’t the right word, but Stacy understood very well what she was talking about. She had heard of the baby loss, now almost divorce, being alone wasn’t an option. “Can you give a good reason why?”
“I’d rather not say,” Clara began, her head dipped low. “Is there something wrong?”
“Well, there is, with my health..I can’t really have kids, so I just went to the second option.”
Stacy was about to apologize, but Clara was having enough of talking to people and having to explain these things.
June and Nolan helped move things into the apartment, which luckily was close to work, then she began getting another room ready for Bella. Stacy knew Clara was a good child, so it was maybe supposed to work out just fine.
Clara brought the girl home, showing her around the medium sized place. “So Bella, this will be your room.”
“There is something I need-”
Clara smiled then handed her some pills, “from the pharmacy, Stacy had mentioned that you needed your pills.”
The girl didn’t cry, her eyes lit up though. Bella couldn’t quite understand why this woman isn't interested in little kids. “So this is my room then?”
Bella shoved her bags under the bed, “how do you know Stacy? She’s a grumpy hag..”
“Yes, but later in life, you will thank her.”
“So, you were once in the foster system?”
“Of course, and I know what it’s like to be in hell homes,” for a second she looked more than eager to tell her the glories of stories she hasn’t told anyone, but she had remembered that June and Nolan were coming by to meet the girl. “So, you..can call me Clara, or..whatever you want.”
Bella began to smile, that look on her face, Clara could tell that she made a good choice.

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