Page 13 of Fighting the Odds

“You are a very strong young lady. I’ve told you that. With everything that’s been thrown at you in the course of twenty-four hours, I just figured when you’re ready to talk, you will.”

“Thank you for not pushing,” barely passes through my lips when the door opens and Mrs. Jenkins steps inside.

“I’m so sorry, Sierra, Mr. Stevenson, for taking so long.” She crosses the room, placing a file on her desk, before taking a seat.

“It’s fine. It actually gave us a chance to talk. I know earlier we discussed my fostering Sierra, but after speaking with her I’ve changed my mind—” he holds his free hand out before she can say anything. “Nothing bad. She has requested to have Sam take her place. Is that acceptable?”

Mrs. Jenkins moves her gaze to mine. “Is this what you want, Sierra?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll be eighteen soon and if they can only take one person, I’d rather it be her. I can make it. It’s not much longer.” I force a smile, but I’m happy that Sam’s going to be okay. It just sucks I can’t see or talk to her because of some vindictive asshole.

“Very well. Once I am done with Sierra, I will get Sam and meet you at your home a little later today. How does six sound? That way, we have time for you to arrange what you need at your house to accommodate her.” She picks up a pen and scribbles something on a piece of paper.

“Sounds perfect. We look forward to seeing you and Sam. Sierra, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Please think about what I told you.” He releases my hand and stands to leave.

“Thank you, Mr. Stevenson. Sam is going to be upset. Let her know I’m fine and that I can handle it. Tell her it’ll be like a vacation for me and I love her.” Another tear slides down my face, betraying the strength I’m trying so desperately to hold on to.

“I will. She’ll know what a brave, amazing sister she has. But I have a feeling she already knows. Make sure to do your homework, and I hope to see you back at school soon.” He steps out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

I let out a sigh, devastated yet happy. My chance at a good home may have been lost, but now Sam gets it.

“Sierra, I need to talk to you.”

“Mrs. Jenkins, I told you no one did this to me. Just tell me what I need to do to clear my name of the accusation against Sam so I can see her.” I shift in my seat, sitting up straighter.

“As I stated before, it all depends on the results of the investigation. Now, we’ve had some information come forth about you. We have someone who reached out to us earlier today claiming to be a biological relative. He’s already provided a cheek swab and blood work to the lab. We just need to perform the same procedure with you so that we can verify if he is correct. Mrs. Lancaster, my assistant, is going to take you and have it done, then bring you back here while we wait for the results. We’ve placed a rush on it. Do you have any questions?”

Uh, yes… but I don’t even know where to start! A blood relative? That’s not possible.

“But I don’t have any family. Aunt Sarah is all I have left other than Sam. Our dad left a long time ago and we haven’t heard from him. He wasn’t exactly dad of the year, anyway. Mom provided everything for us.” Hell, I don’t even remember what he looks like. He left when Sam was young, shit, so was I. Now that I think about it, I don’t even think I have a picture of him. If I do, it’s stuck in the box of pictures Mom had up in her closet from when she was younger. I just never could look at them, the pain from losing her was still so fresh.

“Once we have the results, we’ll discuss it. No need to get you excited if it’s not even true. Like I said, we’re putting a rush on it, so we can get the results today.”

It didn’t take long with Mrs. Lancaster at the Health Department. They drew my blood, then had me open my mouth, while they ran a long Q tip along my cheek. Once we finished, Mrs. Lancaster took me by the foster home to pick up the small bag I packed yesterday. It just had a couple changes of clothes in it for me, Sam had her own bag with her.

Once we were done, she took me back to Mrs. Jenkins’ office. The minutes tick away as I sit across from her and wait.

Crap! I need to make sure Mr. Stevenson can get clothes from me for Sam.

“Mrs. Jenkins, Sam is going to need clothes and her schoolbooks. Is there a way I can get them to her?” I run the palm of my hands along my jeans, the roughness of the denim material feeling good against them.

“We can arrange for a meeting there with Mr. Stevenson so we can get the items together. I’m sure you need some clothing yourself?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I’m more worried about her.” Just then, her phone rings and she picks up the receiver.

“Mrs. Jenkins, how can I help you?” She pauses, listening intently to the person on the other line.

It gives me time to think about everything.

Someone found out Sarah wasn’t with us. Accused me of hurting Sam. Now there’s a family member I don’t even know. Braxton and Zander saw me looking like this. And Cyrus. This is all just so much.

“Thank you very much.” She hangs the phone up, then shuffles through her papers before she picks up the phone again and dials a number.

She doesn’t even get a chance to speak. As soon as she opens her mouth, she quickly shuts it, nodding her head with whatever the person is saying.

“Yes, this is what I was calling you about. If you could please come back to our office, all the tests came back.”

She smiles, but I’m not sure what it means. Do I have family out there? Do I switch with Sam and have her go with our newly found family member or leave her with Mr. Stevenson? Then again, would I even want her going with this new person? What if they turn out just like Sarah?

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