Forbidden Kisses ✔ (Not Yet COMPLETE)

Reunited

I walked to the door slowly. The wooden floors creaked underneath me as I went onto my toes to peep through the little thingamajigi in the door. I can't think who it could possibly be. The figure on the other side of the door came into focus.

"Sarah!" I all but screamed as I threw open the door and jumped into her arms.

"Woah, Tash," she wheezed as I squeezed the breath out of her. I forced myself to let go a bit and we just stood there for a while, holding each other. I needed this so much.

"You hung up," I accused eventually as I let her go.

"I rushed straight over," Sarah said, taking my hand and leading me to the kitchen. There she put on the kettle and rustled through the cupboards for cups.

"There's no sugar, or milk, or even tea," I interrupted her. She didn't say a word as she clicked the kettle back off. She returned the cups and took out glasses and filled them with water. She handed me one and sat by the kitchen table and took a sip of her water. I never imagined that she could be so calm.

"Do you want to see her?" I asked softly, my voice cracking.

"Of course I do," she laughed, jumping up, "Where is she? What's her name? How are you going to finish school? I've got a thousand more questions!" Within a second the Sarah I knew and loved was back and I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was.

"The social workers are still figuring out where her birth certificate is, if she has one. But, they said if the adoption goes through that I can change her name legally."

"Adoption? What adoption?"

"Well, even though I am 18 and legally I'm allowed to look after my sister, the social workers weren't convinced I'm taking it very seriously. Also, my mom and dad will probably be out of jail before my sister turns 18. So I spoke to my mom and dad before they were dragged off to jail. They agreed to sign adoption papers. She's going to be mine soon, with no contact with my mom and dad unless she asks for it."

"Wow," Sarah's eyes were wide with shock, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, Sar," I nodded, "The second I held her in my arms I knew I wanted to do this. It's big, I know. It's very big. But, I can't let her go."

"And school?"

"We only have 3 more months of school left before graduation. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it. But, I'm definitely going to try."

"My dad works from home, I could ask him to look after her while we're at school? Why don't you come and move in with us?"

"Thank you, Sar, but no," I stroked the kitchen table lovingly, remembering a childhood that I thought I forgot, before continuing, "I grew up here, and I want her to grow up here. It's what mom would have wanted."

"I can't believe that you would do anything according to what your mother wants, not after all this, not even before all this," Sarah look incredulous and I understood why. But she wasn't there when I called the police with my mom standing by calmly. She wasn't there when the police cuffed my dad with my mom whispering thank you a thousand times. She didn't see the love in my mom's eyes as she watched me pick up my sister and hold her close.  Tears filled my eyes as I thought back on those last moments with my mom. My mom was a victim too. She didn't deserve my dad. She didn't deserve this life.

"Come," I croaked through my tears, "Come and see."

We got up and walked to the room. My sister was cuddling a pillow with her thumb in her mouth, blissfully unaware of the world around her. Sarah sucked in a breath and I could tell that it only sunk in for her now. She probably didn't really want to believe me,but here she is faced with the reality of the situation.

"Natasha, she's beautiful," she whispered.

"I know," I looked at the clock on my bedside table and sighed when I saw that it was close to midnight, Sarah followed my gaze and sighed too.

"So, I take it that I'm not seeing you at school tomorrow?" she whispered, turning around to gather her coat and handbag.

"No, probably not for the rest of the week," I responded opening the front door for her, "I'll make some phone calls tomorrow to see what arrangements I can make."

"I'll pop in after school and bring you the work you've missed," Sarah promised as I hugged her goodbye.

"Thank you, Sar, I'll see you tomorrow then."

I closed the door and locked it, before walking back to my bedroom. I picked up a pillow that fell to the floor and gently got into the bed next to her. My world became dark as I slipped into the void that some call dreamland, and the last thought I had was the feeling of a warm little body tucking herself into my side.