Page 10 of Stay With Me
I hold my breath, waiting for her answer. Can it be this simple? How many laws will I break when we leave Griffin’s Den?
I rub my chest with the thought of leaving. I’ve never felt more at home than I do here.
For the first time since I left The Family, I thought I was safe.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged.
Noah comes back up to my side, bending down to ask, “You okay, Luna?”
I nod, even though I’m the furthest from okay that I can be.
“You need to breathe. We just want to help you.”
I take a deep breath and am surrounded by his scent, hints of bergamot and amber wood. It calms me down in ways I don’t understand. I might be inexperienced with men when it comes to social interactions, but the feelings he brings me are ones I read about in the books that Amelia, Pam, and Abby read with me in our little book club.
I look at him and nod.
Melissa looks at me with sympathy and explains that to be an emergency foster, a background check needs to be done, which will require fingerprinting and at least two pieces of identification.
“I don’t have any of that,” I say. My eyes burn as I fight back tears.
“Oh, I don’t expect you to have those things on you. If you want to run home and get it, you can,” Melissa says.
I look around the table, meeting the eyes of everyone around it, knowing I can’t lie. “No, you don’t understand. I don’t have those things at all. When I ran away, I didn’t have a chance to get those things because Ihadto leave right at that very moment.”
The room goes so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
FIVE
Noah
Icouldn’thaveheardher right. She has no identification?
How?
I knew she had a story she was hiding, but this was not what I was expecting.
Mike clears his throat, breaking the silence. “You have no identification at all?”
She fiddles with the hem of her shorts and shakes her head. “No. I didn’t know where they kept that information. I’m shocked Jess has hers.”
Melissa starts taking notes, and I know what’s going to happen. Without identification, they aren’t going to let Luna have emergency custody of her sister.
Mike looks at me and then back to Luna. “This is a unique situation all around. I have never had to identify someone who might not be in the system at all. I don’t know how long it will take to get the information you’ll need. Melissa, do you have any ideas on how we should move from here?”
She takes her time before answering. “You’re right, this isn’t your everyday situation, and I can work around some things, but my hands are tied on others.” She pauses and looks down at her notes. “Based on what we know so far, you both were born and raised in a group called The Family. Do you know which state they were based out of?”
“Yes, I believe it was Utah, but based on what I was able to put together, I’m not a hundred percent sure,” Luna tells her, and I know what’s coming next.
My eyes bounce around to everyone in the room. Luna was ready to leave town at her birthday party before Jess showed up. Selfishly, I don’t want that to happen. I just didn’t know how to change her mind because I don’t want to hold anyone back ever again.
“One thing I can’t do is give you emergency custody of a minor while we figure out how to get the documents needed for you to not only foster but to adopt Jess. The law won’t allow it. I do, however, have two really nice families here in Griffin’s Den who are on our emergency foster list, and she can stay with one of them while we get the logistics taken care of,” Melissa says.
“What do you mean? Are you saying you’re going to put Jess in a home with people she doesn’t know? Do we think that’s a good choice? Are there any other options?” Luna asks.
“Unfortunately not. Take the fostering out of the equation, to even get custody, we have to get it approved by the courts, and without identification, it makes it impossible. My next suggestion is therapy for Jess to help her process everything she grew up knowing. The world is a scary place, and she was isolated and will experience a huge culture shock. Think to when you first got away and what your first couple months were like. I also think from a personal standpoint that you should also go to therapy to be able to help her. Potentially taking on a child is hard work, not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I’mgoing to do everything I can to help get you to the finish line, but these are what I believe the next steps should be.”
Luna looks at Jess with tears in her eyes.
