Becca (25 page)

“Listen, sweetie,” she said. She pulled the blanket up over Chanel. “Do you remember your mom and dad very well?” Chanel nodded and her face looked sort of sad. “You understand that they’re never coming back, don’t you sweetie?”

“I miss them.” Chanel said. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“We know you do, honey.” I said. I kissed her forehead.

“But you know sometimes when a kid doesn’t have any parents anymore, well sometimes they can be adopted and have new parents. And that doesn’t mean they have to forget their first mom and dad, it just means they get to have new people who love them and take care of them.”

“My friend Bailey was adopted.” she said.

“Sweetie, would you like it if Becca and I adopted you? We’d be your new mommies.”

“Really?” she asked. She sounded excited.

“Do you want that?” I asked her. “Because we do, honey. But if you don’t, it’s okay. We’re still going to take care of you.”

“So it’s up to you.” Tasha said. “Do you want us to be your mommies?”

“Okay.” Chanel said.

“Okay?” Tasha asked, making sure.

“Do I get to stay here forever then?”

“Always.” I told her. “We love you. Of course you can stay here. Even if you didn’t want us to be your mommies.”

“Does that mean I can stop calling you Becca and Tasha?”

“You can call us Mom.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight Chanel. I love you.” Tasha said.

“I love you, Mom.” she replied. We all laughed a little.

“What about me?” I asked.

“I love you too, Mom.”

I'm a mom! Oh wow, I just... I remember when Dad was worried Tasha would want kids someday and I wouldn't be able to give her that. Well I guess Chanel is just our little miracle, then.
Our
child. 

Five Years Later

Dad died last night. He’s been bad the past six months, since Mom passed. Bridget is pretty torn up. I’ve been expecting it for a long time now, though. Chanel won’t stop crying.

We have collected quite a crowd here over the past few years. There are one hundred and twenty three of us now. And I’m still the one in charge. I can’t seem to shake the responsibility, for some reason. I don’t know, I’m getting used to it. At least I have a big say in how things go.

Caroline visits every few months. She comes back and stays for a few weeks before setting out to find more people to send back here. We’re considering expanding to a second building because she has sent so many.

At least the number of infected seems to be dropping. Finally. For the longest time we would see them everywhere. And I don't know if they were drawn to us by smell or what, but we started finding large groups surrounding our hotel. It made it very difficult to get in or out, but we managed. We just had to shoot a lot of infected people. I hope God is merciful to those poor people.

Bridget is getting pretty serious with Gregory. He showed up about a year ago, I guess. Anyway, I’m sort of worried about that. He’s a nice guy and all, but I’m worried Chanel is going to have a cousin before long if Bridget and Gregory are as serious as I think. In fact, I think Bridget may already be a few months pregnant. I can’t exactly yell at her about it, she’s old enough to decide who she sleeps with on her own. I sort of wish they would have married first.

Amber finally found someone who she likes who likes her back. Strangely, the other girl is also named Amber. They seem happy together. And at least she’s over me now. Is it wrong that I feel a little jealous? I have the greatest woman alive as my wife, but I miss being worshiped by Amber. It’s weird.

So Chanel, my baby, my little girl, has a whole slew of new friends now. There are now twenty kids within a year of her age. It’s crazy. We’ve had to add a couple of new teachers to help with all the kids, there are so many.

One of Chanel’s new friends is a cute little boy named Nate. She has a crush on him. It’s her first crush. She’s embarrassed about it, but she talks with me and Tasha about how much she likes him. He, of course, thinks all girls are icky. Which is good. I’d prefer it if he thought that for the next ten years or so. Then Chanel and he can go on dates, as long as they’re chaperoned, for maybe five years. After that, if she still likes him and he still likes her, I’ll let them go out alone. Maybe.

Some days I find Tasha sitting alone at the corner of the rooftop, staring to the north. She misses them so much. One day soon we will have to take a trip back to Wyoming. Maybe things have changed, maybe they would let us in to visit. But also, maybe they haven't changed. I can't decide if it would be better for her to go, with the outside chance we could see them, or not go, so she would be spared the heartbreak if she can't see them after traveling so far.

Every day I wonder if her coming along was the right decision for her. Every day I have to remind myself that it was right, that the two of us being together is the most important thing in the world. Maybe the second most important, behind keeping our little girl safe.

About the Author 

Jennie Taylor grew up in a small rural town, always dreaming of being a writer.  She enjoys listening to music, writing, painting, photography, and spending time with her lovely wife.  This is her first foray into publishing her work.  She hopes to continue publishing in the future; she has many novels in the works.  While she's not enjoying her creative pursuits or working at her day job, she can be found watching Pokemon reruns, Project Runway, American Idol, and Korean dramas.  Look for more novels coming soon!