her on the bed. “Here. I got you a little something.”
“Melanie, you didn’t have to.” She shoots me the best
friend slash shut your mouth look and I tear into the paper.
“Oh, Mel. It’s gorgeous.” I trace my fingers over the silver
letters that spell out “sisters” across the cover of an absolutely stunning
scrapbook. “Did you make this?”
“Yes, I did. I wanted you to have something special today.”
She squeezes me tightly and scoots right next to me so we can look through the
pictures together.
I’m rendered speechless at her thoughtfulness. Carefully
selecting pictures of both of us, from when we were babies all the through just
last weekend at a backyard barbeque, she has created a timeline of both of our
lives. We’ll never be sisters by blood, but looking through this album—seeing
the two of us all dressed up for prom, goofing off at sleepovers, and dancing
at my wedding—we’ll never be anything but sisters by choice.
We both swipe at the tears of happiness flowing down our
cheeks. “Come on. We better get going. Everyone is out there waiting for us.”
We share in one last sisterly embrace before walking out to the living room
where Momma, Evan, Bryan, Braden and Reid are waiting for us. Katie and Joe
even made the trip out to celebrate.
A chorus of cheers and claps great me. Braden races up to
me, calling out “Mommy! Mommy!”
“Hey sweet boy!” I lift him up to my hip and Reid stands
next to me. Making eye contact with everyone else, I smile and fight back a few
tears. “Thank you for being here guys. I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. We’re here because we love you and
we’re extremely proud of you.” Momma hugs me and hands me a tissue. Evan stands
beside us, smiling proudly. “We both are, Maddy. A college degree is a huge
accomplishment. Lucy and I are very proud of everything you’ve done.”
It’s silly really, but hearing Evan say those things,
feeling Momma’s arms wrapping around my shoulders, makes me feel like I’ve been
given back the parents I lost so long ago.
Scanning the room, I realize that one very important person
is missing. “Hey, where’s Dylan? I thought he was meeting us here?”
“He was supposed to, but Lizzy showed up at the center today
with a letter from Cane.” Reid’s words silence the room.
“What?” I gasp. “When? Why didn’t you tell me? What
happened? Is everything okay?” My questions come out rapid-fire style, frantic
and obviously concerned.
“Yes, everything is fine.” Good, he decided to answer the
most important question first. He sees my shoulders slump and rubs my back to
ease the tension. Even though he’s been in relative safety living with his aunt
and uncle, we’ve all been concerned that he’s really okay.
“So then what happened?” Bryan chimes in. Having always
taken an interest in Reid’s work with bullied kids, he was really affected by
Cane and Lizzy’s situation. When Cane ran away and no one heard from him in
that first week, Bryan actually helped out down at The Bridge stuffing
envelopes and making calls.
“Well, it was a good update actually. He sent Lizzy his
graduation picture. Dylan said Cane looks healthy, really happy too.” A
collective sigh of relief fills the room. “He’s adjusted pretty well there,
apparently. Lizzy just needed someone to talk to, so he said he would meet us
there later.”
“That’s really great news, Reid.” Bryan claps him on the
shoulder.
“Yeah, I know we were all expecting the worst. Hopefully, it
continues to work out for him. He’s too young to be afraid to live his life.”
Reid takes Braden from my arms and kisses him sweetly. “Dylan and Lizzy have
been meeting a lot over the last few months, so he wanted to be there to
support her today. He said she was really upset, missing him and all.” Reid
shrugs like what he and Dylan do on a regular basis with these kids is not that
big of a deal. But it is. I try to
“Melanie, you didn’t have to.” She shoots me the best
friend slash shut your mouth look and I tear into the paper.
“Oh, Mel. It’s gorgeous.” I trace my fingers over the silver
letters that spell out “sisters” across the cover of an absolutely stunning
scrapbook. “Did you make this?”
“Yes, I did. I wanted you to have something special today.”
She squeezes me tightly and scoots right next to me so we can look through the
pictures together.
I’m rendered speechless at her thoughtfulness. Carefully
selecting pictures of both of us, from when we were babies all the through just
last weekend at a backyard barbeque, she has created a timeline of both of our
lives. We’ll never be sisters by blood, but looking through this album—seeing
the two of us all dressed up for prom, goofing off at sleepovers, and dancing
at my wedding—we’ll never be anything but sisters by choice.
We both swipe at the tears of happiness flowing down our
cheeks. “Come on. We better get going. Everyone is out there waiting for us.”
We share in one last sisterly embrace before walking out to the living room
where Momma, Evan, Bryan, Braden and Reid are waiting for us. Katie and Joe
even made the trip out to celebrate.
A chorus of cheers and claps great me. Braden races up to
me, calling out “Mommy! Mommy!”
“Hey sweet boy!” I lift him up to my hip and Reid stands
next to me. Making eye contact with everyone else, I smile and fight back a few
tears. “Thank you for being here guys. I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. We’re here because we love you and
we’re extremely proud of you.” Momma hugs me and hands me a tissue. Evan stands
beside us, smiling proudly. “We both are, Maddy. A college degree is a huge
accomplishment. Lucy and I are very proud of everything you’ve done.”
It’s silly really, but hearing Evan say those things,
feeling Momma’s arms wrapping around my shoulders, makes me feel like I’ve been
given back the parents I lost so long ago.
Scanning the room, I realize that one very important person
is missing. “Hey, where’s Dylan? I thought he was meeting us here?”
“He was supposed to, but Lizzy showed up at the center today
with a letter from Cane.” Reid’s words silence the room.
“What?” I gasp. “When? Why didn’t you tell me? What
happened? Is everything okay?” My questions come out rapid-fire style, frantic
and obviously concerned.
“Yes, everything is fine.” Good, he decided to answer the
most important question first. He sees my shoulders slump and rubs my back to
ease the tension. Even though he’s been in relative safety living with his aunt
and uncle, we’ve all been concerned that he’s really okay.
“So then what happened?” Bryan chimes in. Having always
taken an interest in Reid’s work with bullied kids, he was really affected by
Cane and Lizzy’s situation. When Cane ran away and no one heard from him in
that first week, Bryan actually helped out down at The Bridge stuffing
envelopes and making calls.
“Well, it was a good update actually. He sent Lizzy his
graduation picture. Dylan said Cane looks healthy, really happy too.” A
collective sigh of relief fills the room. “He’s adjusted pretty well there,
apparently. Lizzy just needed someone to talk to, so he said he would meet us
there later.”
“That’s really great news, Reid.” Bryan claps him on the
shoulder.
“Yeah, I know we were all expecting the worst. Hopefully, it
continues to work out for him. He’s too young to be afraid to live his life.”
Reid takes Braden from my arms and kisses him sweetly. “Dylan and Lizzy have
been meeting a lot over the last few months, so he wanted to be there to
support her today. He said she was really upset, missing him and all.” Reid
shrugs like what he and Dylan do on a regular basis with these kids is not that
big of a deal. But it is. I try to
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