We couldn't have girls, now we do

[Ishigreensa]

Characters:

Dad  Tom 41 years old  Health care worker at nursing home

Mom Cindy __ years old

Brother:  Ralph 12 years old  D O B:  December 4

Adopted:  Sofia  8 years old   D O B:  March 6

Adopted: Raquel   4 years old  August 16

________ Present day:  August 20___________

Ralph had been excited that whole day, as he thought about picking up his new sisters.  For the longest time, nearly two years, he had thought he wanted a brother, way back then, he was lonely for a sibling.  He got in trouble when he was in fifth grade for searching an adoption site in computer lab, and actually got banned from the computer lab the year previous for the same things.  However, his counselor helped him understand what he was thinking and feeling, and the counselor, under his supervision, let him search the pages of the adoption site.

He had wanted a Brother at first, but as his counselor gave him more time, and they talked more, this girl's picture came up, Sofia.

He kept browsing that page at the list of boys on it, but the real reason, is he wanted to see Sofia's picture.  He thought she was really cute.  Then one day, the counselor told him to open a girl's profile, so he did, and when he read her profile, he liked her even more.  She liked some of the stuff he liked.

He didn't read at first that she had a sister.  

Then, he wrote a first letter sometime last year.

 Dear Sofia.  

I am Ralph.  I am sorry that you don't have a mommy and daddy now, but I want to be your brother.  Can we be friends?  

 Now, here he was, in the car, waiting for his parents to bring her out, knowing she had a sister, knowing that her sister was likely going to come with them, but he was more interested in meeting his now 8 year old sister.  He felt like he knew her so well from all the letters they exchanged.  She was in second grade when they started the letter sharing, so her writing was hard to read, and she could only say a few things, but her drawings spoke volumes to him.

Finally, Tom held Sofia's hand while he looked back at his wife, making sure she was managing Raquel well enough on her own.  Raquel was still wearing diapers even though she was four years old.  The social worker said that no one had ever gotten around to potty training her because every time they thought they found a family for them, something happened.  In the last case, the foster parents were deemed too abusive, and so once again, the children were taken from them, and spent about a year in a group home.

Ralph opened the car door immediately when he saw his new sisters, and he ran right up to his dad and bent down to Sofia's level not realizing she was so small.  He smiled at her and gave her one last letter.

 Dear Sofia,

Welcome to our family.  I am Ralph, the brother who kept sending you all those letters.

 Then he drew a picture of mom, dad, himself, and the little girls.  The youngest was in daddy's arms in his picture and Sofia was between mommy and Ralph holding their hands.

"I hope you like this last letter" he told her as he handed it to her.  "Now, we don't need letters to talk.  We are in the same house, now."

And he reached out to hug her. 

[justagirl4fun]

Sofia immediately recognized Ralph's handwriting from his earlier letters and forced a smile despite her nerves. He seemed like a nice boy, but years in the foster care system had taught her that people weren't always what they seemed. She allowed him to hug her, though her posture remained rigid and she didn't really hug him back. When he pulled back she gave him another nervous, tight-lipped smile and forced out a shy "hi."

[Ishigreensa]

Ralph frowned.  He had hoped she would have recognized him better and knew that they were friends, already.  But he didn't hold it against her.  He didn't know what foster care was like, and if she was still scared, then she was still scared.

"I told mom and dad what color you and your sister like," he told her.  "You two get to share a room, and It's right by mine."

He walked back to the car, and Tom motioned for Cindy to get there first.

"Put Raquel in the center in her booster seat," he told her.  He thought the center seat is best for a baby, any girl that was under six, in his opinion, was basically a baby.

Ralph smiled at Sofia while mom got Raquel into the car.

"So, did you eat lunch?" he asked her.  "I think dad is going to stop for lunch before we start on the way back."

Tom heard Ralph and smiled.  He knew a strong hint when he heard one.

"Cindy, Ralph is hungry, so maybe we can get everyone some lunch before we get on the high way to start home.  What do you think?"

[justagirl4fun]

Sofia shook her head, causing her wavy, light brown hair to bounce around her shoulders. "No, we didn't eat yet," she said quietly before climbing into the car. As everyone else was getting settled she tried to imagine her new bedroom, and remembered telling Ralph in one of her letters that her favorite color was purple. 

"Lunch sounds like a good idea," Cindy said once Raquel was buckled in. "What are you in the mood for, buddy?"

 

 

[Ishigreensa]

Ralph smiled.

"Um... can we get burritos and tacos?" he asked.

Tom smiled and he led little Sofia to the car and put her in buckling her up while Ralph got in the other side of the car.

When they were settled, Tom turned to Cindy?

"So... um... Mexican food or something else?" he asked.

Of course, when he said Mexican food, he really meant American-Mexican because he had never had real Mexican food.

[justagirl4fun]

"Sounds good. Is that okay with you and your sister?" Cindy asked as she turned to look at Sofia.

Sofia shrugged. Most of the families they'd been with hadn't cared about celebrating the girls' heritage so neither was overly familiar with Mexican food, but they'd learned to eat pretty much anything that was served - or risk going hungry if they complained. "Yeah, that's fine."

Cindy turned back to her husband. "Mexican it is."

[Ishigreensa]

Tom nodded.

"Taco Bell?" he asked Cindy.

Ralph looked over at the baby, the four year old Raquel, and he rubbed her chin with his finger trying to tickle her.

"So, you are the baby sister?" he cooed at her.  Ralph didn't know much about babies, really, so he sort of expected her to make noises more than do any talking at all, and he didn't think she could really walk that well yet, and might even be diapered.  He had no idea that four year olds normally didn't wear diapers in the day because he had really not been around babies at all.  

Of course, he did know that by elementary school, Sofia was in third grade this year, right?  That she would be able to do regular kid stuff and didn't expect any baby behavior from her at all.

[justagirl4fun]

"Sounds good, dear."

Raquel wasn't quite as wary as her older sister and giggled when Ralph tickled her. She became quite serious after he spoke to her, though. "Not a baby!" She pouted and held up four fingers. "I'm four."

[Ishigreensa]

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said to her trying to look serious, but she was so cute!  "You are four?  Well, I'll try to remember that you aren't a baby, but you are the youngest in our family, and you're my new sister, okay?"

He ticked her sides.

He was a little surprised she had talked, and she had even held up four fingers as if she knew how many to hold up, somehow.  He didn't think kids learned to count until they started kindergarten.

Tom started to try to look for a Taco Bell.

[justagirl4fun]

Raquel nodded. "How old are you?"

"He's twelve," Sofia interrupted before Ralph could speak. "I read you his letters, remember?"

Cindy pointed. "I think there's one down there, honey."

[Ishigreensa]

Tom nodded.

"You're right, Cindy.  You always have such sharp eyes."

 

Ralph smiled when Sofia remembered how old he was.  He looked over at Sofia.

"I didn't know kids her age talked yet.  Can she use the toilet then and ask to use it?" he asked Sofia.

He tickled Raquel again to make sure that Sofia could talk.  He really wanted to talk to Sofia, but he was not sure how to get her to start talking other than maybe this?

Tom got to the restaurant, and then he looked back to take stock of his kids' condition.  He was told by the social worker that Raquel was still not potty trained, and he was told that Sofia gets nervous about speaking up, and has wet in the past due to that.  So, he looked to make sure both girls' pants looked dry.

"Are we going to eat in the restaurant?" he asked Cindy.

[justagirl4fun]

"Oh, she talks a lot," Sofia informed her new brother. "Sometimes it's annoying," she added, but smiled as she pushed a lock of tangled, dark curls out of Raquel's face; it was clear she loved her little sister. "Um...she's not too good at using the potty yet. The last people we were with made her wear underwear, but they always got mad when she had accidents."

"They 'panked me," Raquel added with a scowl. "Don' like it."

"Yes, let's eat inside. You know how messy tacos are. I don't think that's a good idea in the car."

Sofia was dry. She was starting to feel the need to pee, but it wasn't urgent. Raquel's diaper was visibly swollen under her grungy, threadbare leggings, but not in any immediate danger of leaking.

[Ishigreensa]

Tom heard Raquel talk about getting spanked when she wet her undies, and he scowled too.

"That's just crazy," he whispered to Cindy.  "How can you spank a kid for something you didn't even properly teach her was wrong, and how to do something right about it?  I don't get people."

They might have told him in the meeting about that, but he had glossed over it and it had not shrunk in until he heard Raquel say something.

 

Ralph frowned.

"I won't let anyone spank Raquel just because she wets her pants whether mom puts her in a diaper or a pair of underpants.  That's just mean.  She has to learn how to use the potty before you can get mad at her for going in her pants on purpose."

He frowned.

"And believe me, I won't let any one be mean, to you either, Sofia.  You are both my little sisters now.  You are probably used to being the big sister, and I do understand that, but now, you have an older brother that wants to protect you both."

He reached in and picked Raquel out of the carseat when the car stopped and noticed her diaper was sagging.

"Speaking of baby sis having an uh-oh," he smiled at her.

Tom smiled and got out, and then he opened the door for Sophia.

Ralph got out on Cindy's side, of course, and he handed up his baby sister to his mom.

"She needs changed, huh?  Where are the diapers?  I'll get them."

[justagirl4fun]

"I know, some people are just awful," Cindy replied with a sigh. "At that age, even a kid who is potty trained might have accidents, especially in such a stressful situation. Let's give the girls some time to settle in before we even think about getting her out of diapers."

Sofia immediately ran around to the other side of the car where Ralph was holding Raquel. Her new brother seemed nice enough but after everything they'd been through she was protective of her baby sister and didn't like the girl being out of her sight. "You're the only kid, aren't you? There's nobody else who would pick on her, right?"

"I think there are a few diapers in the bag the social worker gave us. She should be okay til we're done eating though," Cindy said, knowing they'd all use the restroom before resuming their three-hour drive home. 

[Ishigreensa]

Ralph nodded as he handed his baby sister up to her anyway.  Then he went and got the bag that was put in the backseat.  

Tom smiled and rubbed Raquel's head.

"Why don't you take Sofia, anyway, just in case?" he asked Cindy.  "She hasn't gone yet since we got there to pick her up, and given what they've been through, it wouldn't surprise me if she was trying to hold it right now, and the last thing we need, is a nervous child over something that could have been prevented, right?"

He smiled at Sofia.

"Would you like mommy to take you potty?" he asked her.

Ralph now had the bag, and he reached down to take Sofia's hand.

"We'll walk next to mom," he told his little sister.  "That way, when mom says so, you can just go with her to the bathroom, okay?"

[justagirl4fun]

Sofia, relieved that he asked, nodded. She walked hand-in-hand with Ralph until they got inside.

"Why don't you order what you guys want and find a table," Cindy suggested as she passed Raquel to her husband, "and I'll get mine and Sofia's after we use the ladies room."

[Ishigreensa]

Tom nodded.  

"Alright.  We can do that."

He took little Raquel and carried her to the front with Ralph to order for them.

"What do you children want?" he asked them.

"Can I have an adult value meal rather than a kids' meal?" Ralph asked trying to be more grown up around his little sisters.

Tom laughed and nodded.  "Sure."

Ralph ordered a Taco Salad box set that came with a drink.

Tom ordered himself the Burrito plate, and he looked at Raquel.

"What looks good to you, honey?"

He pointed out the children's menu with pictures to her.

[justagirl4fun]

Raquel studied the menu and pointed to a chicken quesadilla. She didn't know what it was, but it looked good to her and she was used to eating whatever she was served anyway. 

Sofia was glad to find the restroom empty. She had to go worse than she'd thought, and just barely made it to the toilet without wetting herself. 

Once she was done Cindy got their food - Sofia ordered a combo meal with three tacos and a soda - and they joined Tom and the other kids. 

[Ishigreensa]

Tom smiled at his small family.

Ralph put his arm around his sister.

"I'm the only other brother at the house," he told her to answer her earlier question.  "And no one will pick on either of you, or they'll answer to your big brother."

He smiled at her.

Tom told Ralph and Raquel to go ahead and start eating, but he waited for Cindy and Sofia to join them to start eating.

Ralph nodded and when Sofia came to sit down, he smiled widely at her.

"Do you like that?" he asked her about her food.  "And how about you, Raqui?  He already had a nickname for Raquel.  He started thinking Raqui had a certain cuteness about it that seemed to be character to his baby sister.