Chapter 7 - A Possibility

“I have always loved children,” thought Penny, when she heard them running down the hallway. She opened the door to greet them, as soon as they knocked. “Coming for another visit?”

“We just wanted to you to meet Cody,” said Dana, who was holding a young child with dark, curly hair, by the hand. “Our mom said that we could come, but only for a minute, while she talks to our dad.”

“Then, we are all going out for lunch together,” added Dani.

“Are you ever a cutie!” replied Penny. “Cody is your brother.”

“Right,” said Dana, just as Cody pulled away from her, ran down the hallway and waited for them, by the door. “He always makes strange.”

“May we come back later?” asked Dani, who was gradually becoming bolder and more talkative.

“We will come downstairs when Crystal gets home,” said Dana. “She said she wants to ask you something.”

“Sure, that will be great,” replied Penny, pleased that the children would ask permission to visit her later. “Children are always welcome in my home.”

“Thank you,” hollered the twins, as they headed for the stairs.

True to their word, the children showed up with Crystal, after Cody and his mother went home.

Crystal was very quiet at first and let the twins chatter on about their day.

“I have some things that the twins can do, so that you and I can have a heart-to-heart talk,” Penny said to Crystal. She set them up with pencil crayons and paper, at the oak desk in the second bedroom. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

Crystal was hesitant. Penny waited to see what she was going to ask her. Obviously, this was something serious to her.

“My grandparents really liked you,” Crystal said. “Is there any possibility that you would adopt me?”

Astounded by her question, but in another way, not really surprised at what she was asking of her after having the talk with Crystal’s grandmother, Penny did not really know how to respond. She smiled, but said nothing.

“Please, I would help you with all of your housework and take care of you, if you got sick,” Crystal pleaded with her.

“Adoption is a serious business, Crystal. We just met, so I do not really know you yet. We would have to get to know each other first,” Penny finally said. “You would also need permission from your grandparents, as they are the ones who are taking care of you now. I will tell you what. Help me make a snack for everyone and we will talk more about it.”

“That may be one way I can bring a positive change into all of their lives,” thought Penny to herself. “I would like to be able to do that for them.”

“Thank you so much,” said Crystal, excitedly. “I would love to be adopted by you.”

“It might be fun!” said Penny. “But, I have to think about it for a while.”

“Think fast, please” said Crystal to herself, as she took the tray of peanut butter sandwiches and hot chocolate into the bedroom where the twins were happily engaged in their artwork.

“She said she would think about it!” Crystal whispered to the twins.

“If she gets to be your mom and marries our dad, we would be sisters,” whispered Dana. “That would be so neat!”

“What about our real mom?” asked Dani, not certain that she liked the idea of having a second mother. “Don’t forget, we have a little brother too.”

“Penny already likes him.”

Shortly thereafter, while Penny talked to the twins, Crystal disappeared into the washroom and pocketed a new tube of lipstick that Penny had left on the counter. “Grandma will love this!”

Penny was deep in thought and had often considered adopting a child, or even several children, but had never experienced having a child ask her to adopt him or her.

Nor did she realize that to Crystal and her grandparents, adopting her would also mean allowing total access to everything that she owned.