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“She’s gone, Heath. Your mother is in heaven now.”
Heath shook his head fiercely. “No!” he screamed. “It’s not true. She’s just sleeping. She’s been really tired lately. That’s all it is.” He tried to break away from her, but she held on to him with a firm grip. “Let me go!” he shouted. He was thrashing his arms about wildly.
“Shh, baby. Shh. I know how hard this is,” she crooned.
“Mama! Mama!” he cried out, watching as a sheet was placed over her body on the stretcher. He let out a wail full of pain and hurt and shock. Mama was gone. He didn’t understand it. This morning she’d been alive. He had heard her snoring. What had happened to her? Why had God taken her away from him?
He was all alone.
The next few days passed in a blur. He was able to spend the night with Mrs. Rivera, who cradled him until he fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning he wondered at first if it had all been a bad dream until he’d looked around him and realized he wasn’t at home. The smell of pancakes and bacon wafted in the air. Heath would give anything right now to be eating stale cereal in his own apartment with Mama standing nearby.
He let out a sob. He wasn’t going to see her again. At least not in this world. She would never again tell him how much she loved him. Or sing Spanish lullabies to him as he drifted off to sleep. She would never again help him with his homework or show him how to play the guitar.
He was all alone now.
That morning two ladies from CPS came to take him away. Although he was scared, Heath didn’t cry. He wasn’t sure he would ever cry again. All he felt was a deep sadness. It felt as if he was at the bottom of a big, dark hole with no way of climbing out.
Overdose. Depression. He didn’t know what those words meant, but it had to do with Mama. He’d heard the ladies from CPS talking about it. It had to do with how she had died. Heath folded his arms across his stomach and let out a sob. The tears kept coming and coming. They didn’t want to dry up. His belly hurt from crying. He missed his mother. He loved her so much. And now he was all alone. He didn’t have anybody to love him or take care of him.
Foster care. It sounded bad. He didn’t want to go live with the elderly couple he’d been introduced to by the case worker. Henrietta and George Smith. He had to sit with them for two hours and answer their stupid questions. She had squinty, mean eyes and a harsh voice. And George kept asking how much they would be paid. Heath knew they didn’t really want him. Not for real. They wanted the check.
Dear God. Please don’t let me have to live with them. I know I might never have a family again, but please let me be with people who want to love me. I know no one will ever love me like Mama, but even if they could love me a little bit it would be all right.
When Heath woke up the next morning, he was told that there was a family interested in adopting him. He was going to meet them as soon as he’d finished his breakfast. Heath cringed. He didn’t want to be adopted by the Smiths. He knew they didn’t like him. They’d only pretended to. When Heath was led into the visiting room, he looked around at the people sitting at tables. He didn’t see the Smiths. Perhaps they’d changed their minds. His case worker, Miss Jemison, led him over to a table by a window. As the sun shone through the window, it shimmered and glistened. A strange feeling came over Heath. The couple sitting at the table weren’t the Smiths and they didn’t look anything like them. They were smiling at him. Really, truly smiling. The woman was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman Heath had ever seen in his life, except for Mama. And the man looked relaxed and his skin was tan as if he enjoyed the Florida sunshine.
“Heath. I’d like you to meet Jude and Penelope Donahue. Your new parents,” Miss Jamison said, waving her hand in the direction of the good looking couple.
Heath’s jaw dropped. This was the couple who was adopting him? No way! They were sort of young. And really nice looking. His mother had always told him not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case it was kind of hard not to. The lady looked like a movie star.
“Hello, Heath. I’m Jude,” the man said, standing up and sticking out his hand for Heath to shake. Jude had a firm grip. He smiled at Heath, then turned toward the woman. “This is my wife, Penelope. I know it may take some time, but we hope you’ll call us Mom and Dad.”
Mom and Dad? He shook his head. It was too weird. He didn’t even know these people.
The woman named Penelope stood up and bent down so their eyes were level with one another. Her blue eyes were the coolest bluest he’d ever seen in his life. They were almost purple. They were kind eyes, he thought. She reached out and clasped his hand. “Heath. We know this is all new and strange to you. You’re still heartsick over losing your mother. We just want to let you know that we’ll never try to take her place. That would be impossible, wouldn’t it?”
Heath nodded. He still ached for Mama. He wasn’t sure he had any more love in his heart to give.
“We want to give you a home and loads of brothers and a little sister to play with and lots of love. Our home is in a town called Pelican Bay. It’s right by the beach. We think you might learn to love it,” Penelope said, darting a glance at her husband. “What do you say? Will you give us a chance?”
Heath had been disappointed so many times in his life. It was hard to believe in people who were strangers. But what choice did he have? He’d learned in Bible class that God wanted everyone to love and be loved. Maybe if he tried really hard he could love these people and they could love him back.
He nodded his head at Penelope. “Yes, ma’am. I’m going to give it a shot.”
Penelope and Jude grinned at him. They were perhaps the biggest smiles he’d ever seen in his life. These people looked so happy. And he had the feeling they were grinning because he was going to be living with them. He was going to be a part of a family. Heath couldn’t deny that it felt good to know he was wanted. Although his heart still felt broken into a million little pieces, he felt a glimmer of hope. His life wasn’t over. Maybe it was just beginning.
“If I didn’t have my family, I wouldn’t have a single thing in this world.”
Shayla Donahue
Chapter One
“Happy Birthday, Heath!” The sound of his father’s voice shouting out birthday wishes was enough to make Heath Donahue grin from ear-to-ear, even though he wasn’t really in a celebratory mood.
“Happy Birthday, bro,” Jason called out. He placed a party horn to his lips and made a blaring sound.
“Heath! Heath! Heath!” His sister Shayla began to chant his name over and over again. She began to clap loudly. As much as he loved Shayla, he wished she would quiet things down a bit. He didn’t like all the shouting and loud voices. To be honest, he hated being the center of attention. That being said, he was grateful for the well-wishes.
His whole family had gathered for his birthday celebration. Even though his parents, Jude and Penelope, were going through something in their marriage, they had made a point to remain a united front to celebrate his special day. They were separated, yet still living in the family home together. Heath knew it wasn’t really any of his business, but at the moment they were living in separate bedrooms. The whole situation perplexed Heath. He knew how deeply his folks loved each other. How on earth could things be bad enough to be contemplating divorce? The whole “growing apart” excuse didn’t work with him. Wasn’t marriage supposed to last for a lifetime?
