“We’re taking her to a foster home,” one of the policeman replies. Laura pales. This is the worst possible outcome. Not only will escape be difficult, but she doesn’t have the dice, and part of her already feels guilty. She might be taken to a family that desperately wants a child, and she’s going to do her best to escape.
“Well, you have my contact information. If things fall through, I’m more than happy to take care of this cutie.” The woman puts a clean diaper on Laura. “And if things work out, please let me know. I’ll be thinking about her.”
“We’ll keep that in mind. Hopefully, we’ll be able to let you know if we find a home for her or even find her family, but we might not be able to,” says one policeman. The woman redresses Laura, picks her up, and brings her over to the policemen. “But know that we’ll do our best to find a safe place for her.” The woman hands Laura over.
“I’m glad to hear that.” The woman pokes Laura’s nose. “Goodbye, Laura!” Laura sucks on her pacifier as she is carried to the police car outside and then buckled into a car seat.
During the drive to the foster home, the policeman who seemed less disgusted with Laura keeps looking at her in the backseat, making face to try to get her to smile. Laura’s too frightened of the situation to respond positively, though. She just continues to suck on her pacifier for comfort.
Finally, the pull up outside of a house. One policeman removes Laura from the car while the other goes to the door. As Laura is carried to the door, dread begins to grow. She recognizes this house, but she prays that she’s wrong. The door opens. Laura’s heart sinks. She wasn’t wrong.
Her ex-boyfriend, Chad, stands in the doorway. He beams at the policemen.
“Hello, officers!” He looks at Laura. “Is this the cute little girl that needs a place to stay?”
“Yes. Like we said over the phone, she’s two. Do you have the appropriate items you need to take care of a two-year-old?”
“Absolutely!” pipes up a voice. A woman appears behind Chad. Laura closes her eyes in despair. She had broken up with Chad a few years ago after he cheated on her with her sister, Beth. Last she’d heard, they were married and trying for a baby, but not having much luck. It looks like what she’d heard was true.
“Once we realized we couldn’t have a baby, we decided to offer our services as a foster home. Fostering with intent to adopt, of course.” Beth takes Laura from the policeman. “We’ve been preparing our house for a little one for a long time.”
“Good to hear.” The policeman gives Chad a slip of paper. “Here’s the number of the officer assigned to the case, in case something comes up.”
“Like what?” Chad asks.
“Maybe her parents come by, maybe she says something. Anything that might affect her staying with you, you need to tell us. We’ll be sure to stay in contact as we look for Laura’s parents.”
“…Laura?” Beth asks quietly.
“Yes. That’s her name.”
“Oh.” Beth plasters on a smile. “It’s a lovely name. Thank you for dropping her off. We’ll be sure to let you know if something comes up and wait for any more information you wonderful folks uncover.” The policemen nod and leave. Chad closes the door.
“Wow, she’s so adorable,” Chad gushes, peering closely at Laura in Beth’s arms. “Look at those big brown eyes! They look just like yours, Beth!”
“She’s perfect, I can tell,” Beth sighs happily. She rocks Laura in her arms. “She might be a bit older than we wanted, but I just know that she’s the exact child for us.”
“And if they manage to track down her family, I can easily make the case that they shouldn’t keep her, after abandoning her like that,” Chad coos, tickling Laura’s stomach. Laura swallows. That’s right, Chad is a lawyer. A very good one.
“The only issue is her name,” Beth says. Chad nods. “I don’t want our daughter to have the same name as my awful sister.”
“Yeah, no kid of mine is going to have the same name as my ex,” Chad says. “When we formally adopt her, we’ll just have to change it.” Laura’s mouth falls open in horror. Not only are her estranged sister and ex-boyfriend planning to adopt her, but they’re planning to change her name, too!
Laura desperately tries to figure out an escape plan over the course of the day, but Chad and Beth are so excited about having a child to take care of, they won’t let her out of their sight. That day passes. Then another. Then another.
After spending a full week at the house, Laura’s in the middle of yet another humiliating diaper change at the hands of her ex-boyfriend when the doorbell rings.
“Honey bear, could you get it?” Chad calls. “I’m trying to change Ruby and she’s being a squirmy wormy like usual.”
“Of course, darling,” Beth responds. Laura resumes her fidgeting efforts. The day after she’d arrived, Chad and Beth had begun to call her the name they wanted to rename her to: Ruby, which was also the name Laura had wanted to name a daughter, should she ever have one. The injustice of being given a name that Beth stole from her has only made Laura determined to make things as difficult for Beth and Chad as possible.
She’s been on her worst behavior. She cries almost constantly, fights being dressed, bathed, changed, and fed. And despite Beth and Chad showing her a toddler potty and trying to begin to potty train her, she exclusively uses her diaper. Often, she will wet herself, then hold back a bowel movement until she’s changed, and then go again. She takes what she can get at this point, and making her ex-boyfriend and horrible sister do more diaper changes than necessary feels like a victory.
Eventually, Chad finishes changing Laura, puts her into an annoyingly cute dress, and carries her to the front door. When they arrive, Laura sees that Beth is speaking to a policeman. Specifically, one of the policemen that came to pick her up what feels like months ago but was really only a week. The policeman stops talking to Beth and looks at Chad.
“Glad to see you. We have an update on Laura’s case.”
“And?” Chad asks. The policeman takes a deep breath.
“Well…”