A New Beginning (Second Chance #1) (8 page)

              When Karla and Leslie arrived home Karla immediately went to her room. She didn’t have any written homework, but she had to read for her History and Lit classes. Since she’d read
Pride and Prejudice
at least six times she didn’t feel the need to read it again at the moment, so she opened her History book and started reading.

              An hour later she was only half way through her reading because her thoughts kept straying to Conner. His thick, wavy black hair, sapphire eyes and deep tanned skin kept popping into her head and distracting her from what she needed to be doing. That smile and wink he’d thrown at her before class had meant something, but she didn’t feel like analyzing it at the moment. When she glanced at the clock she realized another fifteen minutes had passed while she was daydreaming and it was time for her Skype call with Manuel and Kiara.

              She logged into Skype and saw that Manuel was already logged in so she called him. When he answered her laptop screen filled with him and Kiara, and Karla smiled. She may not know them well, but they were her family. The only family she had.

              “Hello Karla.” Manuel said with a grin. “How was your first day of high school?”

              “Hey Manuel and Kiara. It was really good actually. I made three friends today. They’re in the Advanced Program with me and we’re a team for a U.S. History project that’s coming up next week.”

              “That’s great Karla. I told you that you would not have any problems making friends.” Kiara replied with a smile. “What are their names?”

              “There’s Rylee, I have all my classes with her, and Callie and Conner, who are twins and in all of my classes except for Algebra.”

              “Sounds like you will be spending a lot of time with these three. How are you doing with a boy in the group?” Manuel asked, concern lacing his voice. Knowing Karla’s background he was worried about her.

              “I’m okay with it. He seems pretty nice and has kind eyes and a great smile.” Karla answered with a shy smile as a distant look crossed her face.

              “Oh really?” Kiara asked with a sly smile. “Sounds like our little sister may have her first crush Manuel. Are you going to ask him ten million questions like you did my first crush?”

              Karla smiled at the thought of Manuel flying to Tennessee just so he could interrogate Conner. “No Kiara, it isn’t like that. Conner is a friend and I don’t feel uncomfortable around him.”

              “So what else is new Karla?” Manuel asked.

              “Nothing much. Just trying to adapt to everything. Andrew and Leslie are amazing, wonderful people. Did you get my last email?”

              “I did and I programmed your phone number into my cell then I gave it to Kiara so she could program it into her cell as well. We’ll both send you a text when we get off here so you will have both of our numbers too.”

              “That’s awesome. Thank you.”

              “We’re both so glad you found them. If you hadn’t then you wouldn’t have found us” Kiara said with a smile.

              “Me too. Oh, I need to ask you a favor. Is there any way you can send me a picture of our father? I have no idea what he looks like and I would really love to know.”

              “Yeah, sure. I can scan and email you some pictures. I will also put together a photo album of him, and us, for you. I can ship it to you when I’m finished.”

              “Oh, Manuel, that’d be awesome. Thank you so much. You know I always wondered what it’d be like to have siblings, but then I’d thank God I didn’t because of the Hell I lived through daily. You two have accepted me when you didn’t have too. Thank you.” Karla wiped a tear from her cheek as she spoke.

              “Karla, you’re right. We didn’t have to accept you, but you didn’t ask for any of this either and we would be wrong to blame you for it. Our padre made a mistake when he cheated on our madre, but out of that mistake we got a little sister. We may not know each other well yet, but we will. That’s a promise.” Kiara responded.

              “Kiara’s right. We will all get to know and love one another with time.” Manuel agreed.

              “I agree.” Karla said as an idea started to form in her head. Before she could voice her idea Rosa appeared in the back ground and announced to Kiara and Manuel that dinner was ready.

              “Don’t forget to send me those texts so I can save your phone numbers. I’ll talk with you both again soon. Enjoy your dinner.” Karla told them with a sad smile.

              “We’ll send them now. Talk to you soon little sister.” Manuel replied.

              “Bye for now Karla. Have fun at school tomorrow.” Kiara smiled then closed out Skype.

              Karla returned to her History reading and was finished by the time Andrew called her down for dinner.

              After dinner Manuel and Kiara sat down and started going through the family photos. “There are a lot of padre and madre together, but not many of him by himself.” Kiara said while she opened another photo album. “I think she will want pictures of him and us, not madre. What do you think Manuel?”

              “I agree, but we may have to scan and crop some of these to send her some tonight. I think I can make it work.” Manuel responded as he shuffled through a shoe box full of pictures. “Kiara, look at this.”

              When Kiara looked up she saw that Manuel was holding a picture of her, him and their padre. She was wearing a green dress and Manuel and padre were wearing suits.

              “That was the last picture Alexander had made with you two before the accident.” Rosa said from the chair she’d been sitting in since they’d started looking through pictures. “It was taken right before Christmas Eve Mass.”

              “How in the World do you remember that Abuela? That was almost fourteen years ago.” Manuel asked in awe of her memory.

              “I took the picture. Your madre had already gone inside, but Alexander insisted on waiting for me to arrive. The two of you stayed with him. Kiara, when you noticed I had my camera you demanded a picture with Alexander and Manuel. After I took the picture you ran off to be with the other two year olds. I remember that day like it was yesterday.”

              “Sounds like a good memory Abuela. Do you remember anything else from then?” Manuel asked hopefully. He wanted to hear anything she could tell them about their parents.

              “Si, Manuel. I stayed that night at your house. It was the first Christmas since my Manuel, your Abuelo, had passed and your parents did not want me to spend it alone. When we got up Christmas morning you two opened your gifts and Kiara played with the wrappers and boxes more than the gifts.” Rosa smiled distantly at the memory of Maria sitting on the floor with Kiara, trying to get her to play with the toys they had bought her.

              “Your madre sat on the floor for over an hour trying to get you to play with the toys before giving up and taking pictures of you buried beneath the paper and bows. I think those pictures are in that box over there.” Rosa pointed to the shoe box beside Manuel. “Manuel, will you please bring that box to me?”

              “Of course Abuela.” Manuel picked up the box and walked over to her.

              When Rosa opened the box the first picture she saw was of Maria and Kiara sitting on the floor together. Kiara had a Christmas bow on her dark curls and Maria was laughing as her. She was suddenly struck by how much she missed her only child and by how much Kiara looked like Maria.

              “Abuela? Are you alright?” Manuel asked in a concerned voice. She had been their foundation for so long and now that he was older he felt that it was his job to protect her.

              “Si, Manuel. I am fine. Kiara come over here please.” When Kiara was standing beside her, Rosa handed her the picture. “This is what I was just talking about. I took this picture without Maria knowing. She laughed when she saw it. See how happy you are with the paper and bows?”

              “Si Abuela. It seems madre was happy too. I can’t remember her. If it was not for pictures I would not know what she, or padre, would look like. I understand now, more than ever, Karla’s need for pictures of padre.”

              “I remember something from the night of the accident.” Rosa told them. “I remember Alexander got a phone call right after I arrived to watch you two so they could go out that night. He left the room to take the call and when he came back he had a distant look in his eyes. Now that we know about Karla I wonder if that phone call was about her.”

              “Anything is possible Abuela, but that is something we will never know.” Manuel said in his normal calming manner. “Karla was about six months old at that time though. If it was about her why did it take her madre over a year to contact him?”

              “That is something we can find out easily enough. Karla’s madre can answer some of these questions. I wonder if Karla would be willing to ask her.” Kiara said with a look of determination on her face.

              “No. That’s out of the question. We are not going to ask Karla to talk to her madre. That woman terrorized Karla her entire life and I will not let her hurt our little sister again. We can look for another way and if we don’t find one then the questions will remain unanswered.” Manuel said and cast a stern look at Kiara. He knew how she was and wouldn’t put it past her to ask Karla anyway.

              “I agree with Manuel.” Rosa said with an equally stern look at Kiara. “Karla has been through enough. Now let’s find that child some pictures of Alexander so Manuel can send them to her before she goes to sleep.”

“Si Abuela. As you wish.” Kiara said and picked up another box of pictures.

            
 
After dinner Karla helped Leslie clean up the kitchen. When they finished she went upstairs to get her cell phone from her room. Manuel and Kiara had both sent her a text earlier, but she hadn’t saved their numbers yet. When she picked up her phone she saw a text from Rylee and one from Conner. She opened Rylee’s first.

             
Karla, I think Conner likes you. I have never seen him openly flirt like he did today. He’s normally really shy around girls, except for Callie and me.

              Not knowing how to respond to Rylee’s message, she opened Conner’s.

             
Hey Karla. I just wanted to tell you that it was great meeting you today. I think you will be a great addition to our group. I can’t wait until tomorrow when we start working on our U.S. History project. I have some great ideas. See you at school tomorrow.

              Karla was floored by Conner’s message. She had never felt more accepted then she did right now. She quickly answered both Rylee and Conner, telling them that she’d talk to them tomorrow, and headed back downstairs.

              She walked back into the kitchen, which was where Leslie and Andrew spent a lot of time, and found them sitting at the bar drinking coffee. Leslie had her laptop open and was working on a webpage design for a new pediatric dentist that was opening an office here soon. Karla walked over and sat beside Andrew, leaned over until her head was on his shoulder and closed her eyes. This was home. This was the one place she could completely let her defenses down and just be.

              “Karla, what’s wrong?” Andrew asked. He was slightly baffled by Karla getting this close. She usually only did things like this with Leslie.

              “Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking about being accepted and belonging, and I realized this is where I belong. You and Leslie accepted me into your home and lives without question. Thank you both. Thank you for everything.”

              “You are very welcome. You have made our lives complete. Where something was missing before, it isn’t anymore. You have filled a void we had, so thank you.” Andrew said as Leslie’s eyes filled with tears.

              “Karla, you have made us very happy by coming to live here. We are thrilled to have you. Oh, I almost forgot. Have you made a decision about your new friends coming over?” Leslie asked.

              “Ummm…. That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I haven’t told them about anything yet because I just met them. I want to tell them, but I don’t know how or how much to tell them. Can you help me?”

              “Of course we can sweetie.” Leslie said with a smile.

“How many friends are we talking about here?” Andrew asked, not knowing anything about this until now.

“Crap. Sorry Andrew. I forgot to tell you. Karla has a history project due next week and she and her partners need somewhere to meet and work on it. I told her they could use my office since I never use it.”

“That’s fine honey. How many friends are going to be here?” Andrew asked again.

“Just three plus me. Rylee McNabb and Callie and Conner Newberry.” Karla said with a smile. Her thoughts instantly jumped to Conner.

“Newberry? Are they twins with dark hair and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen?”

“That’s them. Do you know them?”

“I do. I work with their dad. He’s the chief resident over labor and delivery. He’s a really good man and those two are extremely well behaved.”

“So any ideas about what I should tell them? I’m definitely telling them about you two being my foster parents, but I don’t feel comfortable telling them why. Do I have to explain it or can I just leave it at that for now?”

“I think you can leave it at that. If they’re truly your friends they’ll wait for you to offer the information rather than ask.” Andrew told her.

“Thank you Andrew. I hope you’re right. I really like them. They’re fun to be around.”

Just then Karla’s phone signaled an email. When she opened it and saw that it was from Manuel she knew exactly what it was. She downloaded the picture and saw her father’s face for the first time. Her eyes filled with tears as she sat there and looked at the face of the father she’d never know.

“Karla, honey, what’s wrong?” Leslie asked, concerned about the look that crossed her face when she opened the email.

“Look,” was all Karla could manage to say as she handed her phone to Andrew.

He looked at the picture then handed the phone to Leslie. “Is that your father?”

Karla simply nodded, unable to speak past the lump that had formed in her throat.

As Leslie looked at the picture she said, “You have his nose and chin shape. He was a very handsome man.”

When Karla got her phone back she looked at Leslie and Andrew. Tears still filled her emerald green eyes, but she smiled. “Thank you. Manuel looks just like him and Kiara’s eyes are shaped like his. They never really knew him either. Manuel was almost five and Kiara had just turned two when he died, but they have always had pictures and stories of him. I’m going to go email Manuel and thank him for the picture then go to bed. Good night.” She stood and hugged Andrew then Leslie before she walked upstairs to her room.

After sending Manuel a short thank you email she closed out her laptop, plugged in her phone to charge, brushed her teeth and went to bed.

She laid there awake for a long time and thought about the father she never knew. When she closed her eyes it wasn’t her father’s face that filled her head though, it was Conner’s.