A Sweets Life-Chapter 10

Okay, this is a little short, but it came to me pretty much as is!

True to her word, Candy was at the hospital as soon as she could get there. She found Danni’s room, and went in. Danni was weeping, and Candy rushed to her side and gave her a hug.

“You lost the baby?”

Danni could only nod, sadly, as her tears continued. Candy pulled her in as she wept for the girl. There was no talking for some time. Eventually, Danni recovered enough to be able to speak.

“Thank you.” She said, quietly. “I thought that I would die out there tonight. If I had the opportunity-maybe I should have?”

“No, please, don’t think like that!” Candy said, pulling Danni into another hug. “It isn’t over, not by a long shot. You can have a wonderful life ahead of you!”

Danni just wanted to die! If only this wonderful girl knew how mean she had been . . .

How could she ever explain the things she had done, the way that she had acted? She felt so ashamed, and guilty. On top of everything else, knowing what she'd done made her hurt, so bad!

“Danni, please, listen to me.”

She looked into Candy’s eyes.

“No matter how bad you feel, or how guilty and unclean you might think you are, it will be better soon. Time has a way of letting us heal ourselves, but first we have to let go of all of the bad things. We have to forgive ourselves, and let our hearts forget.”

“You don’t understand, Candy! I was mean and wicked, I hurt . . . I hurt you! I was so angry at the world, and you were just an easy target. I am so sorry! What I did, the things that I said . . . they are unforgivable!”

“Now you listen to me, girl! NOTHING is unforgivable! I forgive you for anything you did. You’ve had such a hard, hard life. You were angry, and if you chose to take your anger out on me, well, I’ve got strong shoulders!” Candy’s tears told Danni that she was sincere. “You may not want to hear this now, but God forgives you, and he loves you! How could I do less? I am your friend, and you can always count on me!”

Both of the girls were crying again. “Your old life is over, Danni. Right now, today, you are beginning a whole new life. Relax, and let yourself heal. I’m not going to go all religious on you-well, not yet, anyway. I will be praying for you, and praying for your loss. Trust me, when you leave here, there will be friends waiting for you. You may not believe it, but there are people who care about you, who will be there for you. I have to go for now, the nurses have already told me I couldn’t stay long, but I told them I promised to be here. Think about things, and try to have a good night. I’ll try to be here as soon as I can tomorrow. I AM your friend, I promise!”

The two girls hugged, and Candy kissed Danni’s forehead. “See you tomorrow, okay? Sweet dreams!”

Danni waved and watched as Candy left. *That girl was amazing!*, she thought. *How could I have been so stupid?*

She lay back, and she thought about what had happened. She thought about a lot of things.

--o–o--

The walk to school was kind of quiet (well, how quiet could four teenage girls be? Let’s be a little realistic), and the school day passed slowly for Candy. Last night’s incident was the biggest topic around the school, and rumors and innuendo flew at warp speed.

Candy and her friends made no comment, and kept to themselves. They were concerned about Danni, and what would happen to her now. With her mom gone, and her father . . . indisposed, as it were, who would step up to protect her and her interests?

Robin’s mother met them at the school exit, and she asked Candy to come with her and Robin.

“What’s up, Mom?”

“We need to run a special errand, and I wanted to talk to you both, but especially you, Robby. Your father and I have been asked to do something, but I wanted your input, hon.

One of your teachers is also a social worker for your school. She called to ask if she could speak to your father and I, so we went to your school earlier today. She told us a story of a great need at your school, and while we believe we know what you will say, we wanted to check with you before we did anything.

I know you are well aware of what happened last night. To put it quite simply, we have been asked if we would consider fostering Danni Evans. I know it would be a great imposition for-“

“Do it, Mom! We’ve been worried all day about what would happen to her, and this would be perfect!”

Her heart swelled with pride, and Mrs. Ames laughed. “We kind of thought you would feel that way, sweetheart. You girls have made us so proud lately. All right, let’s go up to the hospital, and see what Danni thinks, okay?”

Yes! Candy and Robin were excited now. Maybe this would help Danni to get over the awful things that had happened to her. They were very impatient to see her now!

It was hard to control themselves and keep quiet as they went to Danni’s room. She was sitting up, reading a magazine when they came in, and her face lit up in a smile when Candy and Robin came in.

“Hi. Candy! Hi Robin! I’m a little surprised to see both of you, but also very happy you came to see me!”

Robin introduced her to her mother, and Danni politely shook her hand.

“Danni, remember when I said that there people who would be here to help you, and to take care of you?” Candy asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been worried about that all day. I hate the thought of going to an orphanage or something, but I guess that’s what has to happen.”

“Not necessarily, dear.” Mrs. Ames said. “There are other options available to you.”

“What kind of options? Did they find a relative, or something?” Danni asked,

“No, Danni.” Robin said with a smile. “What would you think of coming to stay with me and my parents?”

“Wh-what?” She was shocked. They couldn’t be serious, could they?

“Mr. Ames and I are registered foster parents. We’ve been asked if we would be willing to foster you, and we said yes, gladly! Robin is very enthused, and we think it is a wonderful idea. If everything works out, we were even thinking of making it permanent, if you’d like?”

Danni looked at Candy, and tears filled her eyes. She was amazed that things could happen this fast!

Robin wrapped her in a hug. “Please say yes, Danni. I really want you to come live with us, and maybe be my sister? Please?”

“You see, Danni? We really do want you to join our family. Do you think it might be okay?” Mrs. Ames asked, hopefully.

It was almost too good to be true.

“Do you really . . . I mean, are you sure you really want me? This is more than I could dream!”

“Please, Danni. Let us show you how serious we are. Let us love you, please?”

It was too much. Danni couldn’t see through the tears, and she couldn’t speak, so she nodded her head.

Robin hugged her some more, and her mom and Candy joined in, too. Danni was happy beyond words.

--o–o–

She smiled to herself. Those girls were so wonderful. She knew that Danni would do well with the Ames. Sometimes, this was so much fun! It was hard, doing her best to stay out of their lives, but sometimes things needed a shove to make them right. She didn’t want them to know she had pushed a little, so no one would remember her call. Surely, this was something that held some amazing promise! She would be glad to keep an eye on these children.

End Chapter 10. No, this is probably not the end. I love these characters! Gotta see what’s next, though!