This choice: the 14 year old daughter of a single mom. • Go Back...Chapter #4the 14 year old daughter of a single mom. by: fantaghiro   The girl's name was Jessica Hoff, or 'Jessie' as her mother Deborah called her. You looked down at the girl with her long chestnut-colored hair, pale delicate frame and a face that was at once cherubic and knowing. You couldn't see you wife at all. Instead you could imagine this girl full of youthful energy, giggling and laughing with her mother.
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You still weren't sure how to act toward Deborah. This was even harder for her. She had clearly been extremely close to her daughter and her loss weighed heavily on her. She hovered around Sarah even more than you, refusing to leave her bedside.
You glanced up to examine her as she sat by Sarah. Deborah looked rather young - you guessed she was barely over 30, so she must have had Jessica at a young age. She was also very pretty, tall and slender with long, wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.
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She was immediately likable; you couldn't help but be drawn in by her engaging, friendly personality and caring nature. Even as she suffered through with her emotional pain, she was remarkably understanding of you and your worries.
Despite that, howerver, the atmosphere was a bit tense at the moment. Deborah and you disagreed over what should happen when you left the hospital. She demanded that Sarah come to live with her, arguing that it was the only sensible solution. "She's a minor now, and legally my daughter," Deborah explained patiently. "You can't expect her to just go home with you as if everything would just return to normal. How would that look? Besides, she'll have a lot of adjusting to do. A different environment will be good. At your home she would be constantly reminded of what she's lost - each picture, her clothing, everything would be a painful reminder that she was now a different person."
You had to admit that she had a point, but you weren't willing to give up so easily. 'There must be a way to make this work!' you thought to yourself. Still, you had to be careful. In the eyes of the law the girl on the bed was her daughter, not your wife, so you couldn't push her too far. And given the strictly worded legal documents you had signed, you couldn't say anything about Sarah's true identity.
Deborah noticed your concerned look and gave you a reassuring smile. She stood up and walked aroud the bed to face you. She gently took your hand in hers and said "James, I'm sorry. I know this is difficult for you as well. I don't have any intention of shutting you out. Regardless of appearances, I know she's your wife and she will need your support to make it through all this. But it really only makes sense for her to come with me." Her face dropped. "She'll need my help too - and it will give me just a little more time with my 'daughter', a chance for me to come to some sort of closure."
You felt a pang of sympathy for her. Despite appearances and the public lie you agreed to, Sarah wasn't really her daughter - Jessica was truly gone, while you at least still had Sarah in some form. "What do you have in mind? How can we make this work?" you asked.
She looked back up and said "she'll live with me at home but you should have as much access to her as possible. The only way I can see that working is if you have a reason to be around - a 43 year old man with a 14 year old girl could draw the wrong kind of attention. So the only logical solution is for you to pretend to be my boyfriend. That way you can...."
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