Leaving Eva (The Eva Series Book 1) by Jennifer Sivec

two years?” she asked Thomas who had little response.
    “It’s been three years.”
    “It’s been four years.”
    “It’s been five years. I want to have a child! If we can’t have one on our own, then we need to adopt. It’s the only thing I want, Thomas, the only thing that I will ever ask you for.” Rose was tired of watching the years pass her by, alone. They lived in silence, in a forced routine, that made Rose question if this were truly a better life. She missed living in her parent’s house, where Father ignored her and Momma backhandedly criticized her. At least there was some life in their home.
    When their brief and occasional trysts failed to make her pregnant, she knew she had to convince him to let her adopt, or she would always be alone.
    “Fine, Rose,” he said, after the fifth year. “If you want to adopt, then we can adopt. But the child is your responsibility. I don’t want one, but if that’s what you want, then maybe you can finally be happy.” His voice remained even as it always was, and Rose spontaneously kissed him on the cheek, which made Thomas smile slightly.
    The paperwork and process were easy. On paper, they were a solid couple. He had a steady job at the plant as a supervisor, they went to church every Sunday, and they had been married for many years. The reference from their pastor, his boss, and their fellow church members were appropriate if not glowing, and they sailed through the process with virtually no issues.
    Rose was excited about choosing her child, and she knew the moment she saw the file that this would be her daughter.
    The girl was found abandoned and alone, wandering the streets of a nearby town, for an indeterminate amount of time. They guessed that someone passing through dropped her off. They tried to find parents, but nobody surfaced to claim her. It was a miracle that she was alive as her clothes and condition told an untold story.
    When they found her, she was malnourished and had a severely broken leg that required surgery. She was in the hospital healing for a couple of months and then placed with a foster family for eight months after that. The girl was difficult, and the foster family couldn’t deal with her anymore because the comments from the social worker were “she needed undivided attention if she were ever going to thrive.”
    Rose knew that she could give that to her and chose her without hesitation.

Rose’s Perfect Fit
    THE SOCIAL WORKERS assumed that Brynn’s fate would be to bounce from foster home to foster home until she was old enough to grow out of the system. They guessed that she was at least four or thereabouts. Most people only wanted to adopt babies, tiny people without anyone else’s imprint, with a fresh slate to be molded as their own. People weren’t looking for kids Brynn’s age to raise as their own.
    While Brynn was sweet with her long dark hair and her big eyes, she barely talked, and she had many issues. When they flipped through her file, they read between the lines, and they always moved onto the file with the infant or the youngest child that had not yet been scarred by life.
    She was already struggling in one foster home and ready to move to the next. All she did was cry, and she needed constant attention.
    The moment that Rose saw Brynn’s file and saw her history, she knew that this was the child for her. This child was already old enough to walk and talk, and Rose had never wanted any of the messiness of an infant. She knew that this child would cling to her with needing and wanting, and she knew that she would be able to do the same to her. This child had been thrown out like yesterday’s garbage, and Rose anticipated that she would be forever grateful to be rescued.
    Rose was anxious for the adoption process to be over. She just wanted to have her daughter in her own home. The sooner she got her home, the faster her life could truly begin.
    Finally, when the day arrived, Rose found that she was nervous.