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

quietly.
    Rose went back to busying herself, and tried not to look at the girl too much. She didn’t want to make her any more scared than she already was.
    When dinner was ready, Rose set two plates on the table and wordlessly sat down. She took small bites and waited. After a half hour, the girl came to the table and climbed on the chair opposite of Rose. Rose warmed up her food, cut it up into bite size pieces, set it down in front of her, and continued to eat. The girl poked at the food with her fork cautiously. Rose could tell that she was hungry, but she fought the urge to tell her to eat.
    Finally, the girl took a bite. “Mmmm,” she said quietly and then stopped suddenly.
    Rose smiled at her. “That’s okay,” she said gently. “I’m happy you like it.”
    They ate the rest of the meal in silence, glancing at one another shyly from time to time.
    When her plate was clean, Rose thought she still looked hungry. She had given her a lot, and had been surprised at how quickly she devoured it. She couldn’t imagine that someone so tiny could consume so much. “Would you like more?”
    The girl nodded, and her eyes got huge when Rose piled her plate completely full.
    She started to eat the food from her second plate as quickly as she ate her first. “Slow down,” Rose urged. “There will always be plenty of food for you to eat.” The girl didn’t listen, and she piled the food into her mouth until her plate was empty.
    Rose sat and watched her in amazement.
    When they were done eating, Rose asked her if she wanted a bath and the girl shook her head “no.” Rose led the girl upstairs to her new bedroom where she had eagerly laid out pajamas earlier that morning. She wasn’t sure what size she would be, so she bought three of the same nightgown, all in different sizes in anticipation that one of them would fit.
    Rose was happy that dinner had gone so well, but there was still so much more ahead, and Rose continued to be nervous. She put the smallest nightgown on the girl, and was surprised that it was still so big on her. She is so small for her age, Rose thought in awe. The girl was about five, but she was the size of a three year old. After Rose had tucked her into her bed, Betsy her worn doll tucked in right next to her, she decided that it was time to try something.
    “Brynn.” Rose said, looking at the girl intently.
    “No, I’m Eva.” The girl said understanding what Rose was doing.
    “No. You’re Brynn now.” Rose said carefully.
    “No, I’m Eva.” The girl repeated stubbornly.
    “Brynn.”
    “Eva.”
    Rose was not going to call her Eva, but she decided not to push it with her for now. She didn’t want to be reminded that she had been someone else’s daughter. She knew that it was a big adjustment and that even though she was young, she had been through a lot. She expected from going through her file that she would be a weak, needy little thing. But after looking at her, she realized how strong and tenacious she must have been to survive on her own so young. After being abandoned so carelessly, she could have easily frozen or starved to death. Rose hated to think of all of the horrible things that could have happened to her.
    The next couple of months were a blur. Rose got her daughter into a new routine and introduced her to their church and the neighbors. The girl clung to her now and wouldn’t leave her side. She seemed to understand that Rose was her mother and that she wasn’t going to leave her. Rose even took to sleeping in her room to keep her company and comfort her, although Thomas didn’t like it at all. Rose didn’t care. Her daughter was there now, and that was all that mattered.
    It took months for the girl to answer to the name Brynn, but finally Rose’s persistence paid off. Slowly, she seemed to forget all about her life as Eva.
    Brynn learned to love her new Mommy, but she still cried out in the night for her other Mommy. Sometimes she just cried out for no reason,