Hailey: An autobiography

"Mom!" Hailey cried as she burst through the hospital doors. Hailey's mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 3 months ago and the doctors had said there was nothing they could do.

"Mom!" Hailey burst into the small hospital room to find her mother lying there with cords all around her. Beep. Beep. The steady sound of the heart monitor echoed through the room.

"Mom! Please, please don't go!" Hailey sobbed.

"My dear girl," Her mother moved Hailey's hair away from her face. "Everything will be ok." She tried to console her daughter.

"No! I can't live without you! You have to stay!" She said with her voice breaking. Tears ran down her face as she grasped her mother. She couldn't believe that her mother, the only person she had left in this world was leaving her.

"I love you so much Hailey," Her mother said as tears began to roll down her pale face. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." Hailey sobbed holding onto her mother tightly.

"Goodbye, my dear girl." Hailey's mother gave a sad smile.

"No! Mother no! You-you can't say that! You can't go!" Hailey looked up at her mother. Her face was even paler now.

"I love you, darling." Her mother touched Hailey's face and took one last shaky breath. "Goodbye Hailey."

Beep. Beep-----. The beeping stopped.

"Goodbye. I love you, mom." Hailey sat there sobbing as the doctors rushed in. A nurse took Hailey's arm bringing her to the front desk. Hailey sat there watching the time pass bye. After hours and hours of waiting, a woman came over to Hailey.

"Hailey?" She asked.

"Y-yes?" Hailey looked up and saw a woman in a business suit holding a clipboard.

"I am Susan. I am from social services. I am here to take you to your foster home."

"F-foster home?" Hailey asked.

"Yes. We already have a family waiting for you." She said. "Come with me please." She took Hailey's bag and brought her to a small car.

"Wait! Why can't I live with my dad and step-mother?" Hailey asked.

"We already asked if they wanted you and they said no. Now please get in the car. I'm running on a tight schedule." Was the social worker's reply.

"O-oh. I see." Hailey looked out the car window at the sky which had been a bright blue color just a few hours ago. Now, rain began to drip onto the small Hyundai. In just one day, Hailey lost everything. Her mother died, her own father didn't even want her! Hailey was afraid of what might happen to her. What if this foster family didn't want her either?

As Hailey watched rain drip down the window, her eyes began to close.

"Mom? Mom!" Hailey screamed into a white room that she now stood in. "Mom! Mom, where are you?"

"No one wants you!" Came a cackling voice. Hailey spun around the room to see the social services lady standing there.

"I want my own family." Her dad told her, "Not you." Her dad turned around to see his new wife holding a positive pregnancy test.

"Goodbye Hailey." Her mother's voice rang out to her. Her mother was sucked into a dark hole.

"Wake up Hailey!" Another voice said. "Wake up!"

Hailey woke up to see that she was still in the car. A tear rolled down her face. Then another and more still came after that.

"Oh boy." The social services worker wiped beads of sweat off her face, "I-it's going to be fine Hailey. Come now. We are at your new foster home."

Hailey wiped away the tears on her face and looked up. They had arrived at a large house with a swing set in front and three children jumping on a trampoline. She stepped out of the car and a small dog ran up to her and jumped up to lick her hand. Hailey now noticed that someone was looking out the window of the second floor. As soon as she looked up, however, the person moved away.

"Hailey!" A cheery voice called to her. A woman with blonde hair walked out of the house. She came over and embraced Hailey. "Oh! I'm so glad that you are here!"

"I-I'm sorry? W-who are you?" Hailey asked.

"Oh! Of course! I am Grace. I'm your foster mother!" She said with a big smile. "My husband, James, will be here soon. He had a few errands to run."

Hailey nodded.

"Oh, my dear girl. I am so sorry about what happened to your mother." Grace sympathized.

"Um, I need to leave so if everything is good here, I will be needing to go," Susan said hurriedly.

"Of course! We will be fine here!" Grace told her. 

“Great. Well, Hailey, if you ever need anything, my doors are always open between 8-7 on weekdays.” Susan got into her car and drove off. 

“Ugh, I do not like her. She never really seems to care about the children. Tsk.” Grace looked at Hailey, “Are you going to be alright my sweet girl?”  Hailey swallowed a sob and smiled at Grace.

“Mmhm.” Hailey nodded.

“Ok, well if you ever need anything you can always talk to me.” Grace smiled at Hailey. “Now! Do you want to come inside of your new home?”

Hailey just nodded. She knew that if she tried to speak at all she would just cry. All that Hailey really wanted was her mom back. 

“Ok! Oh! I need to introduce you to your new siblings!” Grace and Hailey walked inside of the large, white house. “Kids!” Grace called out the window and up the stairs. 5 children lined up in front of Hailey. The tallest girl spoke first.

“Hi! I’m Becca. I’m 15. I’m so glad to have a sister my age!” Becca grinned at Hailey. 

“I’m Josh.” Said the next tallest. “I’m 13.” 

“Hi! I’m Mason! I’m 9 and I’ve always wanted a big sister! Well, a nice big sister anyways.” He said giggling.

“Hey!” Becca said, glaring at him. 

Mason just shrugged his shoulders. 

“I’m Lilly.” A little girl said coming out from behind Becca's leg. “I’m 6.” She said shyly. 

“Hi! Hi! Hi!” A girl who looked identical to Lilly said bouncing up and down. “I’m Meg! I’m also six and Lilly’s my twin sister!”

“Well! Now that you’ve met all of your siblings, I’ll have Becca show you your room. Dinner will be ready in about an hour, but if you want to rest, I’ll have someone bring it up to you.” Grace told Hailey.

“Come with me!” Becca told Hailey. They walked up the wooden stairs to a room with a white door. Becca opened the door revealing a purple room with Hailey’s name on one of the walls. The tall canopy bed had a white blanket with lavender collared pillows. “We weren’t sure what color you liked so we kinda just guessed. If you wanna change the color though, my dad can repaint it for you.” Becca said.

Hailey smiled and walked into the room. She placed her bag on the bed and sat down. 

“Ok! Well, I’ll leave you to unpack. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs!” Becca said. Once Becca left, Hailey broke down in tears. 

“I miss you so much, mom.” Hailey sobbed. She cried herself to sleep and when she woke up it was the next day.

“Hailey?” Grace called opening the door to Hailey’s room. She opened the door to find Hailey sleeping. Her eyes were puffy from crying and she clutched a small bear from her mother. Grace sat down next to Hailey and moved the hair away from her face. 

“Mom?” Hailey asked sleepily.

“No, Hailey I’m so sorry,” Grace whispered.

Hailey sat up and looked at Grace. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t come to dinner last night.” She apologized.

“Hailey, you don’t need to apologize! Are you sure you’re ok?” Grace asked.

“Mmhm. I-I, yeah I’m fine.” Hailey tried to smile but couldn’t.

Grace sighed. “Listen, Hailey, I won’t force you to talk about it, but sometimes, talking about it helps. You know you can always talk t-” Grace tried to say but was interrupted.

“Grace, I don’t want to talk about it ok? My mother just died and my dad doesn’t even want me.” Hailey snapped at her, “Why would you want to even bother with me?” Hailey ran out the door pushing past Becca and Josh who stood in the doorway. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do we have here?” A man who stood by the front door asked. 

“Who are you?” Asked Hailey, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m James. Grace’s husband. You must be Hailey, right?” He said calmly. 

“Hailey!” Becca called running down the stairs. Becca, Grace, and Josh ran over and hugged Hailey who collapsed sobbing. 

“Big sister!” Meg cried running over to Hailey, joining in on the hug. Lilly trailed along behind her and hugged Hailey as well. Mason and James came next.

“I-” Hailey started to say.

“Shhh. Hailey, look at me,” Grace began squeezing Hailey’s face, “It will get better. I promise you. It may not happen in a day but it will get better.” 

“I just wanted more time with her.” Hailey sobbed. 

“I know honey, I know.” Grace consoled her.

After this, hours passed turning into days which became weeks which turned to months which formed a year. Two years passed and Hailey was now preparing for her sixteenth birthday party.

“Which dress Becca?” Hailey asked, holding up two dresses, one which was a satin blue and the other a creamy, pastel yellow.

“The blue one for sure!” Becca replied.

Hailey changed into the blue dress and walked out into the kitchen. 

“How do I look?” She asked twirling around.

“Like a fairy princess!” Lilly gasped.

“No, no! Like a blue gumdrop!” Meg cried.

“You look lovely, Hailey,” James told her.

“You are gorgeous.” Grace kissed the top of her head.

“Nice.” Josh gave her a thumbs up.

“Here. Josh and I bought you this.” Mason handed Hailey a white box. Hailey opened it revealing a silver locket.

“It’s beautiful!” Hailey told them.

“Open it!” Josh and Mason said unanimously.  

Hailey opened the locket to find a picture of her and her siblings. 

“Thank you, guys!” Hailey hugged Josh and Mason.

“We also have a gift for you, Hailey.” Grace said, “Come with me.” Grace led Hailey outside to a large box that sat on the ground. 

“Open the box, fairy princess!” Lilly shouted.

Hailey reached down and opened the box. Inside had a small folder. 

“What’s this?” Hailey asked, opening the folder. Inside was a paper with the 3 words that were enough to make Hailey cry. Certificate of Adoption. “You’re adopting me?” Hailey cried, tears rolling down her face. 

“Well, that is, if you want us to,” James said grinning.

“Hailey,” Grace said, “Over these past few years we have grown very fond of you. We love you so much.”

Hailey got up and hugged Grace and James. “I love you guys too!” 

“Well come on guys! We are going to be late to the party!” Meg said jumping up and down.”

“Oh yes! We don’t want you to be late for your own party now do we?” Grace asked Hailey.

“Haha. Yay! You’re going to be my actual, real sister Hailey!” Lilly said excitedly. 

Hailey walked to the car with her new family. At long last, she, finally, felt loved and wanted.