A blissful day.

She never knew her parents. The moment she was born she was already just another case file among the millions of other kids lost in the system. Her parents never planned to have her, so they gave her up to be fostered by a family who could take better care of her. At least they wanted the best for her in that way. In her early childhood, she saw many families, slept in many beds and heard many promises being made to her. But for some reason no one ever stayed. Finally, at the age of eight, a couple and their teenage son came to visit her at the Sunshine Centre for Kids. She was in the sunroom as she always was, painting an impression of the kittens laying under the summer sun by the fence outside. She found the imagery of the three little kittens with their bellies exposed towards the blue sky a very comforting and delightful visual. As she was painting the final strokes of the skyline, she heard her name called out from behind her. She turned around and saw the Albright family standing in a row.

“Darling, meet the Albright Family. They want to get to know you if that’s okay,” Mrs. Lovejoy said in a quiet tone as she approached her. The little girl was hesitant at first, but she saw Mrs. Albright holding a small plush kitten as she walked closer to her. “That’s a marvelous painting you’ve done, I take it that you love cats, am I right?” The little girl was baffled that this lady she had just met already knew her obsession with cats, but she relaxed her tensed shoulders and accepted the toy wholeheartedly. “My name is Joy, and this is my husband Asher and our son Felix, it’s very nice to meet you,” Joy said confidently. “I know you haven’t had the best memories so far, but we want to change that, would you like to come live with us? It would make us very happy if you did.” Joy turned to Asher and the little girl saw him nodding his head in agreeance. She was never told that she would bring happiness to anyone if she stayed with them. Joy didn’t make a promise as they usually do right away, so it seemed all good to be true.

The little girl had told herself that when she met a new family and asked a specific question, if she was pleased with the answer then she knew she had found her forever family. Shyly, she whispered to Joy, “Why do you want me?” Joy was stunned that the little girl asked a question that no little girl should ever have to ask. As a tear rolled down Joy’s eye she calmly replied, “Because my dear, I have been waiting for you for a very long time.”

The little girl immediately picked up her paintbrushes and stood up, ready to go back to her room to collect her things. Mrs. Lovejoy was elated that the little girl was excited to go with the Albright’s so quickly, but she thought about what the little girl had gone through her whole life and knew that this could very well be a great fit for them all. “Don’t forget your painting, it looks like it's complete! You could hang it up in your new bedroom.” As Mrs. Lovejoy reached to pick up the canvas from the easel, the little girl said, “Please keep it and hang it up here. I made it for the sunroom.”

As the little girl walked up the stairs to her bedroom, she remembered the all-too-familiar routine. She would pack up her things, get in the car with the new family, arrive at the new house and shortly after, the family would turn out to be not-so-charming as they were when they were all standing in a row in the sunroom. Like clockwork, she would be back at the front door of the Centre with Mrs. Lovejoy staring at her with a frown on her face. She only hoped that this time it would be very different. And she wouldn’t have to see that miserable look on Mrs. Lovejoy’s face.

As she closed her little suitcase on top of her bed, she looked around the room. “Goodbye for now,” she said as she sighed. She said that so often that without realizing it just came out of her mouth.

As she walked out the front door, Asher reached out for her hand. “It’s okay, we are going home now,” he said quietly. She grabbed his hand with her little fingers wrapped around his thumb. As they all rode home, she kept looking at Felix sitting next to her in the backseat. It was like she was trying to gauge his reaction to the whole situation. She thought to herself: Has he been through this before? Is he also excited for me to join his family? Or will he give me a hard time? It was hard to figure out since his legs were crossed and he was twiddling his thumbs as he stared out his window. Several moments later the car pulled up to a modern-looking house with a white fence surrounding the front yard. The sun blanketed the roof with its warm yellow hue and the orchid trees were like arms by the sides of the house.

She opened her car door and started following them all inside. She saw Asher take out her suitcase and he started rolling it toward the front porch. As she walked behind Felix, she saw Joy rush to the top of the stairs to the porch. She quickly grabbed a box covered in brown paper and turned to face them with a cheeky grin on her face. “Before you enter your new home, we got you something!” She exclaimed. She seemed more excited to give the little girl the brown paper box more than anything else. The little girl noticed a wooden rocking chair by the front door, so she attempted to make her way over to sit down and open the box. She was astonished to receive a second present already. She thought that they really must be happy to have her. As she took a seat, she placed her toy kitten next to her and placed the box on her lap. She started unwrapping the neatly folded paper.

Felix put his hand over the box, stopping her from opening it further. “Before you open it, we wanted to let you know that whatever is inside this box, is the greatest gift of all. Well, my mom told me to say that,” he said nervously as he ruffled his fingers through his hair. Joy started clapping her hands fervently as if Felix had said his line perfectly. The little girl smiled back at Felix, still puzzled at what he said but all the more intrigued. She finally unwrapped the brown paper and opened the box. She looked inside.

In the sparkly-framed mirror placed inside, she saw her reflection.