………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ella thought she could die happy. This had been the best birthday ever. They had gotten back home a little after 8 p.m. and she was exhausted. When Rose had sat down on the couch, Ella had eagerly climbed into her lap and had nearly fallen asleep the moment her head hit Rose’s chest.

Now they were shaking her awake. She moaned in protest, she didn’t want Rose to go!

“Ella, we need to talk, this is important.” Heather said.

Ella clung on to Rose tighter. She wondered if she was in trouble for breaking the most important rule. Twice. Lunch really hadn’t agreed with her.

“You’re not in trouble.” Rose whispered and Ella relaxed her grip. “We just wanna talk.”

“Do you like living here?” Heather asked after a moment of silence.

Ella nodded, feeling confused. She suddenly remembered what Rose had asked her and began to cry. They were sending her back to the hospital! She buried her face in Rose’s chest and sobbed.

“Tell us what you’re thinking.” Rose said. She rubbed Ella’s back, but the girl refused to turn around.

“You. Want. To. Get. Rid. Of. Me.” Ella managed to choke out.

“No, Ella, I want you here, but most importantly, I want what’s best for you. Do you understand? I might not be what you need right now.” Heather admitted. “I don’t have the…experience to give you the kind of one on one care you deserve. This is entirely up to you. If you want to stay here you are welcome to. You’ll always have a place here. We love you, but it’s because we love you that we’re asking you. Do you want to stay here with us, or do you want to go back with Rose?”

How could they ask her if she wanted to go back? What about school? What about Kaylee? And Danielle? And Ribbit?

“No hos-hosp!” She couldn’t get the word out! Suddenly she felt Rose’s arms squeeze her tight.

“No, honey. When I asked you if you wanted to come back with me, I didn’t mean come back to the hospital.” Rose said. Ella looked up at her. Then what had she meant? “Pedro and I would like to know if you’d like to come be part of our family?” Ella’s eyes went wide. She studied each of their faces carefully. Were they serious?

“You don’t have to give us an answer tonight.” Heather said.

“We’ve talked it over. We don’t want to uproot you from the friends you’ve already made and make you start all over again. We found a house in the area we’re interested in, so if you wanted to stay close by and keep going to the same school, you can.”

“And you can come visit us anytime.” Heather threw in. “This isn’t good-bye.”

Ella looked back up at Rose. Were they really serious?

“I don’t want to lose you again.” Rose whispered so only she could hear. “I’ll never replace your biological mom, Ella, but I don’t want us to be nurse and patient anymore, I want us to be mother and daughter. I love you, diapered butt and all.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

							10 Years Later

“Look who’s finally old enough to drink!” Danielle cheered, lifting up her wine glass in the air. “The baby of the group is finally legal!”

“Like being underage ever stopped her before,”Kaylee said.

Ella snickered, taking a sip from her margarita. “Uh, you didn’t hear that, mom.” Ella said.

“La la la la la.” Rose said, covering her ears.

“Luckily, we had such nice older sisters who snuck us beer.” Kaylee said.

“La la la la la.”

“Shh, guys. You’re giving my mom the wrong impression.” Ella said. “She thinks I’m a good girl.” she whispered.

“Ha! I knew you were trouble the moment you took off streaking down the hospital corridor.” Rose said. Danielle choked on her wine.

“Eat Shit!” Kaylee yelled, before barking.

“No one’s going to take our orders if you keep telling everyone to eat shit who passes by us.” Leslie said.

“Oh, remember that time she threw a taco across that mexican restaurant, and it hit that dude in the face.” Danielle said. “He had guacamole and sour cream all over his cheek.” The group laughed.

“So have you guys set a date yet?” Ella asked. “You’ve been engaged since you finished high school.”

“We’re waiting until I graduate college.” Kaylee said, wrapping her arms around the man sitting next to her. “Right, Brian?” Ella groaned as they kissed. “Don’t be jealous, Ella.”

“I still can’t believe you two of all people ended up together. You guys hated each other when we were kids.”

“What? I don’t remember that?” Kaylee said.

“How could I ever hate you?” Brian asked. They kissed again. Ella made retching noises.

“Keep that up and you lose your spot as my Maid of Honor.” Kaylee threatened. Ella just laughed.

“What? I’m your sister! I should be your Maid of Honor.” Leslie said.

“And she’s my best friend.”

“Ella, is it true your thinking of applying to Dartmouth?” Danielle asked.

“Thinking about it, I’m not sure yet. I can’t decide if I want to just stick with my B.a. when I graduate or go for my masters. The thought of taking on any more student loan debt is like ehh.” She pulled an imaginary noose around her neck.

“Why Dartmouth though? In-state universities are so much cheaper.”

“I don’t know, it’s just a thought. Something about that school has always stuck with me. Must be something from when I was a kid.”

“Ella, come with me! I have to go to the bathroom!” Kaylee said, prying herself away from Brian.

“Huh, oh sure,” she said. She stood up a little too fast and stumbled over her feet.

“You’re such a lightweight,” Kaylee teased. “Do I need to carry you there?”

“Careful! She bites!” Rose called out. Heather and Rose both snickered.

Ella sat on the toilet and pulled her phone out flicking through all the “Happy Birthdays!” on facebook while Kaylee talked about work from the next stall over. There was a notification about a new episode from her favorite true crime podcast having been released. She’d listen to that tonight when she got home. She had been looking forward to it all week. The host had hinted it was one of those bizarre cases and those were Ella’s favorite. She loved the weird ones.

As she was washing her hands in the sink she stared at her reflection. She still looked young for her age. She could tell the waitress had a hard time believing her ID was real. She was short at a mere 5’1. Kaylee’s 5’7 reflection towered over her. Most everyone towered over her.

She took in the bathroom as Kaylee dried her hands. Wasn’t there a time she had been scared of them? Why was that? She couldn’t really remember. Wasn’t it something to do with water? She remembered the reason, but it didn’t really make sense to her. Looking back it seemed silly.

“Was I really scared of bathrooms?” Ella asked Kaylee as they were headed back to the table.

“Oh gosh, I forgot about that. Yeah, don’t you remember how we met? You peed on the rug in front of me your first day.”

“I did not!” Ella said. “Oh, god, I did. I remember!” She buried her face in her hands.

“Remember what?” Brian asked.

“Ella’s first day at school when she peed on the rug.”

Brian chuckled. “Oh yeah! I remember that.”

“Oh so that you remember.” Ella groaned, shaking her head.

“Oh! Are we roasting Ella for her birthday? I want in!” Danielle said. “There was that time when she lived with us and she pooped in the litterbox and tried to pass it off on the cat! Mom freaked out and took our cat to the emergency vet, along with the poop. $250 later and we learned there was no way that came from a cat.”

The group roared with laughter and Ella continuously banged her head against the table.