Hope House by Tracy L Carbone Read Free Book Online

straight blond hair that Gloria had as a child. She also had the Hanes dimple on her right cheek, just like Gloria.
    “Well, are you? Are you my auntie Gloria?” The child grinned and the corners of her mouth turned up around the edges of the white mask.
    “Yes, Sweetie, we think so. She sure looks like you doesn’t she?” George asked.
    Alison pulled off the mask and smiled, and Gloria gasped.  The little girl indeed had Gloria’s every feature.
    “Put the mask back on, Ali. You know the rules,” Mary commanded.
    She shrugged and put it on. “She’s my auntie, but you’re still my mommy and daddy right?”
    Mary protectively hugged her. “Of course. Always.”
    “I’m going to give you my kindergarten photo. Would you like that, Auntie Gloria?”
    “I’d love that! Thank you.”
    The girl left the room. Still weak from surgery, she walked slowly, but appeared well on her way to recovery, thank God.
    “What was the name of the biological mother?” Warning bells were going off in Gloria’s head.
    “I said we’d have to look it up,” Mary replied, a tinge of irritation rising.
    “Was it Gloria Hanes-Carpenter?”
    “No,” Mary and George said in unison.
    “I don’t know what they told you but I am not her aunt,” Gloria said as soon as Alison left.  “Alison is my daughter,” she said barely above a whisper. “A fill in doctor told me my fetus died. But she didn’t. I felt her kick and then they put me under anesthesia. I never saw the body. That child is mine.” She got up and started toward Alison’s direction.
    All those fucking therapists were wrong. She was not imagining things. This little girl proved that her memories were real. Her daughter was not dead!
    George jumped up and took Gloria’s arm and roughly guided her toward the door. “Doctor Norris told us you had a miscarriage and were a little paranoid but we wanted to do the right thing. Wanted to give you hope that you had a relative. We felt for you, we really did.  Read that book you put out and the Foreword about your own experience. Listen, Alison is not yours. We got her from a reputable agency. We brought you here as a courtesy, thinking maybe she was your niece or something and you might like to be a part of her life.”
    “She’s my daughter. There’s a lot I didn’t write in the book.”
    Mary leapt in, saying, “Doctor Norris broke I don’t know how many rules giving us your information and begged us not to contact you but I insisted,” Mary said. “I wish now we had listened to the professionals. We made a mistake bringing you here.”
    Mary and George stood now like a wall between her and Allison. Mary firmly said, “I had three miscarriages before I gave up on childbirth and adopted Ali so I know what how much losing a child damages you. I’m sorry we called you at all and got your hopes up. Doctor Norris said he explained to you that she is not your daughter. Please leave and don’t come back again.”
    George handed her the long coat and urged her out the door.
    She heard Alison on the other side of the door. “But I didn’t say goodbye and I know she wants my picture.”
    “She’s not your auntie , honey,” George said.
    “We were wrong, ” Mary added
    “Just give her my picture. Please!”
    The door opened and George handed the picture to Gloria. “Don’t come back here again. Please. Thank you for saving Ali’s life but she’s been through enough without this paranoid drama.”
    He shut the door, leaving Gloria on the icy stoop.
    She looked down at the school picture. The tiny teeth, the dimple, the straight blond hair. And those bright blue eyes. It could have been a picture of Gloria at five-years-old.
    Maybe six years ago the doctors had conspired to keep Gloria quiet, to make her accept the truth, but it wouldn’t work this time. She wasn’t crazy or paranoid. That little girl behind the door was her daughter, and she’d get her back or die trying.
     
    2.
    Maison D’Espoir,