Forgotten Hope: Three

To catch up:

FORGOTTEN HOPE CHAPTER INDEX:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2



Challenges can arise when you barely know someone, but are willing to marry them just so a baby can grow up in one home, and not get passed around like a dirty ball on the playground.  Zoe knows exactly what the legal system requires in order to adopt a foster baby.  She knew she didn't want to see her get passed around like that.

If she could, she would try to save all the orphans from being passed around from home to home, but she knew she couldn't do that.  She made an exception for Rachael--that's what the shape-shifting baby was named--because she is a shape-shifter.

A shape-shifter in a human home would only result in the child being passed around.  The human adoptive parents would sound crazy if they told the story of how the child morphed into another being or an object of molecular structure, and so they would keep quiet and try to ignore it never happened.  By doing so, they would have to give the child to another adoptive family.

Zoe couldn't bear to see that happened.  She decided to do the next best thing; she decided to marry Charles--a man she barely knows--just to keep Rachael in a one-family home.  She has no idea how she gets herself into these things.  One minute she's thinking about her past with Anthony, and the next it's a week later and she's married to a man that looks almost like Anthony.


So many changes and challenges can arise within two months.  The pup that Zoe and Charles found on the beach two months prior, morphed into a six-month old baby girl.  They both figured out this must be the baby's true form.  After searching around, they found out where the baby belonged.

She belonged to no one.  The mother abandoned her at birth, and the baby--Who's name is Rachael--has been bounced around from house to house.  It is no wonder why the baby transformed into a baby coyote, Zoe had thought.  The social worker had informed Charles and Zoe about Rachael.

Marjorie, the social worker, stopped by Charles' two-story house on the beach.  She could tell that his house would be a steady environment for a growing child to live in.  There was only one problem.

"The adoption shouldn't be a problem," Marjorie began.  "But I will warn you that what orphanages look for are married couples.  They prefer them over single people."

"I'm not single," Charles said.  "My fiance and I were talking about having children one day, and when we found this sweet baby on the beach, we just knew that adoption was the way to go."

Zoe looked at Charles as if to question what he was doing.  When he noticed, he gave a look that suggested for her to play along.  He held out his hand, and Zoe grabbed it.

"My apologies," said Marjorie.  "I just assumed that you and Miss Smith barely knew each other."

Sally Smith, it is a name that Zoe uses when asked for a name.  Why she doesn't use the name Zoe is beyond her.  All of her identification reads Sally Smith on them.  She couldn't explain why she told Charles the real name she goes by--well, the only name she knows to go by.  She can't remember her life before being pulled out of the waters in Greece.

"On the contrary," Charles says, who broke Zoe out of her reverie.  Zoe quickly smiles.  "We have been engaged for a very long time.  In fact, we've decided to get married next weekend."

Charles watched as Zoe was no longer smiling, but just stared at him in a state of shock.

"Well, congratulations," Marjorie said.  She looked over at Zoe.  "Miss Smith.  Will you be keeping your last name?"

Zoe quickly turned her head and gave a fake smile.  "I was thinking of hyphenating it.  Smith-Azul sounds nice, don't you think?"

"Yes, it does have a nice ring to it," Marjorie admits.  She cleared her throat.  "Well then, the paperwork process takes about a few weeks, and showing proof of your marriage certificate will make the process easier."

She walked out, and two days later, Zoe and Charles are with the justice of the peace, and Charles' neighbor, Harper.  Harper is a name Zoe can't seem to wrap her brain around.  For one thing, Harper is an unusual name for someone who is blonde hair and has blue eyes.

Harper is also young--about twenty-three years of age--and so life is still new to her.  But she seems like a nice person, and was really excited when she heard that Charles was going to get married.  Though Zoe suspects Harper isn't happy about him marrying Zoe.  Zoe herself wasn't too thrilled about the idea of marriage.

Even though all these years have passed, Zoe feels as though her heart is just frozen in time.  She feels as though she had been reborn the day she lost her memory.  Her heart feels broken even if she doesn't remember why.

The past is something Zoe can't allow herself to revisit.  Besides, there's nothing to revisit.  She brings her mind to the present, and notices they had already exchanged their "I do's".

It will just have to be something to manage, Zoe thinks.  Just another challenge to add to the list.  What will happen in eighteen years from now?  Rachael will be all grown up.  Would she still be with Charles?  By then, she should have known him better.  And what does Charles think about all of this?

He's happy about it for now.  He didn't even know Zoe and already he thought they were destined to be together.  How could he be so sure about that when Zoe didn't even feel that same connection?  She sighs and decides to go with the flow.

Only time will tell.  Only time will tell.








































Forgotten Hope, Chapter Three