After I explained what Marlene had said, Rebecca went quiet.
Then she said,
“I thought Jace had already told you.”
“Told us what?”
“After your first meeting, I asked the kids how they felt about your family. Jace came back to me and said they wanted to be placed with you.”
Daniel and I stared at each other.
Jace had barely spoken during that first meeting.
“He specifically asked for our family?” I said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rebecca paused.
“I think that’s something you should ask Jace.”
After the call ended, my mind went straight back to his bedroom.
The unopened bags.
The suitcase beside the wall.
Jace had specifically requested to live with us.
So why had he spent the entire month preparing as though he might have to leave at any moment?
That evening, I almost decided not to bring it up.
Then I saw the suitcase again.
What bothered me wasn’t the fact that Jace had kept something from us.
It was the contradiction.
He had apparently asked to come here.
Yet he behaved as though Daniel and I might send him away at any time.
The two things didn’t seem to fit together.
After dinner, Josie climbed onto the couch with her coloring book.
Jace was rinsing his plate at the sink when Daniel spoke.
“Hey, Jace. Can we talk for a minute?”
Jace froze.
It lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
His entire body seemed to prepare for something bad.
“What about?”
“Nothing bad,” Daniel assured him.
Jace’s eyes immediately moved toward Josie.
That tiny reaction broke my heart.
Even before knowing what we wanted, his first instinct was to check on his sister.
We sat down at the kitchen table.
I told him about Marlene’s call.
His face changed.
“Oh.”
“She said something I didn’t understand,” I continued. “She asked whether you had ever told us why you picked us.”
Jace stared at the table.
“Rebecca also said you were the one who told her you wanted our family.”
“I did.”
“Would you tell us why?”
His eyes moved toward the living room.
Josie was still coloring.
Finally, Jace answered.
“Because Josie picked you.”
Of all the explanations I had imagined, that was not one of them.
“Josie?”
I glanced toward the tiny girl on our couch.
“She was four.”
Jace rubbed his thumb against the edge of the table.
“Exactly.”
I waited.
“Nobody listens to her about important things because she’s little,” he explained. “They ask her what toy she wants or which cup she wants. But when something actually matters, adults decide everything for her.”
He looked toward his sister.
“So when Josie told me she wanted you guys, I made sure Rebecca listened.”
Suddenly, it made perfect sense.
Jace had spent a month avoiding asking for almost anything for himself.
But when his little sister wanted something, he made sure an adult heard her.
Josie must have heard her name because she looked up.
“What?”
Jace motioned for her to come over.
