Adoption Adjustment 12

Flipping through some pages of a report Miah heard a knocking sound come from the solid wooden doors of her office. She looked up to the door and then back down to the report, tossing  the thing to a corner of her desk, not sure if she write up her employee for incompetence or promote them for the ability to write an entire report that sounded like he was saying something about the current toxicity levels of a river, without actually saying anything at all.
“Come…” She started to say to whatever employee was here on a weekend with her knew they could interrupt her, but before she finished it was already opening.

Miah pressed her red lips into a thin line as whoever had knocked came into her office, but soon as she saw who it was the irritation vanished. Replaced with surprise and joy as she saw her little redheaded sister coming walking in. “Rosy! What are you doing here!?” Miah said as she stood up, walking around her desk to intercept her sister with a hug.

“I was in town and figured I could swing by and see my favorite sister and your little ones.” Rosemarie said with a bright smile as she squeezed her older sister a little tighter.

Pulling back from the embrace Miah took in her sister. The two of them had similar shaped faces and builds, and had always been close in height, Rosy seemingly growing faster than her, but both ended up close to the same height, with her little sister ending up an inch taller than herself. Her sibling had bright red hair, while she had blonde hair. Rosy liked keeping hers long, while she preferred it shorter. She had blue-green eyes, Rosy had green ones. Miah gave her outfit a glance, happy to see she wasn’t dressed like she was going to or had come from a client. No, she looked relaxed in her purple ribbed tank top, black yoga pants and purple sneakers.

“In town to work?” Miah raised a single eyebrow.

Rosemarie rolled her eyes, knowing her sister never did nor would approve of what she did to make money. Her big sister thought of sex as something couples did, something out of love, while she just thought of it… well as something less deep. She knew coal miners destroyed their bodies for a paycheck as did a lot of professions, she didn’t think what she did was that much different and even with all the risks of being an escort, it was still a lot safer and paid better than many jobs.

“No, just in town to see my judgmental sister and my lovely nieces. Seemed like a good time to visit with you adopting Kennedy. Cutest little thing!” She said thinking about the young girl in her little yellow dress.

Sliding her hand down her little sister's arm, Miah gave her hand a light squeeze before walking back to her desk, motioning for her to take a seat. “I take it you stopped downstairs then and…” Miah squinted her eyes looking up at a wall for a brief moment as she pictured Kennedy. The boy had some rough edges to him, but she was softening them with small things like regular bathing, soap and shampoo. “I guess you could call Kennedy cute.”

Rosemarie walked past the pair of chairs in front of her older sister's desk, choosing instead to sit atop it at a corner. “Maybe adorable is a better word, of course a better word for you might be workaholic when you are up here and they are stuck downstairs on a weekend.”

Glancing back at the report she had thrown on the corner of her desk Miah knew she couldn’t really argue with her on that point, but it still irked her knowing she didn’t have a real job. “I can be, but I always make time for them. Today… someone messed up and as well as I’m doing, I can’t afford to lose a big client. I have to work hard for what I have.”

The small shift in tone told Rosemarie everything she needed to know about that last statement. “I do work hard, I will have you know I started a consultant firm.”

“You touching something hard isn’t the same thing, Rosy and you don’t have to give me the consulting line that you like to give when asked what you do for a living in polite society.”

“Hey!” Rosemarie picked up the name placard off her sister's desk, pointing it at her like it was a weapon. I’m being serious, I started a real business.”

Miah raised an eyebrow as she sat back in her chair. “Yeah? What do you consult on?”

“Well, I have only done this twice now, but I work with places that run conventions. Getting them the right atmosphere to help draw attention to booths to help them sell.”

Crossing her arms over her chest Miah gave her sister a hard look. “That sounds like a pitch to me, but what do you actually do?”

Letting out a long sigh Rosemaire continued. “I helped out at a boat convention getting attractive young women to be around and did something similar for a comic convention.”

“Rosy, are you pimping other girls out!?” Miah watched her sister shake her head, waving her hands in front of her, her name plate still in hand.

Rosemarie thought for a second on how to answer her sister. She had facilitated a few dates between her models and her clients and the girls at the boat show were dressed in bikinis, heels and a sailor hats, but she wasn’t setting them up to be escorts, not exactly. “No! I just have experience in knowing what people want and thought this would be a good way to leverage it to make money. I thought you might… actually be proud.” Her words trailed off getting quieter.

Reaching up, Miah patted her sister's thigh. What she was doing wasn’t exactly running an environmental firm like she did, but it was leaps and bounds better than her having sex for money. She knew it was the oldest profession and in some places it was legal, but it always felt less than moral to her and it made her worry about her kid sister's safety. Miah also knew it had started when she was safe in an adopted family's home, while Rosy had ended up living on the streets. “I am proud of you, I am happy for you and I will always love you.”

Wiping away a tear that came to the corner of her eye, Rosemaire took a deep breath. “Enough of the sappy stuff.” She spun the name placard around in her hand so the letters were facing her sister, running her fingers along the words before flipping it back to face herself. “President Miah Adams. I want you to take a second and remember your husband, imagine him coming in here right now and calling you that.”

Miah hadn’t been able to help herself, while her sister was talking she had hit a few keys to start to reply to an email, trying to multitask, but as she brought up the man she loved she couldn’t help thinking about him. He never told her she was being too bossy, too demanding, instead he played along calling her boss. “Yes, boss! Right away, boss. Anything for you, boss!” Always with that same dopey smile on his face. She could easily see him holding that same placard, smiling at her, teasing her. A few tears came to her eyes as she started to laugh, thinking about him teasing her for being too serious.

After a small fit of laughter Miah pressed one hand to her chest, giving the red haired woman sitting on her desk a big smile. “Honestly Rosy, I have been under a lot of stress. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day at the park. I have been making sure I get off on time or early to help Kennedy to adjust.” She shook her head. “Kennedy has had a rough go of it and…” Miah pursed her lips for a second. “I am incredibly glad you came to visit, this week has really gotten away from me. We were supposed to go clothes shopping, get a haircut and I have been putting it off. It has been hard enough having the energy to stay up and play board games or do a puzzle with the three. I love doing it, I really do, but I haven’t had the energy to come home and then go out to a store.”

Looking at her sister closer Rosemarie could see she was using concealer to hide the rings under eyes. She was pretty sure her workaholic sister was also staying up late to get things done after the girls went to bed. “Sounds like you bit off a little more than you can chew.”

“I can do this, I am doing this. I…” Miah let out another sigh. “I need to delegate more around the office so I can focus on what is truly important to me.”

Rosemarie looked around the office, seeing a few awards the small business had earned hung up on a wall proudly. “This place is important to you, so do what you can.” She gave her sibling a soft smile, doubting she could delegate much with how controlling she could be. “While I’m in town I can help out. Kennedy needs a haircut and some clothes? I can do that for you. The girls will get dinner and I will even put them to bed if you end up having to work late.”

“Rosey, you don’t need to…” Miah was cut off when her younger sister held up one finger.

“You do a lot for those girls, let me help. After all, even Wonder Woman needs backup from time to time.”

Miah scoffed. “I’m not Wonder Woman, just a single mother who can’t seem to take a break from work.” Miah said sadly.

Getting off the desk, Rosemarie put the name plate back where she had found it. “You work hard, you provide for your family, you make a real effort to spend time with them. I promise to your girls, you are Wonder Woman. I know I would have killed for a mother like you growing up.”

Touching both hands to her face Miah wiped the tears away that came down from both eyes. “I thought you said no more sappy stuff?”

Rosemarie shrugged her shoulders. “Rules for thee, not for me. Besides, I’m the little sister, I can get away with whatever I want.”

“I appreciate you Rosy.” Miah said as she got up, stepping around her desk to give her troublesome sister another hug.

Stepping away after the embrace, Rosemarie looked into her sister's eyes, waving her hand in the air as if to dismiss what she had said as no big deal. “Yeah, yeah.” She said like it was no big deal, while on the inside she felt incredibly happy. Her older sister was never shy on giving a compliment, but also had no qualms about vocalizing her displeasure. Like she had done time and time again about her life. Today in one sitting she had been told that she was proud of her, that she loved her and that she appreciated her. At one point in her life she was bitter and jealous of Miah and in some aspects she still felt envious of what she had, for who she had, but now she was happy.

Her life was going in a better direction, if things went well soon enough she could only do her consulting job, no more going by the name Candy and then maybe she could settle down near her sister and spend time with her two nieces that she loved. Today she was going to spend time with them and her new niece, she was going to get to know the girl and help her get through what was probably a scary time for her if half the stories Miah told her over the phone were true. “Well you have fun doing…” She made a motion with her fingers at all the paperwork scattered on her sister’s desk around her laptop. “I’m going to go kidnap your girls.”

“And Kennedy.” Miah added.

Rosemaire nodded, rolling her eyes at her sister. “Yes, that includes Kennedy.”