Chapter 2

I sighed as Steven picked up the phone and I sat at the edge of my bed, "Hey sweetie," he said. "How'd the surprise go," he asked as I threw myself onto the bed

"It went well," I began as I looked at the papers on the nightstand, "how would you react if I said that I signed some adoption papers for a four-year-old girl?"

He was silent on the other end for a minute, "That's amazing," he began with happiness in his voice. "Are you doing it for publicity or is there a certain reason that you adopted her?"

"A specific reason," I answered as I remembered the pained eyes of Amy Wisp. "She looked so much like me and had so much pain in her eyes," I began after silence sounded from the other end of the phone. "It broke my heart when she told me that I lied to her about proving her wrong, her eyes seemed so full of hope but yet so full of the pain. She is so smart that she thought that Renée, Jazzy, and I were only there to surprise the kids but in truth Jazzy and Renée were looking for me to adopt a kid."

"I'm glad you did it Pippa," Steven's voice said which made me freeze, "you may not believe it but I was hoping to be a father at one point or another."

I smiled as I imagined him being a father, "You're really happy about it," I asked. "If you're not I can always cancel the adoption and apologize to the girl-"

"Phillipa," Steven interrupted, "I'm happy that you did this, I can't wait to see her when I get back."

I giggled, "I'll be sure to send you any pictures that Renée, Jazzy, and I take when we pick her up two days from now."

"I'll look forward to it," he said, "I gotta get back to this meeting. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Talk to you then," I said with a smile as he hung up the phone, my hand fell onto the pillow next to me. "They must be talking about the movie either that or they're doing a script reading," I thought aloud as I turned on my side and looked at the adoption papers. "I hope I don't get myself into a lot of trouble with this," I muttered as I grabbed the papers and read them. "You have been there your whole life," I exclaimed as I remembered the abuse that Renée's last kid from there went through. "You'll know love with us," I said as I signed the last of the papers before turning off my light and falling asleep

Renée's P.O.V

"Are you sure of this Renée," Jazzy asked me for perhaps the hundredth time we walked to Lin's door. "She hasn't been the same since Rose died," she added as I knocked on the door

"What better thing to do than get her doing something," I began with a sigh, "it hurt me as much as it did her to see her die," I paused as I heard footsteps approach the door. "I don't want to hear that Sammy died because of something that we could've helped with."

"Why hello Renée," Vanessa said as she opened the door, "I thought you two would be at the theater with Lin."

"We're taking a break from rehearsing right now," I began as I looked at Jazzy, "is Sammy up to some redecorating help?"

Vanessa thought for a minute, "Hang on, I'll go and check, she's been taking care of Rachel for the past week. Come in you two, you know you don't need our permission," she said as I chuckled stepping into the Miranda home. "I'll be back," she said before ducking into a room

"Are you sure this will help her," Jazzy said her voice sounding sad

I sighed, "I'm not sure," I began as I looked at the memorial for my adopted daughter. "Eliza found ways to move on after Alexander's death, one of them being the orphanage. What if we could help Sammy by giving her a reason to move on?"

"I never thought of it that way," Jazzy began, "that's a good way of thinking," she finished as I smiled

"Renée," a young voice cheered as the little child ran down the hall and wrapped her arms around my legs. "I missed you," she said into my legs

I laughed, "Hey there little one," I began as I picked her up, my heart hurting as she reminded me of Rose so much. "How have you been treating Sammy," I asked as I tickled her and she giggled

"I have been treating as best as I could but I think mom could help her feel better," she said with a pout as I smiled softly before my attention turned to the teenager in front of me

"You know what I tell her whenever your mother is brought up," I asked as she shook her head, her blonde braids hitting her in the face. "Your mother is always with us so that means she is trying to help Sammy as much as she can the most you can do is make her life easier," I said as my hand inched up to poke her nose

She giggled, "Okay," she said, "can I see Jazzy?"

"Why of course," I said as I continued to hold her, "do you wanna travel by airplane?"

"Yes," she cheered before sticking arms out and giving me a raspberry

"Here we go, Rachel Dare Miranda looking for a landing in the arms of Jazzy," I said as Jazzy chuckled taking the child from my arms

"Landing successful," she said while laughing, "let's see what toys we can play with because it looks like Sammy needs to talk to Renée."

Rachel waved before giving me a raspberry as I gave her one in return hearing Sammy laughing. "That is a good thing to hear from you Samantha," I said as I hugged Rose's girlfriend, "how are you feeling?"

Sammy shrugged, "As best as you can be when you lost the one who showed you the love and trust that you lost in your last relationship," she answered then looked at me, her amber eyes were as bloodshot as the day Rose died. "How are you doing," she asked me as I forced a smile trying to remember a time those eyes were filled with more happiness than tears

"Pretty good," I began as I looked back at Rose's memorial set up in the corner of the room. It had been a whole month since her death but it still hurt the family big time, "Ben hasn't come out of his room since I told him about her death but Bri is keeping Alexis and I company," I finally said as a pit opened in my heart. "You wanna help with some redecorating in Pippa's home? You can bring Rachel if you want to take the chance of her getting into things she shouldn't."

Sammy chuckled as she looked down the hall, "What's the redecorating for?"

"Pippa's adopting a kid around Rachel's age," I answered as we heard laughter coming from the room as Sebastian joined the three people in there. "Her name's Amy Wisp but she's just as knowledgeable as Rachel, I can't wait to see her face when Pippa goes to pick her up."

Sammy looked at me and arched an eyebrow, ��How come?"

"Amy was found underneath the staircase of Graham Windham," I began, "Pippa spotted her and started talking to her. As I was coming up to the two I heard Pippa say something along the lines of proving her wrong. Amy accused Pippa of lying before running up the stairs never to be seen again."

"Can I come with Pippa to pick her up," Sammy asked, "I'd like to see her and Graham Windham."

I smiled, "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind you coming with us," I said as her face lit up with excitement, "if you don't mind me asking why do you want to see Graham Windham?"

"Vanessa says that would've been the home that I was placed in if it wasn't for her and Lin adopting me," Sammy began as she leaned against the wall. "If I remember correctly that was where Rose was before you adopted her, I would like to see the place for those reasons on top of it being the first orphanage in America."

I smirked, ���I don't see any harm in that," I said as I counted off the people in my head. "We may need to take the van since it's going to be you, me, Pippa, Jazzy and her in there and we're taking her to show the theater first. If you want you can show her the room that you and Rose used while we set up a surprise for her."

Another smile crossed Sammy's lips, "I look forward to it," she said just as Vanessa came down the hallway with Jazzy, Seb, and Rachel

"I take it that Pippa is expecting you," she asked as I shook my head, "so this a surprise for her too?"

"Yep," I answered with a grin, "we didn't get ready for any of our adoptions without each other's help did we V?"

Vanessa chuckled, "Nope," she began, "just let Pippa know if she wants to quicken the adoption process she can give me a call."

"There's no need," I said as both Seb and Rachel ran towards Sammy and me, "the little girl's coming tomorrow."

Vanessa nodded, "Then there's no time to waste to help Pippa get a room together," she said. "Get going I'm pretty sure she's busting her butt trying to get everything ready in time."

"We're going," I said with my hands in the air

"See ya mom," Sammy said as I grinned remembering the first time Rose called me mom

"See you later Sams," Vanessa's voice said as we left the building

"You've gotten relaxed with that nickname," I said with a smiled as the teenager came up to walk next to me

"In the time that I was with Rose," Sammy began, "I've learned that pain doesn't always need to be associated with any nicknames that I'm given. Whenever I hear that nickname now, I think of the happiness that I had with it," she finished looking up at me, "and you're part of those happy memories."

I grinned, "I'm glad to be a part of them," I said hugging her, "let���s go surprise Pippa," I said holding her shoulders

"You bet," she said with a grin as we made our way back to my car, as we were heading to Pippa's house I noticed the sun was glancing off of something. I looked next to me to see Jazzy looking at me then I looked in the rearview mirror to see Sammy looking at the locket that I got for Rose as an adoption gift.

"I didn't know you kept that," Jazzy said making Sammy's head snap up

She glanced at me and smiled noticing the grin on my face, "Renée let me have it," she began as I focused on driving. "She said that the best person to hold onto these pictures would be me since I have most of the memories in this locket."

"Just be sure not to guilt yourself," I said remembering the exact words that I told her the day that Rose died

*Flashback*

"I'm sorry Mrs. Goldsberry," the doctor said looking at me with saddened eyes, "but your daughter didn't make it, could you give this to Sammy?"

In his hand, he held the little golden ball that I gave my daughter the day we celebrated her adoption, "Why Sammy in particular," I asked in a whisper as my voice threatened to crack

"It was the last request from Rose," the doctor began as I took the locket, "she said that Sammy might be able to fill the rest of it. Now if you will excuse me I have some more patients to take care of right now."

I held the locket tightly in my hands as I watched the doctor walk down the hall and out of sight. I then look at Rose's body feeling my heart break into tiny pieces knowing that this is one of the times that she's going to come back. I then turned on my heels to look for Sammy. Eventually, I found her in an empty waiting room, crying, "Hey there Sammy," I began as I sat in a chair next to the couch she was crying. I had to keep my voice strong for her, she had lost her parents and the love of her life all in one year; I had no idea what would happen if I had started crying here. "I have something for you," I said as she sat up and looked at me her eyes red from crying

"Is that," Sammy began as I held the locket so it was hanging from my hand, "isn't that her locket?"

I nodded, "But she wants you to have it now," I began as she took it gently in her hands as if it would break. "I think it's a good idea for you to have it too," I said as she looked me and I let go of the necklace

"Why?"

I sighed as I remembered the pictures that were put in there, "Because you could finish filling it," I began as she looked at the pictures in it. "And also, because most of the memories in that locket are with you and you know the saying right?"

"What saying?"

"The people you love never die," I recited remembering those were the exact words that I told Rose when she lost Ric

"There's another quote that I've heard and with you giving this to me I remembered it," she began and I looked at her. "'They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and another time, a bit later on, when someone says your name for the last time.'"

"Banksy," I said as she nodded and a faint smile appeared on her lips

"I'm never going to forget you, Rose," Sammy muttered hugging the necklace to her chest

"When you want to remember her or think of her in the case may be," I began with a sigh as I put my arm around her shoulder. "You can always look in that locket no matter what time you're looking into it."

*Flashback End*

"The people you love never die," Sammy recited from the back seat as I smiled turning onto the street that Pippa lives on. "That's the quote that Renée said to me when she gave this to me."

"And what did quote did that remind you of," I asked as we pulled into the driveway

"Banksy's quote about people dying twice," she answered as I nodded and watched her put the necklace back on. "The second time that Rose dies would be when her name is mentioned for the last time."

"That seems like her name isn't going to be mentioned for the last time in a while," Jazzy said with a smile as she turned in her seat to face the teenager, "let's go surprise Pippa."