Chapter 2

Time passed slowly at the mansion. Paul and Jennifer got married. He figured no one else could be as good to him and the child. The chapel was an old Victorian style built in the eighteen-hundreds. They decorated the interior with white roses, which were a favorite of Paul and Jennifer Rose. They did not have any family of their own, so they invited all of their friends and acquaintances. Paul's best friend Joseph gave Jennifer away. Later that evening after the reception, Paul, Jennifer and the child got on an airplane for the Bahamas. Two weeks later, they returned home. The child skipped to the mansion door. She was very happy to be home. Lying in bed, Jennifer turned to Paul.

"Paul, the girl is as stubborn as you are. She won't apply herself to her studies. She is very intelligent, but all she thinks about is fighting in the tournaments you take her to, and volleyball. Could you talk to her? She needs an education just as much as she needs to play."

"Okay, I will talk to her tomorrow at breakfast."

The next morning, at breakfast, Paul gently talked to his child.

"I heard all you want to do is to play sports and fight."

"Yes sir, everything else is so boring."

Paul looked at the child with a knowing smile. His own memories of his younger days came flashing back.

"I can't help you with that, but I can tell you if you don't apply yourself to your classes like you do everything else, it will be all for nothing. I will remove all of your other activities until you do. Education is more important than knowing how to fight."

"But daddy, fighting is so much more fun. It makes me feel alive."

"It really doesn't matter sweetie if it thrills you. Without fighting what will happen when you grow up?" he looked at her and continued, "you would be working at the local burger joint depending on me and Jennifer and we won't be around forever. I want you to be independent and healthy honey. We will talk later and try to figure out how to get you back on track. For right now, what do you say we go camping for a few days?"

"Sounds like fun dad and I will try to do better in my studies."

"That is all I can ask young lady. Now scoot, go get packed so we can leave in about an hour."

A couple of days before the young lady's eighteenth birthday, she found Paul in the den.

"Paul I need to know about the people you took me from and why?"

She didn't say it, but Paul knew what she wanted to know. Why did he kill them? It was time to tell her. It was time to tell her that and more!

"Before we tell of past things, Jennifer and I have something to give you. Wait here a minute."

Paul went and got Jennifer. They came back a few minutes later carrying a manila envelope.

"We want you to have this."

Jennifer handed her the envelope, and she tore through it like it was Christmas morning.

"You adopted me!"

"Yes we did," Paul said. "We did it a couple of years ago. But, decided to wait till you turned eighteen to give it to you. Read it to us. We never really looked at the papers. We just signed them."

"Okay. To all it concerns on this fifth day of June, the hereby named Lillian Ann Rose is formally adopted by Paul and Jennifer Rose." She looked at Paul, "you changed my last name too? Does this mean I can call you 'Daddy' all the time?"

Paul replied, "I would prefer you call me whatever you want. But, you are not a little girl anymore, so 'Dad' will do just fine. Plus you have been calling me 'Daddy' since I brought you home, and you have always called Jennifer 'Mom.' We've been waiting till you were old enough to discuss those other things with you. Jen, would you please get us something to snack on and drink? We will sit in here today and tell her everything."

Jennifer got up and went in the kitchen for a few minutes. Lilly ran over and plopped herself down in Paul's lap. Jennifer returned with a tray full of goodies, glasses and a pitcher of tea.

"Get off of my man and go get your own." She said with mirth in her eyes.

"But mommy, he is my man too." Lilly said laughing.

Lilly hopped up and returned to the couch and Jennifer took her spot on Paul's lap.

"Those people, as you know, were not your parents. When you were only a few months old, they took you from a hospital in San Antonio. From what the hospital told us, they did not know who your father was and your mother had died giving you birth. Your mother didn't have any other family, and we looked for the first couple of years you were here. The people who stole you were white slavers. They would steal babies from hospitals and orphanages. They preferred taking any American baby, no matter their race, color or creed. American children have to be immunized, which makes them heartier. They would raise the children till they turned six or seven. Then they would sell them to the highest bidder. The boys would end up with mercenaries to be trained as soldiers, drug cartels as manual laborers, mules or guards, and to third world countries as slaves. The girls had it much worse and they were sold into prostitution, child pornography rings, and to individuals. Most of the individual sales were in Asia and the Middle East. The individual buyers were the most terrible. The children were used as house slaves or worse."