Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Hannah Bonam-Young
- Language: English
- Genre: Women’s Friendship Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
My phone rings, flashing a number that immediately sends a chill down my
spine. I follow my instincts, ditching my cart and spot in the checkout line
to find quiet in the grocery store’s bathroom—which is thankfully empty.
“Hello, this is Chloe.” My voice is already shaking.
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“Hi Chloe, this is Rachel Feroux calling from Child Protective Services.
Is this a good time to talk?”
I close the toilet stall and lock it behind me as an all-too-familiar feeling
of dread creeps into my chest. I paw at my collarbone with my free hand. A
nervous rash is most likely already spreading. “Sure.” Connie… it has to be
Connie. She’s hurt, or worse. Why else would CPS call? I haven’t heard
from a social worker in over six years.
“Okay, great.” Rachel clears her throat, then seems to brace herself with
a deep inhale. “In your file, it states that you’re open to your birth mother
contacting you. Is that still accurate?”
Do I want to know? “Yes…”
“It is sort of an unusual call, I suppose. Your mother… sorry,
Constance. Constance has put in an urgent request that you visit her. She’s
at the hospital.”
My body goes entirely still, and the blood pumps slower in my veins.
As much as I have tried to distance myself from her, the need for Connie to
be okay still sits lodged in my throat.
“She has just, entirely unexpectedly, given birth.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I fight for my next breath.
“Your mother had a baby.”
My palm hits the stall’s wall before my back does, and I slide down to
sit on the floor. I’ll burn these clothes later.
“No. That—but—what?”
“I understand that it must be a lot to process. I wish there was a way for
me to deliver this news that wouldn’t give such a shock. Additionally, I
know that it’s been over ten years since you have seen or heard from your
mother.”
That is not entirely true. There were plenty of times in high school when
she showed up without my adoptive parents’ permission, and I never told.
“Is she—Is Connie okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine. A colleague of mine is with her right now. The baby
was premature. The doctor who called us earlier said they will make a full
recovery, probably after a two or three-month NICU stay. The baby will not
be placed with your mother. We are looking into different care options.”
Colleague. Placed. Care. Social workers are all over this—why would
Connie want to see me? Wouldn’t she understand how messed up that is?
To need me while she sends another kid into foster care? No, not just
another kid. My sibling.
She clears her throat. “Constance has listed you as a possible caregiver.
She’s willing to sign over her parental rights to you. If not, the baby, after
making a full recovery, will be placed in foster care.”
I pull the phone away from my face and stare blankly at the screen for a
moment. I must have a bad signal or be imagining this entirely. A possible
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