Romance Backstage. Kim Shaw

She was their child, plain and simple, and nothing before that mattered. They’d believed that and up until this moment, Lorraine had had no reason to think that would ever change.

      “Your father and I didn’t come to the decision to adopt very easily. I mean, we both loved children, and when it didn’t happen for us, well…let’s just say that adoption is a scary undertaking.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Well, in life, there are no guarantees. You can be blessed with children or not. You can lose your children in a heartbeat to illness, accidents…crazy people. But with adoption, there’s an even greater risk. The big B—birth parents. We were afraid that we’d grow to love our child and then poof, one day…”

      “Mom, I’m not going anywhere. You and Daddy are everything to me…No one could ever get in the way of that. I just—” Raven sighed.

      There was an uncomfortable silence that hung in the air like a cloud waiting to burst. She hated causing her mother any uneasiness, but at the same time she needed to do something to quiet her own anxiety.

      “Your mother’s name is Monica Calloway. You lived with her somewhere in the Bronx until you were two years old. Along with a few sheets from the adoption center and your birth certificate, that’s all the information on your mother that we have. She terminated her rights, and we never had any contact with her.”

      “And that’s all you know?”

      “That’s it, Raven. I never needed to know anything more. You were a healthy, happy little baby, and from the moment your father and I met you, you were ours. That’s it,” Lorraine said, her voice trembling beneath her words.

      “Thank you, Mom. Thanks,” Raven said.

      She squeezed her mother’s hands.

      Chapter 8

      And the Beat Goes On

      Five weeks of performances passed and still The Salon opened to sold-out audiences. Raven peeked out into the theater minutes before the show was about to begin. Her parents were in the third row center—again. This was their sixth time viewing, but tonight it was a bittersweet performance for Raven. Lorraine and Allen would be leaving for Florida the next day, and Raven couldn’t cast aside the feelings of abandonment that had irrationally begun to nibble at the edges of her heart.

      She knew that she was being ridiculous. Her parents were not leaving her. They were merely moving into the golden phase of their lives. They’d worked long and hard all of their lives, sacrificing for her at every turn. She’d had the best dance schools and instructors, the best medical care when needed, and all of their support on whatever path her life had taken her. Now that they were retired and she was grown, it was their turn. She applauded the fact that they’d managed to provide a nice nest egg for themselves and had built a dream home in Florida to live out the rest of their days. Her dad would get to fish and sail at leisure while her mother would spend her days reading by the lagoon, volunteering at the nearest hospital or taking one outrageous class after another. They deserved this—this Raven believed in the bottom of her heart. It didn’t make things any easier, however.

      Initially, when her parents had first begun to speak of moving to Florida a couple of years ago, she’d resisted. As they began to plan and develop their goals even further, she realized that it was actually going to happen. She attempted to block that reality out as much as possible, but eventually, she had to own it. The final realization came when her parents signed over the apartment to her at a whopping purchase price of one dollar to seal the deal. There was no more hiding to be done. They were leaving.

      “God sure works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?” Yasmine said, peering out into the audience from beside her.

      Raven turned to face her costar with a smile.

      “Why do you say that?” Raven asked.

      “Well, just look at us. We’re living our dreams, and we’ve got people out there supporting us and loving us. Did you ever think for a minute that you’d actually get to live the life you dreamed about as a little girl? I know I didn’t,” Yasmine said.