Taken: Part 2 of 3

Taken: Part 2 of 3
Rosie Lewis

Experienced foster carer, Rosie Lewis, takes on the heart-breaking case of Megan, a baby born with a drug addiction and a cleft palate.Addicted to drugs from birth because of her mother’s substance abuse during pregnancy, new-born Megan is taken into Rosie’s loving care. Rosie is supposed to help Megan find her new permanent home, but it turns out that Megan has already found her ‘forever mummy’ in Rosie.Rosie grows incredibly attached to Megan and applies to adopt her, but the system refuses her in favour of a young couple and Rosie is devastated. Against all her instincts, Rosie does her job and prepares Megan for her new ‘forever family’, but everything about Megan leaving feels wrong.When Rosie learns a few months later that Megan’s adoption has broken down, she is saddened but also filled with hope – will this little girl be allowed to return to her true ‘forever home’?

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Copyright (#ufc1bd175-31ba-5b38-b7f1-7dc0265d54e5)

Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

HarperElement

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First published by HarperElement 2017

FIRST EDITION

© Rosie Lewis 2017

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover photograph © Victoria Haack/Trevillion Images (posed by model)

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Rosie Lewis asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008113018

Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780008171315

Version: 2016-12-19

Contents

Cover (#u3b804cad-ed83-5ea1-8376-cbcd07dcdecb)

Title Page (#u6b594f6d-2211-5349-a05b-b0d3da0f30d6)

Copyright (#u2ee8daee-2961-59b3-b7ff-e22e056e0709)

Chapter Sixteen (#u3bf483d7-adfd-5534-b201-45c5f72066f0)

Chapter Seventeen (#u91eeb7f4-452f-5e15-9c78-abe96e3986b2)

Chapter Eighteen (#u8d883a09-d1f9-5e42-b8a6-3881a381ce37)

Chapter Nineteen (#u6320fefa-24ed-56d2-893b-db3fb9f5a9e5)

Chapter Twenty (#ueea0c560-704c-5b4e-87e2-fc7b217f0f65)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#ufc1bd175-31ba-5b38-b7f1-7dc0265d54e5)

The children’s play area was swathed in ribbons of feathery mist, grey clouds swelling above our heads. It really was cold, but several hardy children were playing on the ice-covered equipment, their mothers stamping their feet and rubbing their gloved hands together nearby. I parked the pram near a small scooter propped up against the black metal railings and walked around the front, reaching a hand underneath the rain cover and pulling the blankets up around Nailah’s chin. Megan stretched out her short arms as soon as she saw me, a sight that never failed to melt my heart. ‘Come on then, sweetheart,’ I said, zipping her thick coat up as high as it would go, straightening her hat and then unclipping her straps again. I pulled her to me and planted kisses on her forehead.

She lifted her face and sucked my chin affectionately, her mouth warm on my skin. Her small hands clamped my cheeks possessively and soon she began to gnaw, her gums clamping down with surprising pressure. ‘Hey, you!’ I cried, laughing as I arched my face away. I lowered her into the nearest swing. She gurgled a laugh, two bright red teething spots glowing above the dimples on her cheeks.

I grabbed her blanket from the pram and rolled it up, squeezing it between her and the back of the swing to keep her steady. ‘Ready? Are you steady?’ She bobbed around, answering with a stream of excited babble. ‘Right, up we go then. Whee!’ I pushed gently on the swing and her mouth dropped in a wide smile, eyes shiny and bright. With her hearing problems I wasn’t sure how much she took in, but she was making lots of sounds in response to my own, new ones each day.

‘Mama-mama-ma,’ she said, smiling at me lovingly.

‘Not Mama, R-o-sie,’ I corrected, though my heart stirred at the sound.

‘Mama-mama-ma,’ she said.