Roe-bot Girl: The Bright Beginning (Roebot Girl Book 1)

by Amy Braat

  “You built that for me?” I was so surprised.

  “Yes, you said you needed a shelf to charge your phone and to put your tablet on, so Papa and I built this one for you.” Papa and Dan were grinning like mischievous schoolboys.

  I gave them both a big hug and thanked them for this.

  “Wait, we are not done,” Dan announced, very excited.

  “What?”

  “We also put together this bookshelf for you,” Papa said proudly.

  Next to the bunk bed was a bookshelf, just a bit taller than I was. “Thank you,” I said somewhat confused on why I needed a bookshelf.

  “We thought you could put your doll's furniture on it or books,” Dan suggested.

  “Oh, I have everything right here.” I displayed a larger suitcase and opened it up. Inside was the furniture for Snow that I made in the woodshop class I took with Mia. They helped me unpack and then stepped back. It looked nice on the shelf and now Snow had a place to stay, outside of his suitcase.

  Caitlin looked over and became excited; her eyes were large in awe of the new doll furniture that appeared in her room. She wanted to hold Snow, but I would not let her. “Snow is mine,” I told her.

  Caitlin looked like she was about to cry until Papa distracted her with her own dollhouse on the other side of the room.

  “Thank you Dan, this was really nice of you and Papa to do this for me, even though I will only be here for another week,” I said gratefully.

  “You are worth it,” he replied as he gave me a high five. “Well, I had better get ready to go out to dinner.”

  After our parents had left, Nana asked, “Roe and Caitlin, did you want grilled hamburgers for dinner?”

  Papa grilled hamburgers and hash-brown paddies. I took some veggies from the fridge to add something healthy to the meal. I discovered that I liked hash browns even more than French fries, and that they were really good grilled. Dinner was mainly boring, and after sending Mia an email update, I had to tell her all about the new shelves for the bunk bed and for Snow’s furniture to be on. I then worked on my schoolwork until it was bedtime. Snow and I fell asleep listening to the bedtime story Papa was reading to Caitlin.

  It was not until a few days later that I observed what my mother had warned me about Caitlin. Kennedy and Caitlin were in the kitchen getting a snack when all of a sudden there was a loud wailing and pounding. I ran out from the living room where I was working on my schoolwork to see what was going on. There was Caitlin in the middle of the kitchen floor screaming, crying, and thrashing her arms and legs while throwing a temper-tantrum. Kennedy was trying to settle her down by talking quietly to her. By now my parents had come out of the guest room where they had been working on their laptops, setting up the programs for a new job they were about to start, to see what the commotion was all about. It was ten minutes before Caitlin quieted down. Kennedy picked her up and tucked her into bed for a nap.

  When Kennedy returned to the kitchen, she apologized for Caitlin's behavior. “She cannot talk, so when I cannot figure out what she wants, she will get so frustrated with me that she will throw a fit like you saw. She is seeing a specialist five times a week, and she works with a speech pathologist also. There is one experimental therapy program that the doctors say would really help her learn to talk, but insurance will not cover it. It is really expensive, and we have not saved up enough money to pay for it yet. I have been taking whatever work I can get, and Dan has gotten a second job. Dan's parents offered to assist, but they retired early to move here to help with Caitlin and are on a limited budget. We are really hopeful this program will get her talking,” Kennedy explained almost in tears.

  Andra just gave her sister a big hug as Kennedy cried on my mom’s shoulder. “I'm sorry it has just been so hard the last year.”

  “It's all right Kennedy; it'll be all right.”

  I did not know what to do and felt really uncomfortable standing there just watching them. So, I just left and I do not remember ever being glad to go back to my schoolwork like I was right now. This is so unlike me since I am almost never glad to do schoolwork.

  Then Dan came home from work with some paperwork for my parents that he had picked up for them. He comforted his wife, and they disappeared into their room to talk about Caitlin's behavior before dinner was ready. It was nice having dinner without Caitlin staring at me, although the adults were subdued tonight, so there were not many stories or laughter.

  Caitlin had two more fits that week. One was when I was working on my schoolwork in the kitchen. Caitlin was bouncing and pointing at something. Kennedy would grab something off the counter and then Caitlin would shake her head no. Then, Kennedy would grab something else off the counter, and if she did not guess the correct item quickly, Caitlin would have a meltdown and throw a fit. I realized that these were good times to explore the backyard or take a walk around the block. By the time I got back, Caitlin was sleeping since she was always exhausted after a fit. I could not wait for this vacation to be over and was wondering when my parents were going to leave and get back to work. They had been working on their laptops and left a few times for most of the day with an excuse that they had something to do. But, I meant real work that would take me away from Screamer as I started calling her.

  It was so embarrassing because the second time she threw a fit, my mom's personal shopper was here getting information from them. This one was a little different because she called herself an interior designer and asked about what I was into and what colors I liked. The others always told me what colors I should wear and what the latest fashions were. This one must be new since she did not take the measurements like the others did.

  The next Thursday afternoon Papa and Nana babysat Caitlin and me again because both our parents had business to attend to. Dan had even taken a day off. This time they brought us bubbles. Babies played with bubbles, but not wanting to be rude I went outside with Caitlin and showed her how to blow bubbles. Caitlin and I got into a bubble blowing contest and actually were having fun together. I heard a click, but I did not think much of it since my own mother did not take pictures. However, Nana had captured on her phone the Caitlin and me having fun. If I had known that, it would have ruined the moment.

  Later that night my parents brought home a large feast of take out. It looked like a celebration! Kennedy and Dan seemed really relieved, which perked my curiosity. I was not sure why and asked, but was told “just because”. After that it was boring adult talk, so I excused myself to finish my schooling and e-mail Mia. My parents wanted to spend the day with me tomorrow, and I needed to be caught up on all my schoolwork before we could go. Nana and Papa stayed late talking to the other adults before we left.

  Chapter Thirteen: More Bad News

  The day started out great for me. I had finished my schoolwork last night because only my parents and I were going to go out. There was a local zoo that sounded interesting. I had always wanted to see real pandas, tigers and orangutans.

  My dad and I had a great time petting the stingrays and feeding the giraffes. There was no way my mom was going to touch any of those, but she watched while we did. We went into the monkey cage where there were monkeys everywhere; one crawled across me and I was thrilled. The orangutans were awesome to watch; even my mom found them interesting. These were rescued orangutans. Their home forest had been cut down by palm farmers and a sign there asked you not to buy or eat items with palm oil in it to help save the orangutan's habitat from being destroyed for farming. The sign went on to say you could adopt an orangutan for the year. I begged my parents to adopt one, and they said we would look into it. Adopting one meant you would pay for their care for a year but you would not take it home. It would remain at the zoo. The zookeeper would send you pictures of your orangutan with updates on how it was doing. Too bad they were all adopted this year, so we were put on a waiting list to adopt next year. That would be so cool to say I adopted an orangutan. I had never even had a pet, not even a gold fish and I could
have had an orangutan if they had not all already been adopted. Bummer, it would have been so cool.

  When my mom allowed me to order whatever I wanted for lunch and did not require a single healthy item, I knew something was up. I was smart enough to finish my unhealthy fried food before asking though.

  “Mom, what is going on?” I asked.

  “Why do you think anything is going on?” my mom asked me.

  “First off, I am not complaining, but we never go on vacations. We have never been to a zoo before, and I have wanted to see pandas, tigers and orangutans since I was four. Plus, you let me eat an unhealthy lunch without complaint or improvements. Something is up,” I questioned.

  “Andra, we have to tell her at some point,” Dad confessed.

  “I just wanted a nice day together before we told her,” my mom pleaded.

  Dad sighed and began, “Your mom and I have enrolled you in school here, and you start in about two weeks.”

  “But, we leave for your next job in a few days,” I replied shocked.

  “Your mother and I are going on that job, but you are going to stay here with your aunt and uncle and cousin and start school. We will be back as often as we can. But, your mother and I have had a lot of long talks about this, and we feel it is best for you to have a stable environment with friends you are not always saying good-bye to.”

  “NO!” I screamed. “You are not leaving me!” I started to cry.

  My parents hugged me, and my mom said, “Roe, we love you and want what is best for you.”

  “We will be back before you know it,” my dad promised.

  “You had this planned before we got here,” I accused them.

  “Yes, we talked with your aunt and uncle about a trial period to see how it would go. We opened a bank account to leave money for you that your aunt and uncle can access. We signed paperwork giving your aunt and uncle rights to make decisions for your care while we are away. It was what we were doing at the lawyer's office. We also updated our will in case anything happened to us. Your aunt and uncle would get custody of you,” my dad explained sadly.

  “You’re abandoning me? How could you!” I wailed.

  A look of guilt crossed their faces and then my mom's face became serious as she said, “This is not easy for us. We want you with us, but as parents we have to do what is right for you, not what we selfishly want. We have been working on giving more jobs to the apprentices, so we can stay here with you. We are doing everything we can to try to give you a good life with us in it. So, let us enjoy the last day we have together because your dad and I leave tomorrow morning.”

  The rest of the day at the zoo was strained. My parents and I were close to tears the whole time. I complained of an upset stomach, so we left early. Whether it was from me being upset my parents were leaving tomorrow or all the junk food I ate, I didn’t know. But, it did not really matter because my parents were leaving me.

  I went home, and Snow and I went to bed early. I did not get up the next morning or say good-bye to my parents before they left. It really upsets them that I would not say good-bye to them, but they finally had to leave or miss their flight. So, they told the blanket I was hiding under that they loved me and should be back in a few weeks and to be good. Yeah, like I cared what they said.

  I stayed under the blankets for the rest of the day. My aunt and uncle could not get me to come out of bed. I hugged Snow, crying for everything I had lost in the last year. I really missed Mia and Granny, but I wanted more than just a phone call or email from them. I really wanted a hug and to be told everything was going to be okay, but I knew it was not going to happen. My life as I had known it was over and I was not happy.

  I got up the day after my parents left because I was starving. I made sure no one was around and sneaked into the kitchen. Dan was quietly waiting there, reading a book.

  “Morning kiddo, how are you?” Dan asked casually.

  “Hungry.”

  “What would you like? I have some French toast in the freezer I could heat up for you.”

  “Okay.”

  Dan heated up the French toast and got out the syrup and sat down with me as I ate.

  “So Kennedy is going to take you school shopping when you are ready,” he revealed.

  “Why do I need to do that? That is what my mother has a personal shopper for,” I asked since every other time I needed anything for school, the school supplies just appeared.

  “Because that is what normal kids do and guess what, you are going to have as normal of a life as Kennedy and I can give you,” Dan explained.

  “Fine, when does she want to go?” I pouted.

  “Later this morning if you are up to it. I am responsible for Caitlin today while you get the wonderful experience of back-to-school shopping. Note, most girls love to go shopping,” Dan informed me as he gave me a wink.

  “I'll give it a try,” I said pretty sure this was not going to be any fun.

  Kennedy took me shopping at the local superstore to get the list of required items for school. I noticed that Kennedy seemed more relaxed lately and was excited to go shopping with me. This made me relax and try to enjoy a normal day as much as I could. I chose whatever Kennedy suggested for supplies though I did pick a very pretty blue backpack with matching folders and binders over the pink one Kennedy suggested. We also stopped by the clothing department but did not see anything I liked. Everything looked like I wanted to be a rock star full of sparkles or bling, and it seemed too young for me.

  “That is alright; we will go to the mall where we will find something there for you,” Kennedy consoled as we checked out.

  I had never been to a mall. My mother mainly shopped online or had a fashion consultant buyer pick out our clothing. My mother said that malls were a waste of her time. She could find what I needed quicker with a search online, and it would show up at the hotel in a few days. Plus most stores closed by the time my parents finished work, and they normally worked seven days a week. Christmas time was the only time stores were open late enough for my parents to shop. With their lifestyle, we really did not require anything you could not buy at a twenty-four hour store or that the hotel wouldn’t have.

  The mall really impressed me. I realized that you could get anything at the mall. There were toy stores, clothing stores, stores with just jewelry, large stores with a mix of everything from bedding to cookware, and it was all amazing. I found one store that had the classic style I liked to wear and tried on a few items, though some of them did not fit well. Since my clothing was always picked out for me, I had never had to figure out my size before. We started with the size printed in my shirt and went up or down from there. It was quite the experience to have a say in what clothing I was going to wear since they had always just appeared. I picked out a blue dress that looked great on me and a few shorts and pants for school. I also got a tee-shirt that had “Robots Rock!” on it from the boy’s clothing section. I did not care that it was a boy’s shirt since I really liked the tee-shirt and had never had one with a saying on it. I could not wear anything with words on it to school, but there were always the weekends. The fashion buyer always bought me plain shirts or ones with small girly decorations on them. I would get teased for looking like I wore an uniform all the time, but the adults I met for my parents’ work always complimented me on how nice I looked and how well-mannered I was.

  Kennedy wanted to stop and look at a new phone since her smartphone had been acting up lately. I noticed the store also sold electronics and electronic toys. I was hoping for a cool robot toy, but most of them were chintzy. They did have some interesting apps though, and I was wondering if I could upgrade Mini-snow with them.

  Lunch was at the food court; a place where one could find anything from Chinese to fast food to pizza to smoothies. Kennedy let me pick where and what I wanted to eat. I went around the food court, looking at it all until settling on a kid’s meal with a toy. I had never had one before. My mother believed that those meals were not heal
thy enough for me. Kennedy just chuckled as I asked, “The toys in these meals are pretty cheap and chintzy, Kennedy. Why do kids like them so much?”

  “I think it’s the thrill of getting something new since most of these toys are played with for only a few minutes then dumped in a pile to never be played with again. A few are collected and are not bad little toys. You seem to have gotten the quickly discarded type,” Kennedy explained.

  “Maybe Snow would like it as a toy. It is about his size toy,” I suggested.

  “You'll have to see what he thinks of the toy when we get home. We have one more store to stop at first,” Kennedy claimed.

  So, we stopped at the craft store for the required art supplies for school. While searching for the art supplies, I looked at all the yarn, fabric and doll- making items. So, this is where Granny got me cloth and yarn, I realized. Kennedy saw that the make-your-own-doll sets were on sale and picked one up to make for Caitlin's birthday which was coming up.

  “I thought you did not have time for making things?” I inquired.

  “Caitlin starts therapy on Monday, so I'll have a lot more time on my hands.” Kennedy smiled happily.

  After we arrived home, Dan jokingly asked, “So, did you leave any money in the bank account?”

  “As little as possible,” Kennedy kidded back. “You should see the clothing she got.”

  I brought the large bag of clothing over to Dan. He started pulling out item after item, commenting on how cool they were and then teased me, “Oh, you must have bought this one for me. How did you know I love robots? Though, it is a bit small for me. You do know I take an adult size right?” he teased with a twinkle in his eye.