"She bit someone."

"Say what? Who bit someone?" There was confusion on the other end of the phone line.

"Who do you think?" Natalie sighed, fumbling in her desk for a bottle of Advil while holding her cell phone between her ear and shoulder. "Vanessa. I just got off the phone with the school principal."

"Well, it could have been one of your detainees." Joe joked.

"It's the second day of school, Joe. This isn't funny."

Joe leaned back in his new desk chair, rubbing his hand over his balding head. In addition to being Vanessa's second day of school, it was his second day as the director of development at the Poussey Washington Foundation.

"She introduced herself to us singing about getting high. We knew we weren't getting an innocent angel." Joe pointed out.

They'd quickly learned that Vanessa's singing repertoire also included Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and 50 Cent.

"Right, but I'd hoped that she could at least go the first week of first grade without inflicting harm on another child. Are we already screwing her up?" Natalie asked, shaking a couple of pills out of her Advil bottle.

"No way. She's only been with us for a couple of weeks."

"I'm serious."

"Nat, she was raised in a crack den until a year ago. We might be a little screwed up, but I think we are a significant improvement over that."

"True."

"When we all get home, we'll talk about it together."

"Then the Full House problem resolution music will play, and it'll all be fixed?" Natalie snarked as she tossed back the Advil with a bottle of water.

"No, she'll probably break into 'Nuthin' but a G-Thang,' but… We'll do our best."

Later that evening, Natalie and Joe sat at the dinner table with Vanessa, waiting for a good time to bring up the biting incident. With a wrinkled nose, Vanessa was pushing a pile of pesto-covered pasta around her plate. Joe hadn't quite mastered the art of cooking for a child.

"So, what did you do today in school?" Natalie asked.

"We had music class!" Vanessa's face brightened. "I got to play the triangle."

"That sounds like fun!" Joe smiled.

"Did anything bad happen at school today?" Natalie finally asked.

"Nope, I don't think so."

"So, you didn't… Bite… One of your classmates?"

Vanessa shrugged. "He touched my hair."

"Did you tell him to stop?" Joe asked.

"That's why I bit him. It made him stop. I thought it was better than decking him."

Joe covered his mouth with one hand to try to keep from cracking up. "Yes, but um… Next time, maybe you could just tell the teacher."

"All right. I guess so." Vanessa put her fork down. "Can I go play now?"

Natalie looked at Vanessa's nearly full plate. "You didn't really eat very much."

"I don't like the green stuff." Vanessa jutted her lip out.

"What about just three more bites?" Joe suggested.

"Okay." Vanessa shoveled three more bites of pasta into mouth in rapid succession. "Done."

"Wait, wait." Natalie held her hand up. "Do you have any homework?"

"I'm supposed to read two books with a grown up."

That was no problem. Joe and Natalie had loaded down a bookshelf in Vanessa's new room with titles from every genre they could find at Barnes and Noble.

"Well, you can go play for now, and I'll come read with you after I get dinner cleaned up." Natalie said.

"Um… Could Joe read with me instead?"

Natalie forced a smile, trying not to let on how deflated she actually felt. "Sure. Of course."

Vanessa hopped up and bounded up the stairs to her room. With a sigh, Natalie began picking the plates up off the table. Joe stood to help her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine." Natalie snorted. "I'm used to not being liked."

"Nat…" Joe wrapped his arms around her waist. "She likes you. Remember what the social worker told us."

Natalie remembered.

"I'm not a psychic, but I've done this for a long time, so I can tell you how it's likely to go. She'll bond to you first, Joe. It'll take her a while to warm up to Natalie. She'll see you as trying to take the place of her mother, but since she never had a father, she won't see Joe as a threat in that way."

Natalie sighed, resting her chin on Joe's shoulder. "I know, but it's one thing to hear about it and another thing to have to live it. I thought this would be easier. I thought she'd be happy to have a home, we'd be happy to have a kid, and we'd be this little happy family."

Joe's brow furrowed. "Are you not happy?"

"I'd be happier if she'd give me the time of day. She's bonded so much more easily with you."

"You just have to give her more time. You're doing a wonderful job, but the kid has had a tough life."

"I know."

"She's going to grow to love you just as much as I do." Joe promised.

"And how much is that?"

"Mmm. You know."

Placing one hand on the back of Natalie's head, Joe pulled her into a kiss. She quickly responded, opening her mouth and allowing her tongue to brush over his. Enjoying the feel of his girlfriend against him, Joe ran his hands down over her body, cupping her ass through her pencil skirt.

"Joe? Are you coming?" Vanessa called down the stairs.

Joe quickly dropped his hands and pulled away from Natalie. "Shit. I forgot I can't just do that whenever I want anymore."

"Yeah, that's definitely another adjustment." Natalie laughed, tugging her skirt back into place.

"You okay?"

"I will be."

Joe leaned forward to kiss her cheek, giving her a reassuring smile before he headed up the stairs to join Vanessa. Natalie watched him go before turning back to the dirty dishes. She hoped he was right.

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