Deja Crush Arrival in Paris, France:
Olivia Dubois was a bit jittery, but it was a happy day. Even though she wasn't much of a praying woman, she got down on her knees and prayed for the first time in her life. After all, Olivia Dubois, a woman who spent a lot of time alone, was about to become responsible for another life in her care. Olivia needed all the prayers a woman who was about to become a single parent could get. She spent many days and nights giving it plenty of thought, and she could not have asked for a better and more loyal friend than Pamela Crush. And knowing Pamela trusted her to take in her daughter and raise her was an honor.
She thought about how Pamela and Leonard stood by her side during that dark day, when she was abandoned at the altar, and even after that. Olivia had to make sure she gave this little girl the best life ever, because every child deserves to be loved and cherished, especially Pamela's daughter.
Diary entry: # 730
I wish I would have been capable of taking you, Deja, sooner. But emotionally, I wasn't qualified to help anyone. I had been through a traumatic, heartbreaking experience myself. So it's taken me some time to find my bearings again. I had been on a course to demolish my enemy, and also my friend's enemy as well! I know that's how sweet Pamela and dear Leonard would view him, and one day so will you, Deja! But for now, I will work hard on giving you all I have as your mother, and one day you will see me that way. Because I see you as my daughter, I'm going to raise you in the best way possible. It's still hard to believe you will be here soon, and I will be a mother. God help me.
*******
At the airport wasn't the first time little Deja had laid eyes on Olivia Dubois. Deja remembered her aunt Lisa telling her to look for the Caucasian lady at her parent's funeral and gravesite. So, standing in France's airport, little Deja's eyes searched the face of every female that she could see. Then finally, the sliding airport door opened, and she stepped inside. Deja's little heart skipped a beat. The tall, slender lady who aunt Lisa spoke about yesterday was there. She was dressed in a swirling, calf-length black skirt and fitted burgundy jacket, fine clothes with high heels on, with her hair up in one of those sophisticated updos.
The woman greeted her with a warm smile. Deja remembered the lady's enigmatic blue eyes and blond hair even though she wore a wide-rimmed velvet hat that matched her jacket and gloves. Deja thought she was so lovely and dressed similar to her mother. She paid keen attention to every detail of her appearance from that moment.
"Bonjour!" she called out cheerfully," Deja Crush, right?"
"Yes, ma'am, I am."
"We've met before, haven't we?"
"Yes, ma'am," Deja responded, staring with wide eyes and admiration at the impeccable-looking lady.
"My name is Ms. Olivia Dubois." She kissed Deja lightly on both cheeks.
"You will be living with me in my home. Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, ma'am." The child said humbly.
From a different angle, Olivia could see that the child's clothes were far too thin, and she was dressed inappropriately for the weather. She took the child's tiny hand in hers, walking her to the car. When the fancy Rolls Royce stopped. The elegant lady said to the driver, perhaps fifty-five, with steel gray hair. "Bring her things in and set them inside the foyer, please, Raymonde."
Deja looked out the window of the car. At last, she had arrived at her destination. Her eyes see a nameplate "Dubois," on a pale gray stone facade with black iron Roth gates.
She peered up, blinking in the noon light, and saw a carved bust of an ancient goddess set above the entrance. She looked over at Ms. Dubois, and the house looks like a palace somewhere Deja had already imagined a pretty lady like her would live. Deja smiled, forgetting all her sorrow she felt on the plane, thinking it was so awesome to be there. Her eyes saw rows of tall mullioned windows and a line of balconies wrapped in black curling wrought iron.
"Welcome to your home and my home, Deja."
Deja walked hand and hand with the lovely lady toward the distinguished gentleman outside the front door. Deja marveled at the outside and yearned to know what she would find inside.
Ms. Olivia's home was fresh, with brilliant light. The sweet smell of jasmine greeted Deja's tiny nose. She took her through a sizable archway in the foyer and into a large room veiled by pearly luminescence walls. Deja stopped.
"Is there a problem?" The elegant lady inquired.
"Oh no, ma'am, your house is glorious."
She was amazed at the light falling on gilded mirrors and doors glazed with beveled squares of glass. The lush palms that emerged from brass urns, curtains hanging in lustrous silvery folds, and a group of white-lacquer, medallion-backed Louis XVI chairs of such refined proportions filled the room.
The exclusive accommodation in that category could only belong to an elegant woman like Ms. Olivia. The most spectacular was the glamorous staircase that came right down the center of the large room. It's the first thing you see when you enter the front door.
"Wow!" Deja says.
With the arrangement of flowers throughout the first floor, she saw white roses, hyacinths, and lilies in crystal vases artfully placed on marble-topped tables. The blooms' intoxicating fragrance measured their footsteps as they climbed the staircase.
When they reached the second floor lined with black wrought iron, the same as on the staircase, they went down the long balcony that overlooked the first floor. Deja stood close to the lady. When she reaches a door painted a delicate gray, the lady stops and looks at her.
"Are you ready to see your bedroom?"
All she could do was nod her head yes. It was overwhelming considering what she had been through the last year of her little life since her parents died.
The lady opened the door, and Deja's pretty almond-shaped eyes widened.
"Is this my room for good?"
"Yes, it is. I hope you like champagne, yellow and gray?"
"I do, I do!" Deja says, smiling at the lady for the first time.
"Great! It's all yours. Let's go in and take a closer look, precious."