After My Parents Broke Their Promise for the Ninth Time, I Chose a New Dad

For nine years, Elowen has waited outside courthouses while her parents, Adrian and Cecilia, promised to end her grandmother's guardianship and bring her to their Los Angeles home. Each time, something involving her younger sister, Mireille, came first. Now, with the filing window closing and her Stanford acceptance letter hidden in her backpack, Elowen sits at the county courthouse with the guardianship papers, watching her family fuss over Mireille's photograph instead of signing.

Her brother, Julian, shoves her aside and mocks her, while her parents insist the picture matters more than the petition. When Elowen asks whether Mireille even wants her home, Mireille's tears turn the family against her. With minutes left, Elowen texts Uncle Rowan, who once offered to adopt her, and he replies that the offer always stands.

As the clerk's deadline nears, Elowen tells her parents that if they will not sign today, she will choose another family.