Wait For It

11

Lin's POV

I sat across the hallway looking at everyone. Court gave me a weird feeling. My wife looked like she fit right in here too. Talking with a few people as they came by just like they were old friends. I looked up and saw Pippa walking in with Steve and Scarlett. I felt awful for this, but I didn't really trust her. My wife didn't like the whole thing either. She felt as if Scarlett was never going to have a normal life without proper parents. I mean, our kids didn't have proper parents, but we were home a lot... Pippa and Steve weren't really...

I watched Scarlett interact with Pip and Steve. She looked so happy and content with them. Her hair was pulled back, brushed and well cared for. The entire family looked too perfect for words really...

"Wow... She's adorable.." Vanessa whispered to me.

"Yeah... Sorry I didn't have any pictures... Pippa has done an amazing job keeping her away from all of it." I mumbled.

"It's going to be okay." She gave me a small smile while placing her hand on my arm. I didn't like this idea at all...

Two hours, an argument and a small recess and I walked out with custody with Scarlett. I felt completely terrible now. Seeing Pippa like this was something I was not proud of. She still had every other weekend, but this was not okay...

"No! I want mommy!" Scarlett cried. I tried to tune out the rest of the crying, but it was impossible.

When we got home that night, I felt awful about the entire thing... We had a lot of things in the apartment ready for her, bed, clothes, toys, everything. She walked into the apartment and Tobi ran to her. Just like she would with any kid. Scarlett started screaming at the sight of Tobi and was freaking out.

"Hey, it's okay!" I tried my best to console her but she ran away from me and hid in the corner. I felt so defeated... My own child freaking out over a dog and I couldn't even console her. I watched Vanessa walk over to her and start talking to her. It was amazing how she opened up to her a little bit.

"Have you ever seen a dog Scarlett?" Vanessa asked her while crouching next to her. I watched Scarlett shake her head and stare at Tobi from across the room. "Do you like dogs?" She asked Scarlett again shook her head and I could see the tears falling from her eyes. "Me either. I like cats. But Tobi is a good dog. She's not so big." Vanessa whispered.

"I'm allergic to cats." Scarlett frowned.

"Oh. Well, good thing we don't have a cat." Vanessa laughed. "Are you allergic to other things?" She frowned. Scarlett nodded her head and looked back at Tobi. "What are you allergic to?" She asked.

"Lots of stuff. My mommy says to be careful around foods." She answered. Great. A kid with food allergies.. I thought about asking Pip, but it was kind of impossible now. After a few minutes, Scarlett eventually warmed up to Vanessa and allowed her to give her a tour of the apartment.

When it came time for dinner I heard a little beeping noise and had no idea what it was. Scarlett looked down at her hands and I saw a little watch on her wrist.

"Is that a watch?" I asked her.

"My mommy give it to me." She said while staring at the little watch. It had a few ponies on it, but it was beeping. I watched as Vanessa got up from the table and started to dig in the bag that Scarlett came with.

"Okay, so according to this, you have medicine you have to take?" Vanessa frowned while looking at the paper. Scarlett nodded and looked at us. "Oh boy..." She let out a breath of air and I felt very frustrated... Pippa must've had it down to a specific way too.. It looked like Scarlett had a full on schedule every day of the week...

"What is the medicine for?" I asked V.

"Her immune system. She has to take it twice a day... Which means this is her second dose." She answered while skimming the paper. "Oh, her watch is timed. It'll beep when she needs to take it." She smiled. "Did your mommy do that?" She asked.

"No, daddy did. He forgot a lot." Scarlett shook her head and looked at the watch again. I had thought since Scarlett was used to everything, it would be easy to give her the medicine. Boy was I wrong. She fought for fifteen minutes with it.

When bedtime came, it was even worse. She was hugging a stuffed giraffe and looking around her new room with a terrified look. Nothing Vanessa and I did would calm her down. So, I did the last thing absolutely possible. I called Pippa. It took a bit, but she eventually answered.

"Hello?" It sounded as if she had been crying...

"Um.. I know I'm the last person you want to talk to, but Scarlett isn't sleeping... I was wondering maybe you could talk to her? Or give us pointers with her?" I hesitated. I didn't know what to do really.

"She doesn't sleep well in new places. She needs her nightlight on, and the door needs to be open. She freaks out when it's shut and won't open it." She explained.

"Oh. That makes a little more sense... Do you think she would be okay with sleeping in the bed with us? Until she's used to everything?" I asked.

"No. She doesn't even sleep in the bed with Steve and I." Pippa answered. "Did you have her take her medicine?" She asked.

"Yeah, but we have no idea how to stop the beeping." I gave a small chuckle.

"It's the little button on the left. The lower one." She answered.

"Oh." I looked at the watch and hit the lower left button. It had reset itself and started another timer. This was amazing. "Look.. I'm really sorry about all of this... But I'll let you talk to her now." I started to walk into Scarlett's room when I saw Tobi laying next to Scarlett in her bed. I let out a little gasp when I saw that. She was petting Tobi. "Scarlett, your mommy is on the phone." I handed her the phone and saw her start crying even more.

"Mommy I miss you." She cried. It hurt me to see her crying like this... Even Tobi looked defeated.