Maybe this is where I belong...

Chapter 28.

Stef interrupted my self reflection by giving me a kiss on my head. "Are you alright, love?" She asked quietly and gently.

I sat with that question for a second, "I am. I am okay. And I never thought I would be." I replied choking back tears. "I love you Mom." With that, Stef gripped her hug even tighter and responded with a dozen kisses all over my face, "My baby, I love you so much." And before I knew it, I was asleep in my Mom's arms.

STEF'S POV:

My eyes fluttered fast and I woke up with a feeling of panic as I felt thrashing in the bed next to me. Shaking and shivering from Amelia jolted me in an upright position, eyeing her with worry and fear.

"Ami, honey. Amelia? You're okay baby." I spoke softly into her ear as I pulled her close to me. Her eyes were restless and tears were pouring out even though they were closed.

"Pl-please, please s-stop!" She whimpered. Every second my heart broke into more pieces. When will these night terrors end for her? I cupped her face in my hands and softly rubbed in hopes of waking her up, all the while trying not to scare her.

"Baby, Mommy's here. Its just me, it's just mom. Wake up my love, you're safe, you're okay." I tried to console her as I fought back my own tears. There is a different kind of pain seeing your child suffering. Amelia awoke with a gasp and her eyes darted around the room as if she was looking for something, or someone.

"Baby! I'm right here. I'm here. You're safe, you're okay, okay? Mommy is right here." I wrapped tighter around her embrace and allowed her to melt into me. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, tears were still flowing from her eyes.

"M-mom. M-mom I s-saw him." She attempted to get out.

"Shhh, it's okay my love. You don't have to explain. You just focus on your breathing, yes?" I cooed into her ear and tried to slow her breathing down. After a few minutes, Amelia was calm and breathing at a normal pace.

"That's my girl, there we go." I was relieved that it only took a short amount of time to calm her, but was nervous it was going to start back up again once I asked what her night terror was about. We sat there in silence for a bit, until my brave girl cleared her throat.

"I know you want to know what it was about." She started.

"Love, you don't have to share if you do not want to. I will never force you to." I replied.

"No, I want to," she responded back, "if being in this family is going to work, I'm assuming I need to let down my walls I'm so used to keeping up." I responded by giving her a kiss on her forehead. She may be 14 but she is smarter than most. Amelia took a deep sigh and started to talk about this night terror that consumed her mind for the past few hours.

"I just don't know how to stop reliving it," she started, "every minute I feel it. I feel the pain, the panic, the utter terror that consumed me for the time I was away. So much of me feels like I should have been happy because I was with my birth parents. That's what foster kids want, right? But this, this was not how parents should treat their child. I was beaten, raped, abused by the people who are meant to love me the most in this world, how twisted is that? They were the ones who gave me life, and they were so quick to try to end it." She looked over to me and I quickly tried to wipe my tears as I did not want her to stop opening up.

"I-I'm so sorry I made you cry." She said.

"No no no, honey. Your words are so important. No matter what I want them, even if they make me cry. I just love you so much, you're my heart. What you feel, I'm gonna feel. It's just because I love you so much sweets." I took her hands in mine as I said this.