I Knew I Loved You

Chapter Seven: Home Sweet Home

"You've never had a bedroom," Charlene murmured surprised, she had known that her mother wasn't well off especially when she was spending most of her money on drugs and alcohol but she had never considered that it had been this bad. 

It made her wonder what Abigail's life had been like before this had all happened, she doubted that things would have gotten better for her anytime soon. 

"Not to myself... I had to share with mummy," Abigail explained carefully walking towards the bed, she eyed it for a moment before reaching out to touch it. 

It didn't seem real and Abigail wondered what she had done to deserve such a gift, her mummy had always promised that she would one day have her own but that had never happened. 

Now her mummy had been taken away and no one seemed to be able to tell her when she would see her again or when she would get to go home. 

The adults always seemed to change the subject when she had asked them or told her that they couldn't say, all she knew was that her mummy had done a bad thing and she had to go away for a while. 

"It's all yours Abigail... we'll go shopping this weekend and get you some things," Charlene explained, she wanted to make sure that Abigail had things to call her own no matter what happened to her next. 

Things that she could take with her when she had to leave and Charlene was sure that they could make sure that she was cared for while she waited to be reunited with whatever family that child services could find. 

Abigail looked at Charlene, she nodded her head not quite sure what she meant by that but she was sure that it would be okay; she had things and she liked them even if they weren't that nice. 

"Is there anything you'd like for dinner?" Charlene asked peeking towards the clock, it had been a long day and she wanted Abigail to feel settled here as soon as possible. 

It was certainly going to be strange for her, she was in a new place and Charlene wanted the transition to go as smoothly as possible. 

Abigail just stared up at Charlene, she had never been asked what she wanted for dinner before instead they'd just had whatever her mummy could afford and that wasn't much. 

Charlene couldn't help but wrack her mind on what Abigail might like for dinner, she had no idea if the little girl was allergic to anything and the last thing, she wanted to do was accidently poison her in anyway. 

Although Charlene was fairly certain that the social workers would have told her about any allergies that might prove to be fatal. 

It was better safe than sorry especially when it came to what little that she knew about Abigail's life, it seemed rather sheltered and cut off from the rest of the world. 

"How about we order some pizza?" Charlene suggested gently, this was an occasion to celebrate and pizza seemed like a good place to start with a child. 

They could work out foods that Abigail enjoyed as they went, Charlene was more than happy to take her time with getting to know Abigail's likes and dislikes.

***

Manuel checked his phone to see if there were any messages from Charlene, he wished that he could be home with her right now with everything that was going on; he hated that she was alone. 

He had been supportive of the idea that she was going to take Abigail in and he couldn't imagine what a confusing time she was having especially with her mother now in prison. 

Charlene had talked to him a lot about the little girl and Manuel couldn't help but smile knowing that if things went well then, she would be the same when they finally had children of their own one day. 

His heart panged at the mere thought, it still hurt to hear that he was the reason they did not have any children and it would take some getting used to. 

Abigail deserved a safe place to call home, her entire life had been turned on its head and Manuel knew that it would take time for her to adjust. 

The fact that the foster carer hadn't been able to look after her without complaining made Manuel determined to ensure that her stay with him and Charlene would be easy. 

Charlene had told him how the care worker had no idea how long Abigail would be staying with them and he doubted that this was going to end well for Abigail. 

Her father had passed when she was a baby, they were struggling to track down suitable relatives to take her in and there was no sign of any family that could take her in full time and give her the love and care that she deserved. 

There was only one way that this could end and Manuel hoped that it wouldn't end with Abigail being shipped off to some family that were just after the money they could get from having her or back with a mother who couldn't care for her. 

A smile formed on Manuel's face when he saw Charlene's message, he quickly opened it and read what she had sent him; he frowned at her mention that Abigail had brought so little with her and he knew that his wife would solve that quickly. 

Manuel wished that he could have been home to help but Germany were about to play in the Euros and he needed to be in France with his team; he would have to wait until he saw Charlene again to be officially introduced to Abigail.