Together (Demi Lovato Adoption)

Chapter Forty-Six

DEMI'S POV

A few weeks had passed since Ellie and I had reconciled, and the discussion of therapy had been thankfully, a positive one. Ellie was willing to try it for the sheer fact that she was desperate for the chaos in her mind to just go away.

I had been there too.

So without any hesitation, the day after we had spoken about what was going on, Ellie was booked in with a psychiatrist named Audrey Seymour, the same psychiatrist that had been working with Sam for the last few months. She was the best in the area, and had helped Sam come leaps and bounds, so I could only hope that she could help bring out my eldest daughter's true self once again. It was as if there were are dark veil between Ellie and the real world, yet it was seemingly impossible to pry it from her.

I had dropped Ellie off at her appointment while I went to Starbucks with Sam and bought her a pastry and her favorite drink at the moment, dragonfruit mango lemonade refresher. She happily sipped her drink and chewed on her food, kicking her legs underneath the table childishly. It made me smile at how carefree she had become, the trauma of her past seemingly forgotten. The conversation still came up on the odd occasion, and it seemed today was one of those days.

"Can I ask you a question, Mommy?" Sam asked, her big blue eyes looking at me.

"Of course Sammy, anything." 

"D'you think my old dad feels bad for what he did to me?" Sam started

Her innocence in asking the question took me aback at first. What was I supposed to tell a four year old in regards to the sick things her father did to her from such a young age? How was I supposed to tell her that chances are, her father is probably so messed up in the head that he probably felt no remorse whatsoever?

"I don't know baby, it's hard to say. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but what he feels doesn't matter." I tried to explain it the best I could to the girl in front of me without confusing nor scaring her, yet her face stayed blank as she showed no emotion on her face, making it impossible for me to figure out whether or not she understood.

"He's in jail right? That's where Ellie told me he was a while ago. I just wanna make sure he can't ged me."

"Yeah, he's in jail, and he can't get out for the rest of his life." A frown found my face, worries about what Sam was thinking entering my head. "Are you scared he's going to find you, baby girl?"

Sam hesitated, shrugging her shoulders uncertainly before answering. "A liddle bit. I just -- I just worry sometimes. I know nothin'll happen though -- you an' Ellie have always keeped me safe."

I smiled at my daughter in front of me, not bothering to correct her grammatical mistake as her focus wandered to a bird sitting on the windowsill on the outside of the shop, her hands waving to the small animal.  My daughters meant everything to me, and all I wanted to do now was protect them.

I only hoped that this second chance would be my opportunity to show it to them.

"Mommy, why do I have to talk to Aubrey?"

Sam had been in an inquisitive mood all day, and had been asking questions about every possible thing she could. With some of her questions being harder than others, it was often difficult to give her an answer that satisfied her, but I was still willing to at least attempt to explain to her. Knowing that today was her big assessment session, I didn't really want to put the idea that she had some sort of expectation to live up to when she really didn't, so I decided to come to a compromise with the child.

"How about we make a deal Sam. I'll explain why you had to see Aubrey when you're done with her today okay?"

Sam frowned. "I have to go in alone again?"