Evie's view:
"That's adorable" I chuckled into the phone.
My best friend Alyson was currently telling me all about how her daughter Willow, has been calling other little girls in her class her girlfriend.
"You should come over this weekend. Valentina has some business to attend to in the morning so I'll be free until the evening on Saturday." I said packing all of my things into my tote bag.
Alyson agreed to coming over and we both hung up after.
I was thankful to have her around still despite not always getting to see each other or talk as often. Her schedule was crazy busy with running her own business.
It was the evening now and all the kids who weren't in the after school program, went home. I had told the people in charge of the program that I'd be volunteering for the week, just as an excuse to keep coming back in case I needed to.
I locked up my classroom and walked down the hallways to the cafeteria where the kids stayed.
As soon as I walked in I spotted Sophia sitting at one of the tables leaning her head against her hand. She looked like she was doing some homework which was perfect. It was a great excuse for me to go over and sit with her.
I said hi to some of the other after school program staff members, letting them know I was there.
Then went over to sit next to Sophia at the table. "Hey kiddo, whatcha doing?" I asked her in a cheery tone.
Sophia looked up at me and gave a small smile. "Just some homework, I hate math."
I smiled at her sympathetically and leaned on my arms. "Most students do, but it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Would you like me to help you?" I asked hoping for a yes.
Sophia stared at her paper for a few seconds and then nodded. "Sure." She said with a shrug.
I helped her with her math homework until we completed the assignment. She was a pretty quiet kid, kind of like I was.
She only spoke when she had a question or needed reassurance on something I told her.
"Good job. See it wasn't so hard was it?"
Sophia put away her homework and shook her head no. "I guess not. But I still stink at it." She said with a frown zipping her backpack.
"You'll get the hang of it eventually Sophia. Do you have anything else you need help with?"
"Mmm.. no that was my only homework. I just have to wait for my dad now." She said with a sigh rolling her eyes.
This was my chance to start digging.
I glanced around making sure Parker wasn't walking in anytime soon and turned back to Sophia who was picking at her backpack strap.
"You don't seem too excited about that.. everything alright at home?" I asked slightly regretting my choice of words.
That was probably too straight forward.
Sophia glanced at me then looked away shrugging and remaining silent.
"You know you can talk to me about anything right?" I said with a smile tilting my head to look at her. "Teachers are here to always help you even if it's not something school related."
Sophia sighed glancing around too which made my stomach flip a little. She was worried.
"I know. But it's not something I like to talk about.. I can't talk about it anyways because I'll get in trouble with my dad." She said looking down.
So far so good. I'm starting to wonder if I should record this?
I pretend to look at my phone for a second and silent it instead, then start a video but place my phone facedown so no one can see I'm recording.
"What do you mean you'll get in trouble?" I asked curiously.
Sophia glanced around again.
"N-nothing. I just mean he'll get angry with me if I talk about it again. I don't like making my dad angry... it scares me sometimes."
I looked at her with a sorrow expression.
I knew that feeling once. My foster parents would scare the living hell out of me when one of them got pissed over anything.
Mostly because that meant they'd be taking it out on me. I was the punching bag.
"Sophia.. has anything bad ever happened when your dad gets super angry?" I asked in a soft voice. Doing my best to tread lightly.
Sophia stayed quiet.
"Sophia..?" I asked again.
Her bottom lip trembled a bit reminding me of Vivi the night Valentina almost didn't let her sleep with us. Sophia unzipped her backpack and reached inside grabbing her teddy, hugging it to her tightly.
"Hey it's okay.." I placed a hand on her arm gently. "We don't have to talk about it anymore if it upsets you. But just know I'm here if you want to talk alright?"
Sophia nodded sniffling and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
I smiled at her rubbing her back comfortingly trying to calm Sophia down.
She continued to hug her teddy tightly. Fiddling with the locket a little which gave me an idea for a conversation starter.
"I like your locket.. I remember you showing it to me last time. I have one too." I said showing her the gold locket I wore around my neck.
Sophia looked at it and smiled a little.
"Do you have a picture inside it too?"
"Mhmm.." I nodded. "Wanna see?"
She nodded and turned her body more towards me. I grabbed my locket opening it to show her the photo inside of it.
"She's pretty.. who is that?" Sophia asked.
"She was my aunt. But she passed away when I was little.. she was really sick." I said taking a deep breath after.
Sophia reached for my locket, softly stroking the photo with her thumb. "So was my mommy.. she was super sick so my dad had to take care of her all of the time."
I watched her pull her hand back.
"Dad said she was too ill for me to be around her because she could get me sick, so she had to stay in their bedroom all the time. I miss her.." Sophia said frowning.
Something about what she said didn't sit right with me. Parker is Doctor, if his wife was so ill to the point of contagion wouldn't she put in the hospital and not left at home?
"I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure she was an amazing mommy huh?" I said.
Sophia nodded and opened her own locket.
"Yeah. I bet my real mom is an amazing mommy too.." she said pausing. "I just wish she wanted me."
Oh baby you have no idea.
I pressed my lips together refraining from commenting. Something tells me Parker told her that Valentina didn't want Sophia to begin with. Which was absolutely not true.
"I think she did." I said brightly causing Sophia to look up at me confused.
"I think your mom loves you just as much as your mommy did. If not more because she's probably out there right now missing you and trying to find her way back to you." I said knowing there might be consequences to this.
Sophia's face lit up with excitement.
"Really? Do you think she'd take me home with her?" She asked with hopeful eyes.
I cringed inwardly and tried to think of something smart to say. This was being recorded but, I could just cut this part out.
"I can't say for sure sweetheart. But I do know that she does love you.. very much. More than you could ever think of probably." I winked making Sophia smiled widely.
Her smiled dimmed a little as she looked away from me. Like she had thought of something.
"Dad says she's not looking for me though. He always hates when I bring mom up because he says it's rude to mommy. But mommy never thought so when she was here. She would always let me talk about my real mom."
"I hate living with my dad.." Sophia grumbled kicking the table leg.
"How come?" I asked.
"Because he's always pressuring me to do good in school so I can be like him. But I don't wanna be a Doctor."
"Well what do you wanna be?" I questioned crossing my legs as I rested back in my chair.
"I wanna be a designer." Sophia said smiling. "I like to draw my own clothes and sometimes I pretend that I'm making them for celebrities."
I smiled back at the little girl who looked so much like the woman I love dearly.
"That's incredible. You should always follow your dreams Sophia, no matter what anyone says. I think you'll make a great designer one day." I said encouragingly.
Sophia thanked me then grew quiet again for a few seconds before speaking.
"Dad is just so mean sometimes.. I don't know why. I never really do anything wrong and he'll put me in time out in the closet.." Sophia gasped covering her mouth with her hand.
My eyes widened as I looked at her.
"I wasn't supposed to say that Miss Love I'm sorry. I'm sorry please don't tell my dad I told you! He'll leave me in there again if you do..!" She cried out hysterically.
I hushed Sophia and assured one of the staff members passing by that Sophia was okay.
"Hey it's okay.. I'm going to say anything to your dad. But Sophia honey you need to tell me if he's done anything else to you alright? Now that you brought it up about what your dad has done, I have to ask that ok?" I said softly rubbing her back again.
Sophia whimpered squeezing her bear.
"O-okay.. but promise you won't tell him?"
I nodded waiting for her to answer me.
"H-he.. he sometimes would grab my wrist too tight or push me if I made him mad.." more whimpers escaping her mouth.
"What else sweetheart?" I placed my hand on top of her's.
"He says I have to take my medicine everyday or else I'll get sick like mommy did. So he gives me shots every night before bed. I don't like them.." Sophia said choking on her words at the end.
My own eyes welled up listening to her.
Her father was a psychopath. Forcefully giving his daughter shots filled with lord knows what type of dangerous chemicals.
"Sophia have you ever been to another doctor before who's told you that you need the shots?" I asked wiping my eyes.
I needed to look strong in front of her and act like nothing was wrong in case Parker arrived.
"No. Dad says I don't need to see another doctor because he is one." She sniffles shaking a little. "I don't wanna go home" she cried holding her teddy.
I sighed frustrated, wiping my eyes again and grabbed my phone stopping the recording.
What was I gonna do? Blow my cover and keep Sophia safe? Or keep quiet and allow this poor child to go home to her sick father that abuses and is likely poisoning her.
I hugged Sophia to my side and dialed Valentina's phone number quickly.
The other line rang for a bit.
"Hey baby I—"
"We have a problem." I said not caring that I interrupted her.
. . .
I spoke to the detective alone as Sophia sat in the cafeteria with another teacher and a cop who was speaking with her.
"Alright well we'll take the recording you gave me and review it. But right now there's not much I can personally do besides get child protective services involved which means Sophia would probably need to go into Foster cares hands." The detective said setting alarms off in my head.
"No!" I yelled accidentally causing him to look at me weirdly.
"I mean.. no you can't do that. She can't go to foster care Detective. Isn't there an alternative child services can give her?" I asked.
The man sighed thoughtfully.
"Well only if a family member or family friend decides to volunteer then—"
"I'll do it." I said quickly.
He looked at me weirdly again. "Miss Love I don't know if that would be allowed." He said breaking my spirit.
"But.. I will mention it to CPS and let them know I do think you're highly qualified seeing as how you handled this whole thing. We'll be in touch later today ma'am." The detective said with a nod before walking away.
I smiled nodding back and sighed as soon as he left, throwing my head back. Praying internally that CPS would approve of me housing Sophia until this entire situation was sorta out.
I didn't want to be here when Parker arrived so I said my goodbye to a tearful Sophia and left straight for Valentina's place.
She was oddly quiet on the phone call so I knew something was wrong already.
I just hoped she hadn't turned to the wine by now, and if so.. I hoped she was sober enough to talk with me about everything.
When I arrived to the penthouse I rode the elevator to Valentina's floor and walked inside hearing only the tv on.
"Val..?" I asked out loud walking past the empty living room.
She wasn't in the kitchen, on the balcony, or anywhere else downstairs. Not even Abby or the girls were around.
"Val!" I yelled walking upstairs and searching the hallways for my currently missing girlfriend.
Silence.
I saw her bedroom door slightly closed so I pushed the door open quietly. Peeking my head inside looking around. "Val? Are you in here?"
I looked to her large bed and saw her sitting there in a towel like she had just gotten out of the shower.
"Hey.. you okay?" I said softly rushing to sit by her. Valentina shrugged not saying anything.
"Come on. Let's get you dressed so we can talk alright." I helped Valentina stand and walked over to her dresser pulling out some underwear. Then a silk two piece pajama set.
Valentina stood still staring at the wall waiting for me to dress her. She was almost dead like.
I slowly unwrapped her towel, tossing it to the side and kissing her collar bone gently before helping her step into the underwear.
Once she was all dressed I laid us both down in her bed and held Valentina close to me. Making sure she was tucked underneath the blankets while I laid on top of them.
"So I talked to the detective.. he said that when CPS gets involved they would likely send her to a foster home for now."
I felt Valentina tense underneath me.
"But," I immediately said stopping her from jumping to conclusions, "I did tell him that I would personally volunteer to house Sophia if CPS allowed it. I'm sorry for not asking you first but I just couldn't handle the thought of her being sent to a strangers home. So for now I'm just waiting for them to call me—"
I was interrupted by Valentina harshly grabbing my face and pulling me in for a kiss.
"Thank you.." she said softly with tears in her eyes. "Thank you for doing this for us, for her and especially for volunteering to give your time up for her if they do say yes." She sniffled wiping underneath her eye.
I smiled down at Valentina and nodded.
"Of course. It's the right thing to do and I wanna see her safe just as much as you do. We got this babe, we're not gonna let anything bad happen to her."
Valentina smiled back and leaned in for another kiss but it was interrupted midway by my cellphone going off.
I grabbed it and glanced at the caller ID. It didn't have a name but it was a familiar area code so I hoped it was the detective.
"Hello?" I said answering the call.
"Hi, Evie. This is Detective Kyles, I'm calling you in regards to your earlier comment about Sophia's placement." The man's deep voice boomed over the phone line.
"Yes sir. What did they say?" I asked wanting to get straight to the point.
Valentina's grip around my waist tightened as she listened in on the phone call.
"Well I spoke with CPS, sent them your identification and had them go through your records as precaution like they do with all foster parents or family members. It seems that because you are a teacher at Sophia's school, that it would be an automatic no from them."
My heart sunk from hearing the detective speak. Why on earth would that earn me a no? This child was in serious danger! Me being a teacher at a school she attends shouldn't make me less qualified.
"But— after some pleading and talking it over and over with them until they agreed. CPS has approved for you to foster little Sophia until it is safe for her to return home. Which I doubt considering her father is being uncooperative.. don't tell anyone I told you that though." He sighed towards the end.
I could hear the exhaustion in Detective Kyles voice. This man must of put up one heck of a fight for me.
"What?! That's amazing! Thank you so so much detective, really. I've been going crazy since I left that school wondering what was going to happen to her. Thank you again. I really appreciate you fighting this for me." I said smiling widely down at Valentina who stared at me with a curious look.
"Of course Miss Love. Sophia is in CPS's custody right now so she's safe. They'll just need you down at their offices first thing tomorrow morning to sign some forms off."
"Yes sir, I'll be there. Thank you so much again.. bye." I said hanging up after he did.
"What? What did he say?!" Valentina said sitting up in a panic.
"He said they approved my request!" I squealed getting tackled with a hug by her.
I giggled falling onto the bed with Valentina on top of me. Not that I mind though.
"Holy shit it's actually happening!" She squealed back squeezing me in a death hold. "Everything is finally coming together and I get to see her earlier than I thought!"
I chuckled holding her tight and pulled back to look Valentina in the eyes. Seeing so much happiness inside of them but for some reason my own smile started to diminish.
"What?" Valentina asked moving back.
"Don't hate me for saying this Val but.. do you think it's actually the right time for you to introduce yourself? I mean she's going through a lot right now and I just don't her to be overwhelmed. I know you're her mom but.. that's a lot to take on for someone her age. Heck she still thinks you don't want her." I said furrowing my brows in concern.
I wasn't trying to ruin Valentina's good mood. I was just being extra cautious.
Sophia is only eleven years old. Everything she's been through today must of been so stressful and I didn't want to make it worse by pressuring her to meet her birth mom.
I have no doubt she'd love to meet Valentina but at the same time... I feel it's best if we waited a couple of days, or maybe even a week at most.
I explained this to Valentina and least to say she wasn't very thrilled. But she at least understood I wasn't trying to keep Sophia from her for no good reason.
Sophia's mental health was more important right now than a family reunion.
. . .
The next morning...
(Friday)
I woke up early, normally around the time I'd be heading to work. But I had a leave of absence at least for today so I could help Sophia settle in.
Both Addie and I stayed up all night fixing the office room to turn it into a bedroom for Sophia. Valentina bought all of the supplies and bedding for her.
I was thankful because I didn't exactly have that kind of money to spend right away with my teacher salary.
"Good morning, how can I help you?" The woman at the front desk asked me.
"Hi, I'm here to sign some forms for a foster placement. It's for Sophia Hansen." I said quietly not wanting to disturb anyone working nearby.
"Oh great! We've been expecting you and in fact I think Miss Sophia has too. She hasn't stopped asking about you all morning. So I'll let you say hi real quick before we get to the paperwork." The woman chuckled getting up to lead me down a carpeted hallway.
I smiled back kindly and followed her to a decorated door.
It looked like a play room and there were two other kids inside along with Sophia who sat in a chair near the window. Staring outside with a sad look.
"Sophia.. someone's here to see you." The woman said in a cheery tone.
The dark haired little girl turned her head and her eyes grew wide at the sight of me. She stood up abruptly knocking over the small chair and dashed towards me with open arms.
"Miss Love!" She giggled jumping into my arms.
I laughed along with her, squeezing her tiny self to me in a big hug. "Hi sweetheart! I was worried you weren't gonna miss me that much." I winked setting her down.
Sophia giggled and picked up her bear from the floor that she accidentally dropped.
"Do I get to go home with you now?" She asked looking from me to the woman from the front desk.
"Almost Sophia, Miss Love just needs to sign some papers and then you both get to go home. So we'll be right back ok—"
"No!" Sophia panicked clinging to my side.
"No, no don't leave!" She whimpered with fear in her eyes that I wouldn't come back.
I held her close and looked to the woman.
"Can't she just sit with me? She's been through enough, I don't want her freaking out alone in here." I whispered softly.
The woman offered a sympathetic look then nodded. "Fine. That should be okay, come with me."
. . .
"Are you hungry?" I asked Sophia looking at her in the rear view mirror of my car.
"Yes. Can we eat lunch soon?" She asked politely looking back at me.
"Sure thing kiddo." I smiled at her as I pulled into my parking spot of the apartments.
Addie was gone for now at work and wouldn't be back until later in the evening. I told Sophia about Addie on the way here and how she was my best friend who lived with me.
Sophia didn't seem to mind and was even excited to live with a bunch of girls.
As I got out of the car, Sophia unbuckled herself and immediately walked up to me with teddy in one arm. Grabbing my hand and lacing her fingers with mine.
I was starting to get the feeling she had a fear of separation now.
"We'll get your things from the trunk later. Let's go see your room and eat some lunch first. Sound good?" I asked unlocking the front door.
She nodded and eagerly stared at the front door waiting for me to open it.
We went straight to her new bedroom that still had the office desk but now it also had a twin sized bed. It was covered in a white comforter with decorative pillows and a throw blanket.
Along with a new dresser for her items and a few toys that were placed in a wicker basket.
"You can decorate it some more as time goes on but—"
"I love it!" Sophia said hugging me with her arms around my waist.
I smiled down at her, smoothing her hair and rubbing her back up and down soothingly. "I'm so glad.. because someone special did all this for you."
"Who?!" She asked looking up at me with a smile.
"You'll get to meet her soon don't worry.." I winked, letting Sophia go as she ran to jump on her bed backwards.
. . .
A/N:
Again, for those that don't know. Alyson, Isabelle, and Willow are all from the previous book Yes Ma'am. A story I unfortunately cannot repost due to no backup of it existing. But these characters will continuously be mentioned through out this story for new or pre-existing readers that didn't get to finish the book.
- Des