Evangeline
(Her dress that Luke liked up top🔝)
The week passes by quickly. Luke and I follow our routine of going to school, coming home, eating dinner, watching movies, playing with Nugget, and reading together. Ms. Harris keeps joining us for lunch which we all enjoy her being there. I like talking to her, it's fun, and I feel like she is an actual friend of mine. I've never had a friend before, so it feels good.
Luke and I had spent most of this morning playing with Nugget and me working on my blue dress that Luke liked. I had been working on it for the past few days and all I had left to do was the final touches. Luke had promised that when I finish it we could go back to the craft store to show the lady and get more fabric to make more of my designs.
I finish it and look over my work before slipping it on. I skip happily downstairs with Ellie locked in my arms to Luke's office where he's doing paperwork. I knock on the door and stand in the doorway so he can see me. He turns to face me and sets down his papers.
"I finished." I say happily and smooth out the bottom of the dress. He smiles at me and motions for me to go to him. I walk briskly to him and do a little twirl for him to see.
"Do you like it?" I ask hopefully
He smiles at me and taps my nose.
"It's beautiful, Kitten." He says
"Thank you." I giggle and spin so the skirt flares out. I quickly get dizzy and flop down into the leather chair in the corner. Luke chuckles at me and goes back to reviewing his papers.
"Are you going to wear that while they are doing the home check?" He ask me
I'm confused to a second before I remember that the home check is today since I've been here for two weeks and they always do then on weekends instead of weekdays because people have to work.
Just then, the doorbell rings and Nugget runs to the front door.
"I guess I am." I say with a sigh. Luke chuckles at me and helps me out of the chair. I notice he's wearing his good clothes instead of his usual clothes that he wears around the house.
We walk side by side to the front door, but I stay protectively behind Luke in case it isn't the social worker at the door. Luke unlocks and opens the door to reveal a neatly dressed Latina lady with a big, tall, and buff man standing behind her, almost acting as a body guard. She holds a clipboard and a smile while the man remains expressionless.
"Hi, I'm Georgia Banks, Evangeline's social worker. We're here to do the home check." She says and extends a hand for Luke to shake. She smiles and shakes her hand.
"Hi, I'm Luke Clark, but I guess you already know that." He chuckles "Of course, come in." He invites them and opens the door the rest of the way to let them enter.
We back up to let them enter and Nugget races to them and starts sniffing them.
Mrs. Banks laughs and pets the dogs head until he moves onto the man. The man finally cracks a smile and legs him too.
"Sorry, he's very friendly." Luke apologizes
"Nugget," Luke says to get the rambunctious dogs attention. He immediately turns to Luke with his tail wagging forcefully behind him.
"Go to bed." Luke says and points to his doggy bed. The dog follows his orders and goes to sit on his bed, still watching us from afar.
"Hi, Mrs. Banks, and Mr. Jefferson." I say sweetly and offer a small wave.
"Hello Evangeline." Mrs. Banks says with a smile and Mr. Jefferson acknowledges me with a smile and a nod.
"Okay, why don't we get started then?" Mrs. Banks suggest
"Sure." Luke says
"I'm going to need to ask you a few questions first and then we will check the house and then I will need to speak with Evangeline." Mrs. Banks tells Luke who agrees with everything she says.
I tug on Luke's sleeve and he turns to me.
"Can I go play outside with Nugget?" I ask him
"Go ahead, his ball is in his toy box, I think." Luke says. I smile and go to Nuggets toy box beside his bed and grab the tennis ball. "Remember, don't go near the pool." He tells me
He told me before not to go near the pool to make sure I don't fall in because there is a cover on it and it's supposedly very difficult to get out of if you fall in and can be dangerous too.
"Okay, lets go, Nugget." I say to Nugget who leaps from his bed and prances around me. I start towards the back door but stop when I realize I still have Ellie with me. I go back to Luke and place her in his hands.
"Hold her please." I tell him and skip back to the back door and out into the back yard.
I run around with Nugget and throw play fetch with him while Luke talks to Mrs. Banks and Mr. Jefferson.
******
Luke
Evangeline hands me her stuffed animal and takes off with Nugget to the back yard. I guide the man and woman to the kitchen table and we all sit down together.
"Mr. Clark, do you wish to keep Evangeline or do you want for us to take her back to the orphanage?" Mrs. Banks ask. Her directness takes me by surprise but I answer her quickly.
"I definitely want her here." I assure her which makes her smile.
She continues to ask me questions about my job and income and about Evangeline. My gaze wonders to the window where I see Evangeline running around with Nugget chasing after her and the ball with a big smile. She finally stops to catch her breath and throws the ball. Nugget sprints across the yard and scoops up the ball in his mouth and trots back over to her. I hear a faint giggle of hers which makes me smile. She drops to her knees and scratches Nugget who lays down and rolls to his back to let her scratch his belly.
Mrs. Banks finishes her questions with me and says they are going to start the home check. I don't protest because I have nothing to hide and it's mandatory.
I show them around the house and in every room, including the closet and bathrooms. They do a thorough search of every room and inspect the basement the most, looking for anything that would be counted as harmful or abusive towards Evangeline. There is no way I would ever hurt Evangeline intentionally. But, I am worried that she will want to go back to the orphanage instead of letting this become her home and I will never be able to see her again.
I notice that Mr. Jefferson stands protectively with Mrs. Banks as we walk around and enters every room before her. He also doesn't ask any questions like she does. He must be some type of body guard for her. While she is looking, I go over to him to talk.
"Are you some type of body guard?" I ask him.
"Of sorts." He says "The state was debating on giving the social workers protection for the home checks because of the danger they could be put in. It was in debate before Evangeline's case and it was the deciding factor that granted them protection because that Gabriel guy attack her when she tried to take Evangeline away." He explains
"Oh, that makes sense." I say
"Yeah, I'm here to basically make sure it's safe for her and the child. We get basic EMT training in case a case like Evangeline's ever happens again." He says
"What he did to her was horrible." I say with a sigh
"Definitely." He agrees.
We watch as Mrs. Baker inspects each room and are silent for a while until I speak up again with another question.
"So, is this going well?" I ask him
"Considering the last home check we did for Evangeline she was strapped to a chair and almost dead, I would say this one is significantly better." He says putting emphasis on significantly.
"Don't worry, so far nothing has told us that being here is putting Evangeline in danger." He says light heartedly to reassure me.
"Good, because I really don't want to hurt her." I tell him.
Mrs. Banks comes over to me with a smile. And checks something off on her clipboard.
"You've passed the home check. Now, I just need to speak with Evangeline alone, please." She tells me
"Okay." I say and lead them back downstairs.
I allow Mrs. Banks to go out the back door while Mr. Jefferson and I sit at the kitchen table. I offer him a bottle of water and he takes it from me gladly. We make small talk as we sit there to wait for them.
"This is kind of sad, but this is the happiest we've seen her in a really long time." Mr. Jefferson says, watching Evangeline swing.
"I think she's happy here, at least I hope she is." I say
Evangeline is swinging happily in the hammock with her shoes off and a peaceful smile on her face as she watches Nugget roll in the grass.
*********
Evangeline
I swing in the hammock and watch Nugget while Luke speaks to Mrs. Banks and Mr. Jefferson. I brush my feet against the ground to swing myself more. I feel the soft grass between my toes which tickles, making me giggle.
Mrs. Banks steps through the back door and comes over to me. I stop swinging and smile at her.
"Having fun?" She ask me
"Yes Ma'am." I say
"Can I ask you a few questions?" She ask kindly
"Sure, Mrs. Banks." I tell her
"Why don't you show me your room and then we can talk there, okay?" She suggest
"Okay." I say and slip on my flats. I skip to the house with Nugget and Mrs. Banks in tow. Luke opens the door for me.
"I'm going to show Mrs. Banks my room and she's going to ask me questions." I tell him excitedly
"Okay." He says chuckling at my excitement. "Evangeline, you need to tell the truth, okay? Even if I might not like what you say, you need to tell Mrs. Banks the truth." He says to me, strongly expressing the need for me not to lie.
"Okay." I say and start to my room. I stop suddenly and rush back to him.
"Wait, where did you put Ellie?" I ask him
"Right..." he says looking around "Here." He says and reaches behind him to the counter to reveal Ellie.
"Thank you." I say and pluck my stuffie from his hands.
I walk upstairs and lead Mrs. Banks to my room. I sit on the edge of my bed after pulling out my desk chair for her. She sits down and reads things on her clipboard. I smooth my dress out and dust off my knees. She smiles at me and sets her clipboard in her lap.
"Your dress is beautiful." She compliments me
"Thank you, I just finished making it before you came." I tell her
"You made that?" She says in shock
"Yes Ma'am." I say and hop from my bed. I walk to my closet and pull out my other dress that I made.
"I made this one too." I tell her and she inspects it
"They're very pretty." She compliments me
"Thank you, Luke likes the blue one better than this one. I think it's because it covers more than this one." I explain happily
"Well, I like both of them." She says and goes to sit back down at my desk.
"I like your room." She says as I sit back down after hanging up my dress.
"Luke and Grayson made it for me." I tell her as I straighten my pillows.
"Who's Grayson?" She ask
"He's Luke's best friend. He live across the street and comes over to play and hang out." I tell her
"Oh, I see." She says and writes something down.
"They put all the stuff I like in it, and Grayson got me Ellie. I really like Ellie." I say and show her Ellie. She smiles at me and ask her next question.
"Have you had fun living with Luke?" She ask
"A lot." I tell her
"Oh yeah, what have you done?" She interrogates me
"We went to a zoo!" I squeal happily "And we went shopping, I got lost because I didn't listen to Luke, but he found me and told me everything was going to be alright." I say and play with Ellie.
"We watch movies, and read, oh! He's a really good cook too." I say excitedly which makes her laugh.
"Everything he makes taste good, although I didn't like the mustard he puts on his hotdogs, so we didn't put any on mine. Mustard is gross." I tell her and she chuckles at me.
"Okay, sweetheart these questions are really important and I need you to tell the truth, do you understand?" She says
"Yes Ma'am, I understand." I assure her.
She gets a serious look on her face and looks at her clipboard.
"Has Luke hurt you in any way?" She ask me
"No Ma'am. He's nice, he hasn't hit me, and he doesn't touch me like the other men and he doesn't make me touch him either." I tell her which seems to make her happy. She write what I say down and moves onto the next question.
"Does he ever threaten you?" She ask
"No Ma'am, he hasn't." I say
"Has he let anyone else hurt you?" She ask
"No Ma'am." I say
Colin comes to mind but Luke doesn't know about him so he doesn't count. It's not Luke's fault that he hurts me.
"This is my last question, okay?" She warns me
"It's the most important one. You need to think about it really hard and make sure you make the right choice." She tells me
I nod to show I understand. I take a deep breath to prepare myself for the question.
"Do you want to stay here with Luke?"
***********
Ooh cliffhanger! Thanks everyone for reading I really appreciate it. I really enjoy writing because it makes me happy and other people happy.
Another reason is because I have an actual fear of dentist and I use writing stories like this as sort of a way to cope with it I guess. With writing these I can try to convince myself that they are there to help me and not hurt me which actually does help with my fear.
Sadly, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning.... yay, I'm really looking forward to it.... note the large amount of sarcasm there.
But seriously guys, if any of you need someone to talk to I am always here.
Have fun reading and let me know what you think she is going to choose!