Hey y'all so real quick two things: 1. I have it in my head that Veronica is Latina, and her and her kids speak Spanish fluently, 2. Fair warning about a couple of things, there will be mature themes and strong language as the story progresses so be wary. That's all I got for now, see you on the other side.
Sabrina awoke from a loud knocking at the door. She turned in bed to look at her alarm clock; it was barely nine in the morning, and on a Sunday for Christ's sake. Still the knocking persisted. Clearly whoever it was didn't have enough humanity to let the house rest after the first one. Sabrina pushed herself out of bed and down stairs to the front door. She had given up hope of anyone else in her family answering the door, like always.
On the porch of the Grimm's still lemon yellow gingerbread house, stood a petite, strawberry blonde woman that looked to be in her thirties. She was wearing a navy blue pant-suit, and carried a brown leather briefcase in one hand.
"Did you know that in Ferryport Landing it's a crime to knock on someone's door before ten o'clock?" Sabrina said to the woman, hoping she'd scare her off. The woman ignored the question and instead asked, "May I speak to Relda Grimm?"
"Why do you want to speak to my Granny?" Sabrina eyed the woman suspiciously.
"I'm from the New York City child welfare agency. Now I need to talk with an adult, please." The woman curtly replied. Sabrina's belly did a flip flop as she realized what the woman was there for. As she was about to close the door in the woman's face Granny Relda came down the stairs.
"Oh my, who is at the door, liebling?" The old woman said in her German accent. Sabrina was frantically thinking of a way to get rid of the case worker, but the woman had already stepped through the doorway and stretched out her hand to shake. Granny didn't take it.
"My name is Isabelle Colette, from the New York City child welfare office. You must be Relda." She said as she let her had drop to her side. Granny's lips pursed into a thin line.
"Why yes, come in, I assume you're here to talk about the girls?" Granny motioned for them to follow her into the dinning room. Sabrina had hoped they had gotten rid of child protective services with Ms. Smirt. She could understand why they had sent a new caseworker, though. The girls had been under the radar all throughout the war, she wouldn't be surprised if the state had thought they were dead. Everything had just gotten so crazy with the war that just ended only two months ago. Even though the school was one of the first things built, Sabrina still was doing poorly in classes and even had started to skip them. She just didn't see the point in going anymore, they weren't learning anything in 7th grade that was useful. In her opinion at least.
The three sat down at the table and Ms. Colette began to take out some paperwork from her briefcase. The Grimm women exchanged nervous looks. It didn't take a genius to realize that she was planning on taking the girls. Sabrina also knew that it was too soon after her parents waking up, so they couldn't gain custody of the girls either. Sabrina just knew she'd need another escape plan.
"It has been brought to the states attention that one of the girls has not been functioning well under your care, Ms. Grimm." The woman quipped as she shuffled one the papers up to the front. It was Sabrina's case file. Sabrina had a sinking feeling; just one girl, meant that this time she'd be on her own.
Sabrina wondered why the woman only taking her. It had always been a package deal. "Why isn't my little sister being taken too?" Sabrina interjected. The case worker peered over at her. "Daphne Grimm? She has no reason to be taken from Ms. Grimm's custody. She has performed exceptionally in school, and is not a delinquent unlike you." It was either both Grimm girls or none. Why is it different this time? The thought of being separated from Daphne hatched a deep seated anxiety within her. Did these people specialize in tearing families apart?
"Ms. Grimm you do know that it is a federal crime to not relinquish a ward of the state when it is deemed they are no longer fit for your guidenceship. I am aware of the girls, and your record of aversion of authority. Upon that statement I have brought some NYPD officers with me on this occasion, just to make sure nothing unwarranted may happen." The woman stared coldly at Granny Relda. Sabrina's heart plummeted to her feet; all her plans to run the caseworker off fizzled out. This time, Sabrina knew she had to go with the nasty woman. She couldn't put her family in danger over some stupid custody case. Sabrina still got up and returned to the living room to peer out the window, and sure enough there was an SUV with the letters NYPD painted on the doors. She gulped and went back into the dinning room.
Granny looked nervously at Sabrina. Ms. Colette cleared her throat: "If you aren't aware your granddaughter, Sabrina Grimm, has been showing for quite a while that she is not doing well under your supervision. She rarely goes to school and when she does she receives poor grades. She has already been suspended twice and there has been even more threats of suing. Ms. Grimm do you see why the state is taking custody of her again?"
Relda cast her eyes down, and twiddled her thumbs, "Sabrina has just been going through a rough patch recently." Sabrina didn't even know what to say to the case worker herself; she didn't think it mattered anyway. "Ms. Grimm my point is Sabrina Grimm, as of now is no longer eligible to be your foster child and is going to be taken back to the Child Welfare center in New York City." The woman scribbled a few things on what looked to be a release document. Granny looked horrified: "You can't just take her away, She is my Granddaughter, and her parents are here as well."
Sabrina's breaths started to shallow and cold sweat collected at the base of her neck. They couldn't take her away from her family. She couldn't leave Daphne alone. She had just got her parents back, they couldn't take her now. As she was about to enter into hysteria, Henry came into the room.
"What's going on?" Henry said looking from Ms. Colette to his mother then finally to Sabrina, his daughter. Sabrina was sure the whole ordeal looked rather peculiar, with her miniature freak out and Granny's worried eye's meeting the cold green ones of the case worker's. The pant-suit clad woman moved her icy gaze to poor Henry. "Who are you?" she responded.
"I'm Henry Grimm, and you didn't answer my question."
"Ah, you must be the girl's 'parent'." Her eyes flicked between Sabrina and Henry. Clearly skeptical.
"What do you want with my daughter?"
"Her Grandmother has lost custody over her due to her negligence, so now she is a ward of the state. If you wish to gain custody over her yourselves, you must take it up in court, but this is not a matter of if or if not she is coming with us. I have the New York City police department waiting outside if you choose to not comply with the law." Henry looked shocked, like someone had just told him the most absurd thing in the world.
"Listen here, you'll not be taking either of my daughters. You're going to get back in whatever you got here in and then drive back to New York City and tell all the bozo's at your stupid 'Child Welfare' office to back off. The girls have parents that can take care of them just fine." He said through gritted teeth as he shook his fist at her.
As much as Sabrina wish a threat like that would work this time, she knew it wouldn't. The lady had a small police force behind her, and even if the family somehow drove them away, they could never get away from it legally. She didn't want her Granny or Father or Mother to get potential jail time. She knew I'd just be easier to go along with them and with her parents back they could file for custody over her. Her resolve solidified, she would go with the evil woman, her parents would get custody over her, and they would all live happily ever after. She stopped her freak out, this would all be over soon, it was all just part of the process.
"Dad." She said in an effort to get his attention. He ignored her and continued to argue with the caseworker. "Dad," she yelled, this time getting his attention, "look we don't have much of a choice. If we fight then that's jail time for you and me and Daphne might be put back in the system indefinitely, but if I go then no one goes to jail and Daphne doesn't have to be put back in the system either. In the meantime you and Mom can work to win custody over me and then we can all be back together and that way they'll never bother us again. Capeesh?" Sabrina said firmly. Henry shook his head.
"Sabrina I… I just can't let them take you again. What if they send you to another terrible home? What if this time you don't come back? I can't lose you again." He raked his hand through his hair.
"Dad I will make sure none of that happens. I promise you I will come back. I just need you to work on the whole legal part, and I'll work on the staying out of trouble part."
"But you'll be all alone, not even Daphne's going to be with you."
"Believe me, I can handle myself. This'll all be over in a matter of weeks I'm telling you. I'm going to go up stairs and get my things, could you guys tell everyone what's happening?" She turned and headed up the stairs before anyone could say anything else. Her room was the furthest down on the left. When the house had been rebuilt a few extra rooms had been constructed making enough room for each of the ten people who lived there a room for themselves and a few guest ones as well. The corridor was now measurbly longer, as one might imagine.
First, Sabrina knew she needed to change out of her pj's and into something warm since it being mid December. Then she started to pack, and decided to travel light this time around and pulled out the tiny suitcase that she had first brought to her grandmother's home over a year ago. She threw clothes, a few toiletries and finally her lock-picking kit and a pocket knife to boot in and slammed it shut. The orphanage was not like the one you'd seen in Annie. It was not a nice place, it was a place reduced to survival of the fittest. She held the cas, a cool tingle ran down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.