Young April
A/N: so this is yet another completely random idea by broawaybabeWA and me. This is the first story on our joint account. Basically we've taken Martina McBride's Independence Day music video and combined it with Concrete Angel. April is adopted by the family we've created to be Will's family, when he's 4 and she's 7. We own nothing…. As usual.
April's POV
She comes back with the glass and it's full of milk again. I really like this stuff, it's so yummy, and it feels good when I drink it.
"I'm gonna make you something to eat, what would you like?" she says. This is the first time someone's ever asked me what I want to eat. I dunno, I've never had options before. It was either trash, or stealing some random thing from where they keep fruits in the store I guess.
I don't know how to answer her. I just keep drinking the milk. I've always kinda wanted to try this macaroni stuff.. or just something that's bigger than an apple, that half the time I couldn't even eat. My tummy still kinda hurts, maybe if I eat it might help, I dunno, but I don't wanna say anything either.
"do you wanna come look in the refrigerator and see if there's something you like?" she asks.
There's actually food in her refrigerator? Before it was just a tiny piece of something in a to go box, or yucky milk or something gross. I've never seen what it looks like with real food in it, so I just nod.
She helps me off the couch and this huge shirt that I'm wearing is a little hard to walk in, but it feels really warm. When she opens the door to the refrigerator I don't know what to think, or what I want. I really only recognize the milk, but I dunno what anything else really is. Do I tell her I don't know? Or will she think I'm stupid like everybody else does?
I guess she notices I'm really scared. She squeezes my shoulder, "How about I make you some macaroni?" she asks. I've always kinda wanted to try some, but never had lunch money at school. I tried to sneak through the line a few times, but they know I don't have money.
"okay.." I say. The last time I talked I got a cookie, so maybe if I talk I get food. That way I don't have to ask for it.
She smiles and gets whatever she needs to make it. I notice she has a stove, that's what started the fire. They put paper on it, lots of paper, and my school papers. I run out of the room and hide under that red soft thing. I don't want another fire.
Debbie's POV
She looked so confused when I let her pick out what she wanted to eat. I guess she's never really done that before. I think I'll take her to the grocery store with me next time, so she can start to figure out what things are. She agreed on macaroni, maybe they've fed it to her at school, I'm not sure. But she did run off when I sat the pot down on the stove. I think she's scared of things that let off any kind of heat.
I go into the living room and see a shaking figure under the blanket I covered her up with earlier. "honey…"
She whimpers, "no stove."
Oh god, that might be what they used to set the house on fire. That's the only connection she has to a stove in her mind, and now she's terrified. I don't know if I can explain that I'm only going to cook on it, and it won't hurt her.
I gently rub her back, and she stops shaking. "shhh, it won't hurt you. I promise"
She's quiet and just keeps whimpering. Maybe if I put in a movie she might be okay for at least twenty minutes so I can cook.
"how about I put in a movie sweetie?" I ask.
She nods and slowly peeks her head out from under the blanket. I just smile and she reaches for the pink bunny that had fallen on the floor, again. I hand it to her and notice her lips move into the tiniest hint of a smile.
"what do you wanna watch?" I ask, she probably hasn't seen any of the movies most girls her age love. I can see the confusion in her face again as I get up to grab some movies she might like. I show her some Disney stuff and somehow my Celine Dion DVD got thrown in the mix. She looks at it longer than any of the others and hesitantly points to it.
I smile and turn on the TV for her and she reaches for the chocolate milk. I sit with her for a few minutes and make sure she's settled before I get up to cook. She leans back on the couch with the cup in her hands and yawns.
I quietly get up and Greg comes in the door. He looks past me when he hears the music in the other room. "hey…" he quietly says, not wanting to startle her.
"hey, she's watching a movie. Hopefully I can keep her distracted long enough so I can cook, she was terrified of the stove" I tell him.
"I talked to Robert more and he said the fire chief isn't really sure what started the fire. He says things got pretty bad, and it's a miracle she got out" He quietly says, so she won't hear.
"Oh god. She's so lucky. I'm making her something to eat, I could hear her stomach growling the entire time I was giving her a bath" I say, pouring the pasta into the pot.
"I'm sure she's so hungry. Has she had anything since they brought her to child services?" he asks.
"they said she wouldn't eat. It was after midnight, she was traumatized and exhausted. She didn't even sleep, just cried all night." I tell him.
"poor thing, hopefully she'll get some sleep tonight. I know she needs it" He says. I doubt she will. She barely got any earlier.
"she passed out on the couch after I got her cleaned up because she was so tired. She woke up not too long ago because she had a bad dream. This is gonna be a long night for her" I tell him, still cooking her dinner.
"yeah, what are we gonna do about school? Robert said her school called and said she wasn't there today" he tells me.
"I'll call them in the morning and let them know she's with us. I'm gonna keep her out for a day or two just so she can get used to being here, and I need to get her some new clothes" I explain. She can't really go to school in Greg's big shirts, and I don't know if she's ready, or how far behind she is.
"that's probably a good idea. I know she has nothing, and I hate that she does. I may run to the store later and get her something.." he says.
"maybe, just let me get her to eat, and hopefully she'll relax more. I could tell she felt so much better after I gave her a bath" I tell him.
"I would think so. There's gonna be a lot of things we need to work on with her, but it's gonna be so much better for her later on" he says, as I drain the pasta.
"yeah, just stay here when I go get her to come eat, and then I'll let you meet her. She's such a sweet little girl. And already I've noticed simple little things confuse her." I tell him.
"okay. I won't say too much, I don't wanna scare her" he says, glancing into the living room.
I finish getting her dinner set up and walk into the living room. Her milk glass is empty again and she's almost asleep.
"sweetie, I've got your dinner ready…" I say to her.
She looks at me wide eyed like she doesn't believe me. She hesitantly uncovers herself and starts to get off the couch. I help her into the kitchen and she stares at the bowl of warm macaroni on the table. She relaxes just a little when there's a fresh glass of chocolate milk next to it. Which, if Greg gets anything at the store tonight it's gonna be another gallon of that.
She pays no attention to Greg, instead she hesitantly gets up in the chair, which I have to help her get situated. She just sits there looking at the pasta, unsure of what to do.
"it's okay honey, you can eat some…" I reassure her and she slowly picks up the fork and takes a bite. I notice another teeny hint of a smile form on her lips as she starts to eat. Probably her first real meal in a very long time. I sit in the chair next to her while she eats and soon the entire bowl of macaroni is gone.
She just looks at me when she's finished eating, unsure of what she should do next. This is when Greg walks over to where she can see him. He smiles at her, "hey April, I'm Greg…"
She mumbles hi in such a tiny voice you can barely hear her. She still looks at me like she's so scared.
"would you like me to get you some more macaroni?" he asks. She's probably afraid to say she wants more, I'm sure she does.
She looks a little confused when he asks if she wants more to eat. I can kinda tell she does by the longing look in her eyes. I nod and he smiles at her.
"it's okay if you do, I know you're probably still hungry" he tells her.
She gives him a small nod and he picks up her bowl and brings it back with more. Her tiny smile comes back and she starts to eat again. It probably feels so good to her to have some warm food in her system. I'll let her eat the entire pot if she's that hungry.
She finishes the second bowl and yawns. I know she's sleepy and even though it's still early, I want her to rest tonight. I can tell she's feeling much better because there's a little color in her face now. She gets up from the chair and that's the only way I know she's done eating. She slowly walks back into the living room and just sits on the couch.
I tell Greg he needs to get some more chocolate milk and maybe run by Kim's for some of the girl's clothes to get her through the next few days. He agrees and leaves to go run the few errands I wanted him to.
I clean up her dinner and I feel better now that she ate two full bowls of pasta and has been cleaned up. I glance into the living room and she's sound asleep on the couch. It was probably hard for her to sleep on an empty stomach.
I decide to let her sleep, and I text Kim and let her know that Greg might be coming by to pick up a few things. And then I decide to call my mom to check on Will. I let her know more about what's happened and she said she'd help with whatever she could. I tell her to wait until we can get her settled a little more since she's only been here a few hours.
Even though she's been here such a short time, she's starting to get better. I'm afraid she's so far behind in school though, I'm gonna have to hold her back a year so I can really work with her.
I just sit on one of the chairs in the living room by her and watch the end of the movie. Greg was right, it's gonna be a long night for all of us.