Hi everyone thanks for all the reviews, as always much appreciated. Sorry about the delay, college is taking up all my time at the moment and there is so much work.
Hope you like this
Chapter 14
April sat outside Sweets' office after school one day, it had been 6 weeks since the eventful reunion of her family and things were slowly going back to normal, and she was happy, it was taking time, but she hoped soon everything would be fine, she was still uncertain about how things were with her parents, but she hadn't expected that to be an easy fix, their trusting bond had been broken and it would take a while to be repaired, but everyone was determined to make it happen.
She and Seth were so close people said they were one, they already knew each other inside out, whoever said dating your best friend was a bad idea was very clearly wrong they decided. As for Libby, she saw her twice during the week and then she would often take her out at the weekend, she adored Libby and Libby adored her and her family
"April" she looked up when she heard her name, Dr Sweets smiled at her "come on in" he said, she smiled at him as she entered, this was her first real appointment since she had returned, she had seen him a couple of other times briefly and he had nattered away some psychology drabble to her before reminding her that she had an appointment due with him, so as she done in the past she had come to the Hoover building and met him here, her dad was in his office trying to catch up with all the work that he had missed over the past 5 months.
She flung herself down into her usual seat as she always did, she was so used to coming here that she now annoyed Sweets, because he couldn't read her body language, and analyse her, Sweets sat opposite her and studied her for a minute during which she relaxed herself and kept her expression neutral, eventually he looked at her "hi" he said "hi" she said giving a small smile "it has been a while" "sure has" she said, he leaned back in his chair "so… how've you been" April raised her eyebrows at him "how've you been, seriously that is all you've got for me, how've you been, you're an FBI psychologist and that is all you have" Sweets smiled at her "well you are kind of unique April, a first for me, I mean you are too much like your parents, thinking psychology is a load of rubbish, scorning it and taking the piss out of me, and you are the only person I know who goes looking for trouble" April smiled "yeah I suppose that's true, hey is that why you want to keep studying me, so that you can learn about me" he grinned "busted"
April smiled "and just between you and me, psychology isn't that bad, it helped me a few times whilst I was away" "oh" Sweets said "how" she grinned "it helped me figure out why I was taken and gave me the answers I needed" "ah" he said "so it got you into trouble" she winked cheekily.
"how's Seth" he asked "ok" April said signalling time out "I am not discussing my love life with you, I draw the line at that" he grinned "how about Libby" he asked a sly grin on his face making April think he knew something she didn't "she's good, adorable as ever, wish she was closer so I could see her more often and care for her" Sweets nodded to himself "what" April asked "Libby had a troubled start to life" he said gently "I read her file" "you know that babies form their first and primary attachments when they are very young don't you at about 7 months and that is generally with their primary caregiver" April nodded
"her mom beat her from an early age causing her to have an insecure relationship due to the inconsistent care she received and then it was taken away, and she was put into the Foster System and she suffered from deprivation and her attachments were basically severed, children without attachments struggle with life, but often they want to form an attachment with someone who they trust to look after them, and that is where you came into Libby's life, you protected her from harm and showed her affection, you basically saved her from becoming emotional, unable to love, and although she may not be able to understand it, she will always be grateful to you for saving her, she now sees you as her primary attachment figure" April smiled "ok why are you telling me this" "so you know how she sees you and that you must protect her "of course I will" April said fiercely "always" "Good" Sweets said with a smile "what is she to you" he asked, and April smiled "she is my little sister" she said "the little sister I always wanted" he smiled again.
"what about things with your parents" he asked changing the subject "things are good" April said "just good " he asked "as good as I would expect them to be after everything we have been through" April said pointedly, he nodded "again going back to attachments and although this generally doesn't apply to your age, I would say that you are going through deprivation too" April blinked "why" she asked "well generally when young children are separated from their parents for a short time they tend to go through three stages and after those stages the attachment is often broken, the stages are Protest or in your case denial, Despair where you kind of feel like you should give up and try to move on and then detachment where you tried to move on, often if the relationship reaches that stage you have to remake the relationship, you started the long term deprivation, where it affects future relationships and you became stronger and angrier and more independent, it can lead to affectionless psychopathy" April raised her eyebrows "are you saying I am a psychopath now" she asked and he chucked "no April I am not, I am just saying that it is going to take a while to recover, so let things happen in their own time" April nodded, "I know" she said "I think I have had enough experience with waiting for things to get better" Sweets smiled at her sympathetically.
He asked her about her foster families, and she told him what he wanted to know, he listened carefully, and was understanding, April found it felt nice to open up and tell somebody, when she had finished he just looked at her "you really are rather extraordinary" he said "how do you have the strength to carry on" she smiled "I know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel" she said, "and if we are talking about attachments I know that they are a long enduring emotionally meaningful tie to a particular individual, I know that it is extremely powerful and emotionally laden, so I know that my relationship with my family will get better, it has too, it is too powerful, and I know that my family is determined for things to back to how they were, we are all fighters so we are going to fight for our relationship" he smiled "well said" he said and April grinned.
"what happened to the diary I asked you to keep" he asked, April grinned and reached into her bag and pulled out the little blue book she had taken solace in writing in, she handed it to him and his eyes widened when he saw the pages and pages of neat writing "you like it" he asked, and April nodded "I do actually it really helped me during those months in the system, helped me stay in control, thanks" he grinned pleased with himself.
He asked her a few more questions before allowing her to leave "see you soon April" he said "and don't forget where I am if you need me" she grinned "thanks Sweets" she called as she exited, she was surprised to find her dad waiting outside for her "hey bud" he said calling her by her old nickname, she grinned, he spoke briefly with Sweets quietly, discussing something she couldn't hear, before he turned "come on then bud" "eager to get home" she questioned as he took off at a brisk walk, he grinned "already been home" he said "just came back to pick you up, got a surprise at home for you" "really" April said warily "you didn't cook again did you" he laughed and gave her a friendly punch on the shoulder making her laugh, "nah" he said "I think you'll like this" "what is it" she asked curiously, her dad only laughed "well it won't be a surprise if I tell you will it bud" she grinned at him.
XOXOXO
The drive home was done in silence April pondering what this surprise might be, when they arrived her dad grinned at her "come on" he said and he led her up the stairs to the room across from hers, he grinned before pushing the door open and stepping back "tah dah" he proclaimed. April stepped in frowning in confusion, the room had been repainted a pale pink in colour and there was new furniture, a mahogany wardrobe with a matching dresser, toy box and table. There was a rocker chair that had once been in her room when she was little and bookshelves lined with bright colourful books and toys, the bed was made of mahogany wood too with a pale pink quilt and resting against the pink pillow was a familiar faded pink rabbit.
April moved into the room and over to the bed, she picked the rabbit up and looked at it before looking around the room "Libby" she murmured, the spun round her eyes wide to find her mom and dad grinning at her and in her mom's arms giggling was Libby, "hey kiddo what you doing here" April asked, Brennan smiled as she set the young girl down and watched her run towards April squealing "April I get to come live with you" April's eyes widened further if that was possible as she scooped Libby up "really" she exclaimed and looked at her parents who nodded still grinning "far out" she exclaimed and laughed hugging Libby tightly, then still clutching the little girl she ran forward and hugged her parents, delight consuming her. Her parents had fostered Libby, brought her into their family, made her her sister, she would be able to make sure Libby was safe, she would always be safe now, because she would protect her, she pulled away from her parents "how" she gasped "I can't believe they let you", her dad laughed "I don't believe it either" he said "but your control officer seemed to think that having you there to guide Libby was exactly what she needed, she is due to come and check everything is good with you anyway so she can check on Libby then, in truth she was delighted when we told her what we were planning and she helped us make it final" April grinned, of course Sophie had done that, she really did care for her and Libby and she had seen how much they had cared for each other, she knew that they would care for each other and be there for each other.
She hugged Libby again and felt her squeeze her neck tightly too, she couldn't stop smiling. Brennan leaned against Booth smiling happily as she watched the her two girls together, she was delighted that they had been allowed to foster Libby, she really loved the young girl as if she were her own, she guessed she had known from the moment she had first met her that she wouldn't let her stay in the system, she was too young to have her life ruined like hers had been in those few years she had been in there, she hated the idea of any child being in there and if she could she would foster them all though she doubted they would be allowed, plus they were way to busy. They had discussed everything with the team at the Jeffersonion before they had finished applying, Angela had been delighted at the idea of caring for Libby in her office when they were working as she had done with April when she was tiny, everyone was willing to help them improve the young girls life, and she had no doubt that they were making the right choice and doing the right thing.
XOXOXO
April played in Libby's new room until it was time for her to go to bed, then she carefully helped her into a new pair of pyjamas and lifted her into the bed, she read her some stories that she chose from the bookcase until she was too tired to keep her eyes open, then she carefully turned off the light leaving only the night light on, "April" Libby said sleepily "yeah kiddo" April said pausing in the door "do I get to stay with you forever" April smiled "yeah Libs it is gonna be you and me forever" the young girl smiled and then closed her eyes. April moved into her room and pottered about for a bit, she played around on her computer for a bit before dressing for bed and turning out the light. She lay there smiling in delight, things were getting so much better now, she was happy with how things were happening. Just then she heard a creak and looked up to see her door crack open and a small figure came scurrying across the room into her bed, "hey monkey" April murmured "you have a bed for a reason" Libby didn't respond, she just snuggled up against her chest and fell asleep, April smiled and hugged her tightly, she let out a gentle content sigh and closed her eyes too.
And that was how their parents found them when they came up to bed a couple of hours later, curled up together, fast asleep, closer that blood sisters, Brennan grinned again as she clambered into bed and curled up next to Booth who hugged her tightly, he had been right, that little girl was the key to bringing his family back together, and soon the expanded family fell asleep content and whole, a family mended by one special child.
Hope you liked it, I think the next chapter (unfortunately) is going to be the last chapter (sigh) I have loved writing it, it has been fun, April is a cool character to write about which is why I want to use her in my crossover book – inbox me for more details
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Mysticgirl101