Made it to chapter 10, stoked!

Guests: I have had a few people talking about the twins being unhappy or not approve of Charlie being in their home forever (I have not decided fully how the story will play out) but I just thought i'd present my thoughts on the topic. The reasoning for the twins to be angry, that many people have mentioned, is the fact that Stef and Lena did not adopt Isabella. My thoughts on this is that Isabella had Ana and Mike, Stef and Lena also said no as they believed Ana didn't really want to give Isabella up rather she was suffering from post natal depression. Whereas Charlie literally has no one, no family. It's a very different situation.

Stef POV

Charlie has just finished telling me about her experience living in Shauns home, it shocked me how emotionless she was throughout the whole conversation. It was almost as if she was telling the story about events that happened to someone else rather then herself. Halfway through the story I noticed Callie shed a few tears but she was quick to wipe them away, she is always the one to try and stay strong for her family. I can now hear the girls having a chat in the living room, they already look to be comfortable in each others company, which is slightly surprising considering how long it took Callie to feel comfortable when she first came to live in our home. I pick up my phone to ring Tim Hamilton, Charlies social worker, I found his number on the Foster to Forever page. I press the number into the keypad and then put the phone up to my ear. After a few rings a males voice answers on the other end "Hello, you have reached Tim Hamilton from Foster to Forever. How can I help you?" "Hi Tim, my name is Stefanie Adams-Foster. I believe you are Charlotte Jacobs social worker?" Tim is quick to reply "Ah yes I am, has she done something?" He almost sounds irritated "No.. no she hasn't I just wanted to call to let you know that Charlie is currently with me at my home. Did you know she was sleeping on the streets last night?". There is a pause before Tim begins to speak again "As far as I know Charlotte had been in the care of.." I interrupt then "In the care of Shaun. Yes she was until he severely beat her yesterday afternoon, I'm not surprised that he didn't let you know that Charlie had run away as he was high as a kite when I saw him today". Tim seems to be taking in what I just told him because it takes a good minute before he replies "I.. uh.. i'm sorry you have been dragged into this Mrs Adams-Foster, what is your address? I will have someone come and collect Charlotte as soon as possible" of course this is his first solution "I don't want Charlie to be collected and put into another unfit foster home Tim, my partner and I have a current foster license so for now Charlie is okay to stay here with us. We actually adopted Charlie's big brother and sister a few years ago" There is another moment of silence on the other end of the phone "Hello? Tim?" "Oh yes, sorry Mrs Adams-Foster, I didn't know that Charlie had any siblings it is not mentioned in her file. She has had a few social workers throughout her time in foster care so sometimes information tends to get left behind" I cant help but roll my eyes and this is why the system fails so many children "Yes she does, a wonderful brother and sister that believed Charlie had been adopted almost ten years ago but I will talk to you about that when I see you" I want to find out about Charlies past but now is not the time we just need to sort out her livings arrangements at this moment "Mrs Adams-Foster.." "You can call me Stef" "Okay, Stef. I'm sorry but it is not in our protocol to place a child in someones home that is not in our system. Meaning Charlotte is not to be in your care until the appropriate paperwork and screening process for Foster to Forever has been completed" I can't help the scoff that escapes my lips, obviously not a very good screening process "And how long does that take Tim, Shouldn't us having a current foster license be enough? We have already been through this process many times and you are going to need to find emergency care anyway right?" Tims voice is now what of a stutter "Well.. yes.. that is true Stef. But our protocol states.." I feel frustration building up inside me now "I don't really care what your protocol states Tim. Send me the paperwork I need to sign, I will have it sent back to you within the next hour" "Mrs Adams.. sorry Stef. It is not that simple" I know I am probably not being the easiest person to talk to at the moment but unfortunately I am as stubborn as ever so i'm not going to budge at this point "Where will you be sending Charlie if she is not in my home tonight?" "Well.. well i'm not sure yet but.." "exactly, then I am saving you the trouble of finding somewhere for her tonight. She has a perfectly good place to sleep and we can discuss Charlies living arrangements more in detail when I meet you" I can hear a large sigh come from the other end of the phone "Okay Stef, it would be hard to find somewhere for Charlie tonight on such short notice. We would not usually do this because it's not protocol" I roll my eyes again, how many times does this man have to say protocol, I continue listening to Tim on the other line "but on this one occasion I will allow Charlie to stay in your care. I will send you all the relevant documents and if you can send them back as soon as possible that would be great" "I will. Thank you Tim" "Ehem yes, I will also be calling the state for a reference towards your past foster situations" "That will be no issue" I reply. We exchange details to start the process of Charlie's temporary living arrangements and organise Tim to come for a meeting in two days from now. Tim couldn't find time in his schedule for tomorrow. "Great see you in a few days Tim" "Yes, goodbye Stef. I will let you know once all the paperwork has been finalised, it should only take a few hours as this is an emergency case" we end the call and I give a sigh in relief, at least I can ensure Charlie a few nights in a safe place. I look up to the clock, Lena and the rest of the kids should be home soon, I sent her a text before we ate lunch but she has yet to reply. I grab my laptop out of my bag and decide to get started on this paperwork, I want everything to be sorted so we are free to relax and get to know Charlie this evening. Hopefully she will let me have a look at her injuries I could tell at lunchtime that they were really bothering her, I tried to bring the subject up when she was talking about Shaun but she was quick to tell me she was fine, the similarities between her and Callie are already growing. I sit in front of the laptop and open the unread email from Tim, a small smile escapes my lips, I am still in a state of shock in the fact that Charlie is currently sitting in my house and i'm going to do everything in my power to keep her safe.

Charlie POV

Stef is currently talking to Tim in the kitchen, I wonder how that is going to go.. he is not the nicest social worker I have had that's for sure; he is always very serious and to the point. Stef said that she is going make sure I can stay here tonight and she will organise a meeting regarding my future living arrangements, she didn't really go into detail and I decided not to ask, I don't want to get my hopes up about staying here. Callie and I have been talking for a few minutes now, she has told me all about her family here, she has Jude and two other adoptive brothers Brandon and Jesus, she also has an adoptive sister called Mariana. Anxiety overcomes me knowing i'm going to be meeting all these new people soon, Callie seems to notice because she is quick to tell me that all her siblings are really great and she's sure they will love to meet me.

After Callie has told me about her family she begins to ask me questions about my time in foster care, I shouldn't be surprised that these questions have come so soon and I'm still not used to talking about myself to anyone. Callie asks some easy questions first such as if i have been going to school and how long I was at Shauns for, these answers just slip off my tongue. However, I wasn't ready for the one that followed "Soo.." Callie begins "I'm so sorry we didn't find you sooner, I did try once but I didn't get anywhere so I stopped. I mean Jude and I thought you were adopted. When they took you away they said you were getting adopted? What happened Charlie?" I am instantly taken back from this question being thrown at me, I haven't been asked about this part of my life for a long time, heck I haven't even thought about this part of my life since it happened. I can't wrangle up the words to start my story, I feel my mouth open and shut a few times but nothing comes out, Callie reaches out and holds my hand in hers, it's weird how one simple gesture can help sooth the many emotions that are currently floating around in my head. I move my eyes to look at the hand holding mine for the second time today, so much has changed in just a few hours.

Eventually I get the courage to start telling Callie about how I got to where I am today. The start of my journey into the foster system is a bit of a blur, I mean I was only four, I feel my eyebrows scrunch together as I try to remember right from the very beginning "I don't really remember mum dying, I remember you and Jude crying and Dad being taken away. I remember you telling me that everything would be okay, you said that the kind man was going to take me to a new family, a fun family, you gave me a hug and then said goodbye. I remember trying to stay with you and Jude but the man picked me up and took me away" Callie is looking at me with sadness in her eyes as I recall our last moments together as a family, she doesn't say anything so I keep talking "The man, I can't remember his name because I only saw him that one time, he took me to an office building where I met Brian, Brian was my first social worker" Callie gives me a nod of encouragement to keep going "Brian is the one who took me to Sandra and Gregs house, my forever family, that's what Brian, Sandra and Greg told me anyway and I believed it, I truly believed it" I can't help the tears that have slowly started to form in the corner of my eyes, I haven't talked about my time at Sandra and Gregs for years so all the emotions that I have been holding in are slowly starting to bubble up to the surface. Callie gives my hand a squeeze and I continue talking "Sandra and Greg were really nice, they said they always wanted a daughter and I was the perfect girl to fill that place in their family. I was with them for about a year but I never officially got adopted, they said they were planning to but it was a long process before they could officially become my Mom and Dad. They were really nice and I loved living with them, they would buy me toys and we would have a delicious roast dinner every Sunday night" I smile at the memories flooding back "but then one day everything changed" my smile turns into a frown "I was at school and something happened, I was playing running games on the school field, where I blacked out" concern instantly fills Callies face and I have to look away from her before I continue "I remember glimpses of being in an ambulance and then at the hospital with lots of people around me. I was there for a few days before I went back home, well to Sandra and Greg's home. A few weeks later it happened again, I remember this one more because of the pain I felt here" I point to the centre of my chest "over the next few months the doctors did lots of tests and it turned out my heart wasnt working the way it should have been. Sandra and Greg were really nice about it to begin with, they kept telling me that everything would be okay. Once again I believed them" I scoff at the memory of how once again my trust in someone went badly for me. Callie is still watching me, listening to every word I am saying so I decide to continue "I needed to have a few surgeries to get things working normally again, the first two went fine. I stayed in the hospital for a bit but I eventually went back to Sandra and Gregs. I was told I would need a third surgery as my heart was still not working how they would like it to be working. It was now when I noticed Sandra and Greg started acting differently towards me, they stopped looking me in the eyes and they stopped giving me hugs and kisses" sadness instantly fills my chest and I now can't help the tears falling down my cheeks, I am still surprised that I am sharing this much about myself but I guess once I started talking I couldn't stop. Callie is drawing small circles atop of my hand, small soothing circles. I take a deep breath in before I share one of the hardest moments of my life "Before I went into my third surgery I said bye to Sandra and Greg, Sandra squeezed my hand but Greg wouldn't even look at me. When I came out they were gone, they didn't come and see me in recovery or the days that followed. Next thing I know Brian is standing in my hospital room with a backpack of my belongings. He said that Sandra and Greg changed their minds, he said that I was too hard now because of my condition, that they didn't ask to have a sick child. My heart was truely broken in more ways then one and from that day I offically became a foster child, that day I was offically by myself". Once Callie knows I have finished talking she instantly pulls me into a gentle embrace, the tears are freely falling down my face now, there is no way I'm going to be able to stop them, I feel my body shaking in sobs. All of my emotions that I have been holding in for half my life are now finally escaping, escaping in full force.

Well here it is, finally something about Charlie's past. What do you think?