May 1st
Newa's adoption court day
"why hello there little princess, what brings you here today" asks Judge Abigail
"adoptian" says Newa giggling as she hugs them
"well miss Vega do you have all the forms in order, the CIA will only let you guys adopt her if you are serious about it, she is a high risk target" says Judge Abigail
"we do yes, we are very serious about it, we even asked the Chinese government who is working with my former boss to corner Huang if Newa had any living family, they let a CIA agent who I know very well accompany them on the search, because our first goal was to get her back to her family if possible, all they found were dead bodies, Newa warned us that they killed her mom so we should have expected that they'd have killed her whole family, they clearly wanted her terrified, she's bonded well with everyone in my quad, more than I thought possible, she's grown attached to us" says Tori
"is Cat stable enough to have her around all the time, we can't have Newa fearing for her life, I noticed Catarina isn't here today" says Judge Abigail
"her issue is her being borderline schizophrenic, anxiety has a tendency to bring it to the surface, this adoption process is terrifying her because she knows you seeing a flare up could derail the whole process, which makes her worse, she's always wanted kids, she knows she fits exclusion criteria but when she's around Newa I've never seen her so calm, Cat fully expects to be told she's not allowed to be around Newa, she doesn't expect any kindness from any parts of the adoption process and so far she's been demonized the whole way because of her condition, the media had made it seem like schizophrenics and borderline schizophrenics are always aggressive, she's anything but aggressive" says Tori
"what do they look like and how often do they happen" asks Judge Abigail
"she goes from super cheerful and mildly claustrophobic to terrified and mega claustrophobic, she's afraid of the building not the people in it, she becomes afraid that it's closing in on her, it usually happens once a day for anywhere from half an hour to almost two hours, Newa managed to navigate it as it was just beginning yesterday and pulled Cat right out of it, I've never seen anything like that, not with Cat, usually it's a ride out the storm deal, when we first moved to the Pensky Safety Centre Cat had broken a door in half during an episode because Zoey had mistakenly locked the door just prior to the event, Cat does not attack people, Newa isn't at risk, if anything she helps Cat's meds work better and make Cat a zero risk factor" says Tori
"it her eyes, you can see the fear, I tell her it not trap, that she safe, doors not locked, doors and walls not touch her wifout her consent then I huggie her and she calm down" says Newa
"the world could learn a lot from you Newa, I will approve the adoption on the grounds that if Catarina has a flare-up that Newa be allowed to spend time with her, no matter what is going on" says Judge Abigail
"you might not want to make it that open, Cat doesn't always wear clothes, it's a safe closed building with only two guys in the whole building, our Robbie being one of them, unless you want CPS called on her if anyone outside the building finds that out she's been naked around a teenager, there are some state police that take assumptions very seriously, people will assume that Cat is grooming her" says Zoey
"body positivity is important, since Newa should have been dead by now I'd say as she is thirteen, allowing her to see what her body could become is probably a good idea, it's also a good opportunity for her to learn about consent, as long as Cat never touches Newa inappropriately I don't see a problem" says Judge Abigail
"so they my pawents now" asks Newa
"yes, go home, enjoy your new life" says Abigail as she bangs her gavel
At home 1 hour later
"how'd it go babe" asks Robbie
"she's our daughter now" says Tori
"ok good because I bought a cake, Cat's sleeping again, she's been quite depressed and fearful about this, especially the rarely wearing clothes thing" says Robbie as Newa hugs him
"I love you dad" says Newa hugging Robbie tighter
"love you too kiddo now go cuddle with momma" says Robbie as Newa runs to find Cat
"the judge didn't have a problem with it, in fact when I explained why Cat wasn't here, that Cat had been demonized the whole way because of it I could tell the judge was not impressed at the stereotyping of the staff, her only rule regarding the clothing thing was that she can remain basically naked around Newa as long as she doesn't touch Newa inappropriately and Newa can't touch her inappropriately either, that seeing her naked will help with consent and learn about body positivity, that because under any other circumstances Newa would be dead that it be important we give her some freedoms" says Tori
"Cat had said goodbye to Newa before you guys left, she really hadn't expected to be allowed to be around Newa because of her condition" says Robbie
"I know, that's one of the things I told the judge, it would appear the judge hates discrimination as much as she loves putting orphans into loving families, which is to say a lot, she seemed to care more about what Newa has to say then what I said, one thing that concerns me though is how bad Newa's english is for her age, I was told that she was in a bilingual school in China" says Tori
"I doubt she was taught English, think about what she said about the container, she heard The shipper guy speaking Japanese, she understood him, most likely she was taught Mandarin and Japanese, like how us here in South California are often taught English and later in education Spanish because of our proximity to Mexico, Newa told me that her family was from an area of China that the Japanese once controlled, which is why it is likely she was taught Japanese, in case they invaded again" says Robbie as Newa and Cat walk towards them
"she called me momma, did it go through, I thought my involvement would tank the chances because of my condition" asks Cat
"as I was just telling Robbie I told that judge about how everyone had demonized you because of it, she appeared to be angry about that, you're allowed to be naked around her, as a way to teach her consent, as long as you don't touch her inappropriately when you guys cuddle the judge has no problem with it" says Tori
"I'd never touch her, I'm not that crazy, does she really think I'm THAT detached from reality" asks Cat
"no, she only added that rule after I said that her free range guidance rule could lead to CPS being called if anyone found out, I was surprised how understanding she was, she's never met you and she gave you more trust than the people who HAD met you, I'm surprised you're dressed today" says Tori
"Becca had to change my iv today, Quinn's rule is I have to be dressed for that, I hate this, I can't wear any of my fancy shirts, she has to take the tube off, leave the room so I can put a shirt on then she comes back to attach the new tube, that is if I don't accidentally pull the iv needle out, it's happened twice already, though I must admit she's pretty good at dealing with psychotic me" says Cat
"no psychotic momma, distressed, there a difference" says Newa
"I'm not trying to be rude Newa but I thought you had better English" asks Cat
"me too, egnish was optial for people my age, they prefer we knew japeese first, they not get along and they control my home area before, govment not certain they not try same again, they wanted us preparied for if it happen, egnish was not learned unless requed by parents, I already stuck out, mom didn't want me to stick out more…. I wish she could see me now" says Newa
"you've said Japeese several times now, I'm wondering why" asks Robbie
"my Japeese friend said it was easier for me to say than J-J-Japanese" says Newa chewing on the word
"is it because English is hard or is there a speech problem, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm genuinely curious" says Robbie
"the first one, I can say it in Mandarin just fine, engnish or whatever is hard, people think I'm faker because sometimes me gets it right then next I get wrong" says Newa
"Mom Zoey can help, she's a great teacher" says Tori
"weally" asks Newa
"my English is pretty good that way so sure why not, Tori has music to make and Robbie has work" says Zoey as Newa hugs her tight
"cuddle" asks Newa
"what does that mean for you, Cat and Tori use it to mean adult stuff" says Zoey
"she means actually cuddling, she's a kid Zo, why would you assume she means what I mean or what Tori or Robbie mean" says Cat shaking her head
"foget the cuddle, I'm going for a nap" says Newa heading off to her bed
"did I really spook her, I just wanted to know what she meant, you guys don't exactly make it easy for me" says Zoey
"yeah you spooked her, give her time, this is a new chapter for all of us, none of us thought it would be this easy, it's going to be insanely hard for her to adapt to a situation where she is respected, I looked up where you guys were taken, the society there is run by men, as defenders against the Japanese in case they ever attempt to take it again, women only serve as bearers of children and bringer of food for the warriors, a girl with Newa's mental strength and great memory retention would have been shunned, they would have rather have someone buy her than let her be someone important, her mom risked her life contacting the CIA for a reason, her mom died trying to ensure Newa could have the life she deserves, Newa has a lot to process so please give her time" says Robbie
"how do you know all that" asks Cat
"because I asked her about her mom, she said she'd overhead a conversation a man was having with her mom, about a plan to kidnapp a couple hundred girls from the area, that man was CIA as well as being her father, he was killed less than a week later, her mother took the risk of making that call to the CIA to come get Newa, by the time her mom hung up the phone, less than a minute later she was dead, the literal only reason they didn't catch Newa because she'd managed to get away, they only caught her because Tori had been in the country a few weeks and was there to get her, she'd missed several weeks of school, summer was about to begin, the ring was about to lose its chance to catch her for a few months, with the information she had they couldn't risk that" says Robbie
"why did she trust you with that information" asks Cat
"because Tori is the one who sent me to bring her here, where she felt safe enough to tell us the information we needed to end Huang's rule of terror, she trusts Tori above everything else, besides I'm friends with Jade's father, she knows nobody will hurt her while I'm friends with Jade's dad" says Robbie
"but she doesn't trust me" says Cat starting to cry
"Cat don't cry, she trusts you immensely" says Tori
"then why doesn't she tell ME any of this" asks Cat still crying
"because of your condition, she doesn't feel she should add to your fears, she fears that telling you this stuff will trigger an episode, she feels she requires permission to tell you this stuff, you are the only one she let's tuck her in at bedtime, given what she's been through that is mega trusting Cat, she's bonded to you the most, if you give her permission to tell you what she's been through then she will tell you, she loves you as a momma Cat, she wants to tell you but like I said she's afraid of triggering you" says Zoey
"is that what daughters are supposed to do, I didn't trust either of my parents growing up and I definitely still don't" says Cat
"as far as I know all of us have dysfunctional families, all we can do is try and be parents for Newa" says Tori