Sorry, it's been so long. My laptop had to be completely wiped and this document didn't back up. I had all my ideas on it. I can still remember most of them but the timeline is a bit out now. So I have decided to jump ahead to my main plan for the story. This is set probably about 7 months after the previous chapter. Tee and Carmen have left.
"It's just because new children are arrive!" May-Li defended. Why were people not listening to her? She knew the girl the most and still people weren't listening. Mike put his hand on May-Li's shoulder. He knew that the woman had a strong connection with the girl.
"You are not moving her. She will not cope in a secure unit and she does not need to be there" May-Li explained.
"We don't have any foster carers available to take such a challenging child at this moment. No one would want to adopt or long term foster her" Helen said.
"You can't say that when you haven't even tried" May-Li thought back. She was frustrated with Farah's case. Why was Helen still the social worker? There had been so much talk about changing Farah's social worker, but they never did.
"It would be a wait of money and resources" Helen muttered. This meeting was going nowhere and no one was in agreement.
"Then I will take her" May-Li snapped.
"I will adopt her. I have adopted Alice's two children. We have more than enough room for another" May-Li said.
"May-Li, you need to speak to Alice about this" Mike said to her colleague. Usually he would be completely against a care worker adopting one of the children but Farah wasn't long any of the other children. This might be her only chance.
"You can't adopt Farah, Farah has Thai relations, she needs to be placed with those of a Thai ethnicity" Helen snapped.
"I'm Chinese" May-Li screamed "No one has ever spoken about Farah's ethnicity before so why is it just coming up now?"
"I need to speak to my manager" Helen said before standing up and leaving. Mike put a hand over the top of his head as she left. This was a messy case.
"Would you support me?" May-Li asked and Mike turned around and looked at her unsure what she was on about.
"If I adopted Farah, would you support me?" May-Li asked nervously. She knew that it wasn't usually the process.
"I would" Mike said, "I won't if it was anyone else but well it's Farah".
The Following Week
May-Li sat nervously next to Mike. Her boss took her hand and held it tightly.
"Do you support the proposal?" Karen, Helen's manager asked.
"I do, I believe that it is all about getting it right for the individual child and this proposal is right for Farah" Mike explained. He wanted this to work so badly. Karen looked over the proposal again before nodding.
"Then I will put it forward to the fostering panel" Karen said. She looked over it again before looking up at them.
"I was meant to be going to them this afternoon with a proposal but we have had to take an extension due to needing family agreement. Would you consider taking this forward today?" Karen asked. She noticed that no agreement was needed from Farah's parents which is often which delays placements.
"Of course" May-Li said. She wanted this to go through as quickly as she could.
Mike left as someone would need to be there for the children coming home from school. He wanted to be there to support May-Li but they couldn't both be away. Someone had to be at the house.
Waiting for the meeting was almost as bad as the meeting itself. May-Li walked into the room when called closing the door behind her.
After almost an hour, she opened the door again in tears. Not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy. She couldn't wait to go home and explain to Farah. She looked over at Helen who was not happy. Karen wondered over.
"Are you able to explain to Farah?" Karen asked. "She will also be getting a new social worker."
May-Li nodded, she couldn't wait to tell the girl. They had a rough plan set out but it would go at the girl's pace. It was all about Farah now, just about Farah. No one else matter.
May-Li arrived home and Mike greet her with a tight hug. He had been informed the news via email as the documents and folders needed to be updated instantly.
"Are you going to tell her?" Mike asked and May-Li nodded.
"She's in her room, she was a bit quiet" Mike explained and May-Li nodded. Farah being quiet was the norm now so she wasn't surprised. Her mutism had returned but she did still speak to May-Li. Only May-Li but they could work on that.
She knocked at the door, not getting a reply was common so she slowly opened the door. Farah was sitting at her desk completing her homework.
"Can you come and sit next to me?" May-Li asked. Farah agreed. She was nervous. She knew that there had been a lot of meetings about her future. It was making her so much more nervous and anxious. Then when she was anxious and nervous then she couldn't speak. It was just a vicious cycle.
So many thoughts were going through Farah's head as May-Li took her hand. Instantly with May-Li's hand near Farah started to trace the rings on her hand. She started playing with May-Li's hands. This was a key sign she was nervous. What was going to happen? Did she have to leave? Who would look after her? Was she on her own?
"We had a meeting today to speak about what we thought would be best for you in the future" May-Li explained, and Farah nodded.
"We have found you a foster family" May-Li explained. Farah froze. She thought that she wasn't getting a foster family, that she was too difficult.
"What if they don't like me?" Farah asked nervously.
"You don't need to worry about that" May-Li said, and Farah made a face.
"Why?" Farah asked suspiciously.
"Because you already know her" May-Li said. Farah's eyebrows frowned. She was confused.
"Then who is it?" Farah asked confused.
"Me" May-Li whispered. Farah's mouth dropped open.
"You want me? Why?" Farah asked unsure as to why anyone would want her.
"Darling, I want you to be my family. I have this connection with you. You mean so much to me Farah" May-Li explained.
"You'll be my mum?" Farah asked.
"If you want me too. I'll never replace your mother but I do want to be your mum figure" May-Li said and Farah nodded. She let the tears drip down her face and she fell into May-Li's arms.
"Is this for definite?" Farah asked. She was scared to become too attached.
"We went to the placement meeting today and it was approved" May-Li explained.
"What happens now?" Farah asked. This was massive for her.
"Well, we know that change is something that you struggle with so we want to make it really gradual. Everything will go at your own pace. So over the next two weeks, you will get to know my son and daughter. Then we will introduce overnights stays. Then it will move to you coming home for two days and the days that I am off. Then when you are ready we can move you in full. Once you are comfort in the family, then myself and Alice will adopt you" May-Li explained.
Farah burst into tears as she lent towards May-Li.
"Thank you for doing this. Thank you so much." Farah cried.
"You don't need to thank me. This is what our family needs" May-Li said and Farah let a sob out.
"I can't believe that I am part of a family" Farah said "An actual family"
"You are always part of my family" May-Li said. They snuggled up in silence for 10 minutes before going down the stairs together.
"When does this all start?" Farah asked nervously.
"We'll met with Karen tomorrow and come up with a plan. Remember that you are at the centre of this plan" May-Li said as she squeezed the girl's hand tightly.