Amanda stood scared in the corner of the room while Jane put on some fresh sheets. Julia was searching her closet for some t-shirt and shorts for her to wear to sleep. As both had the same tall and lean body it wasn't that much of a problem to find some.
Jane turned to give the girl in the corner a reassuring smile. "We have you." She said, but she could only imagine the thoughts which were tormenting Amanda right now. Of course, the detective already had a plan. But she wouldn't say anything until she had discussed it with Maura and made a few calls.
She wouldn't let Amanda return to her home unless it was inevitable. The girl had befriended a Sargent with the police and this wouldn't go well. "Yes. We have you. And ma is with the police. She can help you." Juliet winked to her girlfriend, handing her the cloths.
Jane felt sorry for the girl who was looking lost and didn't dare to speak. "Why don't you come with us to watch the movie?" Jane asked, feeling that Amanda needed some distraction. When she saw that Julia and Amanda wanted to be alone, she left the room.
"What happened?" a worried Sophie asked when Jane walked into the living room, finding Maura and Will gone. Presumably her wife was putting their son to bed and Jane sighed when she slumped into the space next to Sophie.
It was then when she finally told her about what was going on. She could see that Sophie was feeling for the other girl and wrapped her arm around the shoulders. Like Maura, Sophie was petite with blonde hair. The girl rested her head on Janes shoulder.
"Why?" she asked, and Jane understood that she wanted to know why people did mean things and hurt other people. Even after more than 20 years at the police, Jane had no valuable answer to that question.
"I don't know." She sighed and kissed Sophies forehead. Sophie snuggled deeper into her comfortable warmth and their eyes remained focused on the screen while their minds were clearly elsewhere.
"Julia is going to share bed with you. Is this still okay?" Jane asked in her usual dark voice and gave a smile when Sophie nodded her agreement against her chest. The brunette felt her daughter shiver despite wearing on of her warmest hoodies and rubbed her arm.
Maura reentered the room with a glass of wine and a bottle of Blue Moon and sat down next to the brunette. She pulled her legs under her body and rubbed her head. "Will is finally asleep." She mumbled and reached for Janes hand.
"We need a bigger house." Jane mumbled after all of their kids had gone to bed. Her eyes were glued to the TV, but she felt how Maura understood what she was saying. The doc moved into her arms which were still warm from Sophie being there.
"I know what you are thinking, and I know that we cant let her go back to her family." Maura slowly said and Jane rubbed the scar on her hand sensing a but.
"But as you said, we have no room left for Amanda."
Jane bit her lip, before taking a sip from her bottle. She knew that Maura was right. "I don't want her to go to some random foster family Maur." She replied and for the first time since beginning the conversation looked up to meet her wife's eyes.
"I know Jane." The doc said with a pensive glance. "But I really don't know where to put her. She deserves a room of her own. And we don't know if cps won't decide to let her with her family."
Jane moved her lip forward, pouting stubbornly. "They hardly can after seeing her back, can they? And we haven't even seen the rest of her body. Who knows what else is hiding underneath the long sleeves?"
Maura squeezed her hands and sighed deeply. Both fell silent, ignoring the TV where the final credits of the movie were rolling down.
"Do we know if she had any siblings?" Maura asked silently.
"No, I'm an only child." Amanda's voice was coming from the doorway and startled them. She still bore the frightened look on her face. "And I don't want to go to some foster home." She stated, pulling nervously at the shirt Julia had given her.
Maura glanced at Jane who asked Amanda to sit with them. "But you want to leave home, right?" she asked, getting no reply but an insecure shrug.
"Would it be okay for you if we found you a foster home? A good one with no bad surprises?" Jane asked to earn the same shrug.
Maura bit her lips. "Would you like us to foster you?" she questioned the teenager to Janes surprise. And Amanda didn't reply to that question either, but her eyes flickered and gave away her answer.
"Then you should call your friend at CPS Jane." The doc said and two pairs of eyes glanced at her in surprise. "We are going to change our office into a bedroom." Maura simply explained.
Only Jane knew how much the office meant to the doc and what a sacrifice she was just offering. After seeing determination in Maura's face the brunette nodded and reached for her phone on the coffee table. "I hope he can help us." She mumbled while leaving the room to make the call.
His name was John and Jane had met and befriended him after a difficult murder case. John picked up after the second ring greeting Jane joyfully. "Hey, haven't heard from you in ages. How are you?"
Jane replied that she had been busy with the kids and all and that she was fine. Then she jumped right into the matter and described their situation. When there was no immediate response, she already knew that this wasn't going to be easy and sighed.
"Well, I won't say that there is no hope, but you will have to go through the process all of the potential foster parents go. This means lots of paperwork, home visitations, interviews… This can be very time consuming. It is possible that Amanda will be taken away from you until you get the ok from CPS to foster. We are speaking of a time span of at least half a year."
Janes heart sank. In half a year Amanda would either be harmed by her father or see some foster homes which would harm her soul for the rest of her life. This didn't sound good and she said so.
"Well, at first you have to take pictures to prove the abuse. At the same time, you should start the foster process. I have a friend who owes me something. I will ask him for a favor. Maybe he can speed up your application." John stated, sounding as if he was already looking for what to say to his friend.
"We can't let her go home." Jane pushed John who laughed bitterly. "He knows that I'm a cop. What if he assumes that I have seen her body? This will put him in front of a judge. She is really in danger."
"I know Jane. Give me some time to work stuff out. Keep her safe as long as you can. I promise I'll come back to you tomorrow."
Jane sighed and thanked him. Their case was in good hands. But she wasn't only worried about the process lasting so long but also about the thought that they would have to make Amanda showing them all possible marks and wounds on her body.
And how on earth could she tell them the news?
"John is going to work something out. He will call me tomorrow." Was all she said, feeling Amanda's heart sink. "Hey, its going to be okay." She whispered and pulled her arm around the girl who kind of shrieked, not being used to such kindness. "You don't know that! And I can see by your face that things are bad." The girl huffed.
"It will be fine." Jane insisted and pulled her arm away. Then after clearing her throat she asked Amanda if they could take pictures. Of course, Amanda was enraged and refused to show her back to them again. Ashamed, despite being the victim she jumped from the couch.
"You should let them." Julia's stated, padding into the room. Hell, was everybody awake? Jane asked herself to watch the two girls intertwine fingers. An unusual sight as they never showed affection in public.
"Can Maura take them?" Amanda seemed to give in. Her voice was small and her eyes resting hopeful on the doc who replied instantly. "Of course, honey."
Amanda sighed frustrated and walked ahead into Julia's room. Jane and Julia remained on the couch, both nibbling at their thumbs. Like mother, like daughter Jane thought while keeping an eye on the watch over the doorway.
It was a never-ending seeming hour later when Maura walked back into the room with a grim expression on her face. And Jane lifted herself from the couch to pour her wife another glass of wine.
"I promised not to show them to you." The doc stated flatly when Jane came back. Julia had left to console Amanda. The brunette knew that she had to respect that. But she also knew by the fact that she wasn't allowed to see the pics and by Maura's way of acting that it was much worse than she had imagined.