The little girl

by Linneagb

Post series. The Cohen's, including Sophie Rose now six years old take in a foster child during the holidays. She's only staying until after new year's so nothing could happen... Could it? Well it could. So what happens when it's all about to happen in the worst possible way?

2. The girl who glares

Thanks to Tif S, GleeJunkie007 and "Guest" for reviewing.

And also thanks to Tif S and GleeJunkie007 for helping out with describing their Christmas traditions.

When I asked in the ending A/N for the first chapter that you could send me a poem about what your Christmas traditions. I meant PM XD. I need to start paying more attention when I'm writing.

December the 24th 2013. The girl who glares

"Okay, all of you guys…" I forced the nervous shiver in my voice away. "The last thing Annie needs right now is for us all to come greet her at the door. So you wait here. And I'll go." I turned towards the hallway just as the doorbell rang once again. "I'M COMING."

Just as the doorbell rang yet one more time I opened the door to my friend Doug, and a girl I didn't recognize but that would have to be this Annie. And boy, well this was something of a first impression. Dressed in a stripy off-the-shoulder sweater with a big print of a red rose, black tights with a spray painting print, two different knee-high socks in bright colors pulled up over the slacks, bright red sneakers, a dark blue baseball cap and a floral patterned backpack that for some reason Doug was holding onto the handle off.

"She tried to run away." Doug told me without greeting. "But you won't try that one again will you?" He looked down on Annie who only rolled her eyes and glared on him. "Thank you so much for doing this Sandy. Annie, this is Sandy. Whom you'll be staying with from now on. And Sandy, I'd lock the doors and keep an eye on her. She is a runner."

"Thanks for the advice Doug." I still couldn't take my eyes off the young girl and her crazy clothing style. "But I prefer to trust the ones who live under my roof. Hello Annie." The young girl glared up at me. "You already know my name is Sandy. I suppose you would like to meet the rest of my family. Or would you like to see the room you'll be staying in first?"

"I don't care." Annie rolled her eyes at me. "This is just another sucking foster home anyway. I bet you, you'll have kicked me out before Boxing Day."

"Oh…" I was knocked off my feet and couldn't think of anything to say. "Hopefully we'll be able to get through this without that kind of drama." I smiled nervously. "Maybe room first. So you can put away your things. KIRSTEN?" I heard footsteps, then Kirsten came out of the kitchen and down the hallway. "I need to talk to Doug for a moment. I'll be back in a second. Maybe you could show Annie to her room." Kirsten smiled towards the young girl in front of us, but I did notice the tense expression on her face and in her body language. "Annie, this is my wife Kirsten. Kirsten this is Annie."

Annie's glare didn't fade when she turned towards my wife. But she did walk after Kirsten and left me and Doug in the hallway to be able to talk only between us two.

"Maybe I should have started off with telling you this but you might want to know this is her fifth home since she was taken into care not even two months ago." I raised an eyebrow. "She's a nine year old monstrous hurricane. She finds a way to chase everybody away. But believe me Sanford Cohen, if there is anyone that can help this girl. It's you."

I did notice the way Doug was just going on and on. Probably not to give me a chance to protest for anything or literally scold him for what he seemed to have done to me and my family? And the part that felt the very worse was that none of us even knew what he had or could have done to us yet.

"Also I never got the chance to tell her this is only meant to be temporary." I could feel my stomach drop. "Come on Sandy. I just couldn't do that today. It's Christmas Eve. Anyway. I'll go straight to the office and then send you an email with the number and email to one of my colleagues. I'll be going to my son's and his family's tonight and take some time off. So" He looked around him slightly. "Goodbye."

Before I had the time to say anything else Doug had turned in the other direction and was out the door slamming it after him and I gave a deep sigh.

"Just typical Douglas Anderson." I mumbled grumpily to myself. "Leave the hard work for somebody else. Hey." Kirsten and Annie came back into the hallway. "Come meet the rest of us." I laid a hand on her shoulder and led her to the kitchen, she glared up on me and shook it off. "You've already met Kirsten?" I ignored what she did and continued. "And these are our children, Seth, Ryan and Sophie Rose. Then there's Seth's wife summer and Ryan's friend Adam. Everybody, this is Annie. It's a bit crowded, but you can sit… There, in between Adam and Kirsten. Is that alright?"

Without a reply Annie walked around the table and sat down. And not until then, when she passed Sophie Rose I noticed how small she was. There were three years in between the two girls, but Annie was at least skinner and I was pretty sure if Sophie Rose stood up we would spot she was shorter too. And no. That was not the way it was supposed to be!

That was the first time I felt that gust with worry about what on earth had happened to her before she came here.

"Let's eat then." I said and tried to smile and sound happy while I picked out another plate, glass, knife and spoon out of the cupboards and drawers for Annie. "Suit yourselves." Annie looked around her, then practically climbed onto the table and hit Ryan's hand to reach for the mashed potato. "Hey, take it easy. There's food enough for everybody. And if you want something, ask someone to pass and do not climb on the table." Annie glared up on me. I was starting to think she glared a billion times more than she ever said anything at all. But she did sit back down on her chair so my goal was reached. "Thank you."

"Hey Blondie." She called out for Ryan's attention and I suppressed a sigh. "Give me some turkey would you?" Ryan raised an eyebrow while she was holding her plate towards him. She was really talking rudely and if it had been Sophie Rose we would have scolded her and asked her to say it nicer. But this wasn't Sophie Rose, and with a sigh he reached for the plate with the turkey. "Come on Blondie. This is heavy. So if you don't want me to drop the plate in the middle of the gravy bowl then give me some turkey now."

Ryan didn't look too pleased about the new nickname. But he did as Annie told him with an apologetic look towards me. While Annie only glared at him until he put up more turkey for her and she must have had a portion of Turkey and mashed potato that would have lasted for at least three portions of somebody else her size and age. And without even saying thank you to Ryan, she put the plate in front of her, poured over God knows how much gravy and then started shoving great bites of mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy into her mouth.

"Annie." I told her. "Nobody's going to take that food from you. And you're going to get a stomachache if you keep eating like that." Annie only glared at me once again and then kept on shoving food into her mouth.

"Daddy." Sophie Rose tugged my shirt for me to lean closer so she could whisper in my ear. "I know I'm not meant to say such bad things. But she is very rude. And on top of that she smells."

I was on my way to scold Sophie Rose for saying that. But I couldn't find the words when I realized that she was right. Annie did smell, badly. I had just been so chocked by her crazy clothing style earlier I hadn't noticed. She did smell (And look) as if she hadn't ever had a shower actually. I could see the dirt on her face, on her hands when she pulled them out of the too long sleeves to eat, and on the shoulder that wasn't covered by the sweater she was wearing. I could see more on the shirt, and her dark, long hair was thick and greasy. It was pulled back in a braiding but tresses everywhere had found their way out of the rubber band holding it and was flying around her face and neck at every move she made.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

I hadn't even noticed myself. But I must have been staring at Annie ever since she came her. I now nodded slightly in an apology to her and looked around the table to see one of my sons sitting writing something on his phone.

"Ryan. It's Christmas Eve dinner. Can't you at least put away your phone for the next half hour or so? Please?"

"Okay then. I only had to make an early present ready and I'm finished now." I noticed Ryan was just putting his phone in his pocket. "I know there are two early Christmukkah presents tonight. While most of them will be opened in the morning on Christmas day. I'll just be going to get one now." Ryan stood up and left the room. I heard him walk down the hallway, then opening the door and as he came back towards the kitchen it sounded like someone was coming with him.

Barely did I have the time to wonder about that, or about the fact that I didn't recognize the woman who came with Ryan, before seeing Adam's great, big smile in the corner of my eye had me turning around just as he shouted.

"MUM." Adam more or less flew onto his feet and over the kitchen floor before he tightly and quickly embraced the woman, obviously his mum. "What are you doing here? I thought you were working all Christmas. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"If I had told you it couldn't have been a Christmas present." Mrs. Jensen was wearing a smile at least as big as her son's. "I was but…" she silent and glanced towards Ryan.

"Oh never underestimate the power to persuade of an Atwood." Ryan blinked. "We've got our ways. Oh and Sandy. I told both Adam and Sarah they could spend their Christmas… Christmukkah here. And that means we need one… sleeping place more."

"Well…" I looked around the whole place and counted on my fingers. "Maybe Sophie Rose could sleep in the same bed as me and you Kirsten and then Adam in her bed and then…"

"NO." Sophie Rose protested. Say what you want about her. She did have a strong will when she made up her mind about something. "I was going to have a sleepover with Ryan."

"Actually I… I have got one of these thick blow-up mattresses in my car." Sarah said and interrupted before I had time to say anything and still scratched my neck in a distressed gesture. "I guess. If we can fit that in somewhere someone can stay on that."

"Can I sleep on that?" Adam as good as bounced up and down. "It's so comfy. Then, I was going to sleep on the couch so mum could sleep there. And then I can sleep in the living room too so I and mum are together. You don't mind sleeping on a couch do you mum?" Sarah shook her head and breathed in to try and say something. "And don't even bother saying you didn't want to be a bother."

"A bother you're absolutely not. None of you are. Well that's settled then." I clapped my hands together after putting yet another plate and glass on the table and then went out into the hallway. "Does everybody know where they're going to sleep later on? Good. Here." I found another chair in the hallway that we used for when we had to sit down putting shoes on. "Adam and Ryan, can you move a bit so Sarah can sit here. There you go. Suit yourself Sarah." I gestured over the table. "We've got food enough for everybody. Now, I know this is usually the kind of food one eats on Christmas day. But we prefer to eat it Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day. Just to be special we eat an anti-Christmas-dinner."

"Ryan said there were two early Christmukkah presents today." Sophie Rose said. "What was the other one?"

"That's on us." Seth stood up. "Or, not really. Summer are you finished? Just a minute, we'll be right back."

After everything and all the lying with Brown and drugs and God knows what more a few years ago, Seth hadn't told a single lie. Which I knew because I could now perfectly tell when he was. But of course, people weren't supposed about Christmas presents before they opened them. And the look on Seth and Summer's faces when they left just had me so sneaky.

"Oh look." I almost shouted when they came back into the kitchen having changed clothes, and selves. "It's the ironist and little miss Vixen…. But what are they doing here?"

Summer and Seth looked to each other and smiled, and while they kept smiling. I couldn't fail to notice Seth's hands shaking when he pulled up something that looked like a piece of fabric in different colors from his pocket and unfolded it.

It was a baby bodysuit. White with some text on the front. The letters on the front and a small cloak attached to it was patterned in light pink and blue.

"Little S." I read out loud from the text on the front of the suit. "Coming June the 24th 2014"

"Oh my God." I still hadn't gotten a thing about this when Kirsten's almost shout interrupted my wondering. "Summer… Are you pregnant?"

"Yes." Summer nodded and replied with a smile from ear to ear and her eyes just shining with joy. "Yes I am." She then took the bodysuit in her left hand and grabbed onto Seth's hand with her right. "We are. And we kind of had to tell you today. Or you would have worried when I, tomorrow morning, the first thing I do tomorrow morning. Is sprint to the bathroom and puke up all of what I've eaten today. Plus we do have another big present for you all for tomorrow and we figured we would split them up. Because then you have one big, happy surprise today and then one big, happy surprise tomorrow. Is everything ready for tomorrow or should I help with something?"

I'd have to say that during the whole year and our whole Christmukkah traditions. Christmas Eve was one of my favorite days of the whole year. After the late dinner we always had we would never have any plans. Except for setting ready only the last couple of things for Christmas day. And especially with all of these people in the house… It was only one of my favorite days ever.

Ryan, Seth, Sophie Rose and Adam sat playing one card game after the other. Well, Adam switched in between doing that and reading Harry Potter which the others teased him for since he was so gone into his own world while reading. Kirsten and Sarah were talking to Summer about whatever things around being pregnant and having babies. And really, that was a subject that could go on for two hours?

And I was just so filled with the joy and the love in the house I didn't know where to turn.

And then there was Annie.

When we came from dinner she had sat down on an arm chair in the corner of the living room. And there she sat and glared around her through the whole while everybody were doing theirs. And no matter how many times Sophie Rose or Seth tried to get her to join them.

She just sat there and watched. Glared more likely. And there was just something in her eyes that wanted to rip my poor daddy heart into pieces. What on earth had hurt this so very young child so much?

"Almost everything is finished. But I'm not sure we should use the stockings this year." Kirsten came up to me with the pile of stockings we used to hang by the fireplace just as everybody were on their way to bed. "I mean, we have for us and Ryan, Seth, Soph and Summer. But then there's three of us that doesn't have one."

"No." Seth had heard and interrupted. "We can't just leave those behind. They have to hang by the fireplace."

"Yeah. But it just doesn't feel right putting these up when only six out of…" Kirsten counted on her fingers for a second. "Nine people here have got their name on each sock."

"Then how will Santa know where to put the small presents." Suddenly Sophie Rose came along too and came leaning against me. "All of those that would get lost if we put them among the other big presents. And I mean, the stockings are supposed to hang there on the fireplace. They always do and it wouldn't be right if they weren't there."

"Well…" Seth started. "I agree with Sophie Rose but…" He leaned closer to me and Kirsten. "Do any of you have any ideas for presents or any presents at all for…" He nodded towards Annie in the corner of the room. I could feel my stomach drop again. Were we going to leave a nine year old without any presents for Christmas?

"That's' fine." Sophie Rose said. "Santa does have presents for her. You know he does. And maybe we could hang the stockings there. And then put a note for Santa Claus by them, that he can still put all the presents on the floor by the tree. Even the small ones, but without putting them far in under the tree so we can see and find them anyway? And then I can write the note so he can see I've been a good and big girl who learned how to write."

"You don't really believe in Santa Claus do you?" Annie snorted at Sophie Rose before anyone else had the time to reply. And her smile faded off. "Because you're six years old. And only like two or three years old believe in Santa Claus." Almost hyperventilating and with eyes opened wide Sophie Rose looked up on me.

"Daddy?" I brainstormed for a good enough answer. "Daddy? There is a real Santa Claus isn't it? One who lives in the North Pole and makes toys and nice presents for children? Well behaved children like me? And not for naughty ones." Sophie Rose glanced towards Annie. "And you're naughty. Santa won't want to give any presents to you. Because he is real. He is, right daddy?"

"Yes of course he is." I stroke Sophie Rose's hair and gave Annie a stern glance. "You know he always comes and leaves Christmas presents for you during the night to Christmas day. Doesn't he?" Sophie Rose nodded towards my shirt. "Now. Go to bed, I'll be there in a second and when you get up in the morning Santa Claus will have left you loads of nice presents. Okay?"

"But the note…"

"Go and write that note and then go to bed and I'll come and get it there okay?" Sophie Rose nodded up at me, then pouted while she looked down on Annie.

"I don't like you." She said and stomped her foot looking at Annie. "You're rude and mean and you…"

"SOPHIE Rose Cohen." I interrupted, loudly at first so I would interrupt what she said. "You don't say things like that. Now say you're sorry."

"Sorry Annie."

"Like you mean it."

Sophie Rose didn't look too pleased, but on the other hand Annie didn't seem to care at all where she sat slumped in the chair in the corner and glared around her.

"I'm sorry."

Before anything else Sophie Rose had left the room and with a glance towards Annie I checked if Adam needed help with the pump for the mattress Sarah had had in her car. Then went to check if Kirsten and Summer needed any help. Which they didn't, actually they were sitting talking about pregnancies. So I decided to leave them to theirs and searched up the boys who were playing go fish. No video games on Christmas Eve! And at last I went to Sophie Rosie's room, where she laid under the covers, with the finished note in her hand.

"Do you promise me there is a real Santa Claus daddy?" Sophie Rose sniveled while she handed me the note to put by the fire place. "A real one with Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen and Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen and then Rudolph with the red, glowing nose. There is? Do you promise?"

"I promise." I squeezed her hand. "And you know I never make promises I can't keep."

Of course he was real. To everybody who believed in him. Including my daughter who looked at me with those big, blue eyes shining with joy for tomorrow.

"See you tomorrow then." Sophie Rose laid down and pulled the covers up to her chin. "And I didn't mean what I said. I do like Annie. I just didn't like what she said that Santa wasn't real." I nodded and leaned over to kiss Sophie Rose's head.

"Of course. I know that. Don't worry about it now. I'm sure you'll be best friends when you get to know each other better."

"And when Annie has a shower."

"That too. Goodnight Sophie-Soph." I stood up to leave. "Sleep so will the time go by fast until you can come up and start opening presents. Sophie Rose smiled again, then turned towards the wall and I left the door barely opened when I left. "Goodnight."

Well. There might not be many years ahead of us with Sophie Rose still believing in Santa Claus and all of those small joys of Christmas. So I was going to do my best to keep the magic alive for her and with that thought in my mind I went to lay the note Sophie Rose had written by the fireplace and the stockings.

"Hey." When I came into the living room Annie was still on the chair in the corner, but she was yawning tiredly and seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. "You can go to bed too." I told her and went to sit down next to her. "It's been a long day for you, so you've got to be very tired. Do you have a pyjamas or something like it to wear?" Annie glared back at me, but at last moved, stood up and almost ran out of the room.

"Nope." Soon enough Annie was back and shook her head. "No pyjamas. I shouldn't have been surprised though. I set most of my things on fire before I left the Stephens' house." I couldn't help but freeze in my steps and raise an eyebrow at her.

Oh dear God. What was it with this girl?

"I did!"

"I believe you. Soph's asleep in her room so I don't want to go in there. So you're going to have to borrow something from me or Kirsten to sleep in. Is that alright with you?" Annie shrugged and didn't seem to care. "Well come with me… Here…" I found a pair of shorts that belonged to Kirsten in our closet. "They could fit you and… Do you mind wearing a T shirt of mine?"

"Don't care."

Of course you don't.

"Do you remember where your room is?" Annie didn't answer, but her silence and her eyes spoke the truth. "Here, I'll show you." I led the way. "Annie. I just wanted to say some things…"

For some reason Annie didn't care that I was still in the room and the door wide open when she started changing clothes. I did though, so I pushed the door almost closed and looked away.

"You know. You can trust us with anything if there's anything you want or so." I told her looking away. "Even tonight. If it's in the middle of the night it doesn't matter."

"Can you help me here?" Annie didn't answer me, but I had to turn when she called out for me. She was all dressed again, and the clothes she'd been wearing laid in a smelly pile on the floor. The shorts she had borrowed could be tied around the stomach and she held them up. "I can't tie them tight enough." I took the two yarn pieces in my hand and she could easily fold the fabric in between the holes.

My God. Hadn't this girl ever eaten?

The sleeves of my short sleeved T shirt were almost by her wrist and the shorts reached down below her knees. She was tiny. And that was with being skinny as a freaking thread. And all of those scars. Because if she had as many scars on the rest of her body as she had on her hands and legs it was bad… worse than anything I had ever seen before.

"There. All tied." Annie got into bed and I backed towards the door. "Come and get me if you need anything okay?" Annie only glared at me, turned towards the wall and pulled her covers over her head. "Goodnight then."

As I must have expected, Annie didn't answer me. So there wasn't much else for me to do than to go out to the others again, closing the door to Annie's room after me and hope that she had listened to what I had told her about if she needed anything.

"Goodnight Sandy." I met Ryan in the hallway. "Is Soph asleep?"

"She is. But she's very much looking forward to her sleepover with you." Ryan smiled- there weren't many who had Ryan wrapped around their little finger as our Sophie Rose and he absolutely adored her. "Goodnight Ryan."

"We're going now too." Seth and Summer came up in the hallway too. "And when you wake up tomorrow I'm going to be puking my guts up. But no worries okay? Or is there anything else I can help out with here right now?"

"No." I answered them. "I and Kirsten only need to take a few, wrapped presents we hid and put them under the tree. See you tomorrow." I turned into my and Kirsten's bedroom and got some bags with presents before I went back to the living room. "Everything is done and finished for tomorrow now. We just need to put these under the tree. Okay?" Adam smiled tiredly when I and Kirsten came into the living room and passed the couch and the mattress Adam laid on to be able to reach the Christmas tree.

"Wait." I first flinched, then froze in my steps when I saw Adam's bottom lip tremble. "Are you telling me that… that… that… that Santa isn't real? That it's only you and other parents doing these to make me believe in Santa" Adam started fake crying and Sarah sitting on the couch behind him couldn't help but laugh. "Mummy. Is there really no Santa Claus?"

Well. The joke would have worked a whole lot better if Adam himself hadn't started laughing in the middle of pretended crying.

Or if Sarah hadn't thrown a pillow right in his face.

"Ow. Mum." Adam laughed even worse, then pulled the pillow off and smiled up on his mum. "Mum?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really happy you're here."

I couldn't help but smile as I, quietly not to disturb the moment with mother and son Jensen walked out of the living room and upstairs to mine and Kirsten's room and bed.

"About Annie." Kirsten started as soon as I was in the bedroom and had closed the door behind me. "We can safely say she's got no table manners." Kirsten stated when we both laid only staring up into the ceiling. I wouldn't know what Kirsten was thinking but those pictures of Annie coming, around the dinner table and in the living room on the insides of my eyelids wouldn't leave. "Or any manners at all. Sandy are you listening to me?"

"Yeah." I returned to reality and now. "I just… I am a hundred and ten percent sure that if we just give her a chance there's going to be more to her than just that… On a brighter note." I turned my head to be able to look on my wife and she looked back so I reached out my hand and took hers. "Wasn't this the best Christmas Eve ever I mean… We're going to be grandparents."

Kirsten smiled, but there was something missing and I couldn't fail but notice a worried look in her eyes.

"I just have a weird feeling that something is about to go wrong." She said at last. "I know. I know. It's just a feeling and I normally don't care about those but I just can't… I just can't shake it off. And whether it's got to do with Annie or Seth or Summer or Ryan or anybody in or outside this house I do not know. And even knowing that nothing's going to happen drives me mad. Because nothing will happen. Of course it won't."

"Of course it won't." I backed up Kirsten and squeezed her hand in now. "And if it would, right now we are only here and now. And we've got our three beautiful children with us. And beautiful Summer, and little S. And the Jensen's. And that's' except for Annie. So whatever happens we are together and we will make this work. Trust me, okay?"

Smelling like she did, fifth foster home in less than two months, setting fire to her stuff, rude tones and almost climbing on the table and shoving food into her mouth like she had at dinner. Skinny as a thread and the size of one three years younger than her, crazy clothing style, greasy, thick hair and then that glaring around her.

I wasn't so sure if I trusted me right now.

So. Here's Annie. This isn't the best chapter but I guess partly it's quite alright at least. It might be a bit rushed at some points. "A tiny little bit"

Anyway, she doesn't have any table manners and is skinny as a thread. She has scars all over her body, or at least what Sandy can see of her.

And at a brighter note- Summer is pregnant and they call him or her "Little S" And Adam's mum Sarah has joined them. Sophie Rose believes in Santa Claus and Annie, Annie, Annie "Shakes my head."

Doug is portrayed by Dolph Lundgren, Sarah by Jennifer Aniston and Annie by Baby Kaely.

Random fact

At the dinner, that part where Annie calls Ryan "Blondie" and wants turkey. It was actually kind of hard to write because she was so rude and it just didn't feel right for anyone to talk to anyone trying to help them like that. So I guess one could say that writing about someone wanting the other to pass some pieces of a Christmas dinner is a bit outside my comfort zone- that's random.