12:30pm
Antonia didn't realize that she had fallen asleep in the chair until the door clicked closed and her eyes popped open. She gasped slightly, and looked up into the almost shocked face of Angela standing over her. She didn't say anything, as she didn't want to startle the little girl in her arms, but Angela looked like she had seen a ghost.
"You looked exactly like your mother there, it just… I don't know. It surprised me. It was like going back in time." She whispered, a bit of a nostalgic sadness in her voice as Antonia watched Angela move toward the desk, settling on the corner as she faced them. "Are you alright?" She whispered.
"I'm fine." Antonia said, her brow furrowing as she stifled a yawn. Lifting her arm to swipe at her eyes. "Why?"
"You just have seemed a little worn out the last few weeks. I just wanted to check on you and our new friend here." Angela said softly, leaning forward to look at the little girl's face, she watched as Antonia rubbed the girl's back, almost protectively.
"I'm fine. Mom's job isn't easy, and I don't think I've been sleeping particularly well." Antonia said softly.
"That's the thing, you've been sleeping a lot. I called you on Sunday to see if you wanted to go to lunch, and you didn't even answer your phone until after noon, and it sounded like you had just woken up. Are you feeling depressed? Are you alright?" Angela asked, watching Antonia's eyebrow lift slowly and a slight smile appear on her face.
"I'm fine. I really am. I promise, Big A." She said, tipping her head as she smiled. "I've just been tired."
"Okay." Angela said with a sigh. "So, what do we do about this little thing here? Were you able to get her to talk before she fell asleep on you?" Angela asked, leaning forward a bit to see the little girl's sleepy scowl.
"No." Antonia shrugged a little. "She watches me as I speak, but has said nothing."
"Reminds me of a certain little girl." Angela said, lifting her eyebrow at Antonia who simply shook her head. "I know you don't like to talk about it, and I don't know how much you remember. But those days when you were quiet, when you refused to say anything? They were some of the worst days around here. Your mom would just hold you, and talk to you. You had always been a chatty little thing, you know? You always had something to say about everything, but when you shut down, it was like the world stopped spinning for all of us." Angela said honestly, watching Antonia's gaze as she breathed deeply through her nose as she listened to her friend. "You had your daddy, he was your catalyst. We just need to find hers." Angela said softly.
"Mom doesn't want me to become attached." Antonia said softly, watching Angela's tender gaze as she scrunched her nose a bit and pulled one of the chairs near the desk, so she could sit closer and be on the same level as Antonia. "She seems to think she would be better off with CPS, or with the FBI. I don't understand why she feels like she needs to protect me. I don't understand why she feels like I am this fragile, emotional wreck of a person."
"She doesn't think you're a wreck." Angela explained. "And I'll tell you right now, she does not think this child would be better off with CPS or the FBI. She is just trying to protect you. She just wants you to be careful, because if this little girl relies on you too much, and you have to hand her over to someone else after you've bonded, it could scar both of you." Angela said, watching the little girl pull herself further into Antonia, resting her forehead against her neck as her thumb found it's way to her mouth and her eyes remained closed. "She doesn't want you to feel that pain, or fear."
"I'm not stupid, Angela. I know she doesn't belong to me. I just want to know she's safe, and I don't think it's wrong to tell her that I will do everything I can to keep her safe." Antonia said, watching her friend's eyes carefully. "That's all I needed to hear, Angela. When I was invisible, when I thought I was invisible… when I just wanted to disappear. I just needed to know that I was safe. I remember when Ace brought me my pendant from Dad. I remember him looking into my eyes and telling me that he could see me, and that if I needed anyone to talk to, that he'd be there in a second. I remember that, because that was what I needed. I needed someone to break through that barrier that I had built around me. That was the first step."
Suddenly, the little girl's eyes opened and she gasped awake, yanking her thumb from her mouth, she turned in Antonia's arms and saw there was a new person in the room. Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at Angela, but she didn't make a sound, her eyes instantly went to Antonia, the little girl's grip tight on her clothes. "It's okay." Antonia nodded, her eyes honest and calm. "This is Angela. She's my friend." She said softly, watching the fear in the girl's eyes drain as she watched Antonia. "It's okay." She said. The little girl turned her head toward Angela, still wary, but calmer as she watched Angela wave at her politely.
"Hey, sweetie." She said, holding her hand out tenderly, palm up, the little girl reached for Angela's hand and touched it, feeling her soft skin, she let her grasp her hand lightly as she watched the new person. "We're all very friendly around here." Angela smiled. "You're in a very safe place now." She said, glancing to Antonia, who smiled slightly as the grip on her became loosened. There was a knock on the door, that brought their attention to the door opening slowly as Grace entered carrying a pizza box with some plates and napkins, and a couple bottles of water.
The little girl pulled herself into Antonia for a moment until she realized that she had seen Grace before, and that despite her initial fear of her, she seemed to be friendly as well. She settled on her side against Antonia, but her eyes widened when the pizza box opened, and she nearly leapt forward toward the food. "Yeah, I think she's hungry." Antonia said, grabbing a plate quickly, Grace put a slice on it and the little girl turned to face the desk, taking the plate greedily from Antonia's hands, she nearly shoved the slice of into her mouth, eating hungrily as she munched loudly.
"Hey, hey. Careful there, it's a little hot." Grace said, reaching for the plate, the girl turned sharply as if afraid that Grace was going to take the pizza, she grabbed the plate and nearly smashed it into Antonia as she grabbed it with her hand and greedily shoved the slice into her mouth, not caring about the temperature, just happy to be eating something.
"It's okay…" Antonia whispered, watching as she looked up apologetically at her, a napkin moving to her hand as she carefully wiped the sauce from her face and hands as she placed the slice on the plate again. "Slow down." She said, watching the little girl's chewing slow as she stared at Antonia. Antonia smiled at her, and the little girl lifted the slice of pizza and took another big bite.
Grace, Angela, and Antonia each had a slice as well, watching as the little girl finished her first piece, and held her plate up for more. "I'm glad she likes pizza." Grace said with a smile, carefully pulling a piece that she had set aside to cool over to the little girl's plate.
"Everyone loves pizza." Antonia smiled, picking at the black olives in the small container that Grace had brought with the pizza. She sprinkled them on her slice, and continued to eat.
"I thought those were for Aiden?" Grace laughed, watching as Antonia then grabbed for the banana peppers.
"He can get his own toppings." She muttered as she finished her slice, and reached for the next one.
The girls talked and ate, when attention was brought to the door when there was a light knock. The door opened slowly and they looked up to see Harding looking in on them. The little girl's attention was on her pizza, and she hadn't noticed him at the door. "Toni, can I have a word with you?"
She looked at the little girl, sitting comfortably on her lap, her hands no longer gripping her, but instead a slice of pizza, her eyes on Grace, she noticed that Grace was looking at someone at the door. The little girl's head turned, and she saw the man at the door. She dropped the pizza slice and let out a yelp, as she closed her eyes and turned hard into Antonia, smacking her head into Antonia's chin as she nearly climbed over her to get away from Harding. Antonia let out a pain filled yelp as well as the little girl pulled hard into her, seemingly unaffected by the hard knock to the head as Grace moved quickly to the door and pushed herself out with Harding.
"She really, really does not like me." Harding said, a bit of offense in his voice. He glanced to the office as Grace stood in front of him.
"Well, pull a terrified kid out of a closet by their ankle, and you're going to get a little bit of push back." Grace said, watching his eyes narrow.
"She was kicking me!" He exclaimed, as Grace grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the door, they walked away from the office and she turned to face him. "I still have nothing on her. The bodies will be here within the hour, and there is no information on her. I put her information through the missing child database, so that's being run, and I have a call into CPS to see if there is any information on her being in the foster system, but so far nothing. She's a mystery. How is Toni doing with her? I see that she's eating."
"She's eating like she hasn't had food in a week." Grace said, shrugging. "She's still not talking though, not a word."
"She'll find her voice." He said, sighing as he glanced to the office. "Has anyone had a look at her to see if she has any injuries?"
"Not yet. She fell asleep for a little while. She finally let go of Toni right before you got here, so she's making some progress." Grace said softly. "Mom wants her to remain in the custody of law enforcement."
"I am fairly certain your mother is speaking of specific law enforcement individuals." Harding said, watching as Grace lifted her eyebrow at him. "Did she ask about Aiden?"
"Yes, and when I confirmed he'd be here this afternoon, she said nothing more." Grace shrugged.
"Then there's your answer." Ace replied. "I'm pretty sure your mom trusts Aiden more than she trusts me." He shrugged. "Listen…" He said, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a few bills. "I'll stay here and wait for the bodies to come in… outside of the office of course, but I need you to go pick up some clothes for her. We can't take anything from the crime scene, and she was in pajamas, with no socks or shoes. I didn't even see clothes for her there. Maybe you could get her some coloring books or something. I don't know." He shrugged.
"You want me to go shopping?" Grace asked, laughing a little as she watched Ace's face start to turn red. "In uniform."
"I don't care what you wear when you're doing it, Grace. I don't know what little girls wear. It's summer, go get her a dress or shorts or something, and shoes… maybe a jacket or something." He said, watching her look at the money in her hands.
"You think I'm going to be able to get all that with twenty dollars?" She snorted.
"Fine. Here." He said, handing over his credit card. "Just don't… spend too much." He said as he watched a bright grin appear on her face. "Gracie."
"Shopping spree!" She said with a laugh as she walked toward the door.
"That's not funny!" Harding exclaimed, as he watched her step through the door. "And I want my twenty dollars back too!" He exclaimed as she waved and walked quickly down the hallway toward the elevators.