The Conference

Overcoming Obstacles Chapter 4

I own no characters from Annie. Annie's friends and their sisters/ family members are my original characters as are Grace's mother and sisters.

Fall weather was brisk in upper Manhattan; Annie had turned 11 and had a wonderful birthday with her cousins. At school Annie still noticed that her sister was alone at recess and this concerned her a great deal. One day at lunch time she decided to talk to her friends Ariel and Samantha about it.

"So you guys know how my sister has dyslexia?"

Ariel and Samantha nodded.

"Well , I've noticed that she's lonely on the playground. I feel bad for her that she doesn't have a lot of friends"

"We've noticed that too and we feel bad that the kids in her class are giving her such a hard time." Ariel said.

"Has she always been so quiet and shy, even when you knew her at the orphanage?" Samantha asked.

Annie nodded.

"Sounds like we all need to work together to get her to come out of her shell a little bit." Ariel said.

"Don't you guys have sisters and brothers in her grade?" Annie asked.

Her friends nodded.

"My sister is in her class actually. Have they met yet?" Samantha asked.

Annie shook her head. "Molly hasn't mentioned anything to me or my parents. What's your sister's name?"

"Jamie."

"It's funny Molly always talks about the kids who tease her but hasn't mentioned anything about people who are nice to her. Do you think they'd get along?"

Samantha shrugged. "We'll have to see. How about you guys come over my house after school tomorrow and I'll introduce Jamie to Molly?"

Annie nodded, grinning at her friend. "That'd be swell. Thanks Sam."

That night at dinner time Annie mentioned the fact that her friend's sister was in Molly's class.

"Molly, did you know my friend Samantha's sister is in your class at school?"

Grace's ears perked up at this.

Molly shook her head.

"Well she is, her name is Jamie."

"How come you've never mentioned that before sweetheart?" Grace asked her oldest daughter.

"I just found out today at lunch actually. Samantha wanted to invite us over her house after school this week sometime so Jamie and Molly could meet would that be okay?"

Grace jumped up from her spot at the table and gave Annie a squeeze.

"Annie, that's a wonderful idea. I love your friend Samantha and I'm sure her sister is just as sweet of a girl as she is."

" What if she doesn't like me?" Molly whispered.

"She's definitely gonna like you Molly, you guys will get along great. Trust me!"

Grace hoped this would work out well. Molly seemed so lonely and she really needed a friend.

Two days later after school Samantha, Annie and Samantha's mother walked together to Molly's classroom to pick up Molly and Jamie. The young children ran to greet their family members.

"Jamie, this is my sister Molly." Annie said

"Hi Molly!" Jamie said excitedly.

"Hi." Molly whispered

Samantha's mother Maria knelt down in front of Jamie.

"Jamie, honey Annie was telling me that some of your classmates have been mean to Molly because of her dyslexia. We agreed to help her out with her reading and writing. Is that okay?"

Jamie nodded, looking at her mother, sister, Annie, Molly and back to her mother.

"Mommy, I don't like how the other kids are being mean to Molly. I want to help her with her reading."

Annie gave her friend's sister a squeeze. "Thank you Jamie. Molly has been so lonely and could really use a friend."

Once the four got back to Samantha's house they had a snack and started on their homework. Annie saw firsthand how much her sister struggled with her school work and was happy that she'd finally found a friend she could count on to help through her struggles at school. Since the younger kids did not have too much homework that day Molly and Jamie went up to Jamie's room to play dolls while Annie and Samantha worked on the rest of their homework.

Grace came to pick up Annie and Molly around 5:00.

"Mommy, guess what? I made a new friend! She's going to help me with my reading too." Molly said excitedly.

Grace couldn't be happier. She smiled at Samantha's mother. "Thank you so much Maria."

Samantha's mother gave Grace a hug. "Any time Grace. We're all always here for you, whatever you need."

The third week of October was parent teacher conferences. Grace and Oliver set up a meeting with Mrs. Richards on Tuesday the 24th.

"So has Molly been making any progress with her tutor?" Mrs. Richards asked

Oliver nodded. "We take things in stride day by day. Are things going better here as well?"

Mrs. Richards smiled. "Everything seems to be on track. The bullying has stopped and more kids are coming forward to help Molly with her reading and writing."

"Is her social situation improving as well?" Grace asked

Mrs. Richards shook her head. "Unfortunately no… aside from Jamie Erickson she hasn't made a lot of friends yet. Did she have a lot of trouble being social with the other girls when she was in the orphanage?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "My oldest daughter never mentioned anything to me about that. Molly never really talks about her life in the orphanage to be honest."

"Why do you suppose that is?"

Oliver was the next to shrug. "We don't really know. All we do know is that Agatha Hannigan was a slave driver. We are happy that our girls no longer have to live in those conditions."

Grace made a mental note to talk to Molly about why was having so much trouble making friends.

"Do you think it will be necessary to homeschool her?" Grace asked.

Mrs. Richard shook her head. " Not at this time. We will continue to measure her progress and if by before we go home for Christmas vacation she has not made substantial progress then yes home schooling her might be something you may want to consider.. at least for the rest of this school year."

"Looking ahead a bit will she have to repeat first grade?" Grace asked nervously.

Mrs. Richards took Grace's hand. "It's too soon to tell Mrs. Warbucks. I would suggest that you have Molly continue to work with the tutor as much as she can and we'll see how much she's improved by the holidays."

Oliver and Grace left the classroom. Jamie's parents were next in line.

"Hello Grace. How is Molly doing?" Maria Erikson asked.

"She seems to be improving and lots more kids are offering to help with her reading and writing." Grace said smiling.

"I'm so glad to hear that." Maria hugged Grace.

"Maria, Oliver and I are kind of concerned about Molly's social situation. Does Jamie have any friends that Molly would get along well with?"

Maria nodded. "She sure does. I'll get some mothers together and maybe all of us can go the movies sometime. How does that sound?"

Oliver grinned broadly. "That would be fabulous! Molly has been really lonely and need more socialization."

As Oliver and Grace walked out to their car to head back to the mansion Oliver pulled Grace tightly to him and kissed her on the forehead.

"See darling, what did I tell you? Everything will be okay."

Grace smiled but her smile quickly faded.

"I just wish we could get into her head a little and find out why she has so much trouble making friends. She's such a wonderful girl. I can't stand to see her struggling socially so much."

When Oliver and Grace arrived home from the parent/ teacher conference they walked in the kitchen to two very happy girls who were helping Mrs. Pugh bake cookies.

"Mom, look! We're helping Grandma Helen bake chocolate chip cookies!" Annie said excitedly.

"I can see that. I can't wait to try them." Grace said kissing each of her daughters on the head and then turning to give Mrs. Pugh a kiss on the cheek.

Mrs. Pugh wrapped Grace in a warm hug. " Come, let's have some coffee and talk about your meeting with Molly's teacher. I've got a fresh pot of coffee on.

Grace smiled. "We'll all have some dessert. There's something we actually need to talk to Molly about."

Molly looked worried. "Am I in trouble Mommy?" she asked

Grace kissed Molly on the top of the head once again. "Of course not my sweet girl. Daddy and I just have something we're concerned about so we need to ask you some questions."

The group of five sat down at the kitchen table for dessert.

Oliver grinned. "Molly, Mrs. Richards said you are really making wonderful strides to improve on your reading."

"Really?" Molly said

Grace's grin was equally as wide as Oliver's. "Yes darling. We're very proud of you. Continue all the hard work you are doing with your tutor because it is really paying off!"

Molly smiled. "Okay Mommy."

Mrs. Pugh gave Molly a squeeze.

"Don't you forget sweetheart we're all for you every step of the way."

Molly nodded. "I love you Grandma Helen." she kissed her surrogate grandmother on the cheek.

"We all love you too princess." Oliver said.

"Molly, Samantha said you and Jamie really get along great." Annie said.

Molly's grin grew wide. "Yeah, we do Annie. We have so much fun together. I'm so glad to finally have a friend. I'm not so lonely on the playground anymore."

What a wonderful segue Grace thought to herself.

"Annie, does Jamie have any other friends?" Grace asked.

Annie nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Grace looked at both of her daughters. " Mrs. Richards said that Molly has been having trouble making friends and that she only sees Molly and Jamie playing together with no one else."

Molly looked at her dessert plate. "I'm sorry Mommy."

Grace got up from her chair and pulled Molly into her arms kissing her forehead.

"Baby girl, stop apologizing. Daddy and I are just worried. We want you to have more friends then just Jamie. Mrs. Richards said more and more people are coming forward to help you with you reading and writing, why don't you make friends with them?"

"What if they don't like me?"

Annie looked at her sister "Molly, if they want to help you with your reading and writing they like you."

Grace looked at her daughter. "Molly, honey are the kids still teasing you?"

Molly shook her head. "Not really."

"Then why are you nervous people won't like you?"

Molly shrugged.

Grace vowed to get to the bottom of why Molly was so afraid to make friends. She had a feeling that tonight would not be the night to get more information from her.

"Come girls. It's time to get ready for bed. "Mrs. Pugh said to her granddaughters.

Grace put Molly down and Mrs. Pugh took each of her granddaughters' hands in each of hers and led them upstairs. Grace and Oliver followed them upstairs to get ready for bed themselves.

Once Annie and Molly were asleep Grace dialed her sister Catherine's number in Brighton.

"How's things going with Molly?"

Grace sighed. "She's really struggling socially Cathy. Her dyslexia is not helping too much either."

" Has her reading improved at all since your first meeting with her teacher?

"Only slightly. I am so happy she's found a friend in Jamie Erikson though."

" Who is Jamie?"

"The younger sister of Annie's friend Samantha. I am so happy that Annie introduced them to each other."

"Does she socialize well with any other children?"

"That's just the problem. She hasn't been really reached out to any of Jamie's other friends. I am hoping she doesn't isolate Jamie."

" You worry too much Gracie. Just give her some time. I am sure she'll warm up to the other kids eventually."

Grace felt a little better. "We're coming down to visit this weekend. Are you going to be busy?"

"My calendar is open. I haven't introduced you to Harry yet. You will love him."

Grace was happy her little sister had found someone who she could love as deeply as she loved Oliver. "We can't wait to meet him. Will you help Molly with some of her reading?"

"Definitely."

"Great!"

"Hang in there Gracie. Things will get better."

"Thanks Cathy. I love you ."

"I love you too Gracie."

"Good night."

"Good night." Grace hung up the phone and went in the bathroom to start getting ready for bed.

Before going to sleep that night Grace wrote in her diary.

What an emotional whirlwind these past couple weeks have been. I have never dealt with so much difficulty in all the months I've been married to Oliver. Molly's dyslexia diagnosis has been so rough on me. I hate so much to see my baby girl struggle and wish so deeply that I could take all her pain away. She was really lonely for the first month of school. Thankfully Annie found out that one of her friends has a sister in Molly's class. They hit it off right away. I just wish Molly wasn't so shy and made friends easier. Her dyslexia certainly doesn't help her too much but I am praying that Jamie brings her out of her shell and helps her to make new friends. All I want is for my baby girl to be happy. It's going to be a long road ahead. Thank goodness I have Oliver, my mother , my sisters and Helen Pugh to support me. I haven't the slightest idea where I would be without them. Hopefully things start to improve soon. I can't wait to go down to Boston this weekend to see my sisters. I need to get my mmd off off all this. Spending time with them will help this quite a bit.