I received some hurtful comments for a couple of guests. First of all – I reread the chapter and I will admit that I spotted a couple of spelling/grammar mistakes but I see them in most, if not all stories. I do this for fun, not to write an essay for school. Also if you do not like the storyline and find it cringe then you don't need to read it. I was highly offended by the comments that one particular guest made having reviewed twice. If you don't like the story at all, then don't read it. I apologise for having Rachel eat Ham and will change it to "sliced chicken".
I love getting reviews when people are telling me they like the story or ideas that they want to see. I do not mind constructive criticise but some of the reviews were just plain mean.
It was the following morning and Shelby was awake first for once. She looked at her daughter sleeping beside her and ran her hand through the girl's hair. She cringed as she noticed how tangled it was and was glad she had bought detangler at Walmart the day before. Rachel slowly started to wake up.
"Hello, sweetie" Shelby said and Rachel smiled.
"Shall we get up and have breakfast?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. Shelby decided that the girl should have some toast. She knew that it was a save option with the girl.
"Do you want some toast?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded happily.
"Shelby?" Rachel asked and Shelby looked at the girl.
"Do you work?" Rachel asked nervously and Shelby nodded.
"What do you do?" Rachel asked.
"Well you know when you found me" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded.
"I was at work then. I work in a theatre. I perform in musicals so I sing and I act on a stage" Shelby explained.
"We went to see Annie on a stage with the school two years ago" Rachel said. "You do that?"
Shelby nodded.
"That's a pretty cool job" Rachel said and Shelby smiled.
"Do you sing?" She asked and Rachel instantly shied away. Shelby noticed a wall being built up across her face. Rachel shook her head. Shelby didn't want to prise so just left the girl. She turned around to butter the girl's toast and handed it to her.
"You need to have a shower once you have eaten this" Shelby said. Rachel nodded. She quickly ate her toast before announcing that she was going to have a shower.
"Okay, I want you to call me through before you get out the shower so I can check your hair" Shelby said.
"Why do you need to check my hair?" Rachel asked
"I want to make sure that you have gotten all the shampoo out" Shelby said.
"But I have managed myself before" Rachel moaned.
"I know but I want to check" Shelby said and Rachel huffed before going into the bathroom. She sat looking at the shower unsure how to start it. She changed out of her clothes and then turned the handles. The water was cold so she turned it up. Suddenly it got hotter and hotter.
"Ouch" She screamed as the water got warmer. She struggled to get the door open to get out of the shower and was crying. Shelby came running into the room and noticed the girl crying completely naked. She grabbed the large white towel and put it around the girl before bringing her into her arms.
"What happened?" Shelby asked.
"it was cold so I turned it up but then it was too hot" Rachel cried and Shelby nodded pulling away gently from the little girl to check the shower. It was really hot, Shelby was glad that she had a lock on the tap which meant it only went to a certain temperature before you needed to lift the switch to make it hotter.
"In the future, I will start your shower for you" Shelby said and Rachel nodded wiping her tears before looking at Shelby to leave. Shelby left the room and Rachel got into the shower. She didn't understand what the issue was as when she had walked into the room the girl had been standing there completely naked.
"Shelby" Rachel called about 10 minutes later. Shelby walked into the bathroom.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Shelby asked.
"Can you check my hair?" Rachel asked and Shelby smiled.
"Of course I will sweetie" Shelby said. "Turn off the water"
Rachel did as she was told before Shelby opened the shower door. She quickly checked the girl's hair for both shampoo and nits. Once sure that neither were present, she handed the girl a towel and helped her out of the shower.
"If you go and put your clothes on, I will dry your hair for you" Shelby said and Rachel nodded.
She disappeared to her room and found clothes to put on. Once dressed, she walked back to Shelby's room.
"Come and sit on the bed" She said and Rachel obeyed. Shelby brushed through the girl's hair before drying it with her hair dryer. The girl sat quietly. While Rachel had been in the shower, Shelby quickly had a shower herself and got dressed.
Once they were both ready, they went back into the living room where Rachel put the TV on.
"Rach" Shelby said after about 10 minutes and the little girl looked at her mother.
"The CPS officer is going to be coming round after lunch" Shelby explained and Rachel just looked at her.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because she wants to make sure that you are okay and that I can look after you properly" Shelby explained.
"Will she take me away from you?" Rachel asked worried.
"No sweetie, she just needs to check that you are happy" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded.
"She might also ask you some questions about when you lived with your dad" Shelby explained and again Rachel closed off.
"And I know that it is hard but you need to be even braver than you are just now and try to answer the questions" Shelby explained. Rachel nodded her head nervously.
"What is it that is scaring you baby?" Shelby asked.
"I don't want you to get mad" Rachel said.
"Hey, I won't get mad. Why do you think you will get mad?" Shelby asked.
"Because you will find out what I did and leave me" Rachel said letting the tears slip down her face.
"Listen to me baby, I will not leave you" Shelby said pulling the girl into her arms. "I understand that you are scared but I will always be here for you. You are going to live with me from now on and I am never going to leave you"
Rachel nodded and snuggled into her mother's chest. Shelby stayed still holding the girl for a bit longer before she realised that she needed to make lunch before the CPS officer arrived.
"We need to have lunch sweetie" Shelby said and Rachel looked at her mom.
"I'm really not hungry" She whispered. She didn't know how to explain to Shelby that when she was with her dad she didn't eat much and now she was expected to eat at least 3 times a day and it was hard on her body.
"Okay, will you have a banana?" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded.
"Good girl" Shelby said kissing the girl on the head as she stood up. Shelby went into the kitchen to get herself something to eat. She soon returned with a banana for the girl and a sandwich for herself. Just as she walked to the kitchen to put away her dishes the doorbell rang.
Shelby answered it and let the CPS officer in.
"Hello, my name is Karen" She said introducing herself to Shelby.
"Hello, my name is Shelby. Rachel is just in the living room" Shelby said guiding the woman into the living room.
"Hello, you must be Rachel" Karen said and Rachel nodded. She quickly jumped into her mother's arms.
"Rachel, do you think you could show me around the apartment?" Karen asked. Rachel looked at Shelby, who nodded. She stood up and nervously showed the woman around.
"Do you like living with Shelby?" Karen asked and Rachel nodded.
"I like it a lot" Rachel said.
"Why?" Karen asked.
"Because she says she loves me and gives me cuddles and looks after me" Rachel explained and Karen nodded.
"I really don't want to go back to my dad's" Rachel said.
"Why not?" Karen asked.
"Because he hurt me a lot. It wasn't nice. I like it better here, I promise not to be naughty. I'm a good girl, I am" Rachel said and
"I know that you are a good girl, I want you to stay with your mom. I am just making sure that she can look after you" Karen explained and Rachel nodded.
"She can, she looks after me very well" Rachel said and Karen nodded.
"She does" Karen said. "Shall we go back through to see your mom?"
Rachel nodded and walked back into the living room. She instantly ran over towards her mother and curled on the sofa next to Shelby.
"Rachel, did your dad hurt you?" Karen asked as she sat down. Rachel nodded looking at her mom.
"What did he do to you?" Karen asked.
"Lots of things" Rachel said.
"Like what?" Karen asked.
"Hit me, kicked me, told me I was a bad girl all the time" Rachel mumbled looking down. She paused before looking at her mom.
"Momma, I don't want to speak about this" She said with heavy tear drops in her eyes. Shelby nodded. Her heart pounded a million times faster having heard her daughter call her momma.
"It's okay baby" Shelby said and Karen nodded.
"Now, you have definitely passed Shelby, you are allowed to keep Rachel. Now I would also suggest that Rachel goes and sees a therapist" Karen said and Shelby nodded.
"I'll look into it" Shelby said smiling. Karen nodded.
"Now, I will need to come for a couple of more visits just to check that everything is going well but that won't be for a month or so" Karen explained and Shelby nodded. Shelby then showed Karen to the door and they were left alone again.
"Now, I am starting to run out of food so we are going to have to go shopping" Shelby explained and Rachel nodded. Shelby knew that she needed to be logical about what food Rachel could eat.
They arrived at the shop and again Rachel instantly clung to Shelby. Shelby looked at the girl worriedly. They walked around the store and Shelby looked for food for the girl that she knew the girl would be able to eat.
"Pick a piece of candy" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She let go of her mom to look at the candy which was at the end of the aisle. Rachel looked at all the candy and it took her a couple of minutes to pick one. She turned around, thinking her mom was behind her.
"Shelby" Rachel said panicked. She looked around burst into tears.
"Hey sweetie, are you okay?" A man asked and Rachel moved away from the man scared.
"I can't find my mom" Rachel cried. Just then Shelby turned back around from the other aisle.
"Oh baby, I thought you were following me to the next aisle" Shelby said pulling the girl into her arms.
"I didn't mean to scare her, I was just trying to see why she was crying" The man explained.
"It's okay, thank you" Shelby said and the man smiled before getting on with his shopping.
"Oh sweetie, I didn't realise you were still looking at candy" Shelby explained.
"I was scared" Rachel cried. "I thought you left me"
"I will never leave you, sweetie" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. Shelby stood upright and grabbed the girl's hand before they walked to the check out. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to get served and soon they were back in the car.
They arrived at the apartment and Shelby got to work unpacking the car.
"Go and watch the TV" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She walked into living room and sat down.
Once the groceries were all put away, Shelby started making tea. She made some pasta with chicken. She knew that the girl managed this and decided that tomorrow she would try the girl with potatoes.
"Come and eat through here" Shelby said and Rachel nodded. She walked into the kitchen and sat down eating her pasta.
"I like pasta" Rachel said and Shelby smiled.
"I'm glad" She said giggling. Once they had finished eating, they walked back through to the living room to watch some TV.
Rachel was starting to get tired.
"I think you need to go to bed, sweetie" Shelby said and Rachel shook her head.
"At least get changed into your pyjamas" Shelby asked and Rachel nodded. She quickly got changed into her pyjamas and then returned.
"Shelby, can you hold me?" Rachel asked quietly.
"Of course I can" Shelby said pulling the girl into her arms.
"Can you hold me standing up?" Rachel asked and Shelby nodded.
"It's a good job that you are small, I can do this with ease" Shelby explained as she stood up and rocked the girl in her arms.
"I like this feeling" Rachel said putting her head on her mom's shoulder. Shelby smiled and continued to rock her daughter until she felt her daughter get heavier in her arms.
Please review and tell me what you think. I could really do with some reviews to cheer me up :)