Hello everyone, Sorry this chapter has taken so long to get posted. Life is crazy right now, had a baby, work, toddler, baby, work... well you get the picture. I haven't decided yet if this chapter is complete or not. I feel like it needs more but not sure what. Help me out, what is this missing? Anyway I'm going to go ahead and post it but will definitely be adding to it once I get over this block I have.
Going to start working on the next chapter but no promises that it will be completed quickly.
As always let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading.
They made it back to the office Saturday evening after dropping Tony off with his grandma. They hadn't talked about anything serious after picking up the boy. Now they were back at the office and Ashley needed to let Spencer go. "I'm no longer mad at you it takes up too much energy to remain mad." Spencer started to speak, but the brown-eyed girl continued before she said anything "That being said, I'm letting you go finally. For ten years I have continued to love you and question what I had done wrong due to this I have never let anyone close. I don't forgive you and I'm not sure I ever will be able to. You destroyed my heart from now on we are co-workers and nothing more." She got out of the car without another word grabbing her bag and going to her car before the blue-eyed girl said anything. She needed to be away from Spencer letting her go was the hardest thing Ashley had ever done.
The first thing she did when she got home was a long hot shower and then poured a full glass of wine. She plopped down on the couch taking a long sip of the wine, closing her eyes and letting her body relax for the first time in a week. The trip to Texas had been emotionally exhausting. Battling so many conflicting feelings left her drained and raw. Her work phone rang just as she was about to take another sip "No" she thought "I'm not on call." She considered ignoring the ringing phone until she looked at the caller ID and saw Kelly calling.
"Hey Kelly, what's up?"
"Hey, sorry to bother you when you just got back I wanted to tell you that Chelsea just had me drop Maria off at her permanent placement."
Ashley sat up hearing the upset sound in Kelly's voice, placing the forgotten wine on the table, "What?! I asked her to wait until Monday so I could be there."
"I told her I could keep her until Monday since I'm not flying out until Wednesday. Anyway that's not important now. I'm calling because I dropped her off with Chelsea and Maria was crying and asking for you. They are placing her in a home with a wife and husband along with two older male children. She is scared to death, when I hugged her good-bye, she was shaking."
"What is the address?" Ashley put on her shoes and jotted down the address.
"Again I'm sorry to bother you."
"No Kelly." Ashley stopped her before she apologized anymore "You never bother me. Thank you for calling. I'll talk to you soon."
Ashley entered the address in her GPS Maria's new placement only twenty minutes from Ashley's home. She dialed Chelsea's number hoping to catch her there. When the phone went to voicemail she left a brief message and pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal.
Ashley pulled into the driveway relieved to see Chelsea's car still there. She walked into the house not bothering to knock in all the commotion she entered the room unseen by anyone. As soon as she laid eyes on the little blonde her heart broke and the intense urge to protect the little girl filled her. Maria sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs. She appeared to be trying to make herself as small as possible her tears she had cried now dried to her face leaving little tracks down her small cheeks. She was staring straight ahead what little light that had returned to her eyes the past few weeks now gone. All the adults were standing over her, talking at her, and demanding that she speak, move or do something. The two older boys that Kelly had told her about where sitting across the room smirking and pointing at her whispering to one another she overheard one of them say "maybe she's retarded." She no longer able to hold back the urge to protect the tiny blonde "Get Out Everyone!" she said louder and harsher than she meant but not caring.
Everyone turned startled by the new voice in the room, "Oh Ashley, I'm glad you are here, we cannot figure out what is wrong with her." Chelsea said walking up to Ashley who saw the surprise in her face. She forced herself to hold back the angry retort on her lips.
"Please everyone get out." Ashley said controlling her anger.
Chelsea nodded and everyone left the room, leaving the brown-eyed girl and the little blonde alone. The sudden silence in the room was a huge relief. Ashley walked over to the little girl and sat down next to her, making sure not to touch her "Maria I'm so sorry I wasn't here, I'm here now and I promise I won't leave until you are ready." They sat together for several minutes when Maria moved, she crawled into Ashley's lap, and laid her head on her chest, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and went to sleep. Her eyes filled with tears, she did not know what was going to happened in the future but she knew that today she would not be returning home tonight without the tiny blonde.
The brown-eyed girl's back was aching and Maria was sleeping her little body relaxed when Chelsea entered the room. She put her finger to her mouth so that Chelsea wouldn't wake the little girl, standing up she laid the sleeping child on the couch, and followed Chelsea out of the room. Once in the kitchen Chelsea spoke "Thank you for coming over and calming her down."
"Calming her down! I didn't calm her down, she was scared and you all were talking at her and demanding a response from a terrified three year old. You wanted her to adjust at your speed, instead of allowing her the chance to feel secure and adjust at her speed. I sat next to her, I let her know that I was here and wasn't going anywhere, I made her feel secured." Ashley stopped talking before she said too much, she noticed the guy was getting defensive, the lady was near tears and flustered, and Chelsea looked guilty and angry. So she took a deep breath, calmed herself before speaking again "I will take Maria home with me tonight." She saw the surprise in all their faces including Chelsea "Uh Ashley, can I talk to you in private for a moment." They walked outside "Ashley what are you doing that's not protocol."
"Damn it Chelsea!" Ashley interrupted "Why didn't you wait until Monday to move her?"
"I was going to but I have to be in court Monday and Aiden wanted it done. She had already been with Kelly too long and he was worried about her growing attached to Kelly. Although it appears to seem that she is attached to you why is she attached to you?"
Ashley ignored the question taking another deep breath it wasn't Chelsea's fault that Maria's placement changed happened today the girl had been with Kelly who is a temporary placement longer than normal. "Chelsea, why didn't you call me?"
"Why would I call you, she's not on your case load? Ashley what is going on?"
"No, she's not on my case load but I was there when we removed her from her home."
"A lot of kids we remove from their homes get placed on someone else's caseload it's not protocol here to follow up with every kid you remove." Chelsea was looking at her as if she lost her mind. Ashley thought maybe she had lost her mind, getting attached to Maria and announcing that she would take the little girl home. She didn't have the first clue on how to take care of a child full time. She started to tell Chelsea never mine, but she remembered the terrified sad expression in the little girls eyes so instead she said "Chelsea it doesn't matter how or why the little girl is attached to me. It's in her best interested to be with someone she trusts and feels secure with, so I will take her home tonight."
"That's not protocol Ashley."
Ashley interrupted her "Screw protocol, that little girl is not protocol she is a child. Chelsea I understand you were doing what Aiden instructed you but this situation is different." Ashly pulled out her cell phone. "Ashley if you leave here with Maria I will have to report you to Aiden." Ashley nodded as she hit send on the call and placed the phone to her ear. "Hey Aiden, this is Ashley sorry to bother you." She noticed the surprised look on Chelsea's face and continued talking to Aiden.
"Ashley that is not how we do things here, there are protocols for a reason. It's to protects everyone."
"How are we protecting that child by dumping her with strangers and leaving her terrified? Also who thought it would be a good idea to place her in a house where there are multiple males."
"They are one of our best foster families."
Ashley took a deep breath "I'm sure they are, but this child was tortured by the one man she was supposed to be able to trust above anyone else. She needs to be in a home with only females for the time being. Give her time to heal. She knows and trusts me, let me take her home for the weekend and on Monday we can all meet and find a placement for her." She handed the phone to Chelsea once she was able to convince Aiden to allow Maria to go home with her for the weekend.
On the way home Ashley panicked, she didn't have the first clue about taking care of a child. Sure she had a lot of experience with kids but not like this. One glance in the rear-view mirror seeing the sleepy child looking back at her she relaxed. She pulled into her drive and carried Maria into the house flipping on the light she put the tiny girl down. "Maria this is my home, you will stay here for a couple of nights. Okay?" The little girl looked up at her with wide eyes after a few moments she gave a little nod. Ashley ruffled the blonde curls on top of her head and said "follow me." She walked the tiny girl through her home showing her every room. It wasn't until she flipped on the bathroom light she realized how little about Maria she knew, like whether she was potty trained. She decided after she got Maria settled in for the night she would give Kelly a call. Looking in Maria's bag she smiled when she saw the little singing dog she bought the girl on her first visit the signs of wear told her it was well loved. She pulled it out of her bag and offered it to Maria who grabbed it and held it tight.
"Okay, we are going to get dressed for bed" Ashley said while pulling out two different sets of pajamas also noticing that there were night time pull ups in the bag. "Do you want to pick your pajamas?" The tiny girl nodded and pointed to the pajamas with the butterflies on them. Ashley smiled "That's a good choice." After getting her ready for bed she made up a bed on the couch tucking the little girl in "You remember where my room is?" The little girl nodded again, Ashley wondered how long it was going to take to get her to speak again. When she first got placed with Kelly she didn't speak at all it wasn't until about 2 weeks ago that she started to speak. Ashley hoped it wouldn't take long she loved the sound of the tiny girl's voice. "If you need anything, come get me okay?" Maria nodded.
Ashley walked into her room keeping the hall light on and her door open. She picked up her phone to call Kelly noticing how late it was she sent her a text instead "Quick update – Maria is home with me until Monday, I have a few questions so if you have time tomorrow can you call me. Thanks again for calling about Maria. Talk to you soon." Her phone was ringing before she set it down "Hello Kelly" she said answering it with a small smile. "Hi Ashley, I'm so happy that Maria is with you I've been worried about her."
"Well it's until Monday when we will find a new placement for her although I have a few questions. I realized tonight I don't know anything specific about her. Like is she potty trained, what foods does she like not like, and is she on any medication?"
"Mostly she is potty trained, she wears a pull up at night which she should have a few in her bag."
"Yea, I found those and put one on her."
"Great. During the day she will go to in the toilet unless she is scared. She hasn't been picky about food, the poor thing eats her weight in food."
"That's probably because she wasn't properly fed."
"Yea, she's not on any medication. If you want I can meet your for lunch tomorrow to go over anything else."
"That would be great but I don't want to ruin your Saturday."
"Lunch with you and Maria would never ruin my day, let's meet at the little restaurant with a play place that way Maria can play and we can talk."
"Sounds good, want to meet at 11:00?"
"That would be perfect, looking forward to it."
"Me too." Ashley hung up the phone turned off the light and laid down when she heard tiny footsteps coming down the hall. Maria stopped in her doorway, big eyed clutching the toy dog. The sight melted Ashley's heart "are you okay?" she said softly turning the bedside light back on. The little girl shook her head and a tear slowly slid down her face. She raised the blankets "come on you can sleep in here tonight" Maria hurried across the room, climbed up in bed, and snuggled under the covers. Ashley reached over and turned the light out she settled back down and Maria snuggled up to her and was sound asleep in the matter of seconds. The brown-eyed girl stared down at the sleeping child noticing the bruises were gone. Ashley knew that it was the inner bruises that took the longest and were the hardest to heal. Long after the physical bruises had faded and disappeared the ones you couldn't see the emotional bruises remained.