Callie and Arizona got used to their little life. On Tuesday and Thursday after school Sofia had soccer. On Wednesday Mark would take Sofia to piano. On Friday Sofia would hang out at Meredith house with Zola. They need a change in there routine . They were desperate for a change. They just didn't know the change would come on the form of a diabetic 15 year old.
Charlie sat her bag down in the white sterile room. Her old room it gave her this old comfort. The room would always be their for her. Charlie old bunkie, Nia, snaps her out of her thought.
"What's up Charlotte," Nia said sneaking up behind her.
"Hello to you to Niaomi," Charlie said with a chuckle slightly startled.
"I thought Becky said that family was the one,"Nia said.
"I thought so too but, Andy got laid off and they couldn't afford my meds, so Becky picked me up yesterday, to my suprise," Charlie said emptying the contents of the pink suit case Elizabeth bought her.
"ElizaBeth was a nice mom and Andy was a nice dad but it wasn't a good fit,"Charlie told her without looking up trying to hide her true feeling
"It lasted six months longer than I thought it would," Charlie said with a bit of disappointment in my voice.
Nia picked up on it
"Hey they seemed like good people it wasn't your fault,"Nia told her but she doesnt believe her.
"Look they can't hate you that much they gave you a suitcase,"Nia adds.
"My last family gave me a trash bag," she said making Charlie laugh.
"Mission accomplished she laughed," Nia said in fake triumphant.
"Ha ha ha,"Charlie said with a hint of sarcasm. "Don't you have something better to do,"Charlie asked slightly annoyed?
"There isn't anything better than bothering my bestfriend,"Nia said hugging Charlie from behind as she folding her pants.
"Ew, get off me I don't want your cooties,"Charlie exclaimed like a child.
They heard Clarisse the lunch lady over the intercom "Dinner is ready dinner is ready hall A come down."
Charlie shut the door to what she liked to call a cell much to the disapproval of Becky, and walk downstairs. Charlie held herself together as much as she could. She practice what she would say when people asked what happened. She had lines prepared on the way back so she wouldn't break down when asked about it. It was easy with Nia because she was Nia but every one wasn't Nia.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day while Charlie painted in her room it hit her. And it hit her hard,it hit her like a pile of bricks.
The realization of what happened yesterday hit her while she painted. It's like a wave of pain not just sadness but physically excruciating pain. She threw the paint brush as she began to scream. Eventually Charlies screams subsided and the screams turns into laughter but the laughter finally fell into a sob. She felt arms wrap around her.
"They didn't want me," she sob into someone's shoulder.
"They didn't want me," Charlie said as her voice broke.
"Shh it's ok ," Nia said in a whisper while rubbing her hair.
"They didn't want me, " Charlie said with tears streaming down her face.
"They didn't deserve you," Nia said as she held Charlie slowing rocking back and forth.
"They didn't want me," Charlie said eerily calm.
"Ok how about we get you to bed ok," Nia suggested she knew the position they sat in couldnt have been comfortable.
Charlie compiled. They walk over to the bunks and Nia tucked Charlie in on the bottom bunk. It was oddly soothing. She hadn't been tucking in since she was 4, which was the last time she'd seen her mother sober. Her dad couldn't even bring himself to look at her let alone tuck her in. And she understood why she looked like a carbon copy of her mom. Right down to her smile. She knew he loved her but he didn't know how to show it. She hadn't thought of her birth family since her 10th birthday. But the feelings she felt were oddly reminiscent of the ones she felt on her 10th birthday when she realized her dad was dead and he wasn't going to pick her up. That this wasn't summer camp. And her grandma couldn't take care of her anymore so she dropped her off. That same feeling of abandonment. The feeling of being forgotten or not wanted. She worked so hard to block each foster parent out, to not let them in. But Elizabeth and Andy were different. She had no choice but to let them in with their white picket fence house and suburban lifestyle. She had fought so hard vowing to make sure she never felt that same pain again. But here she was cry, let herself succumb to that same feeling. She even felt like she was there again crying over her birthday cake. As all the children in residential sung the happy birthday song to her. While she realized her Dad would never come back for her.
Forgotten.