Chapter 8
Time skip –
It was now May, four months since Bobby and Athena had welcomed Maddie and Evan into their home. School had been going successfully for both children for the last three months and Evan was slowly starting to talk more in front of other people. It was mostly in front of Mr Lopez when nobody else was around, but everyone was proud of the steps he had been taking. The flashbacks were still there but he was now able to tell Athena and the social worker what he had been through. This helped them gather even more evidence as the court date was approaching. That court date was finally tomorrow, and it was going to be the start of possibly a long trail.
Athena and Bobby had been given the time off to be there. Michael was going to be watching the children when they weren't required to be in the courtroom. The social worker and the judge as well as the prosecutor agreed that the children only needed to be in the courtroom for one day to minimize the emotional distress seeing their parents would put them through. They had asked Maddie what she thought, and she agreed she really didn't want to see her biological parents more than necessary. They weren't sure how Evan would handle being on the stand, so they were going to leave him out of the proceedings. They had his testimony on camera so that's how they would see him.
His cast was off, had been for a while and he was enjoying having the use of both his hands again. He was getting dressed himself and was more stubbornly independent than ever. This was something both Bobby and Athena didn't mind. He was still their sweet innocent and happy go lucky kid, he just wanted to be a big kid and get dressed himself, learn how to do his zippers and his shoelaces by himself. These were all normal things that a kid his age would want to do but were ripped away from him until recently. He would still ask for help whenever he needed it though. They couldn't be prouder of how well the kids were doing lately. They had grown so much.
"Daddy," Evan shouted when he saw Bobby outside the classroom when his school day ended. Bobby had been on a twenty-four-hour shift and Evan had missed him greatly during that time. When he went to bed the previous night, he had asked Athena when his daddy was coming home, and she had to tell him it was when he was going to be in school. He wasn't focused on anyone other than Bobby, which made all the parents go awe as the tiny blond raced towards the firefighter, still in his uniform from his shift as he didn't have time to get changed. He wanted to be there for the pickup instead of letting him get on the bus and they had a call right at the end of their shift making him almost late.
"Hey, my little man, how was school?" Bobby asks, scooping him up into his arms and getting the biggest squishiest hug possible. Mr Lopez was standing at the door with a big smile watching all his students greet their parents or caregivers. Evan excitedly started telling him all of the fun dinosaur facts he had learned that day whilst they walked to his truck. Bobby listened intently despite feeling pretty tired. The adrenaline from the shift was starting to wear down and the tiredness from working twenty-four hours straight was hitting him. He was going home and then going to sleep. He was going to need all the sleep he could get if tomorrow was going to go well.
They got home and put their bags down before walking over to the couch. Granted not the best place to fall asleep after a twenty-four-hour shift but he liked his little naps with Evan that usually happened after school. It was something he looked forward to if his shift ended at the same time Evan got out of school. It was an unusual activity considering Evan was in most people's eyes past the age when you would need a nap, but Bobby wasn't going to stop him. He still slept mostly through the night unless he had a nightmare. The nightmares varied in frequency depending on things going on. When he gave his recorded statement of each event that happened, they were usually followed by nightmares for the next two nights.
They had thought about keeping the whole court case from him. However, as his confidence grew under the safety of them both the more questions he had especially after he had been recorded. They decided to keep with the honesty is the best policy they had been going with since the beginning of their fostering. He was aware that Michael was going to be around a lot during the next couple of weeks while they went to court to find out what was going to happen to the biological parents. This would also determine if they were going to move ahead with the adoption phase. They knew this could cause some anxiety, but they knew that they had told him at an age-appropriate level.
The nap went well, Bobby slept a little bit longer than Evan had and woke up to his son watching TV and holding his hand. It honestly felt like the calm before the storm and Bobby was going to enjoy every moment of the peace he could. Athena and Maddie seemed to be deep in discussion about how to handle her day in court as they couldn't be in the box with her. If they were completely honest as they didn't need to give testimony, they didn't really need to be there at all, but they wanted to go for the children's sake, so they knew someone was there to support them. Somebody had to be team Evan and Maddie at least. Might as well be them.
"Are you boys hungry? I heated up some of those leftovers you made yesterday," Athena says, when she spots that Bobby was now awake. She knew Evan had woken up because she had quietly turned the television on when he said he wanted to stay snuggled up to his dad. Bobby got up to help Evan wash up for dinner as his way of answering his wife. He hadn't eaten in a good few hours and was definitely ready for leftover tacos. He had meal prepped a lot of food, so Michael didn't have to worry about cooking for the kids if they were going to be gone that late. They don't expect it to be so late, but they never know what each day is going to bring to the court room.
Margret and Philip have been very unpredictable during their time in their respective jails. One day Margret would cry and say she missed her babies and the next she would start angrily swearing that all three of her kids caused her nothing, but trouble and she wished they had never been born. Philip on the other hand was going between angry and his favorite word being no comment. Any interview he had he wouldn't say anything even when confronted with all of the evidence both police departments in Hershey and Los Angeles had gathered. It didn't matter to Lou as that evidence would more than prove his guilt to the jury which had been selected.
They were thinking of pulling the children out of school during the length of the trial as it had become quite a hot topic within the news building up to tomorrow's openings. Maddie's school friends would ask her about it. Now they had discussions at length about how she wanted to deal with it. She would be open and honest with her friends about it. She wasn't afraid to tell them about the trauma that she and her brother had been through. Mr Lopez and the principal of Evan's school were going to send a letter should his name be leaked to the press that it was indeed him and to respect his and his family's privacy. Everyone was happy with that.
Dinner went well, everyone was doing their best to not dwell on the events of tomorrow and just focus on the here and now. Athena helped Evan was his homework and Bobby helped Maddie with hers. It was nice and they both used their skills to make the homework easy. Then they all talked about one good thing from their day, and it was soon Evan's bedtime. No bath tonight, just brushing teeth after his milk and cookie and his favorite story time with Bobby. He was asleep in no time. The nap did not affect his energy levels in the slightest. He was excited to go to school tomorrow and continue as normal.
Evan could sense the nervous energy of the household as they all got ready the next morning. They were going to school as normal and as agreed by everyone. Maddie was doing her best to hide her nerves from her brother, but it was difficult. She wasn't even going to court today but the fact that it was starting was enough to put her on edge. He was making sure each member of the household got as many hugs as possible and he could manage between eating his breakfast, getting himself dressed and letting Athena do his hair and put some gel in it to make it smart. "You're my handsome little man," She told him which made him smile. She was also doing her best to hide the emotions from him.
This was going to be the first time that she actually got to see his and Maddie's birth parents properly since they became foster parents. As she was the foster parent, she wasn't allowed to be involved in the investigation but that didn't stop some of her coworkers telling her information that the CPS wouldn't tell them during the several long meetings they had on the build up to the trial itself. Her heart was broken but she was also angry at the parents for ever laying their hands on either child to hurt them. Bobby came up behind her whilst she was deep in thought and rubbed her shoulders. "We will fight for these kids no matter what," he says. There was a separate hearing for the actual custody battle which was going to start soon.
A lot of it was riding on the outcome of the trial itself, if they were going to get life terms in prison then the courts and CPS could go ahead and terminate their parental rights which would open up the possibility of adoption. There is still the very small tiny possibility that the jury would somehow fall for the lies and deception that Margret and Philip would try and spread during their time on the stand and they could be found not guilty. However, this was extremely unlikely. "I know, I know they will get what is coming for them too. I just worry about how the kids are going to cope. This is going to bring up a lot of hell for them especially knowing details will be in the news even if their names are not in," Athena says.
Evan had been having nightmares this whole time, not frequently but at least one or two a week. Maddie hadn't told them if she had any but they knew she would come to them for comfort if she had one and she needed it. She wasn't hurt like her brother was but it doesn't take away the suffering the went through loosing Daniel and then having to raise her baby brother Evan whilst he's being abused by their own father while the mother sat by and did nothing. When they went to wake the children up this morning they found Evan had made his way into Maddie's room during the night and they were fast asleep. It made the wake up slightly harder but they knew they needed to keep going as normal.
Maddie got on the bus like normal and Athena went to the high school to make sure that they were aware of the possibility of her needing the counselor during the trial. Bobby and Evan went to the elementary school as normal with them singing the whole way there. No worries to be seen which was good. Bobby did let Mr Lopez know that Evan might be a bit more emotional/prone to flashbacks during the trial which was due to start today. Sure it was only opening statements but whatever the prosecutor said and if the defense could speak today he knew all the major news outlet would be broadcasting their stories when the court is done for the day.
Evan gave Bobby a super tight hug as he said goodbye at the door after he had finished speaking with the teacher. "You'll be okay little buddy, Michael is probably going to pick you up tonight but we'll be home before bedtime," Bobby reassured him and was happy to see Evan was excited about his "Uncle" Michael as he had recently been dubbed was going to be there today. Bobby remembers Michael's reaction to his new nickname when Evan said it. He was worried for a moment that Michael was about to start crying, but he was okay just happy that the little dude had felt that he was family. In Evan's little world family were the people who loved and cared about him which were his big sister Maddie, his mom Athena, his dad Bobby and his uncle Michael. He didn't need anyone else.
His grandparents on Athena's side were still in Florida and hadn't met them yet. They are due to come during the trial to support their daughter and son in law and then meet the children. They didn't know if during the trial would be the right time but Athena and Bobby had agreed the support would be nice and the children would enjoy spending some time with their grandparents for once. Philip and Margret kept a lot of their extended family including grandparents away from them so their abuse wouldn't be found out sooner. The last memory Maddie had of her family was when they were at Daniel's funeral and it wasn't too long before they moved for the first of many times.
Bobby and Athena met back up at home so they could take Athena's car to the courthouse when they were ready. Michael was fully briefed on the emotional state of the kids, so they could be picked up by him if they couldn't handle being in school the full day. Mr Lopez was focusing on giving Evan as many distractions as possible so that he didn't have to think about the adult stuff going on around him. Maddie had her phone so she could text them if she needed to. "Is it weird that I am more worried about our babies than I am about seeing those two in court?" Athena asks, as they make sure they have everything they need. Bobby rubbed her shoulder.
"Its perfectly normal, this is a scary time for our children. They are going through the roughest part of their journey to heal. The two in court will get what's coming to them. As we don't need to be witnesses for this one until later and they don't know who we are there isn't really going to be any confrontation or anything. We can just sit quietly in the gallery," Bobby says. They didn't even really need to be there. CPS need them for the custody case when that starts. They are just going to show their support and to get an understanding of how this happened. They also want to support Maddie when she gives her evidence about what happened during the last 6 or so years. Bobby was equally as worried, but he wasn't going to show it. He felt like he needed to be the strong one.
The process of actually getting into the court building wasn't bad. It was something they had done before when they had to be witnesses during their careers so far. As the defendants were in jail already there was no chance of bumping into them while they waited to be called into the court room. There were a lot of reporters around, this was the most popular case in the news at the moment. They even heard some people chanting outside about how capital punishment should be used against Philip and Margret even though it wasn't really a crime that fit the law. It felt nice for Bobby and Athena to know there were strangers out there that cared for these kids.
They were not about to brag that they are the foster parents of Maddie and Evan Buckley though to anyone outside of the friends and family who already knew. They don't want any more attention being brought to their family than there was already. Not that there was directly any reporters outside their house. To give the department of children and family services or CPS or whoever their information was kept confidential and sealed from the press. It made it easier for them to try and heal and recover in the safety and comfort of their own home. They have their right to privacy and as they are minors their names were not allowed in the press so when reporters were talking about the children they were just E and M or little boy and teenage girl.
Court went as well as could be expected. Margret faked cried through some of it. Philip remained angry and silent throughout as the prosecution made their opening statement to the jury. It went into some detail of how the death of one of their children led to the horrific abuse of a child who was only born to try and save his older brother and then along with his older sister were effectively abandoned by their mother. The jury was going to hear from the children themselves at how a then 8/9 year old little girl was left to raise a toddler all by herself and how the parents were finally caught. It seemed like Margret didn't really care too much and had a couple of genuine tears when Daniel was mentioned.
They didn't pay much attention to the people who were allowed in to see the court proceedings. Only really glared at the judge and the prosecution. The defense was going for the whole parents not being in the right frame of mind due to their grief of losing their son narrative. That didn't really excuse their behavior in Athena and Bobby's eyes and you could see some of the jury were already beginning to form their opinions as they took notes. The burden of proof rests with the prosecution to prove that the parents did neglect and abuse their children. It was just after dinner time when court ended for the day as they were starting with the prosecution's case and all the evidence they had gathered through out the investigation.
Evan ran up to them when they returned home and gave them the biggest hugs ever. It was definitely one of the calmer days they feel like they were going to have during this trial but the hugs were still greatly appreciated. Bobby knew it was Evan's way of calming himself down as well because they knew he had been more upset today in class and nothing fixed it more than a hug from his favorite grown ups. Maddie also gave them a hug and they all had some dinner together. Evan had already eaten because he was very hungry when they got home from school. They did make an effort to eat as a family though. Michael had only given him a snack.
Michael left after dinner promising to be back tomorrow. Evan told them all about how much fun they had in school and how in a couple of days time they had a field trip to the a museum full of dinosaur things. Bobby and Athena and the case worker already gave the school the go ahead for the natural history museum trip. They know that the biological parents are not going to escape as there is a lot of security at the courts and they do not have information on where their children are or anything that could jeopardize their safety. It was still important for Evan to have these normal childhood experiences. He was super excited telling them all about what the teacher told him he was going to see while they were there.
It was a risky trip considering Evan's possibility of going into a flashback whilst being out and about, but the teacher assured them he had spoken to someone who deals with childhood trauma since the first flashback Evan had in his classroom so at least he could do something to help before Bobby or Athena and now Michael got to them. He felt so helpless the first time and he wanted to make sure he could support all of his students in anyway that they could possibly need. They were all confident he was going to have a good time though and that if he enjoyed it then they were going to take him themselves with Maddie once this trial was over.
There was going to be a lot of fun family trips once they know what the future holds but they were also going to fit a lot of things into the weekends because you don't know what the outcome of everything with the court system. Bobby and Athena were going to ask both of them what they wanted to do to make sure that it wasn't all focused on one child over the other which is easy to subconsciously do. Especially with the age gap between the two of them it is easy to assume the teen doesn't want to do the same thing that the young child wants to do. With Maddie being more of a parental figure in his life up until now it is more likely that she'd want to see the joy on his face with all of the new experiences he goes through.
Bath time came round quickly. It was like the time had dragged whilst they were in court and now they were out of it for the day fast forward had been pressed. It was like just a minute ago dinner had been eaten when in reality it was more than an hour and a half ago. All the homework was done and they had some family time. Evan had his milk and cookie which also helped to make sure he got enough calcium during the day to help his bones grow strong as his left arm would be more prone for breakages as it had been broken quite badly before. It wasn't going to be an every night thing, just for a while as it seemed to help him get into the routine.
It was clear from the short time he had been in the school that there was a diagnosis of ADHD coming little Evan's way. He was like the energizer bunny and never seemed to run out of steam even if he did have a nap during the day. If didn't mean that they were going to treat him any differently, they just need to make sure the right supports were in place to allow him to excel. This was another reason why the dinosaur theme was working so well, Evan still loved Lions and Tigers but his current hyper fixation on the dinosaurs allowed him to really concentrate on his lessons and he was learning a lot. Maths was his weakest subject but it didn't matter.
Evan was reluctant when it came to story time tonight. Normally he would be all for it but today he was hesitant. They had explained what was going on in a way that he could understand it but it didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to be nervous. Maddie was just telling Athena how he asked her if mean mommy and daddy were going to take them away and Maddie told him that they weren't going to be allowed anywhere near them. "I'm not going anywhere little buddy. Once we finish the story I am going to stay right here with you," Bobby tells him. It took Bobby longer than usual but eventually Evan was convinced.
Athena came in when he was halfway through reading a story. It helped that Bobby let Evan have the choice of what they read so he had that bit of control over the situation. Athena sat on the other side of Evan so they had him comforted from two sides. Then she was playing with his hair whilst Bobby continued to read the story to him. After a while Maddie joined in so they were in a family cuddle. Maddie was also worried about being removed from Athena and Bobby but she had a better understanding of the situation than her brother just due to being older. She could still worry about any possibility though. No matter how big or small they were valid.
After a while of the cuddles Evan finally fell asleep. It took him a while and he wasn't his usual cheery self. They waited a little while before carefully getting up and leaving the room. Bobby and Athena were out of their smarter clothes but still weren't ready for bed and they still had the rest of their evening routine to complete. Evan was fast asleep when they left without a worry in the world. Bobby went through a little checklist in his head, Evan was asleep, their homework was complete and so were the packed lunches for tomorrow. All there really was left was to settle down with Maddie and watch their TV show which had just gotten to a really juicy storyline.
It was one of those shows with a murder who done it storylines and they were almost at the conclusion. It had brought up a lot of discussion between them and Maddie even learned a few cop techniques along the way. Athena was the one who was most convinced who the murderer was and even had the evidence to prove it. If she had more time between the episodes she would have made a full on detective board with all of the details she could like it was a real life investigation. Bobby admired her dedicated to it even if it was a fictional story. He could imagine her taking the real cases this seriously which he would never have doubted.
If things were different he knew she would be fiercely fighting in the kid's corner for them if she was allowed to. She would tear the defense apart on the stand and there would be no doubt in the juries mind that Margret and Philip were guilty of child neglect and abuse. They were relatively confident that is the conclusion the jury is going to come to, the trial had only just started though so it was too early to tell. It was easy to see through the crocodile tears and the lies. "I told you it was going to be her," Athena says, as the TV show revealed exactly who she had been saying was the killer the whole time. Maddie looked at her in awe as she explained exactly how she knew.
"And this is why you are the police officer not me," Bobby says. With the right training Athena had no doubts that Bobby could actually have a very good police officer career. She also understood he has come from a family with generations of firefighters. He wasn't going to push Evan into firefighting if he didn't want to though. There was one thing that Bobby didn't like and it was that generational expectation to join the Minnesota FD and he didn't want to disappoint. Although as that was engrained in his brain from as young as he can remember he doesn't know what career he would have chosen otherwise. Maybe he would have been a lawyer.
"If you both had any jobs other than the ones you are in what would you chose?" Maddie asks. She had also been using the time that she had one on one with them to get to know them a bit more. They had been doing at least one question a night. Or two, Maddie would ask one then Athena or Bobby would ask one. It was a great way for them to bond on a more personal level that was appropriate for them. Evan only saw them as mommy and daddy and knew the information he needed like when their birthdays are and what their favorite colors are. The basics you would ask a kid for mother's or father's day craft. Bobby and Athena took a moment to think about it.
"I was just thinking about it, possibly a lawyer. I don't really know because everyone in my family had this expectation for me to become a firefighter," Bobby replies. Athena was still thinking about it whilst Maddie had a chance to ask Bobby any follow up questions that might come to mind. From what they could tell, Margret and Philip were possibly teachers before their son had gotten cancer. That or a really good career which would allow them to afford to have a second son who was specifically a genetic match in order to donate his bone marrow to his brother. Well that was how they were guessing this all worked. It is the late 1990's after all and all of this technology is relatively new.
Everything went according to plan. They watched their show until Maddie's bedtime. They updated the homeschool diary to mention how unsettled Evan had been during bedtime and how he was now afraid that Bobby and Athena were going to be taken away from him and he was going to be given to the "bad parents" as he put it. They also sent it in an email to the case worker to see if there was anything else that could be done to eliminate those fears. They know they can't promise that Bobby and Athena were going to adopt him, but they could get another police officer to come and explain to him that they weren't going to know who was looking after him and the police weren't going to let them out of the front doors.
Or however small child friendly they can reassure him that he was safe. It was one thing them telling him that mean mommy and daddy weren't coming to get him. It was another when someone with that authority could tell him. It wasn't that Evan was intentionally disbelieving them. It was the way the doubt in his little brain was telling him that he shouldn't quite believe what was being said. There were a lot of things going on this week and it was hard for everyone to keep track. At least they had a good line of communication with their caseworker so they could tell her what was going on and ask for advice if and when they should need it. It has been the most helpful.
Around 3 am Evan woke up extremely distressed. Bobby and Athena immediately woke up to his cries and did their best to comfort him. He was really struggling to calm himself down despite Bobby scooping him up into his arms and rocking him from side to side. Not wanting to disturb Maddie too much they took him outside for a moment where they have a porch swing to further try and comfort him. It didn't take long for Bobby to realize that Evan was stuck in either the nightmare that originally woke him up or a flashback which was triggered by the nightmare. "You are going to be alright. You're safe and you are in the back garden with me," Bobby says, slowly and calmly.
After a few minutes and a lot of rocking Evan was finally more aware of his surroundings and a lot calmer than he was. Athena was in the kitchen making them hot chocolates because she thought it would help him once he was calmer to settle even further. Evan sniffled and held on tightly to Bobby as he rocked him. "Sorry," says Evan after another minute or two of being calmed. Bobby ruffles his hair and kisses the top of his head. He felt sorry for the child that he felt like he needed to apologize for something that was out of his control. It wasn't his fault that he was going through a lot in his little life. He has only had a few months where nobody was hurting him.
"You never have to be sorry kid. You are allowed to have your feelings no matter how big or small. Athena and I are always going to be around to support you through it," Bobby tells him. It was going to be too much for him in his current emotional state to have long sentences about how they will support him whether he was in their home or not. Right now he needs to know that he is allowed to be upset and he is allowed to feel whatever his little body needs to feel just as long as he knows that there are people who love him and are willing to fight in his corner. Athena walked outside with a tray with three cups of hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows on top.
They drank their hot chocolates while Athena told him about how she used to have them when she was little and how it reminded her of warm winter's nights cuddled with her mother and how relaxed she was. She even told him of a story her grandma used to tell her when she would have nightmares. By the end of it Evan had completely relaxed and was ready for round two of brushing his teeth and getting back into bed. It was almost half past four in the morning but Athena and Bobby wouldn't change it for the world. Athena updated the homeschool diary and added another email for their caseworker when she gets into her office in about 5 hours time.
She was worried that the caseworker was going to feel some kind of way about it. Then again she had specifically told Bobby and Athena that they could email her any updates about the children no matter what time of day and no matter how small or inconsequential they felt like it was. It would also be more evidence they could have on both court cases as it shows the impact of the neglect and abuse on the children. She told them that she couldn't promise that she was going to answer the emails when she was out of hours which was fair enough. They are allowed to have a life outside of the cases and they know full well cases like this can be tough even on the strongest of people.
Any cases involving children are always the hardest. You think you have seen it all and then boom a whole can of worms explodes and you see the truest evil amongst society. Once it was all sorted Athena went to check on Maddie who had thankfully slept through the whole thing. They know she cares deeply about her brother but they want to make sure she looks after herself too. That includes making sure she gets all the rest she needs. Bobby and Athena had also agreed that Evan could spent the rest of the night in their bed as they don't want him to have another nightmare and they were worried about him. Hopefully the rest of the night will go better.
The next morning brought a renewed sense of anxiety for Evan who really didn't want Bobby or Athena to leave him or Maddie. Anytime they mentioned school or going out he would get really upset. He was also a little frustrated that he couldn't quite explain his feelings properly. He wasn't being babied in any way but it was becoming clearer that he knows and understands more than they initially thought. Each step of this long complicated journey really opened their eyes to the wonder of the child's brain and how they can understand things way beyond someone else their age could. They didn't really need to be in court today and they called the schools and the children were having the day off.
Athena turned the living room into a massive blanket fort. Today will be a movie day after the whirlwind that had been the previous 48 hours. Nobody needs to leave the house today, either Bobby will cook or get takeout. Michael can still come over, he just doesn't need to babysit today as Athena and Bobby weren't needed anywhere else. They were right where they were supposed to be with their foster children. They had Mulan on VHS as well as Lion King plenty of other movies to keep them entertained today. Bobby made a bowl of popcorn, not the healthiest thing straight after breakfast but all the rules on food were going out of the window.
Once Evan had realized he wasn't going anywhere and the people who loved him the most were not suddenly about to leave he was a lot happier. Athena slipped away shortly after half past nine in the morning as the caseworker was on the phone wanting to know how they were. Evan had himself glued to Maddie's side and Maddie was more than happy to look after her little brother. She made blanket forts in their bedroom during thunderstorms and it seemed to help then. Bobby also went to the kitchen telling both children that they weren't far away as the caseworker called an impromptu meeting to make sure there wasn't anything else they needed in terms of support.
They all admitted that they underestimated both how much Evan understood of the situation and how much trauma this was going to bring up. Maddie had been going to the school counselor at least once a day and always checked in with Athena and Bobby so she wasn't like a soda pop bottle ready to explode. Evan didn't know until 4 months ago that the life he had been living was wrong and it was harder for him to communicate how he felt. They couldn't offer any input either as they didn't want to seem like they were putting words into his mouth when they weren't. it was frustrating for everyone involved because they couldn't even ask him questions that could lead to them unlocking the feelings and helping him deal with them.
The caseworker recommended that at some point during all of this Evan sees a child therapist that specializes in child abuse cases so they can help him figure out his feelings and find healthy ways of coping with them which will hopefully prevent future episodes like this. Not that mental health days were a bad thing. They were just worried that Evan was in a very quick spiral and they didn't want him suffering anymore because of it. The other thing they had completely forgotten about was the selective mutism. The people they dealt with on a day to day basis had become people that Evan had started talking to. Mr Lopez admitted that he cried the day that Evan spoke to him for the first time.
It was basically going to be impossible to have therapy be of any benefit to Evan right now. It would take several sessions before Evan would even feel comfortable talking about his feelings to a therapist and especially on a day like today he would not entertain the idea of Athena and Bobby not being allowed in the room with him. Luckily their caseworker listened to their concerns and said that it was fine to put it on hold for now until Evan was feeling better. The last thing she wanted to do was to introduce even more trauma to the poor little lad. At least she was on the same page. If she had said anything otherwise then they would have no choice than to do as she recommends.
Bobby made his famous grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch with Michael promising to bring them Mc Donald's later on. For the afternoon snack they had hummus and carrot sticks as they found out that Evan was not a picky eater in the slightest so he was willing to try anything. The movie day was going extremely well and Maddie and Evan even took a small nap during the afternoon. Athena still took some photos even though there was a tiny voice in the back of her head saying it was wrong. She wanted to show that even in the darkest times they were still there for each other. Also it was cute to see how strong the sibling bond still is between Maddie and Evan.
Michael came over around the time school would have ended like he would have done if everything had gone to plan this morning. He was going to be the one to get the takeaway for dinner later on. Evan had relaxed somewhat but he still wasn't keen on letting Athena or Bobby out of his sight for too long. Even Maddie wasn't exempt from it and she didn't seem to mind too much. She liked looking after her little brother. They even played some games like she did when he was a bit younger. Everyone was calmer and happier by the time evening rolled around. Evan wasn't as chatty as usual but did say hi to Michael and they had some small talk.
Bobby and Michael were talking for a while about work related things before the topic of dinner came around and they discussed what takeaway would be the best. They settled on one and placed their order. Athena and Michael were having their discussions whilst Bobby went back to their children. The blanket fort had definitely been the right decision, everyone felt safe and secure. Bobby had both children on either side of him and the Disney movie marathon turned into a bunch of documentaries like animal and dinosaurs or whatever they wanted to watch at that moment. Everyone got at least one movie or documentary of their choice and it kept everyone happy.
Dinner time quickly approached and it was like the previous night never happened. Evan was back to his normal self. The day of relaxation and family time definitely did what it was supposed to do and then some. He wasn't fully chatty like normal but he was happy to let Athena and Bobby as well as Maddie leave his sight for longer than a couple of minutes. Athena updated the diaries as well as the case worker who was happy to hear that Evan was doing better than he had been doing that morning and the previous night. He was exhausted by the time the night time routine was kicking in. Maddie was doing some crochet in her room.
She had done amazing work with her new skills. Currently she was working on a blanket for Evan and a smaller one he could take with him anywhere. She was also going to make one each for Bobby and Athena as a thank you present regardless of the outcomes of the upcoming court cases. Today went as expected in court, they were going through their evidence and some witnesses. Basically telling the story of how Evan came to be and when the problems were about to start. Athena was considering their need to be in the court room during the day. Especially when it comes to the more graphic and upsetting things. The main thing they want to do is be there for Maddie when she is brought to the stand as a witness.
That night definitely went better, Evan was asleep easily before Bobby had finished the bedtime story. There was no reluctance or any upset which was the best outcome. Tomorrow will hopefully build on that good mood and he'll be able to go to school. They were glad the school trip was tomorrow because they know he would have been devastated if he had missed it today, he had been excitedly looking forward to it. Today it was the furthest thing from his mind as he wanted his family around him. As a back up plan Bobby and Athena arranged it with the teacher and the school that they could be with him if his mood wasn't great. Tomorrow will be better though, they guaranteed it.
And that is the end of another chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Better times are coming I swear!
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