Chapter 19- Home Visit

Molly and TJ had been preparing all week for the social worker's home visit. Their apartment was always tidy, but they made sure to even scrub the corners and do a deep clean. Molly couldn't sleep as she anticipated it. Scarlett had finally started to get used to being with them.

TJ was sitting on the floor playing with Scarlett when Molly answered the door.

"Hi." Molly smiled. "Please, come in."

She walked in and smiled. "Hello, Scarlett. How are you today? So, I'd like to start by you giving me a tour, then we can talk and ask questions."

Molly nodded. "Of course. Well, this is our living room, and over here is the kitchen…."

GHGHGH

"Grandma! This is our home now!" Wiley jumped into Nina's arms. "Come play with me!"

Nina laughed. "Okay, what do you want to play?"

Willow was sitting on the couch feeding Amelia as she watched them.

"Race cars! Let's build my track!"

"Okay!" Nina sat on the floor with him and started to build.

Wiley connected the tracks together, then jumped up and moved around to get more tracks.

"Uh Nina, I have to work this evening, do you think you could watch the kids?" Willow asked.

"Yes, I would love to."

Wiley hopped over the tracks but slipped on a loose one and fell to the floor. He started crying.

GHGHGH

"Esme, you really should keep up with chores around your apartment," Laura said as she finished up her dishes.

Esme sighed, holding Ace on her lap. "I know."

"Now, have you come up with a game plan?" Laura asked. "Are you going to look for a new place or come back home with us?"

There was a pause. "We're not going back with you guys."

Laura put the last plate in the cupboard, then sat with Esme at the table, and pulled out her phone. "Okay but honey you have less than a week before you have to be out of here. We need to look right away. Between both of our incomes I think you can afford—"

"I don't have an income anymore," Esme said.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I quit my job."

Laura sighed. "Oh, Esme. Why? You need that job."

"But they were publishing cruel articles."

"What kind of articles?"

Esme lowered her gaze. "Daddy stalking Felicia."

Laura frowned. "That must've been hard for you to see. But I don't think quitting is the answer."

"Why wouldn't I? That article will hurt Felicia!"

Laura smiled. "You care about Felicia, don't you?"

Esme shifted awkwardly. "Um… no. Uh, Ace does."

"Well, Esme, you've got to accept help from somebody. If you won't accept it from me and Kevin, then why not accept it from your mother?"

"Heather's my mother."

"Oh, Esme. Why don't you ask Felicia to show you the DNA results?"

Esme shook her head on the verge of tears.

"Don't you want to know the truth for yourself?" Laura asked.

"No!" Esme cried. "Because all it's going to do is show that I'm not her daughter and I'm just going to feel worse!"

"Aww sweetie, I know you're scared. But I can really tell that you do want Felicia to be your mother."

"N-no I don't…."

Laura reached for her hand. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. But right now, you need to decide about living arrangements. I will continue to help you out, but I don't think Kevin and I can afford an apartment like this again without you contributing. We have our own expenses too."

"Then… then I'll go Kelly's. Or Bobbie's or whatever it is now."

"Okay, but that's only a temporary solution because it's only a boarding house."

"Fine, if you don't want to help me, just say it! I'll—I'll figure it out myself!"

"Esme, even if you get another job, that will take some time and even more time before you get your first paycheck," Laura said.

"I still have the money you gave me the last two months," Esme said. "I forgot to give it to the landlady. So, I'll use that."

"Two months go by really fast," Laura said. "You still need a plan beyond that. Kevin, Felicia, and I are all on board to help you. But I worry that if you don't accept our help, you might need to accept help somewhere else."

Esme shrunk down in her seat. "You mean a shrink?"

Laura nodded. "Kevin has some very good colleagues—"

"You think I'm crazy like my parents…."

"No, honey, but you've been through a lot and they can give you good strategies for coping and navigating the world."

"I—I don't need that," Esme said. "I have my plan. We're going to Kelly's and I'm going to figure the rest out myself. I need to go there and think without anyone pressuring me."

GHGHGH

The social worker sat down at the kitchen table with TJ and Molly as she wrote things down. "So, I have some news. Scarlett has a grandmother who would like to meet her."

Molly's chest went heavy. "Just meet her?"

"Well, she actually wants to raise Scarlett."

Molly looked down at her lap and TJ wrapped his arm around her.

"But I thought Scarlett's parents were raised in the foster system," TJ said. "Why is her grandmother suddenly emerging?"

"Scarlett's mother was raised by the grandmother until she was ten and then she was given to foster care."

"So, she gave up her rights to her daughter?" TJ asked. "Then how does she have rights to Scarlett?"

"It's for that reason Scarlett will remain in your care temporarily. But she will have weekly visits with her grandmother until the courts decide on the home suitable to Scarlett's needs. She and Scarlett's mother re-connected last year, so this is a special circumstance."

GHGHGH

Willow stopped feeding Amelia and sat up. "Wiley, are you okay?"

Nina helped Wiley sit up. Wiley held onto his bleeding knee.

"Aww, looks like a bad scrape," Nina said.

Wiley pouted. "It hurts."

"Nina, can you hold Amelia?" Willow asked.

"I can help Wiley, if that's okay?" Nina said.

Willow smiled. "Okay, sure."

"Now which box had the band aids?" Nina asked, starting to look through one.

"It's in the bathroom," Willow said. "Just haven't unpacked them yet. There's bactine in there too, to clean it."

Nina rushed to the bathroom.

"No!" Wiley cried. "Bactine stings!"

"I know, buddy," Willow said. "But it will help it to heal faster. And you'll get an Avenger band-aid."

"I want Spiderman…."

Nina hurried back with the bactine and band-aids. "Okay, I think there's a Spiderman one here." She knelt beside him and dabbed the scrape with the bactine.

"Ow! No, Grandma Nina, no."

"Look, all done," Nina said. "And here's your Spiderman bandaid."

Wiley started to smile.

GHGHGH

After Laura left, Esme took Ace on the bus and headed to Bobbie's diner. She would have to figure out a way to get the rest of her stuff there without asking Kevin, Laura, or Spencer for help.

But when she arrived in her new room, she didn't know how anything would fit. The room was so tiny, Ace's crib probably wouldn't even fit. They'd have to share the bed.

It would only be temporary though until she came up with a plan.

A plan that seemed impossible unless she heeded Laura's advice and accepted help.

But who could she trust?

After an hour of playing with Ace on their bed, Esme thought they could use a change in scenery. So, after changing Ace's diaper, she got Ace's bottle ready and headed down to the diner.

She came to a halt when she saw Mac and Felicia sitting at a table with Georgie and James.

Felicia's face lit up and she walked over to her. "Hi Esme. Hi Ace. We keep running into each other, don't we?"

Esme nodded. "We live here now."

"Oh okay. Are you all settled?"

"Um, well, we're getting there."

"Okay, well let me know if you need any help," Felicia said.

Esme bit her lip at the word 'help' again.

"Would you like to join us? We just ordered. We're having pizza."

Esme glanced over at the table and back at Felicia. "Okay, yeah."

Felicia led her over to them. "Guys, Esme and Ace are going to join us."

Mac smiled. "Hi Esme. How are you?"

Esme shrugged. "I'm okay."

James waved at her and took a sip of his milkshake.

"I heard about you," Georgie said. "You're our aunt."

Esme swallowed hard.

Felicia pulled over a chair and placed it between her seat and Mac's.

Esme started towards it when Georgie ran around the table and stole her seat.

Felicia frowned. "Georgie, that wasn't nice."

"I want to sit beside you, Grandma," Georgie said.

"I—I better go lay Ace down," Esme said and started to walk away.

"You can have my seat," James spoke up from where he sat next to Felicia and he took Georgie's old seat. "Then I can sit by Grandpa."

"That's very nice of you, James," Felicia said.

Esme sat down between Felicia and James. "Thanks…."

Georgie rolled her eyes.

"Do you like Transformers?" James asked Esme.

She shrugged. "I saw one of them. It was good, I guess."

"What movies do you like, Esme?" Mac asked.

"Um… Freaky Friday, Because I Said So, Mermaids, Anywhere But Here, Terms of Endearment, Mamma Mia…."

Mac looked at Felicia. "I'm sensing a theme here."

Felicia smiled. "You like mother-daughter movies, Esme?"

"Um…."

"Maybe we can watch one together sometime," Felicia suggested.

Esme looked at her for a second, then turned down. "Maybe."

"Is he my cousin?" James pointed to Ace.

"Of course, he is, dummy," Georgie said, sipping on her milkshake.

"Georgie, stop," Felicia said.

James grinned. "Yay, we have more boys!"

Mac reached for the paper and crayons that Bobbie's offers and passed them around. "Can you draw us a nice picture?"

Georgie covered her paper as she drew. Ace wrapped his hand around the crayon and scribbled, and James was finished first.

"I'm all done," James said. "I made this for you, Auntie Esme." He handed it to her.

"Aww, James that's so sweet," Felicia said. "Can you tell us about your picture?"

"Uh huh, it's our family." He pointed to all the people. "There's Grandma and Grandpa, Mommy and Georgie and Bailey Lou, and Cody and you and Ace. And we're all inside the heart because we all love each other."

Esme smiled at the picture and started to tear up.

Felicia gently wrapped her arm around Esme. "James, that is beautiful. You're so thoughtful."

"And here's mine." Georgie passed it to Esme. "There's Mom and Dad and James with Grandma and Grandpa and Cody." She pointed to the figure off to the side that said, 'Psycho Toddler'. "That's Bailey Lou." Then she pointed to the other figure, even further from the others that said, 'Little Psycho' over top of it. "And there's Auntie Esme."

Felicia gaped at her. "Georgie!"

Esme stared at the picture for a few moments. She started crying, then fled to her room with Ace.

She opened the door but stopped when she saw an envelope with her name on it sitting on the floor. She picked it up and lay on the bed, continuing to cry. Ace touched her face.

"That's all anyone will ever see me as. Psycho. Just like Daddy and Heather. There's no way Felicia is my mom."

She ripped open the envelope and started shaking as she read it.

Sweet baby girl,

I'm so sorry they took you from me. But not to worry. I emptied your trust fund. I bought a trailer with it, a pretty snazzy one. And we have enough left over to travel the world together.

Just hold tight and I will come and get you and Ace on Tuesday at 6:30pm.

Be ready.

From,

Your Mother xoxo

Esme stared at the letter then looked down at Ace.