Stages Of Grief
Tags: Fiction, Fiction Writing, Foster Care, Family, Sad

Stages Of Grief

Daisy sat on the steps of her home with her brother Leo by her side. She wrapped her arm around Leo to protect him from the fear of the unknown: the unknown of what happened to their mother, the unknown of where their father was, and the unknown of what will happen to them. Daisy and Leo sat together wrapped in a blanket the police gave them, the neon red and blue colors from the police’s cars blinding them as they sat watching the paramedics push her mother towards the ambulance. The cold Michigan air froze the tears that were spilling out of Daisy’s eyes.

. Daisy watched through the blurriness of her tearfilled eyes as her mother was lifted into the ambulance, a white sheet pulled over her head. Daisy was young, but she still knew what that meant. She pulled her brother’s head into her shoulder and wrapped her arm tighter around him. From the corner of her vision, Daisy saw a woman walking towards herself and her brother; she appeared to be in a pantsuit, although it was hard to tell with the tears in her eyes and the darkness of the night. The woman approached them and kneeled in front of Daisy and Leo.

. “Hello,” the woman began speaking to them, she had a warm and comforting voice. “You must be Daisy and you must be Leo.” The woman said looking at each child when she said their names.

. “Yeah,” whispered Daisy, not meeting eye contact with the woman.

. “My name’s Emma, and I’m going to be your social worker; you might not know what that is, do you?” asked Emma.

. “I do,” said Daisy, “but why can’t we just stay with our dad?”

. “Your dad has to talk to the police tonight sweetie, once they find out where he is right now,” replied Emma.

. “W- why does h-he have to talk to them, h-he didn’t d-do anything,” said Leo quietly from next to Daisy.

. “The police just want to make sure your dad is innocent. Now, let’s go get you set up with some nice people who want to take care of you tonight, and then if the police say your dad is free to go, you two can stay with him. Why don’t we go grab some clothes from your rooms first?” Emma said as she took the kids hand and helped them stand. Emma ushered the kids into the house and into each of their rooms. Daisy avoided looking at the stairwell at the entrance of the house on the way to her room. The kids grabbed a few clothes and put them in a plastic bag they had been given by Emma. Leo grabbed a teddy bear from his bed on the way out. Once done, the kids and Emma left the house and the three of them began walking towards the car. Emma opened the back door for Daisy and Leo to get in, then she got in the front seat. Emma began driving to a place unknown to Daisy and Leo.

Leo began crying softly in the back seat of Emma’s car. Daisy looked over to her brother and began speaking softly.

“It’ll be ok, Leo. I promise. It’ll be ok,” Daisy grabbed her brother’s hand and squeezed it. “I never break my promises, we’ll be ok.”

“O-ok” Leo said through his quiet sobs.

After what felt like a long car ride, the car began to slow to a stop in front of a brown suburban home. Daisy could see a couple standing under the porch light of the home. They looked fairly young from what she could see. Emma looked back at them from the front seat and began speaking to them.

“You two will stay here tonight with these very nice people and then tomorrow I will come and pick you up and we can talk about what happens next, ok?” Emma directed her question towards Daisy. Daisy nodded her head and Emma got out of the car and walked to open Daisy and Leo’s door. Daisy and Leo shuffled out of the car and began walking up towards the couple with Emma next to them.

Emma waved to the couple as she approached them. Daisy could see the couple more clearly as they got closer; it appeared to be a man and woman they both looked about mid-thirties. The woman had amber color hair, about shoulder length. The man had brown short curly hair, with a square face.

“Hello Grace,” Emma said, shaking the woman’s hand, “hello, Jason,” Emma turned to shake his hand as well.

“Hi Emma. It’s good to see you,” said the woman whose name was revealed to be Grace. Grace turned towards Daisy and Leo “You must be Daisy and you must be Leo,” she said with a pleasant smile. “My name is Grace Owens and this is my husband Jason Owens. We’ll be having you stay in our home for the night and possibly the next as well.” Daisy and Leo said nothing to the woman in return, just nodded their heads.

“Alright. I will see you four tomorrow, goodbye,” Emma said, turning to leave. Mr. and Mrs. Owens led the kids inside the house. Daisy turned her head and watched as Emma got into her car and left.

The Owens lived in a small craftsman home. As the four went into the house, Daisy could smell the warm scent of vanilla wash over her. Leo and Daisy were being led up the gray carpeted steps and into a bedroom. The bedroom had the same gray carpet from the halfway and stairs. The walls were a baby blue color and along the walls were two sets of bunk beds.

Jason entered the room and began speaking. “You two will be sleeping in this room tonight. Why don’t you two get settled and try to sleep? It’s still fairly late in the night. If you need anything Grace and I will be downstairs.” Jason left the room and his footsteps could be heard going down the steps.

“Goodnight you two, remember we will be downstairs if you need us,” Grace said and then left the room as well.

. Daisy dropped her plastic bag full of clothes at the end of the bed and fell onto the covers of the bottom bunk closest to the door. Leo looked to his sister rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and clutching his teddy bear in the other. Daisy looked to her brother and she moved closer to the wall and waved her brother over allowing him to lay next to her. Five year old Leo fell asleep in the arms of his ten year old sister. Daisy did not sleep; she just held her brother and stared at the top bunk all night, too afraid that if she closed her eyes to sleep she would see her mother laying at the bottom of the stairs dead, like she had found her just a few hours ago.

. Morning came faster than expected and the golden sun was shining through the window, blinding Daisy. Leo began to rustle next to Daisy and slowly opened his eyes. Leo looked up to his sister and spoke very softly “W-was it a d-dream?”

. Daisy looked at her brother and gave a brief headshake. “Don’t worry, though, everythings going to be ok.” Leo. looked up at his sister trying to make out her facial features which was considerably difficult with the overflow of tears running out of his eyes.

. “Wh-what about d-dad?” asked Leo.

. “I don’t know where dad went last night and I don’t know if we will ever go back to him Leo,” Daisy said softly.

. “Th-that Emma lady, sh-she said that the cops ha-have to ask Daddy questions. Do you- do you think daddy did anything wrong?” Leo stuttered out.

. “No,” Daisy sighed loudly, “No, I don’t think he did anything wrong. It looks sketchy though, Leo. I think the cops might think that too.”

. “I-it looks sk-sketchy but y-you don’t think he d-did… it?” Leo hesitantly asked with a raised eyebrow.

. “Maybe he was set up by someone” Daisy shrugged, “I don’t know Leo. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

. “I miss m-mommy,” Leo whispered to his sister.

. “Me too, said Daisy as she wrapped her brother in a hug and closed her champagne brown eyes to slow the flood of tears pouring out.

. The bedroom door was softly pulled open about an hour later and Mrs.Owens walked into the room. She looked toward the bed that occupied the two children who had fallen back asleep. Mrs. Owens observed how Daisy’s long dark brown locks intertwined with Leo’s short very light brown curly hair. They way their faces looked as they slept. Daisys cheeks were blotchy red and Mrs. Owens could see the dried tear tracks down her face and the dampness of the pillow under her head. Leo’s face was contorted into a scowl while he slept, most likely dreaming of the night before. Mrs. Owens reached her hand down to Leo’s shoulder and gently shook him awake. Mrs. Owens then did the same to Daisy. As Daisy opened her eyes and looked up, Mrs. Owens could see her red swollen eyes. Daisy sat up and rubbed at her eyes and cheeks vigorously, seeing the kaleidoscope of colors when she pressed on her eyes.

. “Emma’s here to see you two,” said Mrs. Owens, grabbing the attention of the kids. “Get dressed and then come downstairs to meet with her please.”

. “Okay,” replied Daisy as she pulled herself off of the bed. Mrs. Owens left the room and her steps could be heard going down the stairs. Daisy picked up her plastic bag full of clothes from the end of the bed and began to choose an outfit to wear. She decided on a pair of blue jeans and a lavender colored long sleeve shirt. She then grabbed her brother’s bag of clothes and picked out a pair of blue jeans and a sweatshirt with a blue dinosaur on it. Daisy turned to her brother and spoke, “Get dressed and put the clothes you have on now back in the bag, also turn around so I can get dressed too.”

. “O-okay,” Leo said, turning around to face the other bed while he and his sister changed clothes. When the children were done they walked out the room and down the steps, Leo walking close behind his sister. The kids entered what looked to be the family room of the house. The room had one pine colored sofa placed near the window showing the front yard. Two white armchairs were placed in front of the sofa. In between all three was a glass coffee table and a gray shaggy rug. Emma sat in the white armchair. Mr. and Mrs. Owens were not in the room, but what surprised the kids however, were the two police officers in the room. One tall man with broad shoulders was standing next to Emma’s chair. The other officer was a woman with bright merigold hair pulled back into a bun, she was sitting on the armchair next to Emma. At the sight of the police, Daisy stopped moving causing Leo to bump into her back and look up to see the police as well; his eyes grew wide and he moved behind his sister even more. All of the adults turned to look at the kids when they halted at the entrance of the room.

. “Good morning,” Emma said then cleared her throat and gestured to the sofa in front of her, “why don’t you two take a seat.” Emma sat in the chair opposite of Daisy and Leo, she had her teeth clenched and was wringing her hands together in her lap. Daisy sat on the sofa and Leo followed his sister to the sofa and sat close to her, staring at the ground the whole time.

. “Did you find our dad?” Daisy directed her question towards the female police officer. Before the officer could answer however, Emma cut in and began speaking.

. “Yes,” Emma said while still wringing her hand together, “however, I have some bad news for the two of you,” Emma hesitated, “the police took your dad into custody last night and he wont be getting out anytime soon. I’m sorry but it’s time we look into a more permit home for the two of you.”

. “That’s impossible,” Daisy accused, looking outraged at the fact that her father would have done such a horrendous act.

. “Is it Daisy?” asked the female police officer. “Have you noticed your dad acting weird at all lately?” Daisy looked down and scratched the back of her neck.

“He… He had been leaving late at night and not telling us where he was going. Also he did act a little weird, and he drank a lot more. I still don’t think he would have done something like… this,” Daisy admitted not meeting the female’s eyes. The officer who was standing took out a notepad and began writing.

“How long had he been acting that way?” questioned the other cop.

“I’m not sure maybe a year… or two?” mumbled Daisy.

“Had your parents been arguing much before this all happened?” questioned the male officer.

“Just about money and normal things people argue about,” Daisy answered. Leo tapped his sister’s leg and whispered in her ear. Daisy shook her head and shushed her brother.

“What did he say?” asked the male officer.

“Nothing. He just said he’s hungry,” Daisy said defensively. Leo slightly shook his head.

“T-they argued a-about the dr-drinking. Re-remember?” Leo whispered almost silently and looked to his sister who gave him a glare.

“You did say he drank. How much?” the female officer asked.

“A -a lot,” Leo said.

“How often?” the male asked.

“Everynight, before he goes out,” Daisy intervened, before Leo could answer.

“Where would he go at night? ” the female officer asked.

“We aren’t sure,” Daisy spoke on behalf of Leo and herself.

“When he drank at night did you ever notice him getting angry or aggressive?” asked the female officer in a gentle voice.

“H-he yelled a-a lot. On-one time I s-saw h-him hit m-mommy,” Leo stuttered out visibly shaking at his confession to the police officer. Daisy began fiddling with the end of her shirt sleeves as she watched the male officer vigorously scribble down what Leo had said.

“Sure he yelled sometimes but he would never have done this. You have to believe me. He’s a great dad. He was only bad when he drank and left at night, and that only started 2 years ago,” Daisy pleaded.

“I’m sorry Daisy, the evidence is overwhelming we believe he did in fact kill your mother. The man you knew him as 2 years ago is not the same man we have in custody. I’m sorry,” Said the male police officer. Daisy shook her head slightly, glaring at the officer.

“This is all we need. We’re done here. Thank you, two,” the male officer said and then began walking out the room.

“Goodbye,” Said the female officer smiling at the two children and then waving at Emma. After the two officers left Emma turned and addressed the kids.

“Anyways, I’ve found a wonderful family you two could stay with, their names are Patrick and Melissa Jones. They are willing to become your foster parents and possibly adopt you-”

“What if our dad is innocent, won’t we go back and live with him?” Daisy cut Emma off.

“There is a very low chance of that Daisy, you know that the officers just told you. I’m sorry,” Emma said.

“He didn’t do anything,” Daisy definitely declared. “Especially nothing like this! He loves us and our… m-mom,” Emma avoided eye contact with Daisy and Leo.

“We’ve been over this and sooner or later you will have to accept what he did. Now, why don’t you two go grab your clothes and I will take you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” Emma said. Daisy and Leo got up and left the room. They went into the baby blue bedroom where they slept and grabbed their plastic bags full of clothes and Leo grabbed his teddy bear. The two met Emma downstairs by the door and the three of them left the house after saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Owens. Emma opened the backdoor for Daisy and Leo to climb in. Emma got into the driver’s seat, started the car and drove away.

Emma pulled into the driveway of a small white victorian house. The three of them exited the car and walked to the porch of the home. Leo was clutching his sisters hand as they walked. Emma knocked on the deep blue wooden door of the house. When the door opened a middle aged couple opened the door. The woman had brown hair that was slightly greying at the roots. The man had broad shoulders and dark black hair, slightly gray in some areas, that complimented his deep blue eyes very well. The couple looked nice enough from what Daisy could tell. Although Daisy was too focused on the fact that she will never see her mother again and that her father may be the cause of it, due to the conversation with the police earlier. Daisy was so focused she missed the scowl that Mrs. Jones gave them.

“Hi, My name’s Melisa and this my husband Patrick. You will call us Mr. and Mrs. Jones.”

The couple welcomed Daisy and Leo into the house and showed them where they would be staying for the next few months. Emma had said goodbye to Daisy and Leo and told the two that she would be back in a few days to check on them.

As the uneventful days passed by with Daisy and Leo living with the Jones, Daisy began checking the news everyday, on the Jones’ family computer for information on her father. Daisy had found nothing about her father that she didn’t already know. She was looking to see if he had been convicted of killing Daisy’s mom. All Daisy had found was her mothers obituary online. It pained Daisy to read the obituary of her mother, her death still fresh in Daisy’s mind and heart. Every time she thinks of her mother she feels like a knife has been stabbed into her heart. Everytime she thinks that her father may have killed her mother it feels like her father was the one who stabbed her in the heart with a knife. The obituary of her mother read :

______________________________________________________________________________

Obituary Of Meiying Moore

December 10th 2010

Meiying Moore, 37, of Holland MI, passed away suddenly on Monday, December 6th, 2018, at her residence. She was born January 6th, 1973, in Hunan, China to the late Yan and Bohia Li.

Meiying is survived by two children, Daisy Moore and Leonardo (Leo) Moore. Meiying was a devoted wife of 10 years to Richard Moore. The cause for Meiying’s sudden passing is unclear at the moment, but what is clear is that she will be dearly missed. Meiying was a loving mother to Daisy and Leo.

Funeral services will be held at St. John’s Church at 2 pm on Friday, December 20th, 2018.

______________________________________________________________________________

.

. Daisy shut off Mr. and Mrs. Jones’ computer and went to find Leo. When she found him, he was sitting in the dining room with a speech therapist the Jones had hired to try to stop Leo from stuttering. The speech therapist was actually Emma’s idea, she had suggested it on her 2 week visit to check up on Daisy and Leo.

. Even with the therapist, Leo’s stutter did not falter, causing Leo to become very frustrated. It wasn’t his fault that he had a terrible stutter due to the trauma he’s been through.

More days had passed and Daisy eventually found an article about her father one month after her mother died and she and Leo were taken away from their father.

______________________________________________________________________________

Michigan Man Charged With Murder Of Wife

January 6th 2019

Micigan resident, Richard Moore, was charged with the murder of his wife, Meiying Moore, on Thrusday, January 5th, 2019.

It is reported that Mr. and Mrs. Moore had suffered from serious debt due to an intense gambling addiction on Mr. Moore’’s part. Moore had bet on horses and just never seemed to hit big. Losing so much put Moore out of money, leading him to visit loan shark after loan shark eventually owing hundreds of thousands in debt. This debt leading to the murder of Mrs. Moore.

The Police arrived at the Moore residence in the early hours of December 6th, 2018 due to a 911 call from Moore’s eldest daughter, Daisy (10 years old). Reportedly, Daisy had woken up in the early morning hours of December 6th, only to find her mother’s body lying at the bottom of the stairs unresponsive. After finding her mother, Daisy had called the police.

“It looked to be as if Meiying had tripped down the stairs in the dark of the night and suffered severe head trauma and neck injuries,” stated a detective who arrived on the scene to examine evidence.

‘What really happened was that Mr. Moore had, in fact, pushed his wife down the stairs, hoping to make it look like an accident in hopes of collecting life insurance to pay back his debt, we later learned. After Richard pushed his wife down the stairs, he left to create an alibi for himself. The alibi included Mr. Moore claimed to be sick and had gone to the store to pick up cold medicine while his wife had fallen and died. Unfortunately for Mr. Moore, we were able to uncover what happened the night of December 6th fairly fast.’ says Holland Police Chief.

Mr. Moore has refused to comment on the situation.

Mr. Moore’s attempt at paying back his debt had failed and he has been sentenced to life in prison; the children Daisy (10) and Leo (5) have entered the foster care system as there are no surviving relatives.

______________________________________________________________________________

. Daisy finished the article and her mouth turned into a scowl and her eyebrows pinched together. She was angry that her mother had died, that her father had killed her, and that she was wrong that her dad wasn’t set up.

. “Daisy could you come in here please!” called Mrs. Jones from the dining room. Daisy got up from the computer desk and entered the dining room.

. “Yeah?” Daisy asked with her arms crossed in front of her, speaking in a bitter voice.

. “Could you please set the table for dinner? Cut it out with the attitude also?” said Mrs. Jones.

. “No,” said Daisy definitely, uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her hips.

. “Yes,” said Mrs. Jones with the same amount of attitude Daisy was giving her.

. “Absolutely not, you’re not my mother, you can’t tell me what to do!” Daisy nearly shouted at Mrs. Jones.

. “I’m your foster mother, which means I can tell you what to do. So go set the table right now,” demanded Mrs. Jones.

. Daisy definitely walked out the room and into the bedroom she shared with Leo. Daisy slammed the door and jumped onto the bed. She layed on the bed not moving for hours until the sun went down. Mrs. Jones had knocked on the door four times since Daisy had sheltered herself in the room. A soft knock echoed through the door and Daisy turned towards the sound getting ready to yell at Mrs. Jones to go away again, until she heard a soft voice speak.

. “D-daisy c-can I c-come in? Please?” pleaded Leo from outside.

. Daisy got up and unlocked the door to let him in. Once Leo was in the room Daisy shut and locked the door again.

. “W-why d-did you y-yell at M-mrs. Jones?” asked Leo, looking up expectantly as his sister.

. “I don’t know, Leo. I’m just mad okay? Drop it, please,” said Daisy

. “O-okay,” replied Leo who laid down on the covers of his twin size bed.

. Hours passed as the two kids laid in bed not saying anything to each other, neither being able to sleep. Daisy had the argument with Mrs. Jones which weighed on her mind and Leo having had a hard day with the speech therapist. His stutter only got worse with the pressure weighing on him from Mr. and Mrs. Jones trying to stop his stutter.

. Eventually, morning came and the two kids were forced out of bed. They could smell the breakfast that was being cooked in the kitchen below. Daisy’s stomach rumbled loudly and she made a pained face. The two kids exited the room and headed down the steps towards the smell of the bacon frying. They sat at the dining room table and Mrs. Jones brought a plate of food out for Leo. Mr. and Mrs. Jones set their plates on the table and then sat in the chairs. They began eating their food and Daisy stood from the table to enter the kitchen to get some food.

. “Where are you going?,” asked Mrs. Jones

. “To get some breakfast?” said Daisy, almost questioning her own decision.

. “Did you help set the table last night?” demanded Mrs. Jones

. “…No,” Daisy hesitated.

. “Then no breakfast for you,” snapped Mrs. Jones.

. Daisy stared at Mrs. Jones incredulously. She turned her head towards Mr. Jones in hopes he would stop his wife from not allowing food to Daisy. Mr. Jones simply focused his gazed at the plate of food below him and ignored the situation at hand. Daisy sat down with a huff and crossed her arms with a scowl while she watched the people around her eat.

Daisy had continued to act out of anger towards Mr. and Mrs. Jones. She constantly ignored what they said and asked her to do. She would slam doors and yell at them and ‘accidentally’ break glasses or plates. Daisy suffered the consequences of her actions whenever Mrs. Jones would keep food from her, for acting out. Mr. Jones completely ignored the situation, until Daisy became enrolled in school.

Daisy was enrolled in a public elementary school near the Jones after 2 months of living with them. The same attitude Daisy had with Jones continued in school with her teachers. Daisy constantly deified her teacher and Mrs. Jones. Daisy’s 5th grade teacher had called Mr. Jones and reported Daisy’s attitude after 2 months of her acting out in school. Mr. Jones was enraged with the way Daisy acted. He was also aggravated that he had to pay for Leo’s speech therapy and it wasn’t working. Mr. and Mrs. Jones decided to make a call to Emma that ended with her showing up at their house.

Emma was sitting in the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Jones discussing Daisy and Leo. The Jones had come to the conclusion that they could no longer care for the children, financially or emotionally.

Daisy had entered the Jones living room that morning only to find Emma sitting on an armchair by the window all alone. Daisy looked towards Emma and gave a confused look.

“Come sit down, Daisy,” Emma said. Daisy walked fully into the room and took a seat on the armchair next to Emma.

“Whats going on?” Daisy asked worriedly.

“I’ve got some bad news,” Emma began. “Mr. and Mrs. Jones have decided that they can no longer care for the two of you. They are struggling to financially support you and Leo. So I’ve found new foster parents who are willing to take you in. Their names are Henry and Veronica Clyde. I’ll be taking you two to go stay with them tomorrow. You can pack your clothes tonight and tell Leo that you two will be leaving tomorrow. See you tomorrow Daisy..” Emma stood and left the living room. Daisy heard the front door close and she didn’t move. Daisy sat on the chair and thought about what Emma had said. The Jones had claimed they had financial issues but Daisy knew it also because of her actions. Daisy couldn’t help but be angry at her mother dying, her father killing her, and now the Jones for giving up on her and Leo. Daisy promised herself she wouldn’t treat these new people she was going to the same way she treated Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

Daisy eventually got up off the chair and went to inform her brother that they would be leaving tomorrow. The kids were packed and the next morning they were waiting on the porch for Emma to come pick them up. Emma’s car pulled into the driveway and the kids walked down to meet her carrying their bags. They had already said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Jones before they went to wait on the porch. The kids got into the back seat of Emma’s car and she turned around in her seat to talk to them.

“Good morning! Are you two excited to meet the Clydes?” asked Emma. Daisy and Leo nodded silently. Emma pulled out of the driveway and began driving.

An hour later Emma pulled onto the side road in front of a large townhome. She got out and opened the door for the kids to follow. Emma led the kids up to the door of the home. She knocked on the door and a man with kind eyes and warm smile opened the door.

“Hi, you’re Daisy and Leo, right?” the man asked, both kids nodded, “Awesome, my name’s Henry. Why don’t you three come in.”

The three entered the house and Daisy got a good look around, you could see most of the rooms from the entrance. Henry directed the group towards the pack of the house and into a room which appeared to be the kitchen. There was a short woman with blonde hair making food.

“This is my wife Veronica,” Henry said. Veronica gave a flashy smile and said hello to the kids and to Emma.

“I should go,” Emma said. “I’ll be in touch soon, have a nice night.” Emma turned and left the room.

“I’m almost finished preparing lunch, why don’t you three go into the dining room and I’ll be there in a sec.” Veronica said flashing them a sweet smile. Henry led the kids into the dining room and they all sat at the round table wooden table.

“So, what do you guys like to do?” Henry asked the kids with a tilted head and a smile that reached his eyes.

“I like to play board games… and I like to learn about computers. I think they’re pretty cool,” Daisy said nervously.

“Fantastic! What about you?” Henry asked, looking towards Leo

“I l-like to p-play su-superheroes,” stuttered Leo.

“Who’s your favorite?” Asked Henry.

“Cap-captain A-america,” Leo said looking at Henry

“Really? Me too! I have some Captain America comics, and I have the movies, we can watch one later if you’d like?” Henry exclaimed. Leo excitedly nodded his head and in response Henry gave him slime in return. Veronica entered the dining room with a plate of sandwiches and placed them in the middle of the table.

The four ate lunch while making polite conversation, Veronica and Henry mostly carrying the conversation, talking about their day at work and occasionally asking Daisy and Leo questions. It was revealed that Henry was a history teacher at the public high school nearby and Veronica was a nurse. After lunch was complete ,Henry took Leo to show him all of the superhero memorabilia he owned, which left Daisy and Veronica sitting in the dining room.

“We are going to enroll you in the school that’s close by whenever summer’s over,” Veronica said to Daisy, trying to start a conversation with the young girl.

“Okay,” Daisy mumbled.

“Are you excited? Do you like school?” Veronica questioned.

“I guess,” Daisy replied, playing with her hands in her lap. Daisy was trying not to speak too much in fear she might make the Clydes angry at her, and they too would send Daisy and Leo to new people to live with.

Veronica looked over by the door of the dining room and saw the two plastic bags that Daisy and Leo had walked in with.

“Are all your clothes in that bag?” Veronica asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, Emma gave us them when we left our house a few months ago.” Daisy said

“A few months? The people you were with before didn’t get you a proper bag?” Asked Veronica incredusauly.

. “No,” Daisy shook her head, “we’ve kept all of our clothes that we took from our house in them.”

. “When was the last time you got new clothes?” Veronica asked.

. “When we were living with our mom and dad. So, almost 6 months ago,” Daisy said.

. “That’s outrageous!” Veronica exclaimed, “I’m taking you two shopping for new clothes soon.”

. “You really don’t have to do that,” Daisy said.

. “Don’t be silly I want to. We’ll go tomorrow,” beamed Veronica. Daisy smiled slightly.

True to her word Veronica took Daisy and Leo clothes shopping. Veronica picked out essentials for the children, like socks and underwear. She let Daisy and Leo pick what clothes they wanted, however both were hesitant to ask for much. When the three left the store Daisy and Leo had profusely thanked Veronica for the clothes. The two were delighted to have new clothes.

When the group arrived home, they entered the house and Daisy and Leo went to put their clothes away, but Henry stopped them.

“Let me see what you guys bought,” Henry said. Daisy was worried Henry would criticize what they bought and how much they had bought. To Daisy’s surprise Henry praised Leo’s superhero shirts he bought and said Daisy’s dresses she bought were beautiful.

The kids went to bed the most happy they had been in months that night. Daisy and Leo shared a room in the small home. Each having twin beds placed on opposite walls.The kids slept mostly peaceful that night. Leo only woke up from nightmares twice and Daisy calmed him down both times.

The next morning ,Henry had promised Leo to watch a superhero movie that night. The day had come and gone and eventually the family had found themselves on the couch watching the movie. Henry had his arm wrapped around Leo’s and Daisy’s shoulders and Veronica was on Daisy’s other side. They all sat contect watching the movie Leo had picked out. When it was time for bed, Daisy led them to the bedroom with Veronica following closely behind and Henry carrying a sleeping Leo. Henry laid Leo down on the bed and kissed the top of his head. Veronica tucked Daisy in bed and whispered goodnight to her.

A month after staying with the Clydes, they decided to have Leo see a speech therapist. No pressure was put on Leo by Henry or Veronica. They showed their full support to him. After spending up to 15 hours in therapy for over a month, Leo’s stutter noticabled lessened. Veronica and Henry had put Daisy into therapy which helped her overcome her anger towards her father and her depression from her mom being murdered and Daisy finding her body. After a year of having Daisy and Leo live with them, they officially filed adoption papers for the two. The day Daisy found out she and Leo were officially adopted by Henry and Veronica was the happiest day of her life.