Another Foster (Private)

[justagirl4fun]

Once Kaley was wrapped in a fluffy hooded towel Alex picked up her dirty clothes. "I'm going to wash these, if that's okay," he said, knowing some kids reacted negatively to their things being washed as it removed the familiar smell of home. He put a hand on her back and led her to her new room where he found a summer nightie and some panties in her drawer. 

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley nodded in response to Alex, actually liking that her clothes would be clean. She looked around as she was led to her room and stared a bit at the clothes Alex had for her. She tried to take them from him. She tried to put them on by herself but she was struggling. Despite being six years old, Kaley couldn’t get the hang of it. 
 

“Rocky, come down for dinner!” Sarah called from the bottom of the stairs. She pulled out the chicken nuggets and French fries from the oven, putting some on everyone’s plates. “What would you like to drink honey?” She asked when Raquel had come downstairs, pouring what was requested into the dinosaur cup. 

[justagirl4fun]

"Here, let me help." Alex took the nightie and pulled it over her head. Once she'd worked her arms through the holes he held out the underwear for her to step into. "Sounds like dinner is ready, let's go eat."

Raquel ran to the kitchen. "I want chocolate milk!" She grabbed a nugget and bit into it. "I need hot sauce!" Instead of ketchup, bbq sauce, or honey mustard, she liked dipping the nuggets in buffalo wing sauce. "Please," she added, remembering her manners.

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley stopped trying to dress herself once Alex started. Happy to be fully dressed again though she wasn’t going to complain. She headed downstairs with Alex, clinging to the railing as they descended to the dining room. Upon entering she just stared. She wasn’t used to seeing a family dinner. She couldn’t remember the last time she sat down for dinner with her dad, and even then, that’s only two people. After some prompting by Sarah, she climbed into a seat and started scarfing down the chicken nuggets on her plate. 
 

“Sure thing.” Sarah nodded as she got the girl some hot sauce. After she encouraged Kaley to get in her chair, she sat down to eat. She looked over at her husband, a little shocked at how much and how fast the girl was eating. 

[justagirl4fun]

"Whoa, easy there! One bite at a time," Alex said as Kaley shoved the food in her mouth. "Don't want to choke."

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley made no acknowledgement of Alex telling her to slow down. Instead, she continued to shove the chicken and fries into her mouth as fast as she could, hardly even chewing. 
 

Seeing that the girl didn’t stop, Sarah tried to take the plate from her for a moment to allow the girl to chew and maybe drink something. “Honey, why don’t you-“ She started to say before being interrupted with an ear piercing scream. “NO!”The small girl spoke for the first time. Kaley was screaming at the top of her lungs, immediately trying to get the food back within her grasp. Sarah sat there in shock, looking to her husband for help.

[justagirl4fun]

(I was going to have Alex take it away if she didn't listen to him lol)

As soon as Kaley started screaming Raquel dropped her food and covered her ears with her hands. She liked noise - as long as it was predictable. She didn't like unexpected noises.

"Kaley, you can have your dinner, but you need to eat slower before you choke," Alex explained calmly, though he felt anything but calm. "How about you take a drink, and then you can have another chicken nugget." He offered her a cup of chocolate milk, hoping she would accept it.

[Shy-Diapers]

(Lol same wavelength)

Sarah rubbed her temples as Alex dealt with Kaley as best he could. She tried to reassuringly rub Raquel’s shoulder, hoping to avoid the girl getting too upset. 

“NO!” Kaley screeched again. She swatted at the cup of chocolate milk, knocking it over. She stood up on her chair and leaned over the table, grabbing more food from the plate that was confiscated from her. 

[justagirl4fun]

Raquel bolted when the next round of screeching started, leaving half her dinner untouched. She ran to her room and slammed the door.

"Okay, okay, take it," Alex said as he put the plate back in front of Kaley. "Just please sit down. We're not taking your food away," he reassured her as he decided choking was the lesser of two evils versus falling off the chair and getting a concussion - at least he and Sarah had both learned how to do the Heimlich maneuver in the first aid class they were required to take before getting their licence to foster.

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley sat back down once the food was in front of her, returning to shoveling it into her mouth, looking up occasionally at Alex until her plate was clear. Wanting more and seeing that the other girl was gone, she tried to lean over the table to grab food from Raquel’s plate.

Sarah sighed and watched as Raquel bolted while Kaley calmed down. Seeing that her husband seemed to have things under control, she decided to go check on Raquel. She got up and headed to the young girl’s room, knocking softly. “Rocky, honey, it’s Mommy. Can I come in?”

[justagirl4fun]

Alex let Kaley take the food - if need be, they could always make more if Raquel decided she was still hungry. At this point he assumed the girl had experienced food insecurity and didn't want to further traumatize her by denying her food. He figured they could work on her behavior later once they gained her trust and she realized that food would always be available. "Sweetie, I do wish you would slow down and take smaller bites so you don't choke," he repeated as he wiped up the spilled milk. He offered her more, this time in a spill-proof straw cup.

Rocky opened the door slowly and looked up at Sarah. "I don't like her, Mommy. Does she have to stay here?" she asked, on the verge of tears.

[Shy-Diapers]

Once she had finished both her plate and Raquel’s, Kaley finally stopped. Only after she felt a little sick from how much she had eaten did she accept the chocolate milk. She still drank quite fast, though nowhere near as fast as she ate her food. She made a quick glance at Alex before looking off to the side, staring into space. Now that she had eaten and her food wasn’t being taken, she was as silent and calm as she was when she arrived. 
 

Sarah sighed and entered into the girl’s room, sitting on her bed. “I’m sorry baby.” She sympathized. “She’s going to stay with us for a while. Can you try to give her a chance? I think she’s just scared and confused.” Her heart hurt for her baby girl, but at the same time her heart ached for Kaley. “If things really don’t work out we can see if there’s another place for her to go.”

[justagirl4fun]

Alex cleared the table, leaving Sarah's plate in case she wanted to finish it. "Would you like to watch a movie?" he offered, "or find a game to play?"

Rocky climbed on Sarah's lap. "She's not very nice. I tried to play with her like you said, but she didn't want to play with me. She wouldn't even talk! I was bein' nice."

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley stayed quiet for a while, not making any sort of response. “Movie.” She said quietly. She looked around a little worriedly, squirming and fidgeting in place as she did. 
 

Sarah hugged and rocked the small girl. “I know baby. I know.” She said calmly. “I’m sure you were being very nice. Sometimes some people just don’t talk very much or at all. We don’t know much about her. I’m sure once she gets more comfortable here she’ll warm up to you and want to play.”

[justagirl4fun]

Alex noticed the fidgeting and paused. "Are you okay, honey?"

Raquel nodded, though she didn't really understand what her mom was saying. Suddenly her stomach rumbled. "Can I go finish my chicken nuggets?" she asked, hoping it was safe now that she couldn't hear any more yelling.

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley didn’t respond, instead climbing off her chair and looking around. She couldn’t really remember the layout of the house just yet. She wandered off without a word, trying to find where her backpack went. The commotion of the bath and dinner made her forget about it momentarily. She started to bite her hand, getting increasingly anxious. 
 

“Of course you can.” Sarah said softly. She followed Raquel downstairs and noticed the table was mostly clear. “Daddy must’ve thought you were done.” She said, grabbing her own plate and giving it a quick nuke in the microwave. “Here honey.” She smiled, adding the hot sauce her daughter had requested earlier. 

[justagirl4fun]

Alex followed Kaley. "Sweetie, what are you looking for? Maybe I can help you find it." He picked up on her anxiety and hoped they could avoid another meltdown before bed.

Rocky helped herself to the fruit Sarah had washed earlier, finding the rest of the blueberries to be much better than the one she'd sampled before dinner, then finished the nuggets and fries once they were reheated. "Can we see if there's a soccer game on?" she asked when she was done. Soccer was her main interest besides dinosaurs. She could rattle off the names and numbers of all the players on the local professional women's soccer team, as well as the women's national team, and recognized a number of players from other teams in the league also. She was so fascinated by it that Alex had bought the family season tickets for the local team.

[Shy-Diapers]

“Mouse.” Kaley responded after a delay. She continued to wander around the dining and living room, desperately wanting her comfort items from her backpack, especially as it got later. 
 

“Sure sweetie, why don’t you go check.” Sarah suggested as she started finishing up cleaning off the table. Once the table was clear and the dishwasher was running, she headed to the living room to sit down with Raquel. She hoped that if she gave her daughter some extra affection and attention it would make the transition easier. “Find any?”

[justagirl4fun]

Confused, Alex started looking around. "Mouse? What mouse?" Then he remembered the little bag Kaley had arrived with and looked in the playroom, hoping it was there. It was. "Is the mouse in here?"

"Yeah! They're playin' in Orlando tonight, see?" Of course at just barely five years old she couldn't read, but recognized the other team's uniforms.

[Shy-Diapers]

Kaley followed Alex as he looked around. Finding her backpack in the playroom, she bolted to the bag, holding onto it as tight as she could with one hand, using her other hand to pull out the stuffed mouse. She clung tight to it and buried her face in the plush, her demeanor almost instantly more relaxed, the biting completely stopped and the fidgeting reduced to swaying back and forth in place. “Mouse.” She mumbled softly into the plush. 
 

Smiling, Sarah ruffled Raquel’s hair a bit and nodded. “Great! How far in are we?” She asked curiously. She knew next to nothing about soccer before Raquel started having such a major interest. In trying to support her daughter she tried her best to learn more about the sport, though it was obvious that Rocky was the expert. 

[justagirl4fun]

Once Kaley had retrieved the mouse, Alex dug through the bag. He found her little quilt and some clothes. Everything was grungy. "Sweetie, do you mind if I put all this in the washing machine with your clothes?" he asked, assuming she would want the blanket for bed.

Rocky pointed to the time clock in the corner of the screen. "It just started, it's only fourteen minutes." The games were 90 minutes but, with halftime, ran about two hours.

[Shy-Diapers]

“No!” Kaley said raising her voice. She scowled and tugged the bag back made sure to get a tight grip on her blanket as well now. She didn’t care much about him cleaning her clothes, they barely fit her anyway. She was more worried about her blanket and mouse being taken from her. 
 

Sarah nodded and smiled. “We can watch up until about halftime. It’s getting late and you’ve had a long day.” She said, placing a kiss on top of the girl’s head as they cuddled and watched the game. 

[justagirl4fun]

Rocky snuggled into Sarah and wss soon engrossed in the game, but turned towards the commotion in the playroom when she heard Kaley yell, then looked at Sarah with worried eyes. "Don't let her be loud," she begged, hands poised to cover her ears if the noise continued.

"Okay, I won't wash it now. Maybe tomorrow morning. Let's go find a movie now, okay?" He steered the girl towards the living room, hoping to diffuse another meltdown, and frowned when he saw Sarah and Rocky on the couch. "I told Kaley she could watch a movie..."

[Shy-Diapers]

Sarah sighed and tried to reassure Rocky. “It’s okay sweetie, it looks like she’s calmed down again.” She tried to keep her voice even and not let on that she was also worried that Kaley would start screaming again. 
 

Kaley let herself be led to the living room. She was much more content and calm with her mouse. Seeing that Rocky was watching something that didn’t interest her, she wandered off back to the playroom. She sat down and wedged herself as far back into a corner as she could, returning to making boxes with the magna tiles. 
 

“Well maybe we can-“ Sarah started, about to suggest one of the girls watching something on the tablet they let Rocky use occasionally. She stopped when she saw Kaley walk away calmly. “She seems okay with not watching a movie.” She pointed out, hoping to keep both girls calm. 

[justagirl4fun]

Rocky scowled when Alex said Kaley was going to watch a movie, but relaxed when the girl walked away.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." Not wanting to leave Kaley alone, he followed her and sat on the floor a few feet away. "What are you building?" he asked as he started putting a few tiles together himself.