The Hardest Part Is Letting Go Of Your Dreams

After Ruby is out of the bath we walk hand in hand to the kitchen to see Frank looking through the pantry. "What would you guys like for dinner?" He asks as he sticks his head out. I look down at Ruby and say "How about you choose Rubes?" Her little face lights up and she says "Can we have ice cream?" I chuckle before saying "We can have ice cream after dinner. But you have to have some proper food first." She pouts, making Frank laugh before saying "Can we have za?" Frank smiles wide as he steps out of the pantry and walks over, scooping her up into his arms "Baby girl you're perfect" he tells her and kisses the end of her nose, making her giggle before putting her down and walking over to get his cell off the bench. I smile at him and shake my head and he smiles back and blows me a kiss, calling and ordering pizza. While we wait we make our way to the living room and Ruby grabs my hand and says "Daddy can I have some milk?" I look down at her and say "Of course baby," turning around and walking over to the fridge. I grab her a little popper of strawberry milk that Frank bought for her out and open the straw, poking it into the hole and handing it to her. "Don't squeeze it baby or it'll spill" I tell her and she nods and takes it gently, sucking the straw into her mouth and having a drink. When she's done I take her free hand and we walk into living room together, Ruby walking over and standing infront of Frank on the couch. "Up daddy" she tells him and he chuckles before leaning forward and picking her up, sitting her on his lap. "Pink milk daddy" she tells him and he smiles and says "Is it yummy?" She nods
and sucks the straw back into her mouth as her focus drifts to the tv where the news is on. "Can we watch cartoons daddy?" She asks and Frank sighs before saying "Sure bossy pants, why not." Ruby turns to look at him and frowns, making me laugh beside them. "Not bossy pants daddy" she tells him and Frank smiles wide, trying to hold back his laughter. "Ok baby girl I'm sorry." Ruby turns her head back to the tv and I grab the remote, flipping through channels until I find one playing Sponge Bob.

The next morning we get up early and wake Ruby, getting ready to travel across the city to see the social worker. Once we're all ready we leave the apartment and walk to the closest subway station, getting on and travelling across the city. We've never taken Ruby on the subway before so she is constantly looking around and screwing her nose up, telling me it smells funny, making Frank laugh hard. Ruby insisted on bringing Billy so I tell her to hold onto him tight and not put him down and she nods, sliding over into my lap and sitting there for the ride. Once we reach our stop we get off and walk back up onto the street, walking the last block to the building we need to go to. Once we go inside the social worker comes out and when Ruby sees her she freezes and says "You taking me back daddy? Was I bad?" Her bottom lip quivering. I quickly drop to my knees beside her and say "No baby girl I would never take you back. Daddy and I love you very much and you're gonna stay with us forever," reaching out and wiping the few little tears off her cheeks. I open my arms and she steps into them, her arms going around my neck as I pick her up and rest her on my hip. Frank leans over and kisses her cheek and we walk over into the office with the social worker. When we sit opposite her at the desk Ruby sits in my lap and turns around to face me, handing Billy to Frank and cuddling into my chest, her hands fisted in my shirt like she doesn't believe I'm not giving her back. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the top of her head, letting her know I'm here before the social worker opens her mouth. "Well it's nice to see you guys again, Ruby looks great. What can I do for you guys?" "We need to talk about her parents, her real parents" Frank starts and Ruby perks up, looking around and looking worried. "Mr Way I can't discuss that with you, just like I can't discuss you with them if they ever contacted me...." "I'm not asking for personal details, I don't want names and addresses or anything like that but I'm pretty sure I know where I could find them." The social worker looks concerned before saying "What are you talking about?" I clear my throat before saying "Maybe we shouldn't do this infront of her" nodding my head down at Ruby who is happily playing with my shirt buttons. "Of course" the social worker says before calling her assistant into the room. "Ruby baby you wanna go with this very nice lady?" I ask and she shakes her head. "You know, I saw a vending machine outside with some pink milk in it, she might take you to get some." Ruby's face lights up and Frank pulls his wallet out, handing her a dollar and she climbs off my lap and takes the woman's hand, leaving the room with her. "What are you talking about?" The social worker asks again. Frank pulls his cell out and brings up the picture. "Yes or no, is one of these women Ruby's mother?" He asks, handing the phone to the social worker. Her face pales and she says "I can't tell you I'm sorry," handing he phone back. "Don't worry you just did" he tells her as he slips it back into his pocket. "So now that we all know we've met her, since we saw the younger woman, who I'm assuming is her mother although she has issue with the older one too, Ruby has had nightmares every night since, some so bad she wets the bed. What happened to her before we adopted her?" The social worker shakes her head and I snap. "Oh come the fuck on. Our daughter is clearly traumatised by what happened to her at the hands of these women. We have a right to know what she can't put into words, I will not leave here until you tell me because I can't see her suffer any longer. If she needs therapy I will get her therapy but I need to know what's hurting my baby girl so fucking badly." The social worker sighs, looking defeated before saying "Alright, but this is going to be hard to hear."

Notes

So, sorry for the wait on this chapter and the authors note update, I know it probably bugged a lot of you to see an update without an actual update. I'm just going through some
stuff atm and I almost relapsed and self harmed yesterday for the first time in seven years so my updates will probably slow for a while until I get my life under control again.

Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone who commented and let me know how much you like the story, it truly made my day to log on and see so many of you being so supportive, it actually made me cry (in a good way)