The Hardest Part Is Letting Go Of Your Dreams

The social worker takes a deep breath before saying "What we discuss here does not leave this room, I will lose my job and possibly end up in jail for this..." "We would never tell anyone, we just need to know what she's going through" I reassure her and she nods before saying "When I first met Ruby she was two as you know and she was taken from her parents for negligence." Frank and I nod, knowing the basics of Ruby's life when we adopted her. "The first time I ever saw Ruby was about a week after she had been taken from her parents. She had a fractured wrist and was covered in bruises all over. On her left forearm she had three very distinct burns where they had put cigarettes out on her arm. She was extremely malnourished and couldn't form words at all, no one had ever taught her to speak properly. She was also still in diapers, not having been toilet trained. She was taken from her home where she lived with her mother and father and grandmother and the conditions were beyond disgusting, a friend of theirs had seen the abuse Ruby suffered and reported them. Ruby has had a very rough start at life and we were concerned that it might affect her forever but she seems to be very happy and developing quickly with you two, you must really put the effort in with her." I look over at Frank, tears in my eyes, to see he is crying. "How could someone do that to their child?" I choke out, trying to hold back my own tears as I reach out and grab Franks hand. "They are drug addicts Mr Way, unfortunately we see this quite a lot and not every child makes as much progress and recovery as Ruby has. She's a very strong little girl." I look over at her and nod, not knowing what else to say. There is a knock at the door before it opens and Ruby comes back into the room, drinking her milk and smiling at me around the straw as she walks over and in that moment I don't see her as my little girl, I see her as the tough young lady she really is, amazed that she has gone through everything she's suffered and was still able to let Frank and I into her life and trust us completely. I reach out and pick her up when she reaches me, sitting her in my lap and cuddling her close before leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "Love you baby girl" I softly tell her and she smiles up at me before saying "Love you daddy." The social worker smiles over at us and I smile back before saying "Thank you, for everything. We won't say a word but I'm glad we know now so thank you." She smiles and says "No problem Mr Way. Good luck with everything." We stand and Frank and I leave the room hand in hand, Ruby on my hip as I carry her out the door. When we're back on the street Frank stops us, moving to stand infront of me before wrapping his arms around us, cuddling us close. When we pull apart from the hug we start walking again until we reach the subway station and we travel back home.

When we get home Ruby yawns loudly so I grab her blanket and settle us on the recliner couch, laying back with her on my chest and I put on Toy Story, the volume low and pull the blanket over us, rubbing Ruby's back gently until she falls asleep and I close my eyes, drifting off too. When I wake up Ruby is still asleep in my lap and the movie is almost over, Frank asleep on the other couch and I smile at his cute sleeping face. Ruby stirs against my chest before opening her eyes and smiling up at me, snuggling further into my chest. "Warm daddy" she chirps out and I smile down at her, tightening my arms around her. "You hungry baby?" I ask and she shakes her head so I say "You wanna start the movie again?" "Yeah" she tells me so I reach out and grab the remote, restarting the movie and laying back, cuddling Ruby to my chest as we watch, Ruby occasionally giggling and making comments to me about the movie.

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