The next couple of days were more of a blur than anything, because I tried for the longest time to block those days from my mind and have finally succeeded, I suppose, so you must bear with me, for my memory isn't what is used to be.
I regained custody of Abby, but the girl was a shell of her former self. Her eyes had dulled, no longer the bright, shining orbs that were filled with God's grace. In her short life, Abby had lost her mother, then gained her mother only to lose her again. I didn't know the full extent of the abuse, that was something Abby wouldn't tell, at least not until the day she had to face her mother in court, but that was a different story. Grace was being charged with child abuse and neglect, but to me it wasn't enough.
Charging her mother wouldn't undo the damage done to that precious child's soul, it wouldn't bring back the smile to her face, and sadly, it wouldn't magically fix things. I needed a miracle, because while I had fostered and raised many kids in my lifetime, I had never been tasked with picking up the pieces after such a devastating event in a child's life.
Abby would sped months alternating between staying locked in her room, and staying close to my side, doing so more often as the day of her mother's trial grew closer. She rarely spoke, and eat far less than was healthy. I had gotten her a psychiatrist, but she wouldn't speak to her, instead spending the session staring at the wall. I tried to get her to accompany me to church, but she refused, claiming that if there was a God, then he didn't care about her anyway. In all honesty, that broke my heart, because once her faith had been so strong, and now it was gone, taken away and replaced with bitterness at the unfairness of the world. I wanted so badly to see, that despite this all, she was still the daughter of Grace, but I wasn't referring to her mother. No, I was referring to a much stronger Grace, one who was waiting patiently with open arms for her to return to Him. And deep in my heart, I knew that she would return, for the way of the cross leads home.
I did my best to show her that despite all that happened, I still loved her. Our relationship was strained at the moment, but for a while it went straight to hell, five days before her mother's trial.
Abby had stormed off to her room when I had scolded her for not doing her chores. I knew the child had a lot going on, but was it too much to ask her to do the dishes? I didn't think so. I allowed her time to cool down before approaching her, knowing that to do so now would only cause a bigger scene. So, only after allowing ample time for her to calm down did I approached her, knocking on her door.
She opened the door with a huff, the one any parent of a teenager recognizes. "What do you want?" she asked, though her exact wording was less than ladylike.
"Language Abby," I scolded gently, knowing that she was going through a rough time, not that it excused her behavior. "I don't ask much of you Abby, but I am your legal guardian, and I do expect you to help out around the house."
"Why?" Abby questioned, staring at me with a defiant gaze. "It's not like you care anyway."
"Abby, that isn't true!"
"You let her take me away!" she screamed. "You let her take me away and you said I was safe and I wasn't and it's not fair and..." she ranted on, cursing under her breath. She shoved my hand away as I attempted to hug her, slamming the door in my face, but not before saying the words that would cut to the bone and haunt my memory for many years to come. "You're just like her!"
Those words would haunt me for a long time, even after she apologized. I left the room in tears that day, feeling helpless, lost and beginning to question my own faith. Too often my own prayers had gone unanswered, and it felt as if the religion I had known since I was young was failing me, and there was nothing at all I could do. And little did I know, it was about to get much worse.
It started the day before Grace's trial, when I woke up only to find that Abby had disappeared.
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Author's note:Sorry for the shortness, but needed to update, and just been so busy lately
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