Chapter Text
Lucy woke up with a start when her body realized a weight was over her chest and it took her mind a minute to catch up and recognized that it was Senna. She had rolled over in her sleep and had climbed on her and got comfortable like a little koala bear hugging its tree. She smiled at the little girl, her fingers playing softly with the wavy strands of hair. She’d have to take some time to untangle it and braid it to keep it away from her face. That would probably help her.
She rolled on her side, making sure to keep Senna against her chest before letting her go and sliding away and out of the bed. She pressed a kiss to her forehead, tucking the covers around her little body and walked to the en-suite bathroom to get ready for the day.
Once showered, and dressed, Lucy walked to the living room making sure to leave the door of her room open in case Senna woke up. She grabbed her phone, and read all the notifications she had received during the night while she waited for the water to boil for her tea.
Angela to Lucy: Wesley says you need to do a DNA test asap, because you gave up your parental rights, they’ll need it to prove she can stay with you even for fostering at least.
Tamara to Lucy: sorry, forgot to let you yesterday but i stayed at Maxine’s house after we finished our assignment. I’m on my way home now.
Tim to Lucy: just checking in. Let me know if I can do anything.
Lucy to Angela: will do. do you think i can get one from the station?
Angela to Lucy: yes. I’ll get it for you, and i can get it to you if you want? or give it to someone else?
Lucy to Angela: if you don’t mind coming over. I don’t think having anyone else around her is a good idea right now.
Angela to Lucy: I’ll get it done and be there around lunch. okay?
Lucy to Tim: I’m about to call the social worker, might need a pick me up later.
Lucy sent a simple thumb up and smiling emoji back to Angela and she clicked on the phone number found on Senna’s paperwork. She poured herself some tea, and watched the clear liquid turn a soft green as the tea sipped in. She squared up her shoulder, grabbing a pen and the notepad on her kitchen counter and pressed the call button.
She was taking deep breaths when the line connected and a somewhat rude voice responded.
“Smith Offices, how can I help you?”
“Hi, my name is Lucy Chen and one of the girls your office is responsible for ran away yesterday and came to the police station I work at.” Lucy was trying to be as nice and succinct as possible. She never liked social workers, except Rachel, but she was her friend.
“We don’t have any reported missing kid, you must be mistaken.”
“Listen, I have Senna Lin with me. She ran from her group home because she was being abused. I just need to report it. I’ll get all the papers in order to foster her.”
Lucy decided to omit the possibility that she was Senna’s mother. She knew Wesley would yell at her later on, but the woman she was talking to seemed to be more of a monster than human. She waited for the woman to react in any way.
“Oh.. you’re talking about the runaway Senna? We don’t worry about her. She always comes back.”
That alone pushed Lucy over the edge and sure enough, she lost her temper and started yelling at her.
“Listen to me, ma’am. You’re talking to an officer of the law, and I could get you arrested for that comment alone. I am keeping Senna under my care for the time being, and you will send me all the documentation I need or I’m going to investigate what’s really going on in your pseudo social worker office. Have we got a deal?”
Lucy didn’t have time to hear what the older woman said as Senna rushed from the bedroom, looking frantically around her until her eyes found Lucy and she ran towards her. She hung up the call and wrapped her arms around her little girl.
“Hey little sunshine.”
“I thought you left, like the others.” Spoke Senna in the fabric of her shirt.
“I was just calling the people responsible for you.” She felt Senna tense up at the mention and Lucy filled that information for later. She didn’t know if Senna was thinking about the social workers or the people in the group home, but it seems she had never felt safe there. “I wasn’t calling them to send you back. You’re going to stay with me for a little bit at least.” Lucy walked them to the couch and sat, moving Senna on her lap to be more comfortable.
“What’s going to happen next?”
Lucy shrugged, debating what to tell Senna. She didn’t want to give her false hope, but she couldn’t keep her in the dark either.
“I’m not sure. We’re going to have to talk with the social workers to see what the next steps are. I told them I’d keep you with me for a little while. There will probably be questions and meetings to make sure I’m able and safe for you to say with me. They’ll ask you if you want to stay here and if you feel safe. I already fostered a girl in the past. She’s my roommate now, Tamara. You’ll love her, I think. We managed to find each other and I’m sure we’ll do amazingly together too. I promise.”
Lucy didn’t have time to finish saying her sentence that Senna pushed away, standing up in front of Lucy, dark emotion coloring her eyes.
“You can’t promise! TAKE IT BACK!” Screamed Senna, face turning red with anger and fear. Lucy tried to reach out to her, but before she could make contact Senna was running away and to the door. She couldn’t handle being lied to again, people have made promises to her in the past and all of them had lied. She didn’t want Lucy to be one of them. It was better for her to leave first. She grabbed her backpack on the way to the door, pulling the handle down and opening the door. She didn’t stop when she heard Lucy call her name nor when she bumped into a body.
“Wow!” Exclaimed Tamara as she stopped the younger girl and blocked her from running away. She wrapped her arms around Senna, pulling her in tight and not letting go until she felt the younger girl hug her back. Tamara had recognized the look in her eyes, and she immediately felt the need to protect her. She looked up when she saw the door move.
“Senna, you can’t run away like that.” Lucy moved closer and pulled her into her arms. She moved back into the apartment. Senna was hugging Lucy and refused to let go when she sat back on the couch, looking at Tamara between the strand of her hair.
“Hi!” Smiled Tamara with a little wave. She had become pretty accustomed to shy kids and had all the tricks to pull them out of their shells now. Tamara pulled a funny face and immediately stopped when Lucy turned around to face the younger lady. Senna giggled and responded until Lucy pulled back to look at the youngest girl. It was Tamara’s turn to laugh and not before long, the two kids were laughing and making faces at each other.
“I’m Tamara.” Offered the teenage girl.
“I’m Senna!” Gleefully responded Senna. “I’m ten and I live in a group home.”
Lucy watched Tamara for her reaction and smiled sadly when Tamara realized that Senna was a mini version of herself. She moved closer, clasping Senna’s hand with hers.
“I was in the system too, until Lucy saved me.”
Lucy watched as Senna crawled over her to sit on Tamara’s lap. They started to whisper to each other when the doorbell rang, forcing Lucy to walk away from her girls. She moved to get the door, hushering Angela in the apartment and pointing to the oblivious duo on the couch.
“Well, they seem to like each other.” Commented Angela. “Didn’t take them long.”
“They are bonding over their similar experiences.”
“That makes a lot of sense. I’ve got what you need here.” Angela shook the bag she was carrying, putting everything on the kitchen counter. “You’ve got saliva swap supplies and we’ll also do hair strands to be sure.” Lucy was nodding along and called Senna to come over.
“Senna, come here please.” Senna jumped off the couch and rushed to Lucy, smiling up at Lucy and Angela. She waved at the older woman, remembering her from yesterday.
“Hello Angela. Are you here to see me?” Asked Senna with a sweet smile.
Angela laughed, loving how sassy that little girl was.
“Exactly! You’re exactly what I needed after today.” Angela crouched down to be at her level and opened her arms for a hug. “I’m also here because we need to take a little bit of your saliva and one strand of your hair so we can find your biological mommy.”
Angela took the time to explain what was going to happen and sat Senna on a stool next to Lucy. She pulled a strand of hair off of Lucy’s head and then repeated it on Senna’s with a smile.
“You’re being so brave.” praised Angela, squeezing Senna’s hand.
Senna was sitting on a stool at the kitchen table, waiting for Angela to do the swapping and watching curiously at Lucy when hers was being done. She giggled when Lucy choked a little but the little laugh died down when Angela stood in front of her, asking for her to open up. She did and her hand reached out to hold onto Lucy’s arm. She coughed a little when Angela pulled the cotton swab out of her mouth, swiping the back of her free hand over her mouth.
“I don’t think I liked that.” Said Senna making the rest of the women laugh. She jumped off the stool, running to get to Tamara who was in her room doing homework, leaving the two friends to discuss what was going to happen. They moved their little party to the couch.
“I’m surprised she settled that well with you,” murmured Angela.
“We had one little quack but it was alright otherwise,” shrugged Lucy. “She heard me talk to the social workers and when I promised her I’d always be with her, she freaked out and tried to run away, but Tamara was getting home so she brought her back in.” Angela watched Lucy’s smile grow when the laughter of the two girls could be heard from the bedroom.
“I’m not here to tell you what to do, but I want you to know I’ll support you either way.”
“I can’t let her get back in the system. Not after what the case worker talked to me earlier.” Angela frowned at that, turning her attention back to Lucy. “She kept saying that Senna was a runaway and they never worried about her because she’d show back up when she’d needed something.” Lucy pushed herself from the couch and started to walk back and forth between the window and the table. “She was so nonchalant about the whole thing, like Senna isn’t worth anything and I wanted to just go down there and point my gun at that asshole.” She was yelling, but whispering not to alarm Senna nor Tamara.
“I don’t even know what she went through and what obstacles we’ll have to overcome, but I know I won’t let her go through life alone. I helped Tamara and now the two of us will help Senna, whether she’s mine or not.” Angela smiled softly, nodding along to what Lucy was saying. She had known that she would take care of the little girl, but she had forgotten how fiercely protective Lucy could be when she cared about you. Lucy and Tim were so similar in that aspect.
Angela and Lucy kept on talking until it was after lunch time and Angela had to go back to the office and Lucy just wanted to enjoy some quiet time to gather her thoughts and properly think about everything that was going to change. She grabbed her phone, moved to Tamara’s room to let her know she’d be in hers only to find them sleeping curled together on the teenager’s bed.
She walked to her room, falling backward on the mattress with a sigh.
Lucy to Tim: I miss you. You’d know what to do here, or at least you’d let me ramble about my thoughts until I had an idea of what to do…
She put her phone down next to her and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She grabbed her phone back after a few breaths only for the device to come to life in her hand.
Incoming call: Tim