Fallen Apples, CHAPTER ONE

 

Fallen Apples,

CHAPTER ONE,

Now,

Katy and Cody stand up straight, at either side of the official looking woman. They stand facing the solid oak front door, the children’s faces are serious, yet expectant, without knowing quite what to expect when the front door is opened. They’re here to meet their aunt Jenna. They know ‘of’ her, yet don’t remember her. They’ve not seen her since they were newborns. This is their new home, so they’ve been told. Jenna will now be their legal guardian. They know that means that she will be taking the place of their parents. 

At that moment, the front door swings open, and a young woman stands smiling before them. Her auburn hair hangs loose in waves past her shoulders, and is bouncy, and her beaming smile reveals perfectly white teeth. Her eyes are green, and sparkle, though they seem kind. 

“Hi” she greets them, whilst raising her hand in a welcoming gesture, also. 

“You must be Katy, and you must be Cody” She states to each respective child. “Wow. You’ve both grown up so much!” She stands to the side as she opens the door wider for them to enter. “Please, do come in.”

“Thank you, Jenna. Come now children, let’s get you both inside.” The official woman replies breezily, whilst placing a hand behind the children’s shoulders, and guiding them gently into the entrance of the house. 

Katy and Cody’s eyes gaze around them as they enter, taking in their new surroundings.

“Come on through to the front room, I’ve got some refreshments laid out on the table for you guys, I’m sure you’ll be wanting a drink, and I’ve baked some chocolate chip cookies especially for you” says Jenna, as she continues down the hallway. 

She leads them into a spacious, light coloured front room. Almost everything in the room is a light beige. Beige coloured carpet, a beige sofa and two beige armchairs, paler off-white painted walls, all with beige décor touches; all matching, all beige. It appears very clean, and there is plenty of light shining into the room too, through the large bay windows. The beige semi-see-through doily drapes hang to the sides, blowing in a slight breeze from where one of the windows is open just a little. 

“Here we go, make yourselves comfortable wherever you wish. Please, help yourselves to some lemonade and cookies. I didn’t know what you guys like to drink, but figured that most kids love lemonade, so I made some fresh this morning, - I hope it tastes good.” Jenna is flustering now. She’s tried hard to prepare herself for this moment, but she still feels out of her depth, like she doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She’s never really dealt directly with young children before. She has none of her own. She knows this is going to be one huge learning curve for her; parenting, being the responsible adult; caring for children. They are family, after all, and these poor things have been through so much. She wants to get it right. She hopes she can be all that they need her to be. She thinks she can be. She knows it’s not going to be easy, but it is going to take some time. Some getting used to. She hopes she’s coming across ok, and as a responsible adult, to the social worker who has accompanied the children. The social worker seems rather stern, and so overly professional. Jenna finds this a bit intimidating but tries hard not to show it. 

The social worker takes a seat on the edge of one of the armchairs, and the children settle themselves up on the sofa, next to each other. Cody sits right back, keeping his hands clasped together in his lap, whilst Katy sits on the edge, and immediately reaches out to the coffee table in front of her, retrieving a cookie, then taking a bite. Cody’s eyes appear big, and round; rather wary. Katy is now pouring herself a glass of lemonade. She seems focused on what she is doing. 

Jenna clears her throat instinctively and smiles broadly. She continues to stand, not feeling at ease enough to sit. She knows there’s no discussion to be had with the social worker, that’s all been done prior to them arriving today, and the social worker is just escorting the children, - a formality, - and will be departing soon, leaving them in Jenna’s care, but she feels a little awkward, so doesn’t really know what to say.

“Now then children, this is your new home, where you’ll be living with your aunt Jenna,” states the social worker. She continues “Jenna is very excited to have you both here, and she will do her best for you. It’s important that you trust her, and please talk to her about how you feel, or if there are any problems; anything you do not feel happy about. Jenna will try to help you in the best way that she can, and you know you can talk to her about anything. Any concerns Jenna has, she can feed back to us, and to other health professionals, and we can look to address any issues. Now, you will begin seeing a therapist. A therapist is a dedicated person who you can talk to, on your own, and they will work with you around what’s happened, how you may be feeling, any challenges you may be facing, that type of thing. They will listen to you, in a safe space. Jenna has all the details and will be taking you to your appointments. You will also be starting to attend school. This is exciting as you will get to mix with other children of your age, and learning is so important, but can be very fun too.” She’s been directing her talking to the children, though neither respond, or make any comment, nor give any real acknowledgment back to her. Cody appears to be taking her words in, still sat, wide-eyed, with his hands clasped within his lap, whilst Katy, who has now drunk her lemonade, and replaced her glass back onto the coffee table, is taking another bite of a cookie, and chews, unaffectedly. The social worker then gets to her feet, and looks towards Jenna, with a slight incline nod of her head, indicating that they should leave the room to talk further between themselves. Jenna nods in response, and obliges, following the social worker out of the room, where they come to a stop, just outside. 

“I appreciate you taking the children in Jenna. I know how big a responsibility this is for you, and we’re confident that you’ll do well in caring for them and meeting their needs. I’m aware that you have all of the contact numbers, should you wish to contact any of us professionals, or if you run into any difficulties, or have any concerns. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. As you are aware, Cody’s needs are difficult. He hasn’t spoken a word since they were found. You know the circumstances; I won’t go into that. But give it time. As they become more familiar with you, and they learn to trust you, we’re hoping Cody may make some positive steps, and may open up to you. For now, just be encouraging with him. Don’t push him. We feel that he will regain his speech, in the future, but obviously we cannot determine when, but he’s clearly very traumatised. The therapist will work along side you and will be able to support you in this too, so please, do communicate with them, and please do report back on any progress surrounding Cody and his mutism. Katy is a very bright little girl. She seems wholly unaffected by recent events, and she seems to be coping well, in herself, though this could likely be her way of coping with what has happened; by shutting everything out, like a memory block; her child mind protecting itself, but again, we’d like you to tread carefully, but encourage her to talk to, and open up to you. We’re hopeful that she will too, open up to you, over time, and she will learn to feel comfortable sharing her feelings, and experiences, with both yourself, and her therapist. Like I said, it’s going to be very much teamwork, between yourself and the therapist, but we feel confident in your abilities to handle this, and your commitment to care for the children long-term. I must rush now, but it’s been lovely meeting you Jenna, and I think you have all that you need, information-wise, and all the tools to pick up the pieces of the children’s lives, and we wish you well in this. Please do remember to make yourself a priority too, take time for yourself, have support for yourself too, and I know things may seem strange at first, but believe in yourself, and it will come naturally to you, I’m sure. Anyway, I really must go. I have another appointment scheduled. No rest for the wicked, as they say.” The social worker chuckles almost, at her last remark. Jenna nods her head in acknowledgement of what the social worker has been saying, and though she continues to smile, her lips press together harder, and she feels them wavering. She’s strong. She believes in herself. She can do this. How hard can it be? – she thinks to herself.

“Thank you.” Says Jenna. “Thank you for bringing the children here today. I’m sure they’ll be fine, and things will work out fine.” Jenna opens the front door and sees the social worker out, giving her an animated wave of her hand, before closing the front door behind her, and leaning back against it. She releases a big breath that she hadn’t been aware she was even holding, whilst closing her eyes momentarily. “I can do this” she whispers aloud to herself. “Everything is going to be fine.” Yet another affirmation to herself. She doesn’t feel as confident as she sounds, but it’s time. She’s effectively a parent now. She has to start how she means to go on. She takes another deep breath in, then pushes herself forward from the front door, starting to make her way back towards the front room, where she knows, the children are sat waiting for her. “Let’s do this” She reaffirms to herself, aloud.